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The Attributes of God: Love

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It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but it is because the Lord loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers, that the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.
(Deuteronomy 7:7-8)

and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us…but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
(Romans 5:5,8)

Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.
(1 John 4:8)

For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
(Romans 8:39)

We all have a basic understanding of what love is, but we are unable to comprehend the depths of True love. This is the love that God embodies. God is the genesis—beginning—of love; He is its source; and it is by Him that we experience love. God’s love is based in a supreme desire to glorify Himself, for He is the being most worthy of love. By seeking His own glory, God pours forth His love upon His creation that it might better give glory to Him. God loves His creation and better than His creation, God loves His people — those whom He will take with Himself into eternal glory! This is one of the greatest truths of Scripture: in spite of who we are and though God hates the workers of iniquity (Psalm 5:5), in spite of all this, God still loves us! It’s amazing.

 

Other attributes we’ve discussed so far:

Comments

  1. Hi gang! I honestly have a hard time with God’s love. I know that He loves us and that His love is more than the human conception of love. However, I do not understand how His desire is to glorify Himself. I would not think of God as selfish. I love the Lord but still have a ways to go… By the grace of God may we be planted firmly on the rock.

    • Hi Maria, I also “winced” at the “glorify Himself” but I don’t think it means God is selfish. He has an entire invisible angelic world He is still dealing with and I think His “glorifying Himself” has to do with making a point to the universe. What really glorifies God the most is the winning of a soul through lovingkindness. By demonstrating His way of AGAPE, (giving selflessly, serving humbly, treating His creation with respect and kindness), He is making a statement to all the satanic powers that His way is THE WAY and is superior to Satan’s way of tyranny, lying, self-seeking and pride. God will win souls by their gradual awareness of how foul their sin is and their growing appreciation of how beautiful He is in His priciples, righteousness, humility, truth and sacrifice and that will be the ultimate glory to Him; our choosing of Him through free will.

    • From “Radical” by David Platt – page71 paragraph3

      “…then does this make God selfish? How can God’s purpose be to exalt himself? This is a good question, and it causes us to pause until we ask the follow-up question: Whom else would we have Him exalt? At the very moment God exalted someone or something else, He would no longer be the great God worthy of all glory in all the universe, which He is.”

      I recommend to every person to read this book. With all the love of Christ, enjoy. =)

      • well, God in the Old Testament may be eager to “exalt himself”. This is understandable, because he was only just setting himself up as the One God, and was still in competition with Baal and Shemesh and whatnot.
        But what a difference to the spiritual approach in the apostles’ letters. Here, God has progressed to a transcendent position where he “does” not love so much as he “IS love”, “ho theos agape estin”.
        If you want to understand what the apostles are talking about, you shoudn’t worry too much about the Old Testament’s competitive and jealous deity, you should meditate about the identity expressed in 1 John 4:8.
        As soon as God has moved to being idential with Agape, it becomes almost impossible NOT to exalt him. Now you are rid of the smoke, noise and jealousy of Iron Age Hebrew YHWH, but you are walking on a narrow line separating monotheism from pantheism. The Christian “mysterium fidei” is probably concerned with understanding how God can “be” Love and Good and still have an identity or character that allows you to relate to him.

  2. Hi, Maria,
    First of all, thank you for your honesty in this. I believe that God honors the truthful seeker (just look at Thomas…Jesus met him in his unbelief!)

    May I offer my own thoughts? I see it this way: God is so completely different from us in the way He views things. We would see His desire to be glorified as prideful if it was found in anyone else, because we know that when man seeks glory it’s due to his sinful pride.

    God is holy – without sin – so we know He has no sinful pride. Therefore, His seeking His own glorification is good simply because it’s a quality of a holy Being. One way that I see it as good, is that when we give glory to God, it keeps us from taking glory that would destroy us, by building up in us the pride that is the basis of so much sin.

    I hope this helps, Maria! God bless us all as we seek to know Him better, always realizing that He can’t be fully understood by finite man! But what a joy to learn of Him as we’re able!

  3. Teresa,

    Thank you for your insightful thoughts to Maria’s post. As I read her post I had the same response come to mind. I believe you are accurate in your estimation of God’s seeking His own glory.

