God, Do you still love me?
I find myself from time to time reflecting on my life and thinking about all the craziness that I've carried on in my past. Sometime I even doubt myself, and think that maybe I've messed up so much that God's Love for me is not as strong as it once was. Well I am here to tell you that God Loves you no matter what. However I am not saying that since God loves you he is going to disregard the wrong that you do. The word of God says that God Blinked once at sin and he won't do it again(Acts 17:30 (KJV);And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent.)When I was new in my walk with God, I was taught that God is a forgiving and merciful God. I took advantage of that and would do things that I knew I had no buisness doing, and had the mindset of well God will forgive me and he knows my heart. Remember I was ignorant back then and did not know better, I was not aware that there would still be consequences to my actions regardless of me being a christian and believing in God. Now when I hear people say " well God knows my heart" Jeremiah 17:9 comes to mind it says; The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? That scripture right there should make us want to check our heart everyday to make sure we do not carry on any wickedness.When we decide to follow Christ we are deciding to carry our cross and follow after God. We are not going to be perfect we will mess up from time to time, but as long as we do not keep falling in the same trap and going back to old habits God can truly deliver us. It starts with YOU! We must put in the time and effort to change and truly want to get rid of the former things .
5 Truths about God's Love:
1) God loves you Unconditionally
Jeremiah 31:3 ( AMP);The Lord appeared to me (Israel) from ages past, saying, “I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you and continued My faithfulness to you.
God Loves you regardless of who you are and what you have done. God Loves EVERYONE UNCONDITIONALLY. Even if you don't feel like he loves you because you are not "perfect" he loves you flaws and all. If we were perfect ( as some of us would like to believe) we wouldn't need God. No one is perfect but God himself. We can sit here and pretend that we are, but we are only deceiving ourselves. So YOU! Yes, YOU God loves you and he is welcoming you with open arms. Forget about what you have done in the past year, 5 mins , 2 seconds , God loves you and he wants to talk to you and love on you.
2) God disciplines those he Loves
Hebrews 12:6 (AMP);For the Lord disciplines and corrects those whom He loves, And He punishes every son whom He receives and welcomes [to His heart].”
When things happen in our life that you may find tragic, disappointing, even life changing it is not always the devil who is behind the scenes. We give satan too much credit. Sometimes it's us and our decisions that we have made, that has put in the midst of chaos and confusion. God will discipline us in many ways to teach a lesson and show us that we need to seek him and not go back to what brought us to the place that we are currently in. Sometimes we need to go through some rough situations to get us to see that we need to change and be set apart from the things of the world. If God did not love us he would have gave us to our own lustful desires.
3) God's Love reaches beyond Circumstances
I can only speak for myself, but when you have an encounter with God your life is never the same. I have gone through so much in my life but through it all I've always felt God's love. You can be at your lowest of lows but knowing that God is there and is not going anywhere gives you a sense of hope. God's love is just peace through the rough times, and even though you may feel sad, rejected, and alone, knowing that God is right there and you can express to him how you feel makes everything better. God wants us to talk to him and keep the communication lines open and he wants to talk to us as well.
4) Loving God helps You Love Others
Psalm 86:15 But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.
When you love God with a pure heart you want to be a reflection of him. Therefore you want to love like him and you want to exude his presence. In the scripture above it talks about how God is slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness. When it comes to interacting with our peers we need to remember this. When people come out of character and say/do things that make you want to reach out and touch them , have a WWJD (what would Jesus do) moment. Galatians 6:1 says Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted.
Don't feed into their negativity and dramatics. Let them act out and you continue to hold your composure. If you do decide to speak up don't reply in a manner that would make someone look at you and say " I thought she was a Christian and went to church" because we all know someone who will be quick to throw that statement in our face. Keep your composure and love on them.
Colossians 3:8, 12-13 But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.
5) Jesus DIED for YOU and I
John 15:3- Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.
Need I say more? Who do you know would die for you so that you can live in abundance. Who do you know would be willing to be persecuted and lied on for your sake? Who do you know would shed bled for you so that you can be saved? Who do you know went to Hell and took the keys from Satan? There is no one on this earth that will sacrifice their life for millions of people that they do not know, so they can have a prosorus life. That is love right there, Before he even knew us he died for us. He set us up for a life of abundance. If that does not make you excited I don't know what is going on. I would like to close by saying that if you have not felt the love of God or maybe you're not sure if you have but you want to experience his Love say this prayer OUT LOUD!
Father God,
I come into your presence so aware of my human frailty and yet overwhelmed by your love for me. I thank you that there is no human experience that I might walk through where your love cannot reach me. If I climb the highest mountain you are there and yet if I find myself in the darkest valley of my life, you are there. Teach me today to love you more. Help me to rest in that love that asks nothing more than the simple trusting heart of a child. In Jesus name,
Amen
xoxo Z.M<3