GOD’s Love has to be returned, we love because GOD first Loved us. We cannot receive GOD’s Love unless we return it to Him by giving it away, and we cannot give it away unless we truly receive it.

Growing up I knew my parents loved me, I just knew it because I understood it by the fact of their provision and boundaries for me and my siblings. But they did not demonstrate it by their words and affection. So I knew they loved me but I did not receive it in a way that made me better or more obedient to their desires.

To me GOD’s Love has been the same, I know GOD Loves me, I understand the measure of His Love by His Word. I believe it and declare it, I hope in it, but that has not made me better or more obedient to His Will for me.

So I struggle in my walk of faith and obedience, I want to please GOD and do His Will, to hear His voice and understand His purpose in the process. I KNOW THAT GOD LOVES ME, THAT HE MADE ME HIS SON, THAT HE GAVE ME CHRIST’S VICTORIES, THAT HIS WILL FOR ME IS BEYOND WHAT I CAN IMAGINE; but, I struggle. GOD’s Love is received not earned, but I struggle.

I have not believed in the prosperity doctrine from the beginning of my salvation, yet I want GOD to prosper me in all that I do. I have believed in the healing doctrine from the beginning of my salvation, yet I struggle in receiving and ministering healing to others. I know that GOD has given me Christ’s victory and made me a new man, but I struggle with those nagging sins that so easily beset me.

It is GOD’s Love that sets me free from all that is of the flesh and of the world so that I can live in all that is of His Kingdom in the earth as it is in Heaven. So how do I do that, how do I live in GOD’s Love? Not by my deeds which can become religious, not by my obedience that can be come ritual. How do I do the Works of the Father (His Will), how do I learn and memorize His Word (The Bible) without these things becoming religious and ritual?

By trust! In most places where faith is used in the Bible trust is another meaning for the root word. Faith has taken on almost mystical properties because of bad teachings based on Hebrews 11:1, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for; the evidence of things not seen.” NKJV; where we try to conjure up faith (which is a gift from GOD, Ephesians 2:8). In the Complete Jewish Bible (CJB) it says, “Trusting is being confident of what we hope for, convinced about things we do not see.” This makes more sense, if I know GOD through experience and His Word then I can trust Him to do as He says He does and will.

As children we trusted (believed – had faith in) what our parents told us and as we went through life we learned whether they could be depended on (trusted) or not. That is not some mystical thing it is the experience of life. In GOD’s Kingdom on the earth, it is the same thing, when we are first saved we believe GOD because He saved us, as we go (grow) through our Christian life we learn if we can trust GOD or not. The sad thing is that if we learn that we cannot trust GOD it is because we have not experienced GOD; we have experienced what others have taught us that GOD is.

One of the big problems with the Church today is that most Christians do not know the Bible (The Word of GOD) well enough to know when they are being taught error. When we are young Christians we believe what other Christians tell us because we do not know; but GOD expects us to learn of who He is. How do we learn of who GOD is? By His Spirit (Holy Spirit) and His Word (The Bible), these two things GOD has given humanity so that we can know Him and experience Him as He wants us to.

That is the importance of family, first we start as children and we learn to trust or not trust based on our family and friends. Then as adults we marry and relearn the give and take of love and trust