Home » God’s love (Page 6)
Category Archives: God’s love
Deep Thought Thursday-God’s Not Mad at You.
After writing yesterday’s post I feel like I need to say and repeat multiple times that God is not mad at you!
God’s not mad at you!
God’s not mad at you!
God’s not mad at you!
He’s not. And He doesn’t regret choosing you either! Romans 11:29 says that the gifts and calling God determined for you are irrevocable. IRREVOCABLE!
God does not give and take away. The only place in the Bible it says that is in Job. And Job said that because He didn’t know God very well and that’s what He thought was happening. But he was wrong. God blessed Job and prospered him. It’s the enemy who stole it. The enemy killed his children, his livestock, and covered him in boils.
God gives and doesn’t take it back. He is constant. The word in Romans 11:29 for irrevocable can also mean without regret. God doesn’t regret giving you gifts nor does He regret calling you. Let that sink in.
Wonderful Wednesday-Love is Kind.
I like this quote by Publilius Syrus, “You can accomplish by kindness what you cannot by force.” This is so true! People respond to kindness. A kind word or deed can touch even the hardest hearts, and open them up. Kindness makes people feel special and valued. Proverbs 15:1 (CEV) even says kindness calms people down, “A kind answer soothes angry feelings, but harsh words stir them up.”
In I Corinthians 13:4 it says, “Love is kind.” The root word for kind here actually means mild and pleasant as opposed to harsh, hard, sharp and bitter. It can also mean kind and benevolent.
God is pleasant and full of joy. He created humor. He created laughter. He wants us to enjoy our lives! He created diversity. He created beauty. He is a good God.
But I have to be honest, that’s not how I saw Him. I saw Him as harsh and mean. Just waiting for me to mess up so that He could take me out. I thought God didn’t like me and was just looking for a reason to get rid of me. Those were lies! The truth was that loved me. The truth is that God is kind, I just couldn’t see it. I believed the lies.
Jeremiah 31:3 says that His loving-kindness is what draws people to Him, “Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore with loving-kindness I have drawn you.” It’s interesting to me that our being drawn to God and our repentance are both related to God’s kindness. It’s like the quote says, kindness can do what commands and force can never do.
Joel 2:12-13 tells us that we should turn to God knowing that he’s kind, gracious and merciful. We should not be afraid to go approach him, because of his great kindness! ““Now, therefore,” says the Lord, “Turn to Me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning.” So rend your heart, and not your garments; return to the Lord your God, for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness; and He relents from doing harm.”
It doesn’t say you better repent because God’s mad and going to take you out! It doesn’t say God’s looking for someone to torture and torment! It says God wants you to come to Him and choose to be in a relationship with Him. He wants to bless you! It says turn to Him genuinely, and He will receive you because God is of great kindness.
Isaiah 54:8 tells us that even if God is angry, He’s still full of mercy and kindness, ““With a little wrath I hid My face from you for a moment; But with everlasting kindness I will have mercy on you,” Says the Lord, your Redeemer.” God does get angry. But it says “for a moment.” And even when He’s angry, He still does not change. He was and is and always will be love. And that means God is kind.
I’ll leave you with a song that I really love It’s called “You are Good” and is by Kari Jobe and Gateway Worship: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIcMDeEzA24
If you are unable to access youtube, here are some of the lyrics- “Your kindness leads me to repentance. Your goodness draws me to Your side. Your mercy calls me to be like You. Your favor is my delight. Every day I’ll awaken my praise and pour out a song from my heart.” -From “You are Good” by Kari Jobe
Love is Patient
God cannot stop loving you. Want to know why? I John 4:8 tells us God is love. What is love? Well another really famous scripture (I Corinthians 13:4-8) tells us what love is: “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.”
Today we’re going to focus on God’s patience. Patient here actually means to persevere patiently. Be patient in bearing the offenses and injuries of others. Slow to anger. Slow to punish.
We see this in the Book of Jonah, where God sent Jonah to Ninevah. We all know Jonah didn’t want to go there because he knew what kind of people they were, and he didn’t feel they deserved a second chance. But God felt differently. Most people focus on how patient God was with Jonah when he disobeyed. But what about how patient He was with the Ninevites? How long He waited for them to turn around?
Ninevites were Assyrians. Assyria was an extremely and aggressively violent people during that time. They committed horrific atrocities. And yet, He sent Jonah at precisely the moment they’d be open to change.
Why? Why was He willing to persevere for people who were as nasty and violent as the Ninevites? Simple, He loved them and He didn’t want them to perish.
Look at what the difference between Jonah’s opinion and God’s:
Jonah says…
These people are horrible, and I know God’s merciful and kind. He’s slow to anger, so I’m going to save God from Himself and ensure these people to receive the punishment they deserve.
“So Jonah prayed to the Lord, and said, “Ah, Lord, was not this what I said when I was still in my country? Therefore I fled previously to Tarshish; for I know that You are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, One who relents from doing harm.” Jonah 4:1-3
God says…
Oh my children. I love you. I see your brokenness and your ignorance. My heart goes out to you. I am here and I will be patient with you. I will give you a chance to repent and to change.
“But the Lord said, “You have had pity on the plant for which you have not labored, nor made it grow, which came up in a night and perished in a night. And should I not pity Nineveh, that great city, in which are more than one hundred and twenty thousand persons who cannot discern between their right hand and their left—and much livestock?” Jonah 4:10-11
If God wasn’t fazed by the Ninevites, then why do you think He’s shocked by the mess you’re in or by what you’ve done? He is patiently persevering alongside you too. Waiting for the day when you will be open to receive the love, mercy and grace He’s offering. It may be when you are at your lowest broken point or after the greatest victory of your life. It may be after a near death experience or a tragedy. It may be when you’ve just committed the worst imaginable offense. It may be on a random Wednesday when you’re sitting outside enjoying the sunshine. He loves you, so He’s patient with you.
