God’s Love For Us

God’s love for us is relentless and we know this through the stories of our ancestors in the Old Testament.

The people of old were given miracle after miracle to prove that God is real and yet when God asked them to trust Him, many failed to let go of their control.

All of us try to keep hold of the reigns of our life. We refuse to hand over all life decisions to the Lord, which unfortunately puts us in a position of living below our God given potential. If we open the Bible with a sincere heart, the Holy Spirit will start to reveal important truths to us by illuminating Scripture. When the Holy Spirit makes a verse of Scripture jump off the page and into our heart we will desire to follow this wisdom. Following wisdom will protect us, lead us to blessings and bring our life to a flourishing finish.

“All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right.” (2 Tim 3:16)

Adam and Eve and ten of the twelve spies who were sent out to spy out the promise land, are a few examples of people who kept hold of the reigns of their lives. They ignored God or decided that sometimes God’s Word should be taken as a suggestion.

But we learn in the Bible that God means exactly what He says. His ways seem counterintuitive to our human intelligence and some teachings seem to be very old fashioned. But the world needs an absolute truth doesn’t it? We need to know right from wrong or the lines of right living will change with each generation.

“God is not a man, so he does not lie. He is not human, so he does not change his mind. Has he ever spoken and failed to act? Has he ever promised and not carried it through?”(Num 23:19)

Generation after generation have disobeyed God and yet God continues to have mercy and give humanity a chance to come to Him through Jesus’ sacrifice.  God’s love is relentless but obedience is the key to the protected life and a life of powerful prayers.

When we are in obedience to the teachings in the Bible we are hidden in the protective covering of Jesus. Think of having a plexiglass bubble around you wherever you go. You and Jesus are together traversing the terrain of life safely and overcoming every problem.

Obedience or a Destroyed Life- it’s that simple

 See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. For I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess…

But if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed..(Deut 30:15-18a)

These Old Testament guidelines are relevant today as well, however Jesus made it easier for us. After Jesus came, our belief in Him and His resurrection will allow us to spend eternity in heaven. But, more importantly, our obedience to the Holy Spirit which we received when we first believed in Jesus- contains the power to do the will of God the Father.

After we are saved, the Holy Spirit goes to work in our hearts to draw us towards Godly living. We start to learn that the Lord’s ways are best and we feel discontent when we mess up. Interestingly, we will still mess up from time to time but if our heart is pure and desiring to follow Jesus we will enjoy freedom from condemnation; we won’t be condemned by Him when we occasionally sin. He lovingly continues to guide the repentant believer.

“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus…”(Romans 8:1)

God’s Relentless Love Leads To Our Purpose And Blessings

Noah was a man who believed the Lord and listened to the Lord. No rain had fallen on the earth yet but Noah was obedient to this strange calling.  Who builds a massive Ark on land no less, without the means to get it into the water? An obedient man.

Our obedience is crucial for our protection and our family’s protection as well.

 “If you say, “The Lord is my refuge,”and you make the Most High your dwelling, no harm will overtake you, no disaster will come near your tent. For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways”(Ps 91:9-11)

There are two choices in life. We can choose our own way based on human intellect or take every decision to the Lord, reading the Bible until we get clear direction how to proceed. In essence it is a choice between choosing to follow the Lord or choosing to follow Satan. There is no grey area- NONE.

“See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse— the blessing if you obey the commands of the Lord your God that I am giving you today; the curse if you disobey the commands of the Lord your God and turn from the way that I command you today…”(Deut 11:26-28a)

God’s love for us is relentless. His desire is to bless us but He gave us free will to choose. We can either obey Him and follow His teachings or turn away and do our own thing. Choosing God=Choosing life.

Food For Thought,

Lisa

This is a link to my favorite Bible with excellent teaching points. Click here