The love of God is unconditional. My salvation does not rest on a condition.
Yes!…God does require repentance, but because of His love I want to repent and He gives me the gift of repentance. I must get away from the belief that I can move the hand of God, i.e if I do this, God will do that. God will only do that for His glory.
We all have to address the issue of pain from time to time, be it physical or emotional pain. Suffering is something we must come to terms with in our walk with God.
Phil: 3 v 10 “That I might know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings.”
2 Cor: 1 v 7 “That as ye are partakers of the sufferings, so shall ye be also of the consolation.”
Faithfulness in the midst of our trials is something very dear to the heart of God. The suffering of a saint is permitted of God not because He is a cruel God, but to make me aware of my need of Him and to change the attitude of my heart.
Rev: 2 v 7 promises – “To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst of the paradise of God.” We all want the latter (the paradise of God) but the way to it is the over-coming life. The over-coming life glorifies God because it aligns itself with the triumphant work of Calvary. It believes God’s word that the works of Satan have been destroyed
and as I walk in the truth of the word of God this becomes reality and truth to me.
Rev: 12 v 11 “And they overcame him (Satan) by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony and loved not their lives unto the death.”
Coming to know God as He is demands that I bow to Him as God. I do not put His attributes before His person – i.e His love, His grace, His mercy, which are revealed after I bow to Him as God. He is not a loving God. He is not a gracious God. He is not a merciful God. Firstly God is God!! When I worship Him AS God, I then discover -He is a God of love. He is a God of grace. He is a God of mercy.
To glorify God in my life demands I come to know Him as He is!!
Romans:1 v 21 declares – “That when they knew God they glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful, but became vain in their imaginations and their foolish hearts became darkened.”
Is there a place where I can be thankful in pain and suffering and change my attitude towards adversity? YES! YES! YES!. 1 Thes: 5 v 18 “In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.”
The first step to the over-coming life is not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil but of the tree of life, (Genesis 3) –which is in the midst of the paradise of God. Amen.
