CHOOSE 2 THINK
  • Home
  • Mentoring
  • FUM Online Course
  • Podcast
  • Books & Membership
  • FREEBIE
  • Blog
  • Exclusives
  • Merch
    • Amazon Merch
  • Podcast Guest Form
  • Guest Writers
  • Connect
  • Media Kit
  • Declutter Challenge
  • Fired Up Mind Challenge
  • Home
  • Mentoring
  • FUM Online Course
  • Podcast
  • Books & Membership
  • FREEBIE
  • Blog
  • Exclusives
  • Merch
    • Amazon Merch
  • Podcast Guest Form
  • Guest Writers
  • Connect
  • Media Kit
  • Declutter Challenge
  • Fired Up Mind Challenge
Search
Intellifluence Trusted Blogger
Picture

God's Love (Part 2)

8/8/2013

 
Picture
    As we have attempted to better understand the character and nature of God's love, in Part 1 we established the foundational, Biblical basis for God's love for us.  Today, let's consider our own parental relationship with our children.   This, in turn, will provide for us a model for our relationship with our own Heavenly Father.  We know we love our children--this should help us better understand how God loves us as His children.

    When our children were infants, we held them close at every turn.  We heard their cries and tended to their every need.     When they were toddlers, we shadowed them constantly, keeping them nurtured, occupied,  and safe from harm.  When they were preschoolers, we joyfully did life alongside them (reading, baking, walking, talking, listening, working, serving, worshiping, praying, and playing).   

    This is love in action, a kingdom principle. As parents, we place our children under our power, authority, protection, and provision, where all actions are motivated by love.  We know what they need better than they do.  Our children do not intellectualize or analyze our great love for them from the outside looking in.  No, they stand within our love for them and are doused by it, fully surrounded and saturated by it.  They freely receive our love, gulping it in, no strings attached.  They experience it fully, and as they mature, they learn to depend upon it. 

    Our love for them covers over a multitude of sin.  Our love is unconditional and ought to be laced with patience, kindness, humility, honor, forgiveness, truth, hope, perseverance, and protection.  Our parental love plants within their tender and innocent hearts the burgeoning seeds of communal relationship.  We desire to be with our children, and our children desire to be with us.  

    Now let's see ourselves as the children of a Heavenly Father.  What does it mean to come to the Lord as a child or to have a child-like faith? I think it might mean that we come humbly and expectantly to the Lord, full of trust and with our eyes wide open.  We approach Him as we are, dirty fingernails and all.  We desire His presence because we know He delights in ours.  We know He loves us without exception or condition.

    He hears our cries, feeds us, nurtures us, provides for us, and  protects us.  He loves us unconditionally.  He knows what we need better than we do.

    As His child, we receive His love in order to know Him and to experience His love.  When we receive His love we receive His kingdom.   Jesus made a point of beckoning young children into His presence.  In Luke we read:  "But Jesus called for them, saying, 'Permit the children to come to Me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all'" (18:16-17).

    We may have knowledge that He loves us.  We may even receive this love and this kingdom (salvation) but then choose not to become continually filled with and saturated by this love.  Friends, when we are not centered within His love, we enter a danger zone where situations and conditions reign. Instead of rising above circumstance, we bow before it. 

     In essence, we pull the plug on God's love.  Our hearts are swept away by shifting tides, and we lose our bearings.  Instead of stationing ourselves firmly within His love (like a trusting child), we position ourselves outside of it.  We exchange child-like faith for adult-like intellect.  We exchange life-giving surrender for life-zapping human striving.

    After we have knowledge of His love and after we come to Him as a child receiving HIs kingdom, how are we then sustained by His love for us?  In other words, how does His love affect how we live and what difference does His love make in the day-to-day of it all?  How do we live within His love instead of without it?

    We are getting closer to the answer....Stay tuned for Part 3 where we will discuss Elevation.

The Lord GOD is my strength,
And He has made my feet like hinds' feet,
And  makes me walk on my high places.
Habakkuk 3:19

Comments are closed.
    Picture

    Hot Topics

    All
    Addiction
    Books
    Brain
    C2T Digital Courses
    C2T Merch
    Choose 2 Think Podcast
    Comfort
    Conflict
    Creativity
    Current Events
    Day To Day
    Detox
    Devotional
    Emotions
    Fear
    Gratitude
    Grief
    Guest Blogger
    Health
    Heart And Mind
    Home Ec
    Hope
    JOY
    Ky Small Biz
    Love
    Marriage
    Menopause
    Mindsets
    NANApreneurship
    Non Profit Organizations
    Patience
    Praise
    Psalms
    Restoration
    Shame
    Small Biz
    Spain
    Surveys
    Thought Strategy Session
    Trust

