Tag: God’s love

God the Ultimate Gift Giver

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For God so loved the world so much that He gave His one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through Him, John 3:16-17.

This season we focus on the birth of Jesus. I wanted to take some time to talk about the Father. Have you ever stopped to think about the sacrifice of the Father? I did not think about this for a long time. It was easy to see Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross and miss the sacrifice of the Father. I can not think of any parent who would want to send their child into a hostile environment to die for a bunch of people who weren’t worthy to be saved. The Father did. He sent His only Son. Maybe if He had numerous sons the sacrifice of one would be slightly more understandable. I used to ask the question (humor me), “Why didn’t the Father come down Himself?” Why send His Son. I don’t claim to have the answer as to why God does everything He does, but here is something my heart settled on.

God is a gift giver. He gave the world His only Son. He gave His precious son. I do not have children, but I can not imagine giving my child to anyone, especially for people who would not appreciate him or love him. I would say, “Take me, but you can’t have my son.” It moves my heart to think of the Father watching His Son mistreated, rejected, despised, and beaten. The Father loves the Son more than we can imagine. He loves Jesus more than we love Him. Jesus is a gift that is of high value.

The Father loves us dearly. It is easy to focus only on Jesus, who does deserve our praise and honor, but Jesus only did what He saw the Father doing. “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by Himself; He can do only what He sees His Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does,” Jesus (John 5:19). Our heavenly Father is deserving of our praise and honor for loving us so well. Here are more verses reflecting God’s love and generosity.

Romans 5:8 but God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Romans 8:37-39  No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Galatians 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.

1 John 3:1  See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know Him.

Ephesians 1: 3-10 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight. In love He predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will—to the praise of His glorious grace, which He has freely given us in the One He loves. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that He lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding,He made known to us the mystery of His will according to His good pleasure, which He purposed in Christ,to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.

Our heavenly Father loves us and has given us so much! I pray this Christmas we take time to give thanks for all God has done. There is no one who can or will love us more! Live loved dear friends.

navity

When Love Came Down (from the book I Thought I Knew What Love Was)

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When Love Came Down
written by Erin Lamb © 2011, all rights reserved.

When love came down,
there was a glorious light that shined penetrating the darkness,
for His glory no man could fully fathom.
His light pierces the darkness,
dispelling all that is untrue.
When love came down,
He walked the earth with no sin
to present Himself as the perfect sacrifice
that would pay the ultimate price to save me and to save you.
When love came down,
there was hope given to the world,
a world so full of death, sin, and darkness.
He came down to rescue us all.
He knew that no other love would suffice
and man would be perpetually unsatisfied,
for without Him there is no real peace, love, or life.
There are only counterfeits and substitutes that seek to numb the pain,
please the flesh,
and leave man hungry for more,
while giving man less and less.
When love came down,
He came to cover a multitude of sins
and reconcile a sinful world to a loving Father.
He is a loving Father
who cares so genuinely
that He sent His only Son
to pay the price for those who are lost.
When love came down,
He captured the essence of what God’s love is;
for love requires a sacrifice.
A spotless Lamb was led to the slaughter,
rejected, spat on, and abused.
How many lashes did He take for me,
and how many did He take for you?
Laying on the altar of sacrifice,
He said, “Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will,
but yours be done.”
When love came down,
He took the keys to death and hell
and triumphed over them;
passing on to all who follow Him,
eternal life
and access to the Holy One.
He is the One who made it all.
We are able to go boldly to the Throne of His Grace,
freely forgiven,
with no guilt or disgrace.
When we confess our sins to Him,
He blots them out, and He does not remember them again.
The Creator of the Universe
sent His love into the world and even calls us His own.
I know no love so satisfying.
I know no love
that has the capability to renovate,
redeem,
and save all who have gone astray.
He is the only One who can love us past our sin.
He extends His love in
healing,
transforming,
delivering,
and freeing the captive soul.
There is no person out of love’s reach,
and no issues that love cannot touch.
There is no heart that God cannot mend and restore.
When love came down,
we began to truly see
what the word, love, really means.
Nothing can separate us from His love.
He is there even when we turn from Him,
run from His will,
stumble and fall,
seeking to do life our way.
I see Him standing there
with loving eyes saying, “You are Mine;
‘See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands’.
My covenant of love with you I will keep.
I am here waiting for you to realize
that I am all that you need.
I seek to give you the very best of Me.
I want to fill every void and meet your every deficiency.
Even if the entire world turns and walks away,
My love for you will always be the same.
It out spans time,
for I am not limited by time or space.
I have loved you
before you could even say your name.
I never sleep.
I have no requirement for rest.
I watch over My children
and even give My angels to watch over them.”
When love came down,
He washed the scarlet sins of a contrite heart
white as snow.
Much was given,
and there is much required.
Love cries out,
“Be My hands.
Be My feet.
Be My mouth,
and show the world what love truly means.
Love others,
forgive others,
and shine your light so brilliantly before men
that they praise your heavenly Father.”
No matter your place in the world,
it does not matter;
you were chosen, and appointed to go and bear much fruit.
You were handcrafted,
handpicked;
a masterpiece in the hands of the Father.
He does not see just who we are,
but who He created us to be.
When love came down,
He entered the world through humble circumstances.
Who would have thought a carpenter’s son,
the Son of God, would walk the earth
and then change the world?
He humbled Himself,
even to death on a cross;
the innocent One taking away the sins of the lost.
Never forget the love of God
that was here before you
and will exist after you.
Love is who He is,
and no other love can substitute
what God has done for you.
You can search the world forever,
looking for love and acceptance
in all the wrong places.
You will find real love,
true love, the most rich and purest love,
in the arms of the Father.
When love came down,
He said, “Enter into My family.
Come feast at My royal table.
Be united with Me,
and enjoy Me forever.
All the earthly things will pass away,
but My love for you will always remain.”

