Love for God

Love FOR God

Tozer speaks of 3 kinds of love FOR God

In summary:-

Tozer speaks of 2 kinds of love FOR God which are usually quoted. They are:-

First Type: Love that comes out of GRATITUDE FOR GOD.  “I love the Lord because he has heard my voice and my supplications,” and “We love him, because he first loved us.”  Ps. 116:1 and I John 4:19  This is basic, elementary kind of love that actually has self in focus. It is a love stemming from the benefits received.

Second Type: Love that comes out of admiration of excellence. Focus is less on self. It is a love driven by admiration. Here it is admiration of God's power, knowledge, might, love etc. We love BECAUSE of all that He is. It's a love BECAUSE of something.

 Tozer explicates that there is yet  another level of love FOR God. An analogy  of a mother of  a special-needs child  is drawn.

He says , “The child excites no gratitude in her breast, for all the benefits have flowed the other way; the helpless infant has been nothing but a burden from the time it was born.”   The child will not be growing up to speak and act in gratitude. “Neither can the mother find in such a child any excellence to admire, for there is none.”    No good grades or excellent piano playing or great physical abilities. This is a child who simply just lies there.

Yet mother loves the child immensely and with great intensity.  They are bonded emotionally.  It is  “the union achieved by hearts; more beautiful than anything that can be experienced by flesh and blood.”

In Type 3 love, there is no element of gratitude or admiration and no element of I "love because"

The third kind of love is simply  "I love because I just do"

Can we love Him like this?

Where Can I Find JOY?

Wendy Blight

"Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy." James 1:2 (NLT)

My daughter's journey with scoliosis was a heart-breaking time for me as a mother. There were days I couldn't see past Lauren's extreme physical pain and my wondering heart questioned, why hasn't God healed her yet?

Through those years, I struggled. I felt empty ... void of hope ... void of joy. I knew what God's Word said about joy: "Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy" (James 1:2 NLT). But in the midst of Lauren's circumstances, her broken heart and wounded body, it was hard to follow that command.

How could I obey this scripture and find joy when someone I loved was in such pain? God graciously answered the cry of my heart by revealing to me these three words ... Jesus Only You.

I noticed the first letter of each of those words spelled J O Y. And it clicked with me. Jesus is our joy!

When God says in James 1:2 to consider trials as opportunities for joy, He's not talking about the joy found in earthly things. Circumstances turning out how we desire, possessions and positions, and even good health only offer happiness. They are temporary. What God longs for us to have is deep, lasting joy found in Jesus.

The King James Version says we are to "count it all joy" when we walk through trials. This word "count" means "evaluate."

When trials come, we must evaluate them in light of God's truths and promises. It's not the trial itself we consider a joy. Rather, it's the results that will come from the trial that we consider pure joy.

This involves trusting that God is actively working for our good even in the midst of painful circumstances. And as we trust Him, we will find an inner gladness rooted not in our circumstances, but in the reality of the living God who transcends our circumstances.

After years of praying, asking God to heal my daughter, He did. It still hurts to remember the excruciating pain Lauren suffered. But God was and is faithful. God didn't heal my girl in the miraculous way I was expecting. Instead, she endured a seven-hour surgery to place two rods in her spine. She missed nearly six weeks of school and labored through months of relearning how to sit and walk and move. She had to quit competitive cheerleading. But in and through that time, God did a new thing.

Looking back, I can see how He held us up, deepened Lauren's faith, and drew our family closer to each other. In real and personal ways, God showed us His tender, loving care. And He taught me the meaning of true J O Y.

Jesus alone is the source of our joy.

When discouragement comes and you feel you cannot take one more step, remember these three words, Jesus Only You!

Jesus came so that I . . . so that you . . . can experience His joy fully and completely in us through any and all circumstances.

