Let me ask you this question: \u201cWhat is on your mind today?\u201d\u00a0 Is it money, sex, bills, broken relationships; or are you just sitting there thinking, I wish someone cared about me?\u00a0 I mean, I wish someone loved me. \u00a0I mean really, really loved me.\u00a0 Well, my sweet friend, look no further!<\/p>\n
Did you know God loves us more than you could ever know in this lifetime?\u00a0 In fact, we cannot measure His love, because it is just like Him.\u00a0 He fills the whole universe with Himself and still has more than enough left over.\u00a0 What do you think about that?\u00a0 Many say, \u201cIf He loves mankind like you say, how come there is so much evil in in the world?\u201d\u00a0 Well, if we would stop for a minute, go read the first chapter of Genesis, and trust what we read; it will give us a detailed account of the true heart of God.\u00a0 You know what I am talking about.\u00a0 Or maybe you don\u2019t know what I am talking about?\u00a0 But if you are a Christian, I hope this is not the case. \u00a0Because the Word of God is the total package, and it is the guide for our lives; anyways, God created Adam and Eve and placed them in a perfect garden where there were no sicknesses, diseases, death, or unhappy moments.\u00a0 Please do not take my word for it. \u00a0And really, this is why we must find out for ourselves, than no one can take it away from us.\u00a0 He meant for man to live and love and fellowship with Him for an eternity, and if we would stop and allow this truth to go into our spirits, we could understand and be clear in our thinking.\u00a0 Yes, my friend, our thinking!<\/p>\n
We see that Adam and Eve had it made. \u00a0But then along came God\u2019s enemy, Satan – you know the one who was thrown out of heaven because he tried to take over God\u2019s position?\u00a0 Fat chance!\u00a0 Anyway, Satan was out to undo God\u2019s plan, and he succeeded and talked Adam and Eve into disobeying the Lord.\u00a0 So at that time, they fell to Satan\u2019s evil plan and received his nature into them. \u00a0This wasn\u2019t just eating an apple, and boom they were doomed.\u00a0 And where did the apple thing come from anyway, because I did not read anything about an apple? \u00a0Maybe I can\u2019t read, but do you see anything about an apple?\u00a0 No friends, that is man\u2019s doctrine, and Satan loves that because it takes away from the horrible thing that happened.\u00a0 No, they actually received the nature of Satan, and Adam and Eve died spiritually to the life of God. This is where evil came from my dear friend and why there is death and disease and tragedies.\u00a0 I cannot see why that is so hard for us to understand.\u00a0 It is like a good king ruling in a country, and along came a tyrant that took over. \u00a0Except this is much more serious because this included taking the nature of the tyrant into ourselves; Ouch! Yuck! And more!!!! \u00a0Moving on\u2026 \u00a0So we see why God had to make a new plan to regain His creation, so he sent Jesus who came in the flesh and died on the cross for us.\u00a0 Now we can understand where evil came from, and we realize God is truth and has nothing to do with evil.\u00a0 Yes, I understand there are different portions of the Bible, especially in the Old Testament, that we may read passages of scripture that imply that God sent evil upon people; but it was in the causative sense.\u00a0 He allowed it because of the evil intent of their hearts.\u00a0 Also, we must realize that He and He alone is the one who says we are to go to war.\u00a0 These are decisions that are too big for man to make because God knows the future.\u00a0 We do not.\u00a0 Again, if we read these accounts given in the word, we will see clearly that David, Saul, and others sought God first.\u00a0 He is the one that must direct the battle, and instruct men how to fight the battle. We have seen what happens when men decide these matters.\u00a0 It is total chaos, and more harm is done then good.\u00a0 I think we can clearly see the results of this just in our generation alone.\u00a0 Moving on!<\/p>\n
If we would stop and go again to the Book of Genesis, we would see what God told Cain about doing the right thing and that blessing would be at his door; but if he allowed sin in his heart and acted on that sin, Satan would be at his door to take advantage of him. \u00a0And what did Cain do?\u00a0 You do remember that he ended up killing his brother Able. \u00a0But Jesus went about doing good, and we are to follow His example.<\/p>\n
