How Does God Love Me? Let Me Count Three Ways.

 

Photo by Sheba_Also 2016

Valentine’s Day started me thinking about perfect Love, the Supreme Lover, and the ultimate Loving Gift. God’s love for us is infinite, eternal, and unconditional, for it has no limits, transcends all time, and requires nothing in return.]

His infinite love reflects His almighty power (Genesis 17:1, 18:14; 28:3, Jeremiah 32:27; Colossians 1:16) to give us all good things (Matthew 7:11; Luke 11:13); His perfect wisdom, to know and do what is best for us (Psalm 139; Romans 8:28; 11:33-36); and His omnipresence, to protect, embrace and comfort us no matter where we go (Psalm 139; Revelation 1:8).

 

 He alone is love itself (1 John 4:8), the source of all blessings (James 1:17), and the light that overcomes all darkness (2 Samuel 22:29; Psalm 112:4; Isaiah 9:2; Matthew 4:16; John 1:5; 8:12; 12:35,46; 1 John 1:5). He made His loving plan for us (Jeremiah 33:2-3) from the foundation of time (2 Timothy 1:9; Ephesians 1:4); He loved us from before we were even conceived (Psalm 139:16;Jeremiah 1:5); and His love is everlasting, continuing throughout eternity (Jeremiah 31:3). We love Him because He first loved us (1 John 4:19).

 

We know His unconditional love through His grace, as He gives us blessings we don’t deserve (Ephesians 2:8); His mercy, as He spares us from the punishment we do deserve (Psalm 109:26; 136:26; Isaiah 30:18; Romans 11:30; Ephesians 2:1-7) and His universal acceptance of all who have faith in His Son’s death, burial and resurrection as the only way to eternal life (1 Corinthians 15:1-4; John 14:6), regardless of their race, sex, or religious heritage (Galatians 3:28).

 

Because His love is unconditional, it is self-sacrificing to the point of death (1 John 3:16), it flows from a servant’s heart (John 13:5-14), and it is unmerited, for there is nothing we can do to earn it (Ephesians 2:8-9). He gave us the perfect Gift of His sinless Son, Who willingly laid down His life for us (John 15:13), empowered by the Holy Spirit (Hebrews 12:2-4). And He did all this while we were yet sinners (Romans 5:8; Ephesians 2:5), rebels against His truth (1 John 4:3), and His enemies (Romans 5:10).

 

The incomprehensible richness of this love is possible only because He is One in Three Persons: our Father (Matthew 6:9); Jesus, our Bridegroom (Matthew 9:15); and the Holy Spirit, our Comforter (John 14:16). Each Member of the Trinity not only exemplifies what each of these relationships should ideally be like with their earthly counterparts, but each is perfect, complete, and ever present to sustain us.

 

God the Father sits on His throne in Heaven (Psalm 45:6; 47:8; Matthew 5:34, from which He rules all things, everywhere, throughout all time, commanding all matter, space and time. Yet He is our Abba Father (Romans 8:15; Galatians 4:6), our Daddy Who loves for us to come running to Him for reassurance, forgiveness, and encouragement (Luke 15:20). We can boldly approach His throne (Hebrews 4:16) with our requests because when our Holy Father looks at us, He does not see our sins, but only the perfect righteousness of His Son Who was the perfect sacrifice reconciling sinners to Holy God (Romans 3:25: 1 John 2:2). 

 

Not only was Jesus that perfect Sacrifice, and now the High Priest Who intercedes for us while sitting at the right hand of God the Father (Hebrews12:2), but He is also our Betrothed, for the church of born-again believers is His bride. He is our Bridegroom (Matthew 9:15), Husband (2 Corinthians 11:2), and Beloved (Song of Solomon 2:3,8-10,16,17). 

 

According to the Jewish marriage custom, a man seeking to marry breaks bread with his beloved and her father, and if she accepts his proposal, she drinks from the same cup that he does. He then returns to his father’s house to build an addition for himself and his bride, and when his father decides the new home is ready, the groom returns unannounced to claim his bride, carrying her off with a great shout in the middle of the night. Therefore, the bride-to-be must keep herself pure and ready, for she knows that he will come back for her, but she doesn’t know when. 