Copyright © 2011 Erin Lamb. Excerpt from,  “I Thought I Knew What Love Was.”

All rights reserved. No part of the material may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, without the written permission of the Publisher, Westbow Press (www.westbowpress.com), or Author, Erin Lamb. The only exception is in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Book available: http://www.westbowpress.com, http://www.barnesandnoble.com and http://www.amazon.com

I Thought I Knew What Love Was

What Does Love Look Like?

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Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends,~John 15:13.

Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us,~Romans 5:7-8.

The question that has been on my heart the past few years has been, What does love look like? The world has so many definitions of love. People say, “I love you,” quickly and easily, and the meaning behind those words is lost. God modeled love for us. The Father sent His one and only Son. Jesus came down, and gave His life as a ransom for all.

When I think of love, I see one nailed scarred hand on the left and another on the right. I see a crown of thorns. I see a body beaten beyond recognition. I see love on a rugged cross. Many people can see love there, at the foot of the cross, but it still feels or seems like blanket love. Many believe Christ died for all, so His love is not personal. Look at these verses.

What is the price of five sparrows–two copper coins? Yet God does not forget a single one of them. And the very hairs on your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are more valuable to God than a whole flock of sparrows,~Luke 12:6-7.

Every person who lives or who has ever lived has tremendous value to God. He knows everything there is to know about every person. Knowing our failures and imperfections, He still pursues us for a loving relationship. God knows how many tears you’ve cried, every memory you’ve ever had, every heartache, and the very structure of your DNA. No one invests that much time in knowing someone they don’t value or love. God’s love for you is tailored to you. It’s a love worth investing our time and energy. God is fascinating. Even though He knows what we will do or say before we do it, He still enjoys every moment with us.

When you don’t feel loved:

If you’ve read my book or testimony in previous posts, you will see my life with Jesus hasn’t been all skipping in the park with baskets of flowers. I have had seasons where I felt as though God was punishing me for something. God always loved me, but I allowed my circumstances to determine my feelings. Faith is the key to unlock the door. When we believe we are loved, we see the manifestation of love in our lives. Unbelief places these cracked glasses on us and we see the world in a manner that is distorted. The first step to receiving God’s love is to believe God loves us. Once we believe, the glasses of unbelief are replaced by a clear vision of faith.

Final Notes:

God has not prevented every bad thing from happening to me, but He has worked it for a greater good. He has given me more than what I’ve lost. He has given Himself. There is no greater gift than a relationship with Him. He saves, heals, delivers, and restores. So no matter what you’ve faced, Jesus is the solution. I encourage you to dive into the depths of His heart.

My prayer for you friends is that you know the height, the width, depth, breath, and expanse of God’s love. We will not be able to love others the way God loves us if we have yet to receive God’s love for us. What does love look like? It looks like God. It’s a love that is not dependent on the other person. It is a love that is generous and lavish in giving. It is a love that is sacrificial in nature. It is a love that places the well-being and needs of another above its own. God is LOVE!

God’s love for you will not end….tumblr image.

God Suffered (He Knows How You Feel)

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You are never alone. God is with you. Tumblr Image.