Heavenly Father, thank You for Jesus. Thank You for the joy that is ours in Him. Every time our thoughts turn to our hurt, cause our pain to bring us back to J O Y . . . Jesus Only You. We ask this in the Name of Jesus, amen.

Related Resources:
Read about how Wendy Blight found joy in her book Hidden Joy in a Dark Corner.

Visit Wendy's blog to enter to win a copy of her book and to sign up for her newest online Bible study on the names of God: Who is God and Why Should I Care? It begins October 30th and runs through December 3rd.

Meet every day with the only One Who brings true joy through reading the NIV Real-Life Devotional Bible for Women, filled with 366 devotions. Pick up your copy by clicking here.

Reflect and Respond:
What does it mean to be filled with the joy of the Lord?

What keeps you from receiving the fullness of His Joy?
Memorize and personalize James 1:2 so that you can recall it the next time you walk through a difficult trial and feel the absence of joy.

Power Verses:
Galatians 5:22, "But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness." (NLT)

Nehemiah 8:10b, " Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength." (NIV)

© 2013 by Wendy Blight. All rights reserved.

Proverbs 31 Ministries
630 Team Rd., Suite 100
Matthews, NC 28105
www.Proverbs31.org

2 Cor 7:4

"I am exceedingly joyful in all our tribulations" (2 Corinthians 7:4)

"In all these things we are more than conqueror through Him who loved us" (Romans 8:37)

Looking at the cross, picturing our Lord sacrificing himself for us. How He must love us and through this love we are conquerors. What else do we need? In our tribulations (our difficulties, our suffering), we need only whisper His name, divert  our thoughts then focus it on His name. This will prod our mind to picture Him on the cross, to picture the great love. And we can conquer. We can train our minds to do this. Practice it every moment.

We are joyful IN our tribulations NOT in spite of our tribulations. Thank God for tribulations! Its a chance to lean  on Him, walk with Him,  focus on Him. And in it there is joy.

Let us be less and let Him be more. Let us be under the sway of the Holy Spirit more and more each day.

How Can We (believers) Love the unlovable?

How Can We (believers) Love the unlovable?

(And we know there are many…). Let us dwell on these:-

(a)    By the grace of God, we have become alive with Christ. [“even when we were dead in our transgressions [He]made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved)” Ephesians 2:5]

(b)    How did we become alive with Christ? Through God’s spirit who dwells in us “ [But if the Spirit of Him who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you” Romans 8:11] We are no longer in the flesh, the Spirit of Christ dwells in us [“However you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him” Romans 8:9]

(c)    We are now new creatures with the indwelling spirit of Christ.[ “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature the old things passed away, behold new things have come” 2 Corinthians 5:17]

(d)    If we cannot love, this new creature with the spirit of Christ can. Because God is love, this spirit  enables us to love. This spirit loves. “Lord I cannot. You can. Help me” [“and hope does not disappoint because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us” Romans 5: 5]. The love of God dwelling in us will pour out to the unlovable. We shall surely be fruitful and be able to love as we walk with Him and call out to Him. [“I am the vine, you are the branches, he who abides in Me and I in him he bears much fruit for apart from Me you can do nothing” John 15: 5]

The Fortitude of Anyway

1. People are unreasonable, illogical & self-centered - love them anyway.
2. If you do good, people will accuse you of being selfish & having an ulterior motive - do good anyway.
3. If you are successful, you will win false friends & true enemies - succeed anyway.
4. Honesty & frankness make you vulnerable- be honest & frank anyway.
5. The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow - do good anyway.
6. The biggest people with the biggest ideas can be shot downby the smallest people with the smallest minds - think big anyway.
7. People favour underdogs but follow top dogs - fight for some underdogs anyway.
8. What you spend building for years may be destroyed overnight - build anyway.
9. Give the world the best & you will get kicked in the teeth - give the world the best you've got anyway.

When you were born, you cried & the world rejoiced. Let the rest of your life be in such a fashion so that when you die, the world cries & you rejoice.