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 Posted: Wed Mar 14, 2012 9:54 pm
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Posted: Thu Mar 15, 2012 2:08 am
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Posted: Thu Mar 15, 2012 6:25 am
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I know that understanding this topic can be a bit different and it's not dumb that you asked. A few times I've wondered in my life, "What is God's true love like?" It's a hard question sometimes as a human being because we can have conflicting emotions about certain issues in our own lives and God's love is so amazing that sometimes I even wonder if it surpasses my own understanding, but it definitely must considering I don't always have a full grasp on it myself.
What I will tell you is that God DOES love you! He made you you for a reason! He has a purpose for you in your life, even if you are unsure of what is right now! I believe sometimes God looks on us and thinks, "-sigh- They kinda messed up..." or something like that. As humans, we aren't always the brightest and sometimes we do stupid things. I include myself in on that. Sometimes I'm totally blind to what God wants me to do when after the mistake I make I think, "That should have been so obvious!" God indeed has a lot of patience and if we ask him for forgiveness, he looks past our faults.
Sin is hard to deal with and depending on the sin - it can be addictive. There are a lot of sins that are indeed addictive and you always feel that they call out to you saying, "Just try this one time! For good ol' fun's sake!" and then before you know it, it has ya hooked whether it's porn, gambling, drugs, drinking, telling lies to your friend, shoplifting something that only costs a few cents, stealing from other people, etc. Sins are equal so I cannot say that porn is worse than stealing or that murder is worse than telling lies.
*God loves you! He sent His ONLY son to die for your sins, for my sins, for everyone's sins! Out of love, Jesus made that sacrifice for us! Remember these verses:
John 3:16 - 17 NIV:
“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
Romans 5:6 - 10 NIV:
You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! For if, when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!
Galatians 2:20 NIV:
I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
1 John 4:9 - 12 NIV:
This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
1 Corinthians 13:1 - 7 NIV:
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, 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.
1 Peter 5:6 - 7 KJV:
Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.
Psalm 139:13 - 15 NIV:
For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.
My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,
*There are so many verses about God's love and how God looks after us and cares for us because he created us and we are His creation! These are a few of the many! To also understand God's love, we need to learn to love one another. As human beings, when we can take that step towards loving everyone as ourselves then we have achieved something in God's eyes and when we can learn to love everyone, we will probably begin to truly understand a lot of God's love! Love will never fail just as God never ever fails. Love can get us through anything and with God on our side, it helps us conquer our battles in life. We often choose our battles, but God still helps us fight them and gives us the strength to carry on! However, I'm not sure as humans if we'll ever experience the full extent of God's love, but we can at least strive to understand and love others and be kind.
I can say the best way to combat sin is to read the Bible and grow in your relationship with God. I know it helps me. Sometimes I also have to take physical measures like post Bible verses to remind me that the sin I commit is indeed wrong. It doesn't matter if you write it on your hand or your arm, write it on a sticky note and put it where you will see it when you feel the need to sin, etc. if you get a feeling like you are about to sin and you are tempted, feel free to flee from it:
2 Timothy 2:22 NIV:
Flee the evil desires of youth, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.
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Posted: Wed May 02, 2012 11:53 pm
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Siimple Servant Lately I have been struggling with a lot of sin and it is hindering Gods love. I am, as of right now, very confused about His love. Does He really love me? Just for me? Does He really look at me without any fault? Even though I sin a lot and am trying to stop, does He really love me? I am so confused right now. I just spent a good 40 or so minutes alone in my bedroom, trying to understand and think about His love! But yet, I am still confused. Can someone help me? Give me Bible verses to meditate on? Sorry, This sounds so wrong because it's about ME. Not Him. I'm trying to understand HIM. I want HIM and HIM only.
I'm assuming you're saved, as in you believe the gospel: Christ died, for your sins, he was buried, rose again according to the scriptures and that you have accepted in your heart that Jesus Christ is Lord.
That is the proof of God's love.
I'm going to offer a slightly controversial view, but trust me on it.
We know that, as sinful humans, we were dead in ours sins. Dead
Dead
Not sick, not imperfect, dead.
Can a dead person bring themselves life? No.
We are saved because God, in His grace, has set us apart before creation to be saved:
Ephesians 1:3-14
Quote: 3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. 4 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love 5 he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. 7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace 8 that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding, 9 he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, 10 to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment —to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.
You can be assured that, if God purposefully set you apart before you were even born to be saved, then you don't have to worry about losing His love.
Yes, your sin is awful, terrible and a slap in the face to God. I'm not going to sweeten that, it's wrong. But you don't have to worry about losing the love of God because of your sins. To say that we can lose the Grace that has been freely given to us is to say that our sin is greater than God's grace, and that's just plain untrue.
So keep trying, try to keep your life holy and blameless, but remember that even when you do fail, God doesn't give up on you. |
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