 

When we place our faith in the power of Christ’s shed blood, it is as if we drink of that cup of suffering with Him, and during the remainder of our earthly life we become more conformed to His image through those sufferings and through the power of His resurrection (Philippians 3:10). We are the bride awaiting Christ’s return, and only the Father will determine when the mansion He is preparing for us is ready (John 14:2-3; Matthew 24:36; Mark 13:32). Without warning, at the sound of the trumpet, He will snatch us away to meet with Him in the air (1 Corinthians 15:52; 1 Thessalonians 4:16) and take part in the marriage ceremony and feast (Revelation 19:7-9).

 

We must therefore be like the wise virgins awaiting the Bridegroom’s return, keeping our lamps trimmed and filled with oil, symbolizing being filled with the Holy Spirit (Matthew 25:1-13). Only through the Spirit is it possible for us to remain separated and holy as His bride, preparing for His return.

 

Meanwhile, the Holy Spirit, Who indwells each believer at the moment of salvation (John 14:17), is our constant Comforter, Companion, and Guide (John 16:7). At the moment of salvation, He gives each of us at least one spiritual gift to use to grow the church by sharing the Gospel, to fortify the church by helping, exhorting, and teaching fellow believers, and to glorify God in all that we do (1 Corinthians 12).

 

Throughout our Christian walk, the Comforter enables us to bear the fruit of the Spirit, described in three groups of three (Galatians 5:22-23): the sweet fruit we enjoy of love, joy and peace; the fruit governing our relationships with each other (longsuffering, gentleness, and goodness), and the fruit of self-control (faith, meekness, and temperance). 

 

As our Companion, He is the Friend Who sticks closer than a brother (Proverbs 18:24), for He will never leave us nor forsake us (Hebrews 13:5). How can He leave us, for He inhabits our very body (1 Corinthians 3:16) as His temple! As our Guide, the Spirit constantly draws our focus to Jesus Christ (John 15:26; 16:13-14), teaches us to understand the Scripture (John 14:26), and allows us to know that we belong to God evermore (1 John 4:13-16).

 

Praise Him that He allows us to be children of God the Father, joint heirs with Christ (Romans 8:17) through our relationship to Our Father and as the betrothed of God the Son, and His ambassadors (2 Corinthians 5:20) through the work of the Holy Spirit!  What greater love could there be?

 

1 John 4:7 Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. 8 He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. 

 

© 2013 Laurie Collett

Reposted from the archives

How Does God Love Me? Let Me Count Three Ways.

Photo by Coyau 2010

Valentine’s Day started me thinking about perfect Love, the Supreme Lover, and the ultimate Loving Gift. God’s love for us is infinite, eternal, and unconditional, for it has no limits, transcends all time, and requires nothing in return.

 

His infinite love reflects His almighty power (Genesis 17:1, 18:14; 28:3, Jeremiah 32:27; Colossians 1:16) to give us all good things (Matthew 7:11; Luke 11:13); His perfect wisdom, to know and do what is best for us (Psalm 139; Romans 8:28; 11:33-36); and His omnipresence, to protect, embrace and comfort us no matter where we go (Psalm 139; Revelation 1:8).

 

He alone is love itself (1 John 4:8), the source of all blessings (James 1:17), and the light that overcomes all darkness (2 Samuel 22:29; Psalm 112:4; Isaiah 9:2; Matthew 4:16; John 1:5; 8:12; 12:35,46; 1 John 1:5). He made His loving plan for us (Jeremiah 33:2-3) from the foundation of time (2 Timothy 1:9; Ephesians 1:4); He loved us from before we were even conceived (Psalm 139:16;Jeremiah 1:5); and His love is everlasting, continuing throughout eternity (Jeremiah 31:3). We love Him because He first loved us (1 John 4:19).