    In Christ

  4. I understand that God is love, but how is it that we demonstrate it. I have seen someone with God Is Love tattooed on their arm, but they go to clubs, drink, dress provocative, and has been told many times that they are not being a good example for Christ, and knowing what they are doing, they still go out doing these things because they think that without these things Christian life is boring… So, I don’t understand how the Lord can glorify Himself through those things. Or am I missing something?

    • April,
      I think you raise a very good point, but I think there is something all believers need to remember. Just because someone has a tattoo stating that “God is Love” or wear a cross necklace, or have “Jesus fish” on their car does not make them a believer. Jesus said we would know people by the fruit they bear (John 15, Matthew 7:16-20). There are many who want to wear the nametage of “Christian”, but they are really just fans of Jesus, not really followers. Jesus said, “…If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny Himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me.” (Luke 9:23)Once we become a follower of Jesus Christ, our lives are no longer about ourselves, what we want, our agenda, our plans, our lives are all about Him. We no longer walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.

      When people say the Christian life is boring, I think they must not be living the Christian life. I can say with all honesty, my life with God has never been dull or boring – He always keeps me on my toes and I love it!

      I’ll leave you with this thought. In Matthew 7:21-23, Jesus gives us a sobering thought as He concludes the Sermon on the Mount. “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.'” The word ‘Lord’ here is the word that means “Master” as in a master-slave relationship. If we have not allowed Him to be the Master of our lives and lived our lives according to His standards, then He has said, “I never knew you”. If you make Him the Lord of your life and let Him have all of your life, you will enter the kingdom of heaven.

      I hope this helps. God bless you and may God continue to show you His ways as you walk with Him.

      Nicka

    • April,

      “How do we demonstrate it?”

      We demonstrate our love for God by loving our neighbor as we love ourselves and our God. Love is everything from the Sermon on the Mount (Matt 5-7) to 1 Corinthians 13. Though we can’t do these things on our own. That is why Jesus sent His Holy Spirit as a helper, a comforter, a guide to those who believe and trust in their hearts that Jesus is Lord and Savior. Those who don’t obey are “known by their fruit.” Therefore, we can safely and non-judgingly assume they don’t really know God; the Bible judges them already.

  5. The idea of “glorifying yourself” can easily send up the “radar alert” can’t it? “Sounds “self-seeking” and contrary to what seems right!”, I thought. I found myself, for a moment, sparked by this sense to defend my understanding of the nature and attributes of what I understand as right and true. But then I was reminded that God IS “right”. God IS “true”. He IS the embodiment of those virtues and the very source. Likewise, He IS the embodiment and source of love.
    For some reason, I don’t find it difficult to take a stand and lift up the virtues of truth, justice, and love above myself. And if God is the embodiment and source and LIFE of these and so many more virtues; all that is good…well how can He not seek that kind of glory. I understand that is why we and all creation were created; not to worship inanimate virtues, His virtues even, but Him, the LIVING source. It’s all that matters because He is all and in all… that matters. God IS love.

    • Just to clarify where I think I got it wrong: I wrote that “He is the embodiment of those virtues…” rather than “The virtues are the embodiment of Him…”. That may be a key consideration to crux of this whole discussion. Also, saying “I don’t find it difficult to take a stand…” is, unfortunately, more about my theoretical conviction toward what is right than my ability to faithfully allow Him to live it out in me the way He desires. Thank You for your grace and faithfulness… your LOVE.

  6. The glory of God is most revealed through His Son, the LORD Jesus Christ Who died for the sins of the world! Everytime Jesus is preached, the truth of His sacrifice and resurrection is declared, when people commit their lives to the LORD – He is glorified.
    The glory of the LORD is about His love and salvation, and so when He glorifies His Name, Himself, we come to know Him via the Gospel of the LORD JESUS CHRIST and are benefited by it, not just in the here and now with love, joy, grace and peace, but with life everlasting with the LORD in heaven! How glorious can it GET?! : )

  7. I think the problem might be in defining glory. What does it mean to glorify? Does it mean God wants to show off or self engrandize? if that were the case Jesus would not have showed up as a baby. Does it mean to make us feel small in comparison with him? We are, yet he has made us to be co-heirs with Christ and has exalted us to a place next to Him in Christ. Does it mean to dominate our lives in a way that accentuates his largess? If that were the case Jesus would not have washed his disciples feet and died a brutal death a suffering servant on our behalf. I would have to conclude that in consideration of all the ways God has shared with us of what is His, that God glorifying himself really is about advertising. God wants to advertise himself to as many people as posible so that they too can experience His tremendous love and salvation. If you have the best thing going and everybody needs it, wouldnt you seek to glorify yourself so more people would get it?

