This is a very serious problem because GOD IS LOVE.
If a person's reason for joy is that GOD LOVES US instead of BEING ABLE TO LOVE GOD MORE DEEPLY, then the focus is all wrong.
In order to truly, truly know God, we must want to DRAW CLOSER (out of love, OUR love FOR HIM, not HIS FOR US). His love for us is SET. It is OUR love for HIM that needs work, not our capacity to love other PEOPLE (including those IN CHRIST). Only Jesus hung on the cross and suffered PAIN, the brethren didn't do ANYTHING (it is likely that few will ever get that straight, they will be 'climbing sheep', John 10:1, I'm not going to let that bother me, they are turncoats).
1 Corinthians 16:22
"If any one has no love for the Lord, let him be accursed".
The love that WE GIVE to The Lord is not a matter to be taken lightly, it is the sum of devotion/relationship.
Maybe the misunderstanding is that we also LOVE the brethren (but don't have a good understanding of that word "LOVE"). We are not to SHOW partiality to ANYONE in matters of faith...
James 2:1
"My brethren, show no partiality as you hold the faith".
The brethren aren't to be given any special treatment, they can fend for themselves, Jesus is caring for them. If any of the brethren request any special consideration from us, they are not depending on Jesus as they should. They are only kinfolk in Christ. They are sufficiently cared for and should consider The Lord's grace sufficient.
"Loving others" only means that we should have peaceful regard for them. Our HEARTFELT love should be reserved for The Lord ONLY (not shared with pastors or books or Paul, etc.). ONLY the one who suffered the pain of the crown of thorns, the nails, and the spear (no doubt, the Father is greatly displeased that we don't LOVE Jesus ONLY in practicing the faith,....that's His only begotten son).
We've been taught to belittle LOVE as though it means the same as "LIKE", but we were given UNDYING love and the same should be returned.
I'm talking about love as being for a HERO. The brethren are not HEROES. GOD is the only HERO.
So, we can have peaceful regard for the brethren that are IN Christ, and we can have peaceful regard for the 'brethren of humanity' (our neighbor), but our LOVE is for the only hero (we should have no heroes before God, or do you intend to make God jealous?).
Of course God loves us, He chose us as His own, but do you choose HIM? If we do, it is THAT love that He'd enjoy hearing about.
If your love comes from your SOUL, tell Him (He already knows, but He would like to hear it,..bring Him the 'flowers' of hearing it).
Last edited by more excellent way; 7th November 2009 at 11:11 AM.
Thank you for sharing this thread. Its lovely to know how the Lord works in each of us in various ways.
I always hear His voice in my dreams. Awesome! And of course thru the Bible when I read His Word.
There was once when I read the Bible and often fall asleep. It seems like the Word does not speak to me. But I did suddenly feel the need to experience what most christians speak of in their walk with Christ.
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Of course I do give love and I love Him, but I was not focusing this thread on me, but on HIS LOVE.
And as John said: WHY do we even love Him? It's because He first loved us.
1JO 4:19 We love because he first loved us.
You say that we should have known that He loves us. It's true. But unfortunately most people (including me) don't see it sometimes. Circumstances point to a God that is not that loving. (And if you hear people talk about God and describe Him, you will hear that they say: God is love, and then proceed to describe Him as doing things that are not loving.
And I was trying to prove that He is loving, no matter what circumstances show us.
His love actually IS a secret to most people. And that's why we are so surprised when we hear all these endearments.
We are responders. We cannot love on our own. We are not that great. God woos us and lavishes us with compliments and our heart turns to Him (because of that, because of the love which He shows). That's why it said: I will allure her/seduce her/speak to her heart. Because people "lost their first love" REV 2:4
and God wants to resurrect it in their hearts, and so He starts to speak to them of His love and waits for them to be "seduced" by it.
HOS 2:14 "Therefore I am now going to allure her; I will lead her into the desert and speak tenderly to her.
What happened before God allured her is that she was unfaithful to Him. But He is going to now take an action, as a Lover. And He will reveal His love to her and then she will respond.
2:20 I will betroth you in faithfulness, and you will acknowledge the LORD.
In fact, you brought up a very good point. And I want to share about that as well.
God is a giver. Love is giving, right? It's the quality of love. So it stands to reason that LOVE loves to give. And actually God said that He loves to give. He asked me to "receive His love". Because it delights Him to give. Because it's His nature to give. That is what He is all about.
He created us to be a cup which holds His love. He created us to be needy. So that He could come and fill that need. This way, it's a mutually beneficial relationship: we need, He gives. And everybody is happy.
So God is up there in heaven (and around us) WANTING to give love. But most people don't feel His love. They don't know about His love that much. And if they don't know, they can't feel it. I have come to believe in these last few months that in order to receive His love (which is what He wants for us) we need to be able to feel His love. And in order to feel it, we have to know about it. And in order to know about it, we have to come CLOSE to Him. Because only in a close approximity, can we see "his face". And only then can we feel His love. I believe that when we feel His love - it's the time when we "receive" His love. And that makes God happy.
I know people can receive God's blessings and gifts without loving God back. But I am not sure it's possible to receive His love without loving Him in return.
So I think it works this way: IF YOU LOVE GOD, then you will be able to "receive" His love, and that will make Him very happy. And when you receive His love AND love Him, that makes you very happy.
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Last edited by childofGod31; 7th November 2009 at 02:23 PM.
I understand, Child of God, that it is based on my own love for God. It shouldn't be only MY LOVE, but I understand that the common teachings (as you said) teach the contradicting attitude of love and fear.
I grew up in a severely dysfunctional family and experienced 51 years of suicidal depression. I always loved God as the perfect parent (so, my bias is strong) and my love has been tempered (strengthened as a sword) beyond life/death (suicidal sight). I would regard others as not being so fortunate as I in sharing so much suffering and misfortune with The Lord, but instead of being so snobbish, I realize that I should only be happy to have shared a lifetime with The Lord. Forgive my snobbery, I tend to be possessive.
For the most part, the traditional teachings have distorted the concept of 'love for God' beyond recognition and substituted partisanship (books, protocol/gestures, rituals, deeds, intellect, etc.) as though we are in competition with the Boy Scouts. That you even speak of a love relationship shows that The Lord is working mightily now in this present generation (I believe it is the LAST generation).
The Lord "POURED" out His Spirit on Israel, but the people weren't receptive. If you count the "last days" as beginning at Pentecost, He has been pouring out on ALL flesh for 2000 years, but again, nobody has been receptive of the Spirit's "living water" because of the partisan teachings. Now, it is time that the traditional teachings and partisanship be overcome finally (and we shall all prophesy of a new understanding...LOVE God).
Acts 2:17
"'And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh".
To be honest, because of my snobbery, I tend to be skeptical (but The Lord will again make a fool out of me), but The Lord gave me brethren and will no doubt teach them to pick up the slack.
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