 

We know His unconditional love through His grace, as He gives us blessings we don’t deserve (Ephesians 2:8); His mercy, as He spares us from the punishment we do deserve (Psalm 109:26; 136:26; Isaiah 30:18; Romans 11:30; Ephesians 2:1-7) and His universal acceptance of all who have faith in His Son’s death, burial and resurrection as the only way to eternal life (1 Corinthians 15:1-4; John 14:6), regardless of their race, sex, or religious heritage (Galatians 3:28).

 

Because His love is unconditional, it is self-sacrificing to the point of death (1 John 3:16), it flows from a servant’s heart (John 13:5-14), and it is unmerited, for there is nothing we can do to earn it (Ephesians 2:8-9). He gave us the perfect Gift of His sinless Son, Who willingly laid down His life for us (John 15:13), empowered by the Holy Spirit (Hebrews 12:2-4). And He did all this while we were yet sinners (Romans 5:8; Ephesians 2:5), rebels against His truth (1 John 4:3), and His enemies (Romans 5:10).

 

The incomprehensible richness of this love is possible only because He is One in Three Persons: our Father (Matthew 6:9); Jesus, our Bridegroom (Matthew 9:15); and the Holy Spirit, our Comforter (John 14:16). Each Member of the Trinity not only exemplifies what each of these relationships should ideally be like with their earthly counterparts, but each is perfect, complete, and ever present to sustain us.

 

God the Father sits on His throne in Heaven (Psalm 45:6; 47:8; Matthew 5:34, from which He rules all things, everywhere, throughout all time, commanding all matter, space and time. Yet He is our Abba Father (Romans 8:15; Galatians 4:6), our Daddy Who loves for us to come running to Him for reassurance, forgiveness, and encouragement (Luke 15:20). We can boldly approach His throne (Hebrews 4:16) with our requests because when our Holy Father looks at us, He does not see our sins, but only the perfect righteousness of His Son Who was the perfect sacrifice reconciling sinners to Holy God (Romans 3:25: 1 John 2:2). 

 

Not only was Jesus that perfect Sacrifice, and now the High Priest Who intercedes for us while sitting at the right hand of God the Father (Hebrews12:2), but He is also our Betrothed, for the church of born-again believers is His bride. He is our Bridegroom (Matthew 9:15), Husband (2 Corinthians 11:2), and Beloved (Song of Solomon 2:3,8-10,16,17), as we saw in an earlier post. 

 

According to the Jewish marriage custom, a man seeking to marry breaks bread with his beloved and her father, and if she accepts his proposal, she drinks from the same cup that he does. He then returns to his father’s house to build an addition for himself and his bride, and when his father decides the new home is ready, the groom returns unannounced to claim his bride, carrying her off with a great shout in the middle of the night. Therefore, the bride-to-be must keep herself pure and ready, for she knows that he will come back for her, but she doesn’t know when. 

 

When we place our faith in the power of Christ’s shed blood, it is as if we drink of that cup of suffering with Him, and during the remainder of our earthly life we become more conformed to His image through those sufferings and through the power of His resurrection (Philippians 3:10). We are the bride awaiting Christ’s return, and only the Father will determine when the mansion He is preparing for us is ready (John 14:2-3; Matthew 24:36; Mark 13:32). Without warning, at the sound of the trumpet, He will snatch us away to meet with Him in the air (1 Corinthians 15:52; 1 Thessalonians 4:16) and take part in the marriage ceremony and feast (Revelation 19:7-9).

 

We must therefore be like the wise virgins awaiting the Bridegroom’s return, keeping our lamps trimmed and filled with oil, symbolizing being filled with the Holy Spirit (Matthew 25:1-13). Only through the Spirit is it possible for us to remain separated and holy as His bride, preparing for His return.

 

Meanwhile, the Holy Spirit, Who indwells each believer at the moment of salvation (John 14:17), is our constant Comforter, Companion, and Guide (John 16:7). At the moment of salvation, He gives each of us at least one spiritual gift to use to grow the church by sharing the Gospel, to fortify the church by helping, exhorting, and teaching fellow believers, and to glorify God in all that we do (1 Corinthians 12).

