Let's lift up Aile's marriage for peace and unity. "A cord of three strands is not quickly broken" (Ecclesiastes 4:12). Trusting Jesus to protect and restore their family. "For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them" (Matthew 18:20). Praying together! 
In Search of God’s Love
When I was growing up I had 2 wonderful parents; they love me and my brothers and sister and we knew it. They would discipline us from time to time and even let me and my hard head find out the right things to do the hard way; by trial and error; by experience. Even though I did not like being punished, I still knew that my parents loved me. I never separated the discipline with their love for me. I just knew that they did.
Why is it so different with God? Why is it so hard for us to just take God at His Word and His sacrifice and believe in His abounding, never-ending, unselfish love for us? With our parents we know they love us even in times of discipline, yet with God we cannot seem to grasp that the act of His discipline and His letting us reap what we ourselves have sown or a trial that He lets us go through to pull some weeds from our heart or to produce fruit in us with the fact that He loves us in all of it.
We feel as if he doesn’t love us because of the continued hard times. When our hearts have been so damaged by past circumstances and people and the road to recovery and healing in Christ seems to be taking a long time, we think the end will never come or God just does not care or He has forgotten about us or He just does not love us. If that were true He would not have sent Jesus. Remember what He went through and the excruciating pain of it all. Do not doubt His love. Trust in the One who created you and that He knows your heart better than you do. He has seen all the pain and He knows better than you do how to put the broken pieces of your heart together again. Just like the holes in your heart from every hurt have taken time to get there, it will also take time for the healing. It has probably taken you a long time to come to His saving grace. He has been patient with you. Why are you so impatient with Him? In all our pain it is hard to see through it and grasp the vastness of God’s love. We begin to feel just like everyone else in our past that has hurt us and let us down that God will too.
We read in His Word that He loves us and yet our hearts can’t accept it; with our own parents we accepted the discipline and knew they loved us. We cannot see God and He is not with us to see Him physically and hold us, so in our already broken hearts we associate the acts of Fatherly discipline with an act of someone who does not love us; just like the people in our past that have hurt us.
I have had my own quest to finally grasp just how much God loves me. I have been through a lot of pain. I have been through abuse, relationship problems both from my fault and my husband’s, the death of my parents, extreme financial hardship and the loss of my youngest son when he was sixteen years old. All of these have torn pieces of my heart and left holes in their place. In going through all of this I realized just how much I needed a Savior. I could not do this “life thing†without Him. I needed Him as a Savior and as a friend. I needed a relationship with my Heavenly Father and Jesus created the path for that to happen. I just needed to believe and receive. I did not want religion; I wanted relationship and a new beginning. I received Jesus as Lord but I still had a lot to learn. Just because you receive Jesus as Lord you are not the perfect Christian the moment His Holy Spirit fills your heart and soul. (II Corinthians 5:17) “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ he is a new creation, the old had gone, the new has come!†You are a new creation and have a new heart, one that is undivided in devotion to God, but you have years of the world for the Lord, the Master Gardener, to clean up. With me, He had a lot of heartache as well and all of that takes time.
I have found that I have always had the love of God since before I was born. He knew me and still chose to bring me into the world knowing every mistake I would make and He loved me anyway. (Psalm 139:13-16) “For You created my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from You when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, Your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in Your book before one of them came to be.†That is love! That is God’s love; it is an Agape love, one that loves first. Not because of what we do, but in spite of it. We cannot separate God’s Fatherly acts of discipline and growth enhancement from His love—just as we could not with our parents. We knew they were teaching us right from wrong; God is too.
We may not be able to see God physically but we can see the effects of His presence just like the wind when it blows we see the trees blowing to and fro. God’s love blows to and fro into our lives and hearts with every act of love shown and every kind and loving word spoken. “Every good and perfect gift is from above.†God is love and Jesus is the light of His love. (I John 4:7-8) “Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.â€
Because of God’s love we have a Savior in Jesus Christ. (Romans 5:8) “But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.â€
Because of God’s love—He placed people in our pathway to show love to us; from the comfort of a friend or a helping hand from a friend, loved one or acquaintance or even a stranger or Church member to the provision He supplies from other people or our jobs. He placed people in your pathway to be a witness and a light to you to lead you to Him. Because of His love He sought you out.