    • James to me you couldn’t have said it better.If we look and see all the false teachers that people are following instead of Christ,then its easier to understand why we must Glorify Jesus and Jesus alone.I have seen this happen so many times and people get so confused and off the narrow way.Thank you and as Psalm 34 reads , I will bless The Lord at all times His praise shall continually be in my mouth,my soul shall makes its boast in The Lord,the humble shall thereof and be glad,Oh magnify THE LORD with me let us exalt HIS Name together.

    • When God says to me, “I know the plans that I have for you, declares the LORD. They are plans for peace and not disaster, plans to give you a future filled with hope,” it’s great news and something to advertise so that others can know him too.

    • Mark D , your answer was revelation, and wisdom. Thank you. And Char.
      I’m learning so much from all these answers.
      I’m struggleling with The Father and Jesus. who should we be praying to? I don’t know if i have a relationship with Jesus yet I understand what He did and I trust him to save me.

      I know there is one God and I trully trust that Jesus is God and i am so aware of my sin. I know Jesus stood in the gap for me and because I trust in his blood to wash my sin(its too much to take in)Jesus intercedes to the Father for my justification because not who I am but because Jesus is sinless and righteous and he pleads with the father using His righteousness. I understand that now. I thought Jesus would be saying ‘Oh Father , have mercy on Laura as she had a hard life… and shes kind…’ NO, Jesus says ‘Father laura trusts Me that I died for her sin and have washed it away. I’m standing in the gap, look at Me, I am righteous and sinless’

      GLORY BE TO GOD, its amazing. we dont have to do any works at all only the works that God does through us in His spirit. I was doing so much in the flesh and looking for the reward of man. So I believe in Jesus and trust Him, but i don’t know if i have a personal relationship with Him. I want to. I always pray to the father. Is that wrong?

      (I posted this comment under Chars comment too)

  8. I, too, struggled to understand what love really was, since earthly love is usually depicted as sensuous or “fuzzy kitten” love, and defined by human opinion. Then the Lord showed me 1 John 5:3 in the NIV, and that was they key that opened it up for me – love is obedience. Not obedience to just anything, but to the absolute perfect truth that God embodies. Not JUST obedience to the 10 Commandments or the Red Words, but obedience to the right-now living voice of the Lord. Which means I must learn to hear Him, and to learn to discern the voice of the Good Shepherd from the voice of the deceiver. That discernment can ONLY be learned by making the scriptures our daily bread. The more we respond correctly to His commands, the sharper our hearing becomes. Jesus always heard His Father, and responded correctly to the absolute truthful perfection of the Father’s commands, because He, Jesus, was perfect. He called His obedience to his Father “The Way”. It lead not to his own glorification, but to the cross. Death to self. (Self esteem is NOT a Christian concept!) Therefore, His death became the greatest expression of love that mankind has ever known, and when we walk in His Way, we also become the embodiment of love. Think about it: If the Lord is perfect, and He knows exactly what you need, and if, when I interact with you, I am not relying of my own understanding of what I think you need, but asking and responding to exactly what He says I need to do for you, isn’t that the most loving thing I could possibly do for you? And if the whole world was able to listen and respond this way with each other, could you imaging a more perfect world? That is the world that was created in the garden, that sin separated us from. But Jesus obediently broke our chains to sin and death when He obeyed the Father and died for us on the cross, and has made it possible to access the healing throne of grace!!! We simply have to put aside the rebellion of our souls, humble ourselves, allow His Spirit to dwell in us, and allow Him to retrofit us for His perfect Kingdom. Salvation is freely given. Nothing we do can earn it. But Paul says that once we are saved, we must work out our salvation (which we have already received) with fear and trembling. Because humbling our selves HURTS. Because it is cleaning out a wound. But it saves us from the putridity of death. So rejoice, beloveds! And obey His commands! May the Lord order your steps and lead you all in His perfect Way!