He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows, and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. 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, Isaiah 53:2-5.

Those verses are used to describe Jesus. Our Jesus who lived a sinless life was persecuted, despised, abused, rejected, and betrayed by one of His own Judas. Judas sold Jesus out for some silver. Do you ever stop to think that God knows how you feel? More than you can express in words, God sees and knows how you feel. Not only did Jesus suffer, He was tempted. See verses below.

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are–yet was without sin, ~Hebrews 4:15.

The Bible tells us Jesus was not physically appealing. He would not have made it into our People’s Most Beautiful issue. Have you allowed the world to make you feel less than desirable due to media images? True beauty is found in a person’s heart. If the world says you are not beautiful, it said the same of Jesus. You are beautiful because God defines beauty and worth.

The Bible tells us that Jesus suffered. He not only suffered on the day of His crucifixion. He suffered by being rejected by His own people. He was hated without cause. When people found out He could heal the sick they followed Him, He had to escape to be alone with the Father. The disciples frequently doubted Him, fell asleep on Him on the most important night of His life, the night before the cross. He was falsely accused. Peter denied Him three times. Jesus did not enjoy the joys of having His own family. He had to leave His earthly parents and friends at the age of 33. Jesus knows the depths of pain and suffering. On the cross He felt the pain for all sin. That is a pain we can’t begin to fathom. Our God suffered for us.

So, whatever you face this week dear friends know that God understands. There is nothing we face that God is not familiar with or can’t empathize with. He is the God who knows the depths of suffering.

May God bless you with peace, comfort, love, and joy this week. Praying for you!

Love,

Erin

Your Real Enemy (Part II)

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I normally don’t write two posts back to back, but I hope this post will be a blessing. I recommend reading yesterday’s post, Your Real Enemy, as well. I wanted to write about people today. People have been tagged as our enemies for years. If I were to ask you who your enemies were, I bet you could name a few people. It may be a leader, family member, boss, sibling, parent, co-worker, or ex-friend/spouse. I want to tell you once again, people are not our real enemies. People can be used by God or the devil. At any given moment a person can be used to bless or curse. Even people who go to your church can be used by the evil one, if they are not walking under the influence of the Holy Spirit. Here is an example from my own life.

My first job out of college I encountered a manager who hated me for no reason. This person started out by telling me how I would not be successful. This person then spent the next 4 years sabotaging small things on my programs, bad mouthing me to our boss, trying to get me fired, yelling at me in public, and basically making life at work unbearable. I did tell this person on numerous occasions they could not treat me poorly, but they feared no consequences from management. I prayed a lot during that time. Honestly, I prayed this person would be terminated or quit for they not only harassed me, but others. Some of us banded together to speak with human resources to no avail. In my mind this person was an enemy. I did not hate this person, but I could not see past their actions. I saw an evil person instead of a person God loved who did not know how much they were loved.

As a young person who loved Jesus the only things I knew to do were 1. Pray 2. Try to never retaliate 3. Seek help from God and within our organization.

Fast forward, after extensive prayer, I was removed from under this person. There was a battle to be moved, and I lost all the programs where I had invested time and energy. I went from overseeing 9 programs to 1. I had to prove my worth and competency. At first I was angry because my clients loved me; I worked non stop. I was not doing anything wrong. I had great reviews from everyone except this one person, but this one person was able to plant a seed of doubt in my boss’s mind even with over a dozen other people complaining. Let’s get to the good part of the story. This person after years of harassment approached me one day to tell me they knew I was a Christian because I never retaliated against them. They are now a born again believer. Yeah Jesus! Forgiving them wasn’t easy, but it was necessary. We can’t hang on to the things people do to us. Holding on only leads to our detriment.

When we want to retaliate against people, the thing to remember is that the person attacking us is someone God deeply loves. When people attack, harass, slander, hurt, persecute others, are unloving; they have not fully received the fullness of God’s love. A person who is filled with the love of God normally won’t knowingly harm another person. A person walking in the Spirit normally won’t either. Does that mean a person filled with God’s love and Spirit won’t ever hurt others? No. As humans we stumble. We are not perfect. We can hurt people without even knowing it. If we’re listening, God will let us know if we have strayed from the path of love.

Also, there are times when we are hurt and others are hurt and it’s because of our sin or perceptions.

Our Role in Loving People

The goal is to point people to God. The goal is be an instrument of truth and grace. It is not unloving to tell another person they cannot speak hatefully to you, especially if it’s someone you’re connected to (friend, family, spouse, co-worker, child). The goal isn’t to be the world’s doormat, but to show the world that evil does not have to lead to evil. Good conquerors evil. If it’s someone close to you, you may have to set boundaries with them. Check out Dr. Cloud and Dr, Townsend’s books on Boundaries. We are called to point people to the truth.