Because of God’s love things do work out, sometimes right away and sometimes like a cake in the oven they take time, but they do work out when they otherwise would not. (Psalm 60:12) “With God we will gain the victory and He will trample down our enemies.â€
Because of God’s love you have air to breathe, a roof over your head and food to eat and clean water to drink. Because of God’s love, those of us He has place in America, we still have the freedom to worship God Almighty! Not every country is as blessed with that freedom, but in their case, He has blessed them with the strength to endure and knowledge to know how and where to worship to be used as an awesome testimony of God and their devotion to Him.
Because of God’s love Jesus paid the price for our sins so we would not have too. (Isaiah 59:16) “He saw that there was no one, He was appalled that there was no one to intervene; so His own arm worked salvation for Him and His own righteousness sustained Him.†(Isaiah 52:14-15) “Just as there were many who were appalled at Him—His appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any man and His form marred beyond human likeness—so will He sprinkle many nations, and kings will shut their mouths because of Him.†(Isaiah 53:5) “But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His wounds we are healed.â€
Because of God’s love He left the Holy Spirit with us to live in us and teach us, guide us and comfort us in all truth. (John 14:25-26) “All this I have spoken to you. But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.â€
Because of God’s love we have His written Word to teach us, train us and help us to grow spiritually and live victoriously. (II Timothy 3:16-17) “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.â€
Because of God’s love He equips us with gifts of the Holy Spirit that we are not left helpless and can carry on His work. (Hebrews 13:21) “That great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing His will, and may He work in us what is pleasing to Him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever Amen.†(I Corinthians 12:-6) “There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds or working, but the same God works all of them in all men.â€
Because of God’s love—we as His children will live with Him in eternity forever. (I Thessalonians 4:16-18) “For the Lord Himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage each other with these words.â€
The next time trials hit and you feel as if the world is caving in on you, think about God’s love. Just open your eyes to all God created, to all He has done and all He has promised to do. Look with open eyes and an open heart at the kindness of a stranger or comfort of a friend or family member. Look at the cross and you will see the love of God.
(I John 3:1-3) “How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know Him. Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when He appears, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. Everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.â€
When I was growing up I had 2 wonderful parents; they love me and my brothers and sister and we knew it. They would discipline us from time to time and even let me and my hard head find out the right things to do the hard way; by trial and error; by experience. Even though I did not like being punished, I still knew that my parents loved me. I never separated the discipline with their love for me. I just knew that they did.
Why is it so different with God? Why is it so hard for us to just take God at His Word and His sacrifice and believe in His abounding, never-ending, unselfish love for us? With our parents we know they love us even in times of discipline, yet with God we cannot seem to grasp that the act of His discipline and His letting us reap what we ourselves have sown or a trial that He lets us go through to pull some weeds from our heart or to produce fruit in us with the fact that He loves us in all of it.
We feel as if he doesn’t love us because of the continued hard times. When our hearts have been so damaged by past circumstances and people and the road to recovery and healing in Christ seems to be taking a long time, we think the end will never come or God just does not care or He has forgotten about us or He just does not love us. If that were true He would not have sent Jesus. Remember what He went through and the excruciating pain of it all. Do not doubt His love. Trust in the One who created you and that He knows your heart better than you do. He has seen all the pain and He knows better than you do how to put the broken pieces of your heart together again. Just like the holes in your heart from every hurt have taken time to get there, it will also take time for the healing. It has probably taken you a long time to come to His saving grace. He has been patient with you. Why are you so impatient with Him? In all our pain it is hard to see through it and grasp the vastness of God’s love. We begin to feel just like everyone else in our past that has hurt us and let us down that God will too.
We read in His Word that He loves us and yet our hearts can’t accept it; with our own parents we accepted the discipline and knew they loved us. We cannot see God and He is not with us to see Him physically and hold us, so in our already broken hearts we associate the acts of Fatherly discipline with an act of someone who does not love us; just like the people in our past that have hurt us.
