Tags
Adam and Eve, darkness, God, God's love, Jesus Christ, Leighton Ford, light, love, paradise, Stephen Kendrick, truth
GOD LOVES YOU
(Photo taken from http://knowjoy.com/gods-love/)
I am rather sure that most of you have already heard the following quote at some point in your life.
“God loves us the way we are, but too much to leave us that way.”
(Leighton Ford)
Some years ago I listened to an interesting sermon on TV. It was a joy to listen to that man who was a very gifted preacher. However, at the end of his lecture you could see him addressing himself to the invisible viewing public in a sort of altar call, telling them,
“Jesus loves, just the way you are.” (Wow! Great!!) 🙂
“But he loves you too much to leave you the way you are now.”
(Yikes! Frozen in shock!!) 😮
Did you ever have the feeling that you should believe that? I know some people who have been struggling with that statement for decades. Reflecting a bit longer on the probable meaning of that sentence, I had to ask myself, Doesn’t it say that God’s love is conditional, even, that His love is “so great” that He can’t help but change us into something very different from what we have been before, so that we might become eventually “lovable” in His eyes?
Could you love such a God?
I couldn’t.
Here’s another quote I found on the internet of which I thought it could put the nature of unconditional love in a new perspective.
“The only way love can last a lifetime is if it’s unconditional. The truth is this: love is not determined by the one being loved but rather by the one choosing to love.”
(Stephen Kendrick)
I believe that the aforementioned words confirm the source (i.e., the Giver) and the nature of divine love as it is described in the following scriptures.
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” (Jn 3:16-17 ESV)
“But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Rom 5:8 ESV)
“Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends.” (1 Cor 13:4-8 ESV)
God and Jesus love us just they way we are, not the way we will be. God is the eternal I AM. And Jesus Christ has been and will be the same – always. We should also remember that God had chosen us before the foundations of the world we live in were even created. God does not look back in anger because He probably made some silly mistake, NO, He knew that what He once created was good, even VERY good when He looked at the crown of creation: man and woman. WOW! That was God’s masterpiece in duplicate. Two living souls, similar to Him, yet different, too. Both different from Him and from one another.
Hmm…Another thought just came to mind. Although we know that woman was created as man’s complement and although we know God is perfect and needs no one to complement Him, nonetheless, our Creator created someone whom He wanted to approach face to face, with whom He wanted to share the love He had given Adam and Eve for one another. He always wanted to be with them. However, man and woman chose to have it their own way. They voted unknowingly for destruction, discomfort and death – instead of recreation of love and life – eternally.
Indeed, God does not want to change us because He could not love us that way, no, no, no (!!!) – He calls us back into paradise to share His walk and draws us back into the most intimate relationship with our caring Creator. For this very reason He chases away the darkness in our hearts and minds until we are able to live in His bright light together with Him without narrowing our eyes to slits. 😉
Because God loves us so much, He wants to be with us 24/7. He loves us too much to let us live without enabling us to enjoy His wondrous and unconditional love – forever…
Entering the Promised Land 
My Dear Susanne,
I am not trying to pick a fight with you, so please bear with me…
You quoted something that I have often repeated and believed, “God loves us the way we are, but too much to leave us that way.” Maybe I believe this statement because I don’t happen to like the way I still am! I often come off brash and rude, I say things that hurt people and don’t even know it until I see their reactions. In short, I can be a real jackass at times! Or maybe this is only symptomatic of a deeper problem. I could never measure-up enough to get my parents’ approval. Maybe I am still driven by rejection in my childhood that I still have not come to terms with.
How is it that you have a problem with this catchy saying by Layton Ford and i don’t? Could it just be that you were a child that was loved by your father and I wasn’t? Or maybe you have received some healing from your past wounds that I have not. Frankly, at times like this, I REALLY DON’T LIKE MYSELF MUCH.
As long as I am being honest here, how about this quote from 1 Cor. 13, ““Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way…” It seems to me that God insists on HIS OWN WAY! Do I have a warped view of our Father in heaven? I think that there is a good chance that this is the case. But doesn’t He see things the way they should be and we are not there, yet? Doesn’t he want to conform each of us into the image of His Son? Frankly, THAT is what I WANT in my life and I hope He doesn’t give up on me.
You wrote, “Because God loves us so much, He wants to be with us 24/7. He loves us too much to let us live without enabling us to enjoy His wondrous and unconditional love – forever…” Could it be that the way this happens is for Him to conform us into the image of Christ as members of HIS body?