    RSS Feed

    All content © Victoria D. Walker, 2013-2022.
All rights reserved. Copyright ©VictoriaD.Walker, 2013-present.  Material from  choose2think.co  may not be copied,  reproduced, or distributed in any way without consent.  Scripture quotations, unless otherwise noted, taken from the New American Standard Bible, Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation.  Use by permission.  (www.Lockman.org).   Bragging rights for stock photos go to UnSplash, Pexels, Pixabay, and Canva.    The information contained on this website  is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as health or medical advice. Always consult a physician or other qualified health provider regarding any questions you may have about a medical condition or health objectives.  Your information is safe with us. If you opt in to our newsletter or provide personal information such as name and email, this information is never sold.  *As an Amazon Associate I may earn a small commission from qualifying purchases. 
Photos used under Creative Commons from INTVGene, photoloni, classroomcamera, Rosenfeld Media, david.nikonvscanon, Free For Commercial Use (FFC), Ionics, Georgie Pauwels, Free For Commercial Use (FFC), Art4TheGlryOfGod by Sharon, Antonio Marano, libertyslens, jafsegal (Thanks for the 4 million views), glen.dahlman, Mister-E, h.koppdelaney, sarah|rose, Agnes_F, pennuja, Daquella manera, TomCollins, erink_photography, torbakhopper, AntonStetner, Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, UofT, Javcon117*, Carl Campbell, bud ellison - from the street, VIVOBAREFOOT, Free For Commercial Use (FFC), Elin B, DeeAshley, auntjojo, dejankrsmanovic, One Click Group UK, barnimages.com, Steve @ the alligator farm, x1klima, Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com, Ktoine, trendingtopics, wuestenigel, AntonStetner, marcoverch, marciadotcom, wuestenigel, berniedup, Mannia&Titta, Semtrio, wuestenigel, Joe The Goat Farmer, anaulin, dejankrsmanovic, Ramona.Forcella, RichardBH, Brett Jordan, Phototravelography, MixedGrill, Free Public Domain Illustrations by rawpixel, spaceodissey, Horia Varlan, SupportPDX, Kevin Doncaster, Kiwi Mikex, bluebirdsandteapots, ccPixs.com, marcoverch, jennnster, Tobyotter, Fan.D & Dav.C Photgraphy, francesxcabrini, cuatrok77, Liam Quinn, mattieb, Sam Howzit, Bombardier, geyergus, josemanuelerre, mike.harris666, j neuberger, velkr0, Jonathan Kos-Read, AK Rockefeller, alsteele, chrisbulle, pasotraspaso, Vox Efx, lrargerich, KnockOut_Photographs, Steve Snodgrass, ictsan, padshewscky, rob.wall, RLEVANS, lcm1863, CarbonNYC, Pink Sherbet Photography, faungg, jean-louis zimmermann, The Moving Architects, ell brown, S. Parker, mikebaird, Clevergrrl, iamthatphotoguy, arka D, martinteschner, Tim Green aka atoach, Daniel E Bruce, FutureLight Studios, Sweet Carolina Photography, Lauren Manning, 【J】, dullhunk, amslerPIX, TheAlieness GiselaGiardino²³, Aya Demeter Photography & Design, worobod, hectorlandaeta, Pavel ahmed, skedonk, philnelson, El Bibliomata, h.koppdelaney, Albion Europe ApS, ~Merete, Randy Son Of Robert, khawkins04, .Bala, Perspective on Art, EricaJoy, Afroswede, ZerO 81, Jaypeg21, PhoTones_TAKUMA, W J (Bill) Harrison, Skinned Mink, Craig Spence, myhsu, margaretsdad, Rosenwald, ilkerender, jessleecuizon, Carlos Gracia, Patrick Feller, zigazou76, daniel spils, Grafik Mekanik, MeganMc89, jenny downing, FutureLight Studios, Kelly Colgan Azar, Patrick Hoesly, Claudio , fireflythegreat, rmhowie, mollystevens, LornaWatt, phrawr, MAMJODH, OliBac, TenaciousR, MCetty, visualpanic, ChadCooperPhotos, theseanster93, themostinept, Keith Allison, Rodrigo_Soldon, photogramma1, Nesster, VinothChandar, Katie@!, billoberstjr, ~yienshawn92~, rambla, AbbyD11, martinak15, Ed Yourdon, MSVG, wplynn, Manoj Kengudelu, ken2754@Yokohama, Arry_B, quinn.anya, Mister-E, byJoeLodge, gags9999, nick.amoscato, AForestFrolic, steakpinball, patti haskins
  • Home
  • Mentoring
  • FUM Online Course
  • Podcast
  • Books & Membership
  • FREEBIE
  • Blog
  • Exclusives
  • Merch
    • Amazon Merch
  • Podcast Guest Form
  • Guest Writers
  • Connect
  • Media Kit
  • Declutter Challenge
  • Fired Up Mind Challenge