    • P.S. Any time you don’t understand a spiritual concept, don’t look in man’s definitions in the dictionary or encyclopedia. They will always define it from man’s perspective, which is wrong. ALWAYS refer to scripture. I have learned that the Lord ALWAYS defines Himself! Pray and ask Him to lead you to His truth, and trust He’ll get you there. He knows what you need to understand. And He knows where He keeps it. And, in His perfect timing, He’ll show it to you. Then I have always used BLB to help me research and make sure I understand Him correctly. I thank the Lord for BLB – what a powerful tool in an idle-information-oversaturated world! And for BLB’s obedience. Hallel-u-jah! (Roughly translated: Crazy, joyous, praise to the Lord! Thanks again, BLB, for giving me the tools to make sure I REALLY understand this word!)

    • Beloved sister Laura : Shalom ( Peace ! ) Father God through Christ … Please give sister Laura … a crown … she is Ready … !!! …Rev.15:4 KJV…Is Why God and his Christ is Glorified … Because of Who He Is … Example : Make a Cloud … to Cover the Sun , Or to Rain , Or to Hail , Or to Thunder , or to Drizzle , … Etc. ??? 🙂 !!! I as Others are In *** Awe *** of God of his Infinite Understanding and Power …Psalms147:5 … Bless everyone including all at BLB … Love Old Post … Time Machine … please look at Date of Posts … to Mine … please pass the Ketchup … I have Catching up to Do … amen shalom bye !!! …

  9. To Glory or glorify, is to have a good/high opinion; to speak/publish that opinion and wonderfully high thoughts. In scripture we are told to glorify God, in fact Jeremiah 9:24 says: “But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I [am] the LORD which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these [things] I delight, saith the LORD.”

    We are encouraged to glory in God and to glorify His name and works throughout scripture. We should think and speak very highly of Him. His son, Jesus Christ in John 12 when in prayer said, “Father, glorify thy name. Then came there a voice from heaven, [saying], I have both glorified [it], and will glorify [it] again.”

    Here it may sound as if God is being encouraged to glorify Himself. However, to glorify one’s name is to glorify all that that name represents. It is to publish the greatness of all that is accomplished and available from and through it. Regardless, there is no scripture (including that one) that states that God’s love for us is based on His desire to glorify Himself.

    John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” So, God loved, and so He gave. What he gave was His only begotten son; ‘That’ (here’s the reason why) ‘that’ he might glorify Himself. No, I don’t think so. He did it for us.

    Here is more about God’s love & the basis of it: Ephesians 2: 4,5 “But God, who is rich in mercy, for his ‘great love wherewith he loved us’, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)”

    God’s love for us is great and what we have in this verse is mercy and grace. How about Titus 3:4,5? “But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared, Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;”

    God’s kindness and Love toward man appears to be according to His mercy, and as we read on in verses 6&7, we can see more of what His love is based on. “Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”

    So again, just like in Ephesians, God’s love toward us is out of Mercy and Grace. Let’s look at one more record on this subject. I John 4:9-11 “In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.”

    To manifest is basically to show forth. God showed His love toward us by sending His son ‘that’ (and here’s the reason why) ‘that’ He might glorify Himself. No, I don’t think so. He did it for us, not for Himself.

    Verse 10: “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son [to be] the propitiation for our sins.”

    God’s love is based on mercy and grace and for His love and mercy and kindness and grace, we truly should glorify Him. He has loved us and in response we might also want to do as verse 11 says, which is, “Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.”

    In closing, I will mention I Timothy 1:17. “Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, [be] honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen.”

  10. Love

    Mat 22:36 – 22:40 Master, which [is] the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second [is] like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

    Rom 13:8-13:10 Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if [there be] any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love [is] the fulfilling of the law.

    From the beginning, God has wanted man to love. Instead, we were killing, lying, stealing, fornicating, disobeying, coveting, envying, and the like. God gave us commandments because as long as we were doing these things, we could not love. You can’t love somebody and murder them, or love somebody and steal from them………………..If by loving, we are fulfilling all the commandments and the prophets, then by saying that man is incapable of keeping God’s commandments we are saying that the God of the universe created us incapable of loving each other or himself.