I think your point is (and I am trying hard to see it as you do, dear sister) that God loves me the way I have been, the way I am and the way I will be and that His love is just that way… all encompassing for He makes His sun to shine down upon the good as well as the bad. So, maybe Layton Ford got it wrong and that God wanting us to be conformed into the image of His Son has nothing to do with His love for us?
I need help here, my lovely sister… I just want to see this issue of unconditional love more clearly than I do right now. I am sure if I could REALLY see how much Father loves me my whole life would go into warp drive toward His kingdom to abide there with Him more than ever before!
By the way, I love this quote, “The only way love can last a lifetime is if it’s unconditional. The truth is this: love is not determined by the one being loved but rather by the one choosing to love.” It might take a while for this one to soak in after adhering to the L.F. quote for so long. Pray for me.
Love you dearly,
Michael
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Dear Michael,
I have been praying for you, my brother – as always.
Thanks so much for your honesty here. You said several important things that sound both good and right to my ears. You asked for example, “Could it just be that you were a child that was loved by your father and I wasn’t?”
I heard my mother say that sentence so often in the past. She had a good and caring dad while my father had not, or rather, his father was not the way he expected him to be. As a granddaughter I was grateful that I came to know my granddad better later before he died and could see some of his own struggles. Thus I could finally love and appreciate my grandfather, too.
In a certain sense my mom always believed in a loving God while my father struggled extremely, both with faith and with church. So, from here on out I understand what you mean. My father who is 77 meanwhile knows that his struggles spring from the wounds experienced in his childhood and stopped trying to change what he cannot, already with a small hope in God doing the impossible for him.
With that said, I was just reminded of a quote Brenda Tremblay posted yesterday (see http://pilgrimpath.blogspot.ca/2014/11/encouraging-brethren.html). It reads,
“Speak a kind word always; find out those who are weary. . . . Do not avoid them because they are melancholy, but rather pursue them. Hunt them out, do not let them be quiet in their nest of thorns, but if the Lord has given it to you to soar aloft into the clear blue ether, try to carry your friend with you, and lift him above the clouds. Suppose your house is on a hill, and he lives in the marsh, ask him to climb the hill and stay with you. . . . It is just possible that you may live in the upper storeys where you can see further and behold more of the blessed land. Ask him to come up from his cellar and walk on the roof of your palace, and scan the prospect through your telescope, ‘Encourage him.’”
~ Charles Spurgeon
[Emphasis mine]
This is what I am constantly trying to do, my dear brother. Although I had a good earthly father who never chastened me the way God through His Spirit did – and I admit that it was extremely painful at times – there was a day when I, climbing on that divine mountain through the darkness of the woods, suddenly realized that the darkness had disappeared into nirvana. All confusing thoughts about who God really is were GONE. He is light and He is love. His chastisement was not necessary to make me more acceptable in His eyes, rather, it was necessary that I could learn to love everyone as He does – unconditionally, without the desire to hurt others because of those pains I had to endure in the past. That change in my heart has been ALL God’s doing, for sure!! No man or woman could ever love like God does unless God loves others “through” them when the self is finally gone.
You asked another great question, Michael. “So, maybe Layton Ford got it wrong and that God wanting us to be conformed into the image of His Son has nothing to do with His love for us?”
Yes, my brother and friend – THAT’S IT!!!!!
I hope I could provide a sort of clarification here on that difficult issue.
Love you dearly, too.
Susanne
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Dear Susanne,
Once again you bring me to tears. You wrote, “His chastisement was not necessary to make me more acceptable in His eyes, rather, it was necessary that I could learn to love everyone as He does – unconditionally, without the desire to hurt others because of those pains I had to endure in the past. That change in my heart has been ALL God’s doing, for sure!!” YESSSS!!!! THAT is what I want, too!
God bless and keep you in His lap next to His heart always!
Michael ❤
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My dear Michael,
It was not my intention to bring you to tears once again. Rather, I hope it has been God who touched your very heart because He wants to reveal His unconditional love to you.
May God bless you immensely and keep you always next to His tender and loving heart.
Love ❤
Susanne
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Be encouraged Michael, you’re brokenness is a sweet smelling savor to the Lord and to others, too.
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Deborah, Thank you for this comment, dear sister. You know, I used to cry over what others had done unto me over the years, but now I find myself with a different heart that easily cries over what I have done to others instead. God must be doing something in me. Bless you!