I hope and pray that we can see people as God does. I am still praying this for myself. We may not be able to be the best of friends with everyone, but we are called to live at peace with everyone as far as it is up to us. We are called to pray for our enemies, bless and not curse, to not do harm to others. May we live loved and love others.

Grace (from I Thought I Knew What Love Was)

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The grace of God is so beautiful, and a precious gift. I hope this excerpt from I Thought I Knew What Love Was fills your heart with hope and joy. God’s love for us is vast beyond measure. You are loved beyond comprehension. Live loved.

Ephesians 2:4-9 But God,  being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when  we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ— by grace you  have been saved—and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly  places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the  immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by  grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is  the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

Grace

Copyright © 2011 Erin Lamb, all rights reserved.

There is something so incredible about grace;

like freshly fallen dew,

grace falls so sweetly each day,

watering,

refreshing,

and renewing the soul.

It glistens like the brightness of the sun,

reflecting back to the most luminous One.

He is the most brilliant One,

who showers us with His mercy and grace.

His grace is

the unmerited favor

that we do not deserve.

Grace is one of the most priceless gifts.

It is His empowering presence

that enables us and gives us power to do His good will

and pleasure.

It is His grace

that carries us from day to day,

and season to season.

It is His unquestionable love

that is beyond all human reason.

We cannot fathom or understand,

how someone so perfect

could have such overwhelming, lasting love for us.

God, in His act of perfect love,

offered up His Son,

His one and only Son.

He sent His love down

like rain from heaven,

to wash away our scarlet sins;

He leaves our hearts white and pure as snow.

We could not earn this gift,

so precious and priceless a gift.

In His loving-kindness

He sent His Holy Spirit,

the one we call the Helper,

to dwell with sinful man.

He sent His Spirit

to comfort,

to lead,

provide wisdom,

and to empower us with His gifts

that are heaven sent.

This precious gift of grace returns,

day after day, to shower creation

with His unconditional love and unmerited favor.

Instead of giving us what we are worthy of,

He offers us so much more.

He offers mankind

a taste of His sweetness,

a touch of His goodness,

and a vision of His glory.

Just as the dew replenishes the soil,

His grace

softens our pride;

it soothes our hurts and pains.

His grace

refreshes our weary hearts

and seeps into our most desperate place.

We are in desperate need of His grace,

for we stumble and we fall.

We need His direction and love to pave the way.

He alone has made the way,

the only way,

for all our hearts to be fully restored.

Grace sinks into the desperate heart,

a heart so willing to receive.

Grace saturates the hurting heart

that has acknowledged its deepest need;

the need for a Savior,

the need for a friend,

the need for forgiveness,

for a love that does not end.

As love pours in,

guilt and shame pour out;

forgiveness and acceptance take its place.

There is something so remarkable about grace!

We cannot earn it.

We are not worthy of it,

and nothing we can do, or fail to do, can change the status of grace.

Grace comes in the most beautiful package,

falling from heaven

like freshly falling dew,

with a beautiful embroidered message

addressed to me and you.

It reads ever so tenderly,

“I give you My grace, free of charge,

simply because of My love for you.”

Copyright © 2011 Erin Lamb. Excerpt from,  “I Thought I Knew What Love Was.”

All rights reserved. No part of the material may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, without the written permission of the Publisher, Westbow Press (www.westbowpress.com), or Author, Erin Lamb. The only exception is in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Book available: http://www.westbowpress.com, http://www.barnesandnoble.com and http://www.amazon.com

You And I Are One (Poem)

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Photo Credit: Microsoft Clipart

Many times we believe that God is watching the things that happen to us and it does not deeply impact His heart. I was going through a challenging time and God spoke to my heart, “You and I are one.” When you abide in Christ and He in you, He not only sees what you see. He feels what you feel. What hurts you, touches His heart.  Even for humans when we see someone we love hurting, it impacts us in a way. For we are connected to them through love and relationship. God loves us more than we can love anyone.

Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me, ~John 15:4.

To abide means to dwell, to remain, or reside. This verse is speaking of the fruits of God’s Spirit, but if you take a plant say a vine and you chop off a portion of it or injure it, it will affect the rest of the plant. If you are in Christ then the things that happen to you touch Him as well. He’s not watching your life from a distance. He is in your life living it with you. We are also told in scripture that the Holy Spirit lives in believers.

Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself,~ 1 Corinthians 6:19.

Even if you aren’t in fellowship with God, He loves you. He cares for you, and He longs for you to know the depths of His love.

You and I Are One written by Erin Lamb, all rights reserved.

I am there on the nights sorrow comes to rattle your soul.

I am not distant,

but it is I who holds your heart close.

With every tear you shed,

I whisper to your spirit to hold on.

Hold on for a new day is coming.

Hold on for the sun will rise again.

Hold on for I will turn your mourning into dancing.

You will have joy again.

The tears you’ve cried,

I’ve bottled every one.

If only you could see,

what hurts your heart, hurts Me.

I do not delight in your suffering,

nor do I glory in your pain.

My heart wells up with compassion,

and I want to hold you close to Me.

You and I are one.

Your heart is an extension of My heart.

I put My heart on display for the world to see how wonderful are the things that I create.

I created you for Me.

I created you to be loved by Me.

Oh, My child can’t you see,

I’ve given you the very best of Me.

I never want you to forget all the promises wrapped up in my Son.

I gave Him for you,

so there will one day be no more sorrow,

and no more pain.

There will be a day where you will see Me face to face.

What a delight that will be,

for you to look into the eyes of Love,

and see what I’ve always wanted you to see.

Pure, unconditional love.

A love that was here before you.

A love that breathed life into you.

A love that died and was resurrected for you.

A love that is here for you.

You and I are one.

I would do it all again

just to give you the chance to be My friend.

My heart longs for you.

My heart aches for you to see

that what matters to you,

matters to Me.

You are loved.

You are cared for.

You will always find comfort in Me.

Come rest in a love that will fill you, heal you, restore you, and change you into the person I created you to be.

I love you now,

and I will love you for all of eternity.

 

Me and Abba (The Perfect Father)

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It’s good to look back and reflect on what God has done. The next two posts will give you a glimpse on my walk with God (The Perfect Father). I hope it inspires you.

Scripture tells us to forget those things which are behind and to press towards what is ahead, Phil 3:13. It also tells us to remember all the good things God has done for us. Let us not forget the things He has seen us through. Here’s a simple recap for me of the last 10 years.

In the past 10 years I’ve lost a parent (my adopted mom), who was my best friend. She died the year I graduated college. Watching her die was the worst thing I have ever lived through. She was one of the best things that ever happened to my life, and I will miss her forever. I’ve seen both my parents battle cancer. I watched my biological mom lose her job, her car, her home, endure endless pain and suffering, and endure 7 major surgeries due to a hit and run accident that nearly destroyed her body. I’ve battled my own health issues, emotional issues, and baggage from years of bad things happening and traumas. I’ve had 3 lovely stalkers, ditched one extremely verbally abusive boyfriend, survived multiple near death experiences, and endured many a relational drama. Looking back I see a person held together by the hand of God.

There’s no way I could have survived everything that happened without Him. I only gave you a summary, there’s so much more He’s seen me through. He’s everything. And though there were days where I would wish for home, He never let me go. Suffering and I were bedfellows. But I tell you that no matter how bad it hurts today, God never fails. Gosh, I wish I could rid the world of pain and suffering, but it’s here until He returns. Our comfort rests in the truth that God steps into suffering; He heals, comforts, delivers, and restores.

There is one Man who will carry you when you cannot even lift your head. He is Jesus. I take no glory in my own strength because it fails. I do lean my head on the chest of the One who took nails for me. He did it for you too! So, my prayer today is that you find hope in Jesus. He will never leave or forsake you. I can’t promise much, but I can bet my life on that one thing….Why? Because I am still alive, healthy, and still standing!

Look back at the things God has seen you through…you will see that even when it hurt to breathe, He never let you go. He will never let you go. And the sweetest thing is that God not only saves, He heals, and He delivers. 

Have a very blessed week.

Love,

Erin

P.S You are deeply loved! Today and every day.

The Perfect Father’s Discipline

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The Perfect Father’s Discipline

Photo Credit: Microsoft Clipart

Written by Erin Lamb, all rights reserved.

God is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and rich in love, ~Psalm 145:8.

The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is
patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to
repentance, ~2 Peter 3:9.

Dear friends, nothing raises more arguments than the subject of how God disciplines His children. Some cling to the Old Testament examples of God striking people dead while others believe that God is okay with whatever we do. Let’s allow the pendulum to swing to truth and dissect a perfect parent’s discipline.