    I do believe that man, by nature, does not understand how to love. The world cannot even agree on a definition for love. This is because we are wrapped in flesh. Our flesh only cares about itself, it only looks inward. Love is the exact opposite, it only cares about others, it only looks outward. We cannot be right with God while we live by our flesh because we cannot love.

    I know that there is fear associated with keeping “the law”. I have been to churches and heard people say “If you try to keep the commandments you are denying the blood of Christ.” I’ve heard that the commandments were nailed to the cross, and that they were given just to show us that we could not keep them, and that they would point us toward our need for Christ. The truth is, the law and the commandments are two different things.

    Exd 24:12 And the LORD said unto Moses, Come up to me into the mount, and be there: and I will give thee tables of stone, and a law, and commandments which I have written; that thou mayest teach them.

    They are both laws by definition, but only the law of Moses was nailed to the cross.

    1Ti 1:9 – 1:11 Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, For whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for menstealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine; According to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which was committed to my trust.

    Gal 3:19 Wherefore then [serveth] the law? It was added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to whom the promise was made; [and it was] ordained by angels in the hand of a mediator.

    Compare the above scripture with the scripture below.

    Rom 4:15 Because the law worketh wrath: for where no law is, [there is] no transgression.

    If there are no transgressions where there is no law, why was the law added because of transgressions?

    The law was added because people would not keep God’s commandments. The law was nailed to the cross, not the Commandments.

    Eph 2:15 Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, *[even] the law of commandments [contained] in ordinances*; for to make in himself of twain one new man, [so] making peace;

    *the law of commandments contained in ordinances = dogma /the rules and requirements of the law of Moses; carrying a suggestion of severity and of threatened judgment*

    God’s Commandments show us what not to do so that we can love. They are still God’s Commandments, and are still in place as Commandments, not suggestions.

    Deu 5:29 O that there were such an heart in them, that they would fear me, and keep all my commandments always, that it might be well with them, and with their children for ever!

    In closing, it is not sin to keep God’s commandments. We do not deny the blood of Christ by trying to keep them. If you are one that has tried to keep the commandments, but failed miserably, listen to these words of Jesus:

    Mat 23:25 – 23: Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. [Thou] blind Pharisee, cleanse first that [which is] within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also.

    Repent! Turn away from sin, and turn towards God. Change your hearts and minds. Choose this day whom you will follow. When you boil it down, the reason we sin is because we want to…we enjoy it. Instead of saying you struggle with a certain sin, say this is a sin that I do not hate. Call it what it is. As long as we are following the desires of our flesh, we will continue to enjoy sin because our flesh enjoys sin.

    Gal 5:16 – 5:21 [This] I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are [these]; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told [you] in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

    • I agree with you Isa … right is right & wrong is wrong, some things never change. GOD is good !!

      Bless you …

    • * WOW * !!! Beloved brother Isa820 : Shalom ( Peace in Hebrew ! ) … Awesome Post on Love … Agape Love … Pure and Simple … !!! … Obedience is better than sacrifice … 1Sam.15:20-26 KJV … as I have breath … i will Praise and Worship the God of Abraham , Issac , Israel , bless everyone … Mount Zion is Looking for All …Micah4:1-2 … * WOW * UpsideDown is * MOM * who Loves You … Glory to God through Christ … amen 🙂 shalom bye !!!…

  11. My revelation on the term ‘Glorify himself” is to replace it with the word “identity”. God seeks to establish his identity to the world, his creation, his people! When we seek him, we find him, that is … we get to truly know him. Because he is awesome, it is not possible to know him without seeing his glory and him being glorified. His glory is really His identity. The character of God our father. Imagine how ecstatic we feel when someone we know exhibits great character, be it a child, relative or TV personality, we appreciate their effort so much and celebrate them; and we ourselves become happy for a time because of this person’s unselfishness or selflessness: How more abounding & incomparable the magnitude of God’s graciousness and loving kindness that we know fall in love with Him and glorify him as we truly see more & more of him (i.e. His Glory)! Praise the Lord. Amen … Thank you Jesus for bring us back to God.

  12. Mark D , your answer was revelation, and wisdom. Thank you. And Char.
    I’m learning so much from all these answers.
    I’m struggleling with The Father and Jesus. who should we be praying to? I don’t know if i have a relationship with Jesus yet I understand what He did and I trust him to save me.