 

Throughout our Christian walk, the Comforter enables us to bear the fruit of the Spirit, described in three groups of three (Galatians 5:22-23): the sweet fruit we enjoy of love, joy and peace; the fruit governing our relationships with each other (longsuffering, gentleness, and goodness), and the fruit of self-control (faith, meekness, and temperance). 

 

As our Companion, He is the Friend Who sticks closer than a brother (Proverbs 18:24), for He will never leave us nor forsake us (Hebrews 13:5). How can He leave us, for He inhabits our very body (1 Corinthians 3:16) as His temple! As our Guide, the Spirit constantly draws our focus to Jesus Christ (John 15:26; 16:13-14), teaches us to understand the Scripture (John 14:26), and allows us to know that we belong to God evermore (1 John 4:13-16).

 

Praise Him that He allows us to be children of God the Father, joint heirs with Christ (Romans 8:17) through our relationship to Our Father and as the betrothed of God the Son, and His ambassadors (2 Corinthians 5:20) through the work of the Holy Spirit!  What greater love could there be? 

 

1 John 4:7 Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. 8 He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. 

 

© 2013 Laurie Collett

Reposted from the archives

Why and How Should We Pray?

Photo by Steve Evans 2009

As born-again Christians, we believe that God is in control, that He knows all, and that His will is done. Why, then should we pray? Because His Word commands us to (Psalm 62:8; Luke 11:9-10; 1 Thessalonians 5:17); because it is as an act of worship pleasing to Him (Revelation 5:8; 8:3-4); and because it changes us. God promises to answer our prayers if we believe He will (Matthew 9:28-29; 21:22).

Most parents, even atheists, love their children and want to give them good things, as do Christian parents even though we are still sinners. God is the ideal Parent Who loves us infinitely (John 15:13), Who is perfectly good and has complete power to answer our prayers, so why would He not give good gifts to His children who ask Him? (Luke 11:9-13; Matthew 7: 7-11) If anyone asks Him in prayer to be born again (John 3:3-8) by placing their faith in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ as the only Way to Heaven (1 Corinthians 15:1-4; John 14:6), His Holy Spirit enters that person (1 Corinthians 6:19; Ephesians 1:13).

Once we are saved, God hears our prayers and gives us what we need, even though it may not be what we think we want (Matthew 6:8,32; Luke 12:30). The whole Trinity is involved, because we pray to God the Father in the Name of Jesus Christ the Son, and the Holy Spirit within us helps us to pray even when we’re not sure what to pray for or how to pray (Romans 8:26). Even if we just pray “Help me,” the Spirit will transform our prayers and carry them to the throne room of Heaven.

I have heard the example of a young child wanting to give her Daddy a bouquet of flowers, so she goes outside and picks whatever she can find. Before she presents it to him, her mother lovingly removes the weeds and thorns, so that the bouquet is beautiful and fragrant, yet still a gift from the child’s heart. In much the same way, the Holy Spirit rearranges our prayers to be a more meaningful and pleasing tribute to God the Father.

Our prayers should not be directed toward changing God’s mind, since we know God does not change (Hebrews 13:8), but to align our mind and heart with the indwelling mind of Christ. Through prayer, we grow closer to Christ and become more like Him (1 Corinthians 2:16; Philippians 2:5).  All the wisdom, power, love and light of the Holy Spirit is in us from the moment of salvation onward, if we yield to Him.

What an amazing privilege, that we can pray to God on His throne 24/7, without an intermediary, having to make an appointment, or being put on hold. Jesus is our great High Priest Who knows exactly what we’re going through because He went through it too! He came to earth in human flesh and experienced pain, suffering, betrayal, fatigue, hunger, thirst. We should come boldly, not afraid to share our innermost thoughts and desires with Him, to receive His mercy and grace (Hebrews 4:15-16).