1. The Perfect Father protects. God is holy (has no fault; He is perfection) .God hates sin. Why? Sin is falling short of His standard. He is spotless, and sin is pollution. Sin also separates us (His children) from the best life possible. Sin is like cancer, it multiplies and destroys its host. Think of it this way, we keep poisons away from children. We tell them no when they try to get to them. We do these things out of love. We know more than they know that what they are after leads to death. The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ, ~Romans 6:23. Adam and Eve didn’t die physically when they sinned but they did die a spiritual death. We too suffer when we choose our way above God’s way. He is always right. So…

The Perfect Father points His children away from things that will harm them, especially sin. He doesn’t say no because He hates us or wants to spoil the party. He knows that sin will lead to our destruction. God is love, life, peace, hope, and joy.

2. God disciplines primarily through words, not killing people. If you pick up a Bible and read it, you will notice God spoke to people either directly or through someone else to warn them of their behavior. He asks questions. Why did you do this? If He was out to kill every person who didn’t do what He said, then we would all be in trouble. Adam was the first sinner. He directly disobeyed God. Adam lived.  Abraham lied on several occasions and he lived. He became a great father of faith. David committed adultery and had someone killed to have their wife. David lived and was called a man after God’s own heart. God never condones bad behavior. He does however give us a chance to repent (change our ways), and He is generous with forgiveness. See 2 Peter 3:9.

4. God knows our hearts and weaknesses. Some of us do the wrong thing and have no idea we are falling short. There are some of us who willingly do the wrong thing. God knows whether we understand or we don’t understand. For example a parent would have a different response to a 2-year-old who destroys something in the house and a teenager. Either way, God is patient with us. If He weren’t, I certainly would not be typing to you.

5. God is not out to get you. There are so many people who have an unhealthy fear of God. It is true that we reverence Him as God. However, He is not sitting in the heavens looking down for someone to pick on. He is not cruel or blood-thirsty. God is love. More than anything He wants a relationship with His children, to protect them from harm, and to bless His offspring. Jesus came not to destroy the world, but to save it so we could all be reconciled to the Father (John 3:17).

6. The Perfect Father gives freedom. God gives us many chances to choose the right path before He allows us to be turned over to our own desires. He pursues our best interests right up until the point we say, “I don’t need or want you.” I have seen people self-destruct not because of what God was doing, but because of their own poor choices.  Even still, if they turn around and want Him, He runs with arms wide open (think..prodigal son story-Luke 15:11-25)

Lastly, just like the photo in this post, God is looking at you with the eyes of love. He is saying, “This is my child and I want nothing more than to be in this moment with you. I am so glad I made you.”  God is a loving, patient, and caring Father. My prayer is any ideas of Him you have that contradict that truth are uprooted. He does not want to harm you, but to give you an amazing life. You are deeply loved.

Who’s My Father? (The Perfect Father)

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The Perfect Father

By Erin Lamb, all rights reserved

Dear friends, I am so excited about this series on God as the Perfect Father. One thing that stirs my heart is the misrepresentation of God’s heart. He doesn’t need anyone to defend Him. However, I’m passionate about His heart being accurately portrayed. Why you may ask? I’m surrounded by people who don’t know God. Some claim to be atheists, some believe God hates them, some are so overwhelmed with shame they can’t imagine a loving God, and some have been told God is a cruel task master. My heart aches for the world to know how GOOD God is. So, as we embark on this journey together, here are some things I’d love for you to ponder.

1. All human beings were created in God’s image and are His children. He is the Father of all creation (Genesis 1). Some of His kids are reconciled through Jesus and some have yet to be reconciled or may refuse His love. In His heart every child has value. God is daily pursuing reconciliation with His kids.

2. God’s parenting is perfect, we just don’t always experience His love. He has been misrepresented by humans. Our earthly parents may have failed but He is perfect. Developing a personal relationship with Him is the only way to fully know His heart. No person can have the relationship for us, we must accept His invitation for ourselves.

3. God knows all, sees all, and hears all. I’ve heard people say they are too far gone for God to bless or love them. Well, here’s a thought to ponder…God knew everything you would do before you were born. He is not limited by time or space. You were His idea. Your parents were His idea. He loved you before you were born. He loves you today. There’s nothing you can do to change His love!

Prayer for you:

Father I ask for every person who visits this site to have an encounter with Your heart. May they have a deeper revelation of Your love as their loving Father. For those who don’t know You, may they be reconciled to You, the One who loves them most.

P.S You are deeply loved and have a loving Heavenly Father!