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When I see how sweet brokenness is, it makes me want to be still so that God can accomplish his will in me.
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Great comments, Debbie!! Thanks so much for weighing in and for sharing your compassionate words and wisdom with all of us! ❤
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my understanding of AGAPE love is that yes it is unconditional at its approach to us wayward humans but in the long run God does expect us to return our affections back to him–that’s why another aspect of Gods love is that it is everlasting–he knows that eventually we will–fall in love with him.
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Very, very well said, Kenneth! Oh, your words made my heart leap with joy because they were God-inspired.
Thanks a bunch, my dear brother!!!! 🙂
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I have read the post and the replies. Love is God, or as the scriptures say: God is love. I know that Love is something that my mind has not been able to fully get. But I have had some precious moments with God. It grieves me that many things are labeled love in society, that are not love. This gives a bad picture of God.
Thank all of you for writing.
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I wonder, dear Pat, whether it is possible for us to really grasp how much God loves us during the time we spend our life here on earth – so far away from our true home country where God lives.
My sister, I am so happy to hear that “you have had some precious moments with God”. 🙂
As for that “love in society” that is no real love and simultaneously “gives a bad picture of God”, I would like to hear more because I am not quite sure what kind of love you might have meant here.
Love ❤
Susanne
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Susanne, perhaps it doesn’t affect people in their understanding of God that lust is called love by some. However, God’s love is righteous altogether, and that I hope will be known. Lesser things than agape are called love. English has some imperfections. Help us Lord to love as You love. I hope that clears up my thoughts.
Love,
Pat Orr
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Thanks so much for clarification, my dear sister! 🙂
I fully agree that “lesser things than agape are called love”. Yet our infinitely wise Creator decided to leave human beings who are captured in their lust(s) in a permanent unsatisfied condition of sorts in order to keep them searching for a deeper and higher love that transcends everything man and woman could experience apart from God’s Spirit.
Love,
Susanne
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addendum- He did love us enough to change us HE MADE US A NEW CREATION
\o/
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Well said, Wayne! I believe you are right. God loves us too much to let us stay stuck in the soil. Instead, He knows that we are only happy when our spirits can fly with Him – above all that is mere earthly (i.e., worldly).
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Beautiful, Wayne! 🙂
I love your brief testimony about how God showed you personally that even every crooked path in our life finally makes sense. I know such millisecond experiences, too. In cases where we as human beings would need a long time to talk and to explain, God makes us see and puts into our hearts what usually cannot be communicated in such a tiny time span.
Also, I can really relate to that excerpt from Derek Prince which is very touching, my brother. Thanks so much for sharing!
In His LOVE,
Susanne
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Yes to flying with Him.i just read the other post carefully , instead of skimming over them, sorry if the first part of what i said seems a little redundant in my repeating what some of the others said, thats a good thing,.When i first post i like to post what i feel the Lord is saying to me before i careful read the post to see if it is a witness to what the Holy Spirit is saying to the others, Amen brothers can i get a witness 🙂
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You’re funny, Wayne! 🙂
No redundance recognized by me, my brother! But even if so, some things should be said repeatedly until they sink in…
God bless!
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Dear Wayne, Susanne and all,
Today, I was having breakfast with George Davis at the local Denny’s and all of a sudden, Isaiah chapter six came to me so strongly that I was soon in tears. Here is the part that meant so much to me…
In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple… Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts. Then flew one of the seraphim unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar: And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this has touched your lips; and your iniquity is taken away, and your sin purged.
(Isaiah 6:1-7 KJ2000)
I am still asking Him what the full significance of this passage is, but i can see that it has to do with His plan for bringing me into the fullness of Christ by opening my spiritual eyes to see the Lord of Hosts, but in my case He has been saying to me, “Michael, I have to first UNDO you so you CAN see me as I am!” Too much of who i am is still intertwined with my past — out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. He has been working me over regarding every idle word that comes out of my mouth. Yet i know that in one moment He can take a coal from His altar and cleanse my heart and mouth and as a result I will finally see the Lord as I have been asking Him to reveal Himself to me and see that HE is high and lifted up and it is HIS train that fills His temple made of living stones until there is no room for anything else… only His covering and His holiness.
Thanks Wayne for sharing your own healing encounter with the Lord.
Michael
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May God bring you into that place you have been longing for, dear Michael. Our God is faithful and He will do it.
Love,
Susanne
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