How are we supposed to love God?

[atwhatcost]

The prophet Daniel wrote, “And I prayed unto the Lord my God, and made my confession, and said, O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him, and to them that keep his commandments;” (Daniel 9:4)

Israel broke the covenant that God gave, just like Christianity is breaking the renewed covenant that is offered in Christ. The covenant is evidenced by an exchange of love between God and His people, but is incumbent upon mankind to love God and to demonstrate love to others by keeping the commandments.

James wrote, “If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself, ye do well:” (James 2:8)

The majority of Christian theologians translate the word “fulfill” as “bring to an end” but it clearly means to bring to a reality, perform and do, as in a person's duty to love their spouse by their actions, where the actions of love is love demonstrated. To fulfill the “righteousness of the law”, as Paul said in Romans 8:4, means to have the love of the Father dwelling within the soul, and this means to not only welcome God the Father's commandments but to delight in them as obedient children.

“Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.” (John 15:13-14) Jesus speaks according to the Spirit of God in Him rather than His own soul; therefore “whatsoever I command you” is specifically referring to God's instructions in righteousness known to us as the Torah. “For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak.” (John 12:49)

And you're missing what the NT is too.

The OT was a covenant between God and Man. Man kept breaking it.

So, the NT is a covenant between God the Father and God the Son. It's not broken, never will be broken. It rest on God through God, so don't underestimate God so much. He will, and does, have himself a people. The only thing we need to remember is who his real peeps are. And, really we don't know, so even that's God's thing.

(Again, this doesn't do anything for me on figuring out how to love God well.)

 

[oldthennew]

If you think what America has become now would embarrass S & G, you don't have a handle on how bad S & G was, nor how bad America used to be.

On the other hand, I do agree that love has become tolerance too much in Christianity, because, apparently, that OT was no big thang.

=========================================================

just as an add -

we have read in many sources that the usa is #1 in the world of 'porn' -
and in the very TOP #'s of 'slave-trading' -

so, the question 'IS', is Christianity really Christianity'??? -
or is it merely a 'puppet' with the strings being pulled by the 'dark/puppeteer'????

as it is written:

'you shall know them by their fruits'.

 

[just-me]

And you're missing what the NT is too.

The OT was a covenant between God and Man. Man kept breaking it.

So, the NT is a covenant between God the Father and God the Son. It's not broken, never will be broken. It rest on God through God, so don't underestimate God so much. He will, and does, have himself a people. The only thing we need to remember is who his real peeps are. And, really we don't know, so even that's God's thing.

(Again, this doesn't do anything for me on figuring out how to love God well.)

I think humans are involved in the New Covenant just like Israel and Judah were in the Old Covenant. The Almighty God of both is still a God of love where there is no shadow of turning. The problem is that professing Christians today turn away from Him just as Israel did under the old covenant. God is no different than He was back then and humans are no different than they were back then.

"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning." James 1:17

We (in the New) have a different High Priest other than Aaron and a different Mediator other than Moses.

"The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken;" Deuteronomy 18:15

"For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you." Acts 3:22

Both Moses and Aaron died and were never raised from the dead even though Moses showed up on the mount of transfiguration when the priesthood was handed over to Christ Jesus.

"Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:" Jeremiah 31:31

"For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah:" Hebrews 8:8

"And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance." Hebrews 9:15

"For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins." Romans 11:27

"And the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the Lord.As for me, this is my covenant with them, saith the Lord; My spirit that is upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed's seed, saith the Lord, from henceforth and for ever." Isaiah 59:20-21

 

[just-me]

"And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:" Hebrews 10:24

"Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments. Exodus 20:5-6

"And this is love, that we walk after his commandments. This is the commandment, That, as ye have heard from the beginning, ye should walk in it." 2 John 1:6

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." John 1:1

Are Christ's commandments differnt in Spirit than that of the Old Covenant, seeing, and knowing Jesus is the Word from the beginning? Genesis 1:1-2 LIGHT!! LET THERE BE LIGHT!

"If ye love me, keep my commandments." John 14:15

"And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us," John 1:14a

 

[p_rehbein]

/////////////////

 

[Violet24]

“If you love me, keep my commands. 16And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— 17the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be[SUP]c[/SUP] in you. 18I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. 21Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.”

 

[bondservant]

It's been my experience to love God with word thought and deed was only the tip of the iceberg, when I finally realized what a train wreck I was and the hurt I caused and realized he still loved and excepted me and gave his all for me then my heart found that unspeakable joy that only comes from him. My soul cried Abba and he heard. What a glorious feeling. All I can say is affliction causes healing and I trust him with my life. How great tho are is a understatement. I asked him to remind me daily of that event to humble me so that I can serve him better. To be broken is a beautiful thing, to be in the hands of the Lord pleading for your very life is a awful terrible fearful thing, then to realize how much he love me and had mercy on me ...life changing to say the least.

 

[atwhatcost]

I think humans are involved in the New Covenant just like Israel and Judah were in the Old Covenant. The Almighty God of both is still a God of love where there is no shadow of turning. The problem is that professing Christians today turn away from Him just as Israel did under the old covenant. God is no different than He was back then and humans are no different than they were back then.

"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning." James 1:17

We (in the New) have a different High Priest other than Aaron and a different Mediator other than Moses.

"The Lord thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee, of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken;" Deuteronomy 18:15

"For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you." Acts 3:22

Both Moses and Aaron died and were never raised from the dead even though Moses showed up on the mount of transfiguration when the priesthood was handed over to Christ Jesus.

"Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:" Jeremiah 31:31

"For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah:" Hebrews 8:8

"And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance." Hebrews 9:15

"For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins." Romans 11:27

"And the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the Lord.As for me, this is my covenant with them, saith the Lord; My spirit that is upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed's seed, saith the Lord, from henceforth and for ever." Isaiah 59:20-21

God <----what connects the two of us.

Political opinion <------what tears us apart.

Already figured out we aren't going to agree on the politics. I'd like to keep this on God and how do we love him? We might actually agree there, or, better yet, learn.

 

[atwhatcost]

It's been my experience to love God with word thought and deed was only the tip of the iceberg, when I finally realized what a train wreck I was and the hurt I caused and realized he still loved and excepted me and gave his all for me then my heart found that unspeakable joy that only comes from him. My soul cried Abba and he heard. What a glorious feeling. All I can say is affliction causes healing and I trust him with my life. How great tho are is a understatement. I asked him to remind me daily of that event to humble me so that I can serve him better. To be broken is a beautiful thing, to be in the hands of the Lord pleading for your very life is a awful terrible fearful thing, then to realize how much he love me and had mercy on me ...life changing to say the least.

Asking God to remind me of the events that caused me to trust him, would be like asking God for patience. Be careful what you ask, because when he says Yes, you can't then change his mind. lol

You know Paul's thorn in the side? Mine isn't a thorn, but it is under my ribs. It is real pain. The other thing is hubby's is real pain. Both are 24/7. You might well be asking for a thorn in your side, and, dangit! They hurt! lol

Have you read Joni Eereckson Tada and Steve Estes book, When God Weeps? Good book. It also sounds like you helped write it. God's got you where he wants you. Good going! Truly.

 

[sparkman]

I would suggest that those who may be concerned about the need to keep the Sabbath, Holy Days, or clean/unclean meat laws read the book Sabbath In Crisis by Dale Ratzlaff.

These elements of the Old Covenant are ceremonial or ritualistic laws and are not required of New Covenant Christians.

I am not going to argue this point on this thread, but I would encourage you to check out this book. I spent a decade of my life involved with a group that claimed these observances were required of New Covenant Christians.

The focus of such groups is not on Jesus Christ and salvation by grace through faith in Him. Their message is about the need to keep these ceremonial and ritualistic elements of the Old Covenant. It is a false gospel. I regret the decade I spent following such teachings.

Besides teaching such things, groups like this teach other bad doctrine typically. The group I was involved with taught that mankind was in the process of being perfected to become a God being. They also denied the Trinity and much of what orthodox Christianity teaches.

 

[Brother_Don]

with our lives, heart, mind, soul, waking in the morning and asking the Father. What can i do for you today LORD? Not what are you going to do for me. Lets let our Love Light shine for Jesus, and make this dark world hunger for that Light.

 

[just-me]

O How I Love Jesus

 

[bondservant]

I think the hardest part of believing as a child of God for some is excepting God for who he is. We all know that we can't out give God. So when it comes to love I think we all fall short as far as measure, but if we stumble over ourselves.just trying to give back a portion of the love he has for us, I think that's a good thing and the Lord delights in that. We can never repay the debt that we owe but then we were never asked to. How great is our God that he should ever consider us?

 

[just-me]

I think the hardest part of believing as a child of God for some is excepting God for who he is. We all know that we can't out give God. So when it comes to love I think we all fall short as far as measure, but if we stumble over ourselves.just trying to give back a portion of the love he has for us, I think that's a good thing and the Lord delights in that. We can never repay the debt that we owe but then we were never asked to. How great is our God that he should ever consider us?

In a love relationship the gratification that is given to the giver is just as valuable as the gift that comes from the giver.

"I have shewed you all things, how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive." Acts 20:35

It's Agape love!

 

[atwhatcost]

I would suggest that those who may be concerned about the need to keep the Sabbath, Holy Days, or clean/unclean meat laws read the book Sabbath In Crisis by Dale Ratzlaff.

These elements of the Old Covenant are ceremonial or ritualistic laws and are not required of New Covenant Christians.

I am not going to argue this point on this thread, but I would encourage you to check out this book. I spent a decade of my life involved with a group that claimed these observances were required of New Covenant Christians.

The focus of such groups is not on Jesus Christ and salvation by grace through faith in Him. Their message is about the need to keep these ceremonial and ritualistic elements of the Old Covenant. It is a false gospel. I regret the decade I spent following such teachings.

Besides teaching such things, groups like this teach other bad doctrine typically. The group I was involved with taught that mankind was in the process of being perfected to become a God being. They also denied the Trinity and much of what orthodox Christianity teaches.

And since we're now making suggestions about stuff that has absolutely nothing to do with this thread, I also recommend the site This Itch of Writing: The Blog for those who happen to want to write a good story too. (I'd give you the history behind why I like to write, but kind of boring and not related also, so let me just post this in hopes of giving a clue to the one who keeps insisting we're talking about something only he is talking about.)

 

[just-me]

[/SIZE]
And since we're now making suggestions about stuff that has absolutely nothing to do with this thread, I also recommend the site This Itch of Writing: The Blog for those who happen to want to write a good story too. (I'd give you the history behind why I like to write, but kind of boring and not related also, so let me just post this in hopes of giving a clue to the one who keeps insisting we're talking about something only he is talking about.)
[/SIZE]

Life has its ups and downs. Trust and keep your (arbitrary) eyes on Christ.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xxn3-ym3_HE