    I know there is one God and I trully trust that Jesus is God and i am so aware of my sin. I know Jesus stood in the gap for me and because I trust in his blood to wash my sin(its too much to take in)Jesus intercedes to the Father for my justification because not who I am but because Jesus is sinless and righteous and he pleads with the father using His righteousness. I understand that now. I thought Jesus would be saying ‘Oh Father , have mercy on Laura as she had a hard life… and shes kind…’ NO, Jesus says ‘Father laura trusts Me that I died for her sin and have washed it away. I’m standing in the gap, look at Me, I am righteous and sinless’

    GLORY BE TO GOD, its amazing. we dont have to do any works at all only the works that God does through us in His spirit. I was doing so much in the flesh and looking for the reward of man. So I believe in Jesus and trust Him, but i don’t know if i have a personal relationship with Him. I want to. I always pray to the father. Is that wrong?

    • “GLORY BE TO GOD, its amazing. we dont have to do any works at all only the works that God does through us in His spirit.”

      Is forgiving others that sin against you a ‘work’? It is something that we must do…others cannot do it for us, God cannot do it for us….we must make that effort to FORGIVE.

      We know that if we do not forgive others that sin against us, the Father will not forgive us of our sins.

  13. Hi Laura Mary … I am an old believer, saved when I was 17 now 61 : ]

    You do need to go personally to Jesus & ask Him to be your Saviour – as in John 6:37&44. All of GOD, Father, Son & Holy Spirit are involved in your salvation !!

    The Holy Spirit is doing His work bringing you to repentance & revealing the gospel to you, so let your repentance do its work in you – as in Acts 20:21. This takes you on to the Son our Saviour … Who brings you into the Kingdom & to His Father. You then have a relationship with GOD – all 3 of Him !! The Three in Oneness of GOD can be understood by seeing you can have the one word with three letters : ]

    To follow on … you are baptised in water & the Holy Spirit – as in John 1:33. Jesus said that when He had to return to the Father, the Holy Spirit would be with us instead – as in John 16:7. The Holy Spirit will show you more & help you to grow as a believer & daughter of GOD …

    When I pray, it can be to GOD as a whole, or to Jesus, or to the Father, or to the Holy Spirit [to the Holy Spirit is usually when I am asking Him to help me how to pray, as more often He brings attention to the Son & the Father, not to Himself ] the important thing is that you have a personal relationship with the Son as your Saviour & the rest will follow, if you do !!

    There are two other things you need to do at this point. You should forgive others that have sinned against you, when asking for GOD’s forgiveness for yourself – as in Luke 11 when Jesus teaches His followers how to pray. And also you should personally reject any form of occult with which you, or your family, may have been involved ‘In the Name of Jesus I reject ….. GOD forgive me this sin & rid me of all its consequences.’ Some people need to reject this type of involvement for a while, until they are firm in their spiritual standing with GOD, but be reassured that Jesus is caring for you in any trouble meanwhile : ]

    The Holy Spirit will reassure a person that they are saved – as in Romans 8:15&16. And you can go on believing … you have believed GOD this far, so you can believe Jesus when He says you are saved – as in John 10:9.

    Love & Blessings … Stephanie

    • Thanks so much Sephanie, that really helped. The Holy Spirit has been workng in me for a few years.And I dont think I ever asked Jesus to be my savoiur. I just assumed He was. This past month i’ve been getting very bad doubts but I keep saying that I believe. I don’t understand the trinity but i trust God.If you could please pray for me that the doubts will subside and I will not be moved.Thank you again. May God bless you in your need and keep you close to Him. Your a beautiful child of God. Psalm 20

      • Bless you Laura Mary … certainly I will be praying for you as you ask. Many thanks for Psalm 20, it has been a real blessing to me today : ]

        Doubts seem to sometimes be like bullies, trying to push us away from where we want to go & lying to us about what we want to have .. then I think we need to go on the attack with the truth. If the doubts say GOD doesn’t love us or care, then we find powerful Scriptures that prove HE does & use them !! Read them out : ] Look up ‘GOD is love’ on BLB : ] Or if they are doubt bullies saying it’s hopeless, look up ‘hope in GOD’ & find powerful Scriptures to disprove that lie !
        Otherwise doubts can come from our own weaknesses & ignorance of GOD. In which case, find Scriptures again & let them soak into your soul – like water on dry ground, or oil soothing a wound if you have been damaged. It’s true that Scripture is powerful & it is powerful because it is true !!
        GOD Bless as you look to find Jesus – He is actually there, waiting for you to ask Him to save you. He is not a long & impossible journey away ! He is right there, ready to give you forgiveness & salvation throughout your life & into eternity …..

