A point of light: a relationship with God
Greetings in the name of Jesus our Lord and Savior:
The greatest gift that mankind can is a relationship with God. For many years I have had a challenge placed within my heart to find God in a real place. That place is not been in a building or in a doctrine, or even within one organization of fellowship of believers like I had thought it would be. It has been found in the most unlikely of places that I could've imagined. I have found God mostly in the eyes of small children and old people. My point is that I have found God in places others do not often look for him. I think that is the nature of mankind and looking where we only think of strength or of knowledge being found in yet some of the greatest strengths is found in those who are physically the weakest and some of the most profound knowledge is found in those who have a most simple view of life.
We look at God as being so far above us and so much more advanced than we are, but at the same time he can be much simpler than we are, and he can lower himself to places we cannot imagine in order to reach those whom he has chosen for a work in his spirit. For that reason I feel that we cannot all understand the truth of his values upon us as his creation. We don't have a clue as to what he thinks of as being important. We do know that God looks upon those who have the ability to love as he has loved with great value, and yet when that ability to love is coupled with self-will it is more often than not abused. That does not mean that God has loved us less because we have used the gift of love or the gift of life. We have been given an even greater gift from someone who could just as easily have ignored our sin, our life, and us. You see God has given us his love, and in doing so has provided its saving grace for us that runs so deep as to go deeper than we are in this world to be able to scoop us up and lift us upward toward him. I don't think we realize how much power there is in gift.
We have a responsibility to be obedient to the will of God. In Matthew the 12th chapter verses 47 through 50 Jesus tells a parable of the fishing net he says"once again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was let down into the lake and car all kinds of fish. When it was full, the fisherman pulled it up on the shore. Then they sit down and collected good fish and baskets, but through the bad away. This is how it will be at the end of the age. The Angels will come in separate the wicked from the righteous and throw them in the fiery furnace where there will be weepy and gnashing of teeth". To the untrained eye this looks pretty harsh and yet it's hard to understand the kind of love that God has and less were willing to love in return.
As we grow up in our household we continue to obey our parents not because they are still stronger than we are are smarter than we are but simply because we love them and respect them. If we are to really love then we should be willing to obey and respect those whom we say we love. God is most certainly at the top of that list. We can say many different things about God by giving him lip service we can praise him, we can admire him, but then is not in any way improve love in Luke 8:21 Jesus replied to the question of who his mother are brothers or sisters were"he replied, my mother and brothers are those who hear God's word and put it into practice", and gun looks on us as his children when we love him enough to obey his commandments out of love instead about a fear alone. By walking in our Lord's commandments we become what is said to be a peculiar treasure of God above all the other people because he says the world is his in Exodus 19:5. I think it is said best in John 14:15-23 when Jesus said"if you love me, you will obey what I command. And I will ask the father, and he will give you another counselor. To be with you forever, and the spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you. I will not leave you as orphans, I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in the father, and you are in me, and I am with you. Whoever has my commandments and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my father, and I too will love him and show myself to him. Then Judas, not Judas ice., Said the Lord why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world? Jesus replied, if anyone loves me he will obey my teaching. My father will love him, and will come to him and make our home with him".
We were created to love God is his own children, and that includes keeping his commandments out of love for him not just of being out of fear. In verse 15 Christ simply says that if we love and we keep his commandments. What are those commandments? That we love God with all of our hearts and our neighbor as ourselves is the commandment that Christ spoke of as the greatest of all. Christ also tells us that the result of our loving God and that way and loving each other in that way is that God will dwell with us throughout our lifetime here and for always. God through the power of his Holy Spirit will abide in us, and we will abide in him. Our relationship with God is ongoing it includes many different things and like to discuss some of these things with you in this next week. May you richly bless God through your life in him.
THE UNWORTHY SERVANT
The greatest gift that mankind can is a relationship with God. For many years I have had a challenge placed within my heart to find God in a real place. That place is not been in a building or in a doctrine, or even within one organization of fellowship of believers like I had thought it would be. It has been found in the most unlikely of places that I could've imagined. I have found God mostly in the eyes of small children and old people. My point is that I have found God in places others do not often look for him. I think that is the nature of mankind and looking where we only think of strength or of knowledge being found in yet some of the greatest strengths is found in those who are physically the weakest and some of the most profound knowledge is found in those who have a most simple view of life.
We look at God as being so far above us and so much more advanced than we are, but at the same time he can be much simpler than we are, and he can lower himself to places we cannot imagine in order to reach those whom he has chosen for a work in his spirit. For that reason I feel that we cannot all understand the truth of his values upon us as his creation. We don't have a clue as to what he thinks of as being important. We do know that God looks upon those who have the ability to love as he has loved with great value, and yet when that ability to love is coupled with self-will it is more often than not abused. That does not mean that God has loved us less because we have used the gift of love or the gift of life. We have been given an even greater gift from someone who could just as easily have ignored our sin, our life, and us. You see God has given us his love, and in doing so has provided its saving grace for us that runs so deep as to go deeper than we are in this world to be able to scoop us up and lift us upward toward him. I don't think we realize how much power there is in gift.
We have a responsibility to be obedient to the will of God. In Matthew the 12th chapter verses 47 through 50 Jesus tells a parable of the fishing net he says"once again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was let down into the lake and car all kinds of fish. When it was full, the fisherman pulled it up on the shore. Then they sit down and collected good fish and baskets, but through the bad away. This is how it will be at the end of the age. The Angels will come in separate the wicked from the righteous and throw them in the fiery furnace where there will be weepy and gnashing of teeth". To the untrained eye this looks pretty harsh and yet it's hard to understand the kind of love that God has and less were willing to love in return.
As we grow up in our household we continue to obey our parents not because they are still stronger than we are are smarter than we are but simply because we love them and respect them. If we are to really love then we should be willing to obey and respect those whom we say we love. God is most certainly at the top of that list. We can say many different things about God by giving him lip service we can praise him, we can admire him, but then is not in any way improve love in Luke 8:21 Jesus replied to the question of who his mother are brothers or sisters were"he replied, my mother and brothers are those who hear God's word and put it into practice", and gun looks on us as his children when we love him enough to obey his commandments out of love instead about a fear alone. By walking in our Lord's commandments we become what is said to be a peculiar treasure of God above all the other people because he says the world is his in Exodus 19:5. I think it is said best in John 14:15-23 when Jesus said"if you love me, you will obey what I command. And I will ask the father, and he will give you another counselor. To be with you forever, and the spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you. I will not leave you as orphans, I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in the father, and you are in me, and I am with you. Whoever has my commandments and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my father, and I too will love him and show myself to him. Then Judas, not Judas ice., Said the Lord why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world? Jesus replied, if anyone loves me he will obey my teaching. My father will love him, and will come to him and make our home with him".
We were created to love God is his own children, and that includes keeping his commandments out of love for him not just of being out of fear. In verse 15 Christ simply says that if we love and we keep his commandments. What are those commandments? That we love God with all of our hearts and our neighbor as ourselves is the commandment that Christ spoke of as the greatest of all. Christ also tells us that the result of our loving God and that way and loving each other in that way is that God will dwell with us throughout our lifetime here and for always. God through the power of his Holy Spirit will abide in us, and we will abide in him. Our relationship with God is ongoing it includes many different things and like to discuss some of these things with you in this next week. May you richly bless God through your life in him.
THE UNWORTHY SERVANT
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