He sent Jesus because He loves us, not because we are lovely! “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8
It always comes back to love! Why? Simple, God=Love! Love’s not what God does, it’s who He is.
It’s Everywhere
John 3:16 is one of the most famous scriptures out there. People put it on signs at sporting events, it’s on bags at a trendy store at the mall and even tattooed on people’s arms. It’s everywhere. You’re probably even saying to yourself, oh I’ve heard this all before. Maybe you have heard it…but have you actually listened and received it?
Personally, I think continual exposure has had the opposite effect that people intended. It’s made people complacent about God’s love. The exposure has diluted the perceived power of this scripture. Instead of reminding people how deeply and passionately they are loved, people say, “Oh John 3:16. Yeah, I know that one. God loves me and all that. Blah blah blah.” People have become absolutely flippant about God’s love. They think of it like they think about historical facts or talk about the weather. They say “God loves you” like they say, “Have a nice day.”
God’s love is not flippant. It is not fickle. It does not waver or change. It is fixed and permanent. You can’t ever reach the end of it, nor can you escape it. Jeremiah 31:3 says, “Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore with loving kindness I have drawn you.” He pursues you with mercy and kindness, because He wants to have a relationship with YOU.
That being said, let’s break down John 3:16!
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” John 3:16
so loved: In this context this means to take pleasure in a thing, prize it above other things, be unwilling to abandon or do without it.
the world: The inhabitants of the earth, the human race.
gave: To give one to someone to care for his interests.
only begotten Son: Jesus
whoever: Each and every person, individually.
believes: In this context, to have faith directed unto, believing or in faith to give one’s self up to Jesus.
perish: To incur the loss of true or eternal life; to be delivered up to eternal misery.
everlasting: Without beginning and end, that which has always been and always will be.
life: In this context it means unto the attainment of eternal life.
So God, the Great Creator and true Master of the Universe, was and is so taken by you and so unwilling to be without you that sent Jesus to care for your situation. The situation is one you inherited from Adam and Eve. The “sin problem,” that we inherited, separated us from Him. Being separated from us was a problem for Him. He didn’t like it. So He did something about it. He sent Jesus to teach us who the Father really is and to be the perfect one time sacrifice. His sacrifice covers your past, present and future sin.
Everyone is given the choice between eternal life and eternal death. You can choose to receive Jesus and an everlasting life filled with unending love. You are also free to choose to perish. It’s that simple and that straight forward. He loves you enough to provide the solution and enough to allow you to choose. He doesn’t force anyone to do anything. It’s not His style.
Every single person gets the same choice, no matter whom they are or where they live. He loves you right now, even in the midst of your mess, mistakes and failures. He loved you even before you choose Jesus, if He didn’t He wouldn’t have sent Jesus in the first place. In fact Ephesians 1:4 says that He chose you before the foundation of the world. So before there was even a planet Earth—God saw you, loved you & chose you.
So anytime you see John 3:16, remember that God in all His glory and majesty is completely unwilling to be apart from you. You are His beloved. That’s what John 3:16 is all about.
Have a wonderful Wednesday.
Thanks to http://www.blueletterbible.org for having Thayer’s Lexicon & the Strong’s Concordance on-line. You really should check it out and support this great site.
Musical Monday…”God Believes In You”
There’s this song by Jill Phillips called “God Believes In You.” I sometimes listen to it on repeat. It reminds me that I matter to the Great Creator. That the God above all other gods values me. It reminds me that I am the daughter of the Most High God, and that I am beloved. Not just loved, BELOVED. He knows why He created me and what I will become. He doesn’t worry about the fact that I screwed up again or that I failed. He knows I will get there and He believes in me.
When no one else agrees or understands….when no one else says anything good….when people spit on you….when people you thought you could trust betray you….when you’ve failed again….when people create lies about you and spread them at work, school, church or on social media….
You need to know who you are. You need to know that you are the beloved of God. You need to know that God considered you such a valuable treasure that He was willing to send Jesus to die for you. You need to know that you were the joy that was set before Jesus so He was willing to be spit on, mocked, beaten and crucified. You are worth so much more than you can possibly imagine. So for all of you having a rough week, month or year…know that God believes in you!
This post is written to everyone who has been feeling down or been feeling attacked lately. But it’s also written to a specific beautiful middle school girl who is being attacked by insecure and jealous girls. I want you to know that you too are beloved. You have a purpose and a calling. You are so very very special. God made you so unique and creative. We all love you. We are behind you. We all believe in you. You matter to all of us. You matter to God. Hang in there my sweet sweet girl.
God Believes in You by Jill Phillips (Buy it from itunes if you don’t have it…you won’t be sorry).
When you start to doubt if you exist
God believes in you
Confounded by the evidence
God believes in you
When your light burns so dim
When your chances seem so slim
And you swear you don’t believe in Him
God believes in you
When you rise up just to fall again
God believes in you
Deserted by your closest friends
God believes in you
When you’re betrayed with a kiss
You turn your cheek to another fist
It does not have to end like this
God believes in you
Oh everything matters if anything matters at all
Everything matters no matter how big
No matter how small
Cause God believes in you
Oh God believes in you
When you’re so ashamed that you could die
God believes in you
And you can’t do right even though you try
God believes in you
Blessed are the ones who grieve
The ones who mourn, the ones who bleed
In sorrow you sow but in joy you reap
God believes in you
Blessed are the ones who grieve
The ones who mourn, the ones who bleed
In sorrow you sow but in joy you reap
God believes in you
Oh God believes in you
jillbeingstill 