  14. Just to share from life experiences…

    What is the first thing that we want to do when we are so full of joy? Find someone to share with, right? We want to share our joy with our friends (or to the world through facebook / twitter).

    Those who don’t like us will say that its because we are attention seekers. But our true friends will be truly happy for us.

    I think similarly, God is so FULL of LOVE (because He is LOVE) so all He wants to do is to share that love with us. Humans, who can love Him out of freewill. And of course, who else to
    love but Him.

    And if you have children, you will have an idea how it feels to have so much love for someone without having received anything in return.

    To me, it is that simple…

  15. While praying I address God the Father.

    Our Father” as Jesus begins the Lord’s prayer. Jesus prayed the Father.

    I praise God the Father privately and silently. We are directed to do so in the Bible. We are to pray without ceasing. Prayer is a conversation with God. Capture all our thoughts.

    I state my sins of which I am aware and ask for forgiveness with a repentant heart. I ask His forgiveness for the sins I commit of which I am not aware.

    I thank Him for sending His Savior to me. His only begotten Son. God will sent our Savior to die for us and gain the victory of Resurrection.

    Next I ask God for His intervention for those I know and do not know who need His immediate help for example those on our church prayer list.

    I also pray for those who are enemies of God always humbly knowing I am far, far from perfect myself.

    Did you know holier than thou is actually in the Bible?

    Each prayer has a specific purpose not necessily in the order above depending upon the need.

    Model your prayers as Jesus taught us to pray (The Lord’s Prayer). Converse with God the Father and qualify the prayer in Jesus Christ’s Holy name.

    Recently I heard a minister say… when in prayer try not to mention yourself. Leave out the word I. Something to ponder.

    Sometimes a simple prayer is a cry out “Oh God!” God knows our needs even if we don’t.

    Another sermon that has sustained me was the thought…

    God answers every prayer…
    “Yes, No, and Later.”

    Do a web search for “How to pray”

  16. God glorifies/exalts Himself by blessing His children. He does this to show others how He cares for His children with the intent to cause those who don’t know Him to answer His call. Now “bless” does not necessarily mean money, cars, fame, fortune, success, or anything else that has to do with the American Dream. Blessings do come in these forms but not for the purpose of the person; it is so that God’s name is exalted amongst others. However, we should keep our minds open to realize that blessings are also (and more so) peace in suffering, hope in despair, and safety in trouble. I tend to think a believer that remains positive and never complains in trials, tribulations, and pain and suffering would exalt His name louder to the unbelieving world than a believer with a full-time job, a 3 bedroom house, 2 cars, and 2.5 kids. Make His name known to all nations by crucifying your flesh, picking up your cross, denying yourself, forsaking all else, and just follow Him. “We are not the object of our own faith; God is the object of our faith.” (David Platt) Therefore, God exalts Himself by blessing us.

    How do we do this? Eph 2:10NLT. We are His masterpiece created anew in Him to do good works… In His image and likeness, God put gifts and talents in us that He calls His masterpiece. These gifts and talents (the masterpiece) are in line with what He has called us to do on this earth. We are to connect with Him through Reading, Praying, and Obeying so that He may reveal more about Himself to us and thus learn more about ourselves so that we may use these gifts and talents to glorify and exalt His name among all nations. In turn God will give all we need to glorify/exalt His name, whether it be spiritual in peace, hope, safety, etc., or in material, whether money, a home, a spouse, etc.

  17. God is “the all in all”. His seeking His Glory is seeking to glorify all that is in Him. God pours glory on you to glorify Himself. It does not denote “selfishness” as the literal mind will be quick to interprete but a desire to establish an equilibria in GLORY and LOVE between the world He created and Himself.

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