Close Please enter your Username and Password
Reset Password
If you've forgotten your password, you can enter your email address below. An email will then be sent with a link to set up a new password.
Cancel
Reset Link Sent
Password reset link sent to
Check your email and enter the confirmation code:
Don't see the email?
  • Resend Confirmation Link
  • Start Over
Close
If you have any questions, please contact Customer Service

Are we loving God back?     28 views

Unworldly2
(Garry P)
9 Comments
Are we loving God back?

1John 2:5 But those who obey God's word really do love Him. That is the way to know whether we live in Him. (NLT) God is gracious and kind,He knows we will mess up and loves us anyway. We should take more care to view the things Jesus and the writers of the New Testament have told us as commands,not suggestions. BUT....we should not fall into the devils trap and feel condemned when we fail. We just need to do our best to try to live our lives like Jesus did. 1 John 2:6 Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Christ did.(NLT) God knows that while we are in these bodies we are not perfect and we will mess up and fall but He is just and faithful to forgive when we confess our sins. When we read His word we should make an effort to change our lives to be doing what it says we should be doing. I believe that the longing to please God in us is a part of our growing love for Him and comes from His Spirit within us given when we were born again. May the Lord help us to do what will cause that love for Him to continue to grow and thrive. May we all stand before the Lord to be told,Well done,good and faithful servant. As Greg Laurie said,the devils voice leads us to condemnation,the Spirit's voice leads us to the Cross. There we find forgiveness and rest and most of all,Love. Our love for the Lord grows as we get to know Him,we don't love Him so He will love us back, He loved us before we even knew Him. I believe it is the Holy Spirit within us that helps us to be able to obey the Lord. We do good works not to be saved or "earn" our salvation but it is evidence that we are saved,I believe obediance works much the same way. Our first act of obediance to the Holy Spirit is when we confess that Jesus is Lord and are saved. As we grow in Christ a result will be that we will be able to understand what God wants us to do and be more able to obey His words. Again we cannot let the devil deceive us and tell us that we don't love God if we fail and fall. In Christ we are perfect in God's eyes yet He understands that our spirits are held in a fallen body until we are caught up to Jesus or these bodies die. We need to just keep seeking God and to know His will and asking for His help and strength to be able to do His will.


humbledhighness
30 Comments
What do you think?

Members can vote on this response!

Amen UW. I have fallen into that trap of condemnation with dire results. But as hard a lesson as it is to learn, it's a necessary one and the sooner it is learned, the better. Living in condemnation negates Jesus' work on the cross for us. It is the spirit in us that sets us on our feet. We are nothing without it. Will comment more later but I was reading recently where the first act of "works" was done when Adam and Eve tried to cover their sin with fig leaves. Have you heard that? What are your comments on that?

Unworldly2
(Garry P)
9 Comments
What do you think?

Members can vote on this response!

I have not heard that. I do believe that after sin entered into them that they tried to cover their nakedness out of shame. I do agree that many try to do works out of shame in an attempt to do penance or try to "please God" to try to regain His favor and love which we know doesn't work,only the Blood of Jesus brings God's favor and forgiveness and He doesn't stop loving us when we fail. Only we can build a wall that keeps God's love distant and even then He doesn't stop loving us,He just waits patiently for us to allow Him to be close to us.

wtsgnon
25 Comments
What do you think?

Members can vote on this response!

Amen U2.So beautifuly expressed brother.
hh...ive not heard this mentioned before.As thius being the first acts of works.But i can see it as it being so.One may argue though,that it was more of an attempt to hide from fear of God and just plane shame.Works to me would indicate that there was a set of rules in place to live up to.At this point there was not.Though i may be way off at this point.I do also believe that we see in this case of the fall the first incidence of the sheding of blood because of sin and Gods provision of a covering to hide our shame.

humbledhighness
30 Comments
What do you think?

Members can vote on this response!

Amen UW. Your comment also brought to mind Ezekiel 2:1-2 So when I saw it, I fell on my face, and I heard a voice of One speaking: And He said to me "Son of man, stand on your feet, and I will speak to you" Then the Spirit entered me when He spoke to me, and set me on my feet, and I heard Him who spoke to me"

This says to me that when we see God's glory, we cannot stand in it. Only the Spirit in us allows us to stand on our feet and to hear the Lord.

humbledhighness
30 Comments
What do you think?

Members can vote on this response!

This is from the book I am reading Shaking Hands With God.

After Adam's and Eve's eyes were opened, and they knew they were naked, they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings. Formerly, the nakedness with which they were "not ashamed" became intolerable indecency, and it demanded to be covered now that the consciousness of sin had sprung up within them. The word "covering" means "atonement". What were they trying to do? Their actions of covering their shame and nakedness with fig leaves revealed the first seeds of religion and good works. Adam and Eve covered themselves to appease their guilt. In any event, they still hid from God!

Interesting view.

It goes on to say : Fig leaves can cover up sin but they cannot save, because there is no blood in them.

And then of course, like you say Wts, blood is shed when God provides the animal skins to cover Adam and Eve's sin.

God moved on Adam and Eve's behalf and covered their sin by first taking two sheep and slaughtering them to make coverings of skin to clothe Adam and Eve. The two innocent sheep were history's first sacrifice. Adam and Eve must have watched this in horror. God them wrapped Adam and Eve in hot bloody lambskins and reassured them that their sins were forgiven, but they could no longer go back to Eden because of the judgment of their sin. Life was going to be tough, but God was still with them.

Amen. God is a loving God. Jehovah-Jireh. He is Just, but merciful and still after the Fall, He desired to be reconciled to Adam and Eve.

Thank you Jesus for reconciling us to our Father.

Unworldly2
(Garry P)
9 Comments
What do you think?

Members can vote on this response!

I read this today: Philippians 2:12 Dearest friends,you were always so careful to follow my instructions when I was with you. And now that I am away you must be even more careful to put into action God's saving work in your lives, obeying God with deep reverence and fear. 13 For God is working in you,giving you the desire to obey Him and the power to do what pleases Him. God working in us is the only way we can obey Him or even want to,that I believe is the key to what 1John 2:5 tells us. We can't take credit for anything good in us,even WANTING to do the right thing comes from Him.

To link to this group topic Are we loving God back? use [group_post 50290] in your messages.