Sunday, December 28, 2014

God Doesn't Love Me.....



You did not misread. You read it right. I say again, "God doesn’t love me….."

When I think, if God really loves me, He will give me everything I ask for, then God doesn’t love me…..

When I think, if God truly loves me, He will not let me face suffering, then God doesn’t love me…..

When I think, if God really loves me, He will not rebuke me for cherishing sin, then God doesn’t love me…..

When I think, if God truly loves me, He will always immediately come for my rescue from troubles, then God doesn’t love me…..

When I think, if God really loves me, He will bless me with all the comforts of life, then God doesn’t love me…..

When I think, if God truly loves me, He will not discipline me, then God doesn’t love me…..

When I think, if God really loves me, He simply accepts me as I am with all my weaknesses and being happy with as I am, then God doesn’t love me…..

This is what I want to say—GOD DOESN’T LOVE ME ACCORDING TO MY TERMS AND EXPECTATIONS.

Many create their own opinions about how God should treat them if He really loves them, and then when He doesn’t meet their expectations, they question, “Does God love me? Does He care for me?” I say to them, “Yes, God doesn’t love you . . . He doesn’t love you according to your own terms and expectations.”

One of the biggest problems I see in us is this—we don’t want to allow God to be God. Nevertheless, if we desire to know God, we have to open ourselves to understand Him the way He revealed Himself to us in His word. God is love but the manifestation of His love isn’t always according to our expectations. God doesn't love us according to our will; He loves us according to His will.

This is what I have learned in my more than eighteen years of Christian life—the love of God is exhilarating and indescribable, and even hurting and incomprehensible. 

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God did not just say, “Ask and it will be given to you”; He also said, “If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you” (Matt. 7:7; John 15:7). When we abide in God and His word abide in us, do we not ask according to His will, not according to our whim?


Many try to claim the promises of God without an abiding relationship with Him and without an obedient heart to His word. And when those promises are not fulfilled in them, they question, “Does God really love me?” God’s promises are not for those who live to gratify their selfishness. It is for those who seek to crucify their selfishness to walk in godliness.

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The Lord nowhere said, “If you follow me, you will have no suffering in life.” In fact, He precisely said, “In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). The apostles cautioned, “through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22). 

Suffering has a special purpose in a Christian’s life. The Scripture says that it is through various kinds of suffering that our faith is tested, producing patience and maturity in life (James 1:2-4). In other words—no adversity, no maturity. God loves us to become mature and He has to allow us to walk through suffering. There is both joy and pain in Christian life.

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The Lord said to the Laodicean church, “Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent” (Rev. 3:19). Rebuke and discipline are the signs of God’s love for us in leading us to repentance. God’s love doesn’t spoil us in sin; His love sanctifies us from sin.

When we don’t repent of our sins, God has to bring a rod of discipline in our lives, leading us to repentance. This is a most painful experience to go through. For this reason, it is written, “For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it” (Heb. 12:11).

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God did not teach us to pray for luxuries, but for our daily bread (Matt. 6:11). He did not encourage us to seek earthly comforts, but earthly contentment. It is written, "But godliness with contentment is great gain, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content" (1 Tim. 6:6-8).

Yet God did say about His kingdom and it is by seeking His kingdom that all our needs are met (Matt. 6:33). He also mentioned about heavenly riches and motivated us to seek them. And these heavenly riches are stored for us not by gaining riches on earth for ourselves but by giving them away to the needy (Luke 12:32-34). God's love encourages us to seek generosity with earthly goods, not earthly prosperity. 

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Yes, God does accept us as we are, with all our sins and weaknesses. But that’s not the end. When I see my child fallen in the mire of mud, I do accept him as he is. But what do I do later? I will make sure that he becomes clean from the dirt and stay neat.

Sadly, many just relish the idea of God accepting them as they are without any passion for godliness. They do all kinds of sins and rejoice saying, "God loves me as I am. He doesn't judge me. Hallelujah." No broken-heart over sin. No passion for holiness. They are happily deceived into thinking that God loves them as they are without seeking to obey the Scripture which says, “be imitators of God, as beloved children” (Eph. 5:1).

God does accept us as we are, not to remain as we are, but to become as He is. God accepts sinners to become saints, not to remain as sinners. He accepts me as I am, not to make me feel good, but to help me live godly. The purpose of God in choosing and accepting us as we are is to conform us to the image of Christ Jesus (Rom. 8:29).
 
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Finally, I am glad God loves me not according to my terms and expectations. He loves me the way He revealed Himself to me in His word. His love hurts me at times, but I know it never harms me. His love doesn't please my 'self', but it does builds my life. How great is His love! Blessed be His Name.

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Enquiries: 

cstephendavid@gmail.com (or) messageforourage@gmail.com

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