So now that we cleared that up, and we have a clean palate to start from; let us get back to our subject, The Love of God<\/em>.<\/p>\n God\u2019s love is a lasting.\u00a0 It is an unconditional love that never gives up on us.\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t depend upon our performance, and I am so thankful for that.\u00a0 It is about relationship, which takes us way beyond our small definition of what true Love is.\u00a0 The world puts it on a level of performance, sex, and affections; but that is far from what His true love is. The world\u2019s idea of what love is will be wrapped up in lust, outward appearance, and acting in a certain manner to please your boyfriend, or spouse, or friend, etc.\u00a0 But this is called the Phileo<\/em> Love, a natural kind of love that measure\u2019s love from a fleshly, carnal, natural, sense ruled standard of what people think love is.\u00a0 When in truth, the carnal nature knows nothing at all about the Agape<\/em>, the true love of the Father.\u00a0 Let\u2019s look at what true love looks like, shall we?<\/p>\n The true Love of the Father tells us that it is pure, wholesome, and holy.\u00a0 It has nothing to do with sexual vices or selfish motives.\u00a0\u00a0 It is a love that will take the place of another, like Jesus did on the cross for us.\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t look out for his or her self but is always concerned about the well-being of others.\u00a0 It never looks at people like they are nothing. \u00a0You know, \u201cthe Big I\u201d, or \u201cthe Little You\u201d, \u201cthe Have\u201d, or \u201cthe Have-Nots\u201d; In fact, it never thinks that way. \u00a0God\u2019s love never thinks in the way of belittling His creation or talking down to them.\u00a0 He tells us that we are more than loved and wanted.\u00a0 He wants us so much, and invites us to become a part of His family.\u00a0 How does that make you feel?\u00a0 Isn\u2019t that the most wonderful news you could ever get?\u00a0 Does that change your perspective on love?\u00a0 We are important to Him, the God of the whole universe; and he thinks we are something special.\u00a0 Did you know that His love can shape our thinking, where we can imagine all things possible?\u00a0 Think about this for a moment!\u00a0 His love will cause us to grow in wisdom and favor to the place we can see way beyond our natural limitations.\u00a0 We now live in the supernatural realm, full of His love and creativity, where we are free to succeed. \u00a0I am getting excited just typing this and can hardly sit still.\u00a0 Praise the Lord!!!\u00a0 We can\u2019t allow our small thinking to cheat us out of this, can we?\u00a0 A thousand NO\u2019s, my sisters and brothers, \u00a0because His love can cause us to dream dreams and make accomplishments that will change us and that will thrill the Lord to His very core.\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 Because it will make us the most unselfish and giving person that will reach out to others and help them be successful too. \u00a0This will draw them into a life with Jesus and bring Holy Spirit adventures that will far exceed anything the world could ever give them. \u00a0If that isn\u2019t good news to us today, I do not think we know what good news looks likes.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s get rid of the perception of God that He is sitting on His throne ordering people around.\u00a0 Or just looking down on us to pound us into the ground because we did something wrong, and He is so small minded and shallow that He scolds us over every mishap.\u00a0 We can see in the past this has been our religious view of the Lord.\u00a0 It must not have been King David\u2019s view because he said that he longed for God, like the deer that panteth after the water brook.\u00a0 I think He knew His love under the Old Covenant far more than we do under the New Covenant, and it was clear that he couldn\u2019t get enough of that love.\u00a0 He kept coming back for more, like a deer that keeps coming for a cool drink.\u00a0 That is the same way God wants us to be with Him.\u00a0 His Love is so sweet, so wholesome, holy, and pure, that we keep coming back for more.\u00a0 His love can draw us into His arms, and He, in an instance, can take away the hurts, disappointments, and horrible feelings that we are alone and forgotten.\u00a0 He wants to touch us to the very core of our being, with the very core of His being so we will never be the same and so that we will never stop coming or stop longing for Him.\u00a0 I do not know about you, but I want all I can get of His love.\u00a0 His Love casts out fear, because fear has torment.\u00a0 Isn\u2019t that comforting?\u00a0 His love brings answers to prayer according to St. John, chapter 15.\u00a0 If we fall in Love with Him, we will truly be fulfilled in every part of our lives.\u00a0 He has enough Love to go around to everyone in the whole world and have lots and lots left over.\u00a0 He wants us to indulge in His Love until we are about to burst and then indulge some more.\u00a0 So my sweet brothers and sisters, lets dive in, and get all we can of Him.\u00a0 Stop thinking about what we want and our mistakes, and turn our focus on the GREAT I AM, THE ONE WHO IS, WHO WAS, AND WHO IS TO COME.\u00a0 AMEN, AND AMEN!!!!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Let me ask you this question: \u201cWhat is on your mind today?\u201d\u00a0 Is it money, sex, bills, broken relationships; 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