Public prayer has its place, as in church to lead others to pray, but it is even more important to get alone with God in private rather than making a show of prayer (Matthew 6:5-6). We should think about the words we are praying and feel their meaning in our heart, not just repeat a prayer we have learned like a chant or a religious duty (v. 7). Praise God that He understands us better than we ourselves do, and that He knows what we need before we even ask Him (v. 8).

How should we pray? The letters P.R.A.Y. help us to remember to Praise God; Repent of our sins; Ask Him our specific requests; and Yield to His perfect will rather than demanding to have our own way.  The “model prayer,” (v. 9-13; Luke 11:1-4) often referred to as the Lord’s Prayer, was Jesus’ example for His disciples. Even though we don’t have to repeat these exact words when we pray, it is useful to memorize this and other Scripture so that we can use it, not only in prayer, but to encourage ourselves and others and to avoid sin (Psalm 119:11).

Matthew 6: 9 After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. 10 Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. 11 Give us this day our daily bread. 12 And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

The prayer begins with “Our Father” (v. 9). Only believers can say this, for we are all children of the devil until we are saved (1 John 3:10). The word for Father is “Abba,” like “Daddy,” a term of love, trust, and respect. Our Father is on His throne in Heaven, and yet our prayers reach Him there like sweet-smelling incense (Revelation 5:8; 8:3-4). As Lester Roloff said, “Prayer is instant contact with Heaven.”

We praise God by saying Hallowed be Thy Name. The Name of Jesus is the only Name by which we can be saved (Acts 2:21; 4:12; Romans 10:13) and it is special, holy, and worthy of praise. We praise and thank God for Who He is and for what He has done and has promised to do, and we thank Him in all circumstances, realizing that it is His will for us (1 Thessalonians 5:18).

“Thy kingdom come” means that we look forward to Christ setting up His earthly kingdom (Matthew 6:10), and to the Rapture and Second Coming before that. Because of this, we want to live lives that are holy, set apart from the world (2 Peter 3:10-15), and in His service (1 Corinthians 15:57-58). To do that, we yield to His perfect will, realizing that His will being done is the best possible outcome. Even Jesus, Who asked for the suffering of the cross to pass from Him if that were possible, yielded to His Father’s will (Luke 22:42).

The model prayer continues, “Give us this day our daily bread,” (Matthew 6:11), as we ask Him to satisfy our physical as well as our spiritual needs (Matthew 4:4). We should ask Him every day, not just once a week in church, and He will provide for us every day, just as He gave the manna in the wilderness (Exodus 16:4). We pray for “us,” not for “me,” as we should pray for others as well as for ourselves, and prayer has more power when we pray together about the same burden (Matthew 18:19-20).

The model prayer asks for forgiveness (Matthew 6:12). We should confess and repent of our sins, and He has promised to forgive us (1 John 1:9). He forgave us even though He had to die for our sins (Luke 23:34), so we need to forgive others and not hold a grudge or bitterness in our heart (Matthew 18: 21-22).

We should pray to flee temptation, while asking Him to deliver us from evil (Matthew 6:13). Many have experienced the temptation we face at any given moment, and even He Himself was tempted when He walked the earth, yet He never sinned (Hebrews 4:15). Thankfully, He has promised an escape from every temptation we encounter, if we choose to take it (1 Corinthians 10:13).

The prayer closes by acknowledging that Jesus Christ is our Lord and King, and that He alone has all power, glory and majesty. He has the absolute power to answer our prayers, no matter how small or great the need (Jeremiah 32: 17). He is unchanging (Hebrews 13:8), present from the beginning of time and throughout all eternity  (Revelation 1:8).

Amen means “so be it.” The Hebrew word, amen, means “surely, indeed, truly.” When we say Amen after a prayer, it means we agree with the prayer and are also praying it.

May our daily prayers to Our Father praise the Holy Name of Jesus, ask His forgiveness, boldly bring to Him our requests great and small, and submit to His perfect will in all things. In so doing, may we please God and become more like Him!  

© 2014 Laurie Collett