I have had my own quest to finally grasp just how much God loves me. I have been through a lot of pain. I have been through abuse, relationship problems both from my fault and my husband’s, the death of my parents, extreme financial hardship and the loss of my youngest son when he was sixteen years old. All of these have torn pieces of my heart and left holes in their place. In going through all of this I realized just how much I needed a Savior. I could not do this “life thing†without Him. I needed Him as a Savior and as a friend. I needed a relationship with my Heavenly Father and Jesus created the path for that to happen. I just needed to believe and receive. I did not want religion; I wanted relationship and a new beginning. I received Jesus as Lord but I still had a lot to learn. Just because you receive Jesus as Lord you are not the perfect Christian the moment His Holy Spirit fills your heart and soul. (II Corinthians 5:17) “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ he is a new creation, the old had gone, the new has come!†You are a new creation and have a new heart, one that is undivided in devotion to God, but you have years of the world for the Lord, the Master Gardener, to clean up. With me, He had a lot of heartache as well and all of that takes time.
I have found that I have always had the love of God since before I was born. He knew me and still chose to bring me into the world knowing every mistake I would make and He loved me anyway. (Psalm 139:13-16) “For You created my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from You when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, Your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in Your book before one of them came to be.†That is love! That is God’s love; it is an Agape love, one that loves first. Not because of what we do, but in spite of it. We cannot separate God’s Fatherly acts of discipline and growth enhancement from His love—just as we could not with our parents. We knew they were teaching us right from wrong; God is too.
We may not be able to see God physically but we can see the effects of His presence just like the wind when it blows we see the trees blowing to and fro. God’s love blows to and fro into our lives and hearts with every act of love shown and every kind and loving word spoken. “Every good and perfect gift is from above.†God is love and Jesus is the light of His love. (I John 4:7-8) “Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.â€
Because of God’s love we have a Savior in Jesus Christ. (Romans 5:8) “But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.â€
Because of God’s love—He placed people in our pathway to show love to us; from the comfort of a friend or a helping hand from a friend, loved one or acquaintance or even a stranger or Church member to the provision He supplies from other people or our jobs. He placed people in your pathway to be a witness and a light to you to lead you to Him. Because of His love He sought you out.
Because of God’s love things do work out, sometimes right away and sometimes like a cake in the oven they take time, but they do work out when they otherwise would not. (Psalm 60:12) “With God we will gain the victory and He will trample down our enemies.â€
Because of God’s love you have air to breathe, a roof over your head and food to eat and clean water to drink. Because of God’s love, those of us He has place in America, we still have the freedom to worship God Almighty! Not every country is as blessed with that freedom, but in their case, He has blessed them with the strength to endure and knowledge to know how and where to worship to be used as an awesome testimony of God and their devotion to Him.
Because of God’s love Jesus paid the price for our sins so we would not have too. (Isaiah 59:16) “He saw that there was no one, He was appalled that there was no one to intervene; so His own arm worked salvation for Him and His own righteousness sustained Him.†(Isaiah 52:14-15) “Just as there were many who were appalled at Him—His appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any man and His form marred beyond human likeness—so will He sprinkle many nations, and kings will shut their mouths because of Him.†(Isaiah 53:5) “But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His wounds we are healed.â€
Because of God’s love He left the Holy Spirit with us to live in us and teach us, guide us and comfort us in all truth. (John 14:25-26) “All this I have spoken to you. But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.â€
Because of God’s love we have His written Word to teach us, train us and help us to grow spiritually and live victoriously. (II Timothy 3:16-17) “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.â€
Because of God’s love He equips us with gifts of the Holy Spirit that we are not left helpless and can carry on His work. (Hebrews 13:21) “That great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing His will, and may He work in us what is pleasing to Him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever Amen.†(I Corinthians 12:-6) “There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds or working, but the same God works all of them in all men.â€
Because of God’s love—we as His children will live with Him in eternity forever. (I Thessalonians 4:16-18) “For the Lord Himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage each other with these words.â€
The next time trials hit and you feel as if the world is caving in on you, think about God’s love. Just open your eyes to all God created, to all He has done and all He has promised to do. Look with open eyes and an open heart at the kindness of a stranger or comfort of a friend or family member. Look at the cross and you will see the love of God.
(I John 3:1-3) “How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know Him. Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when He appears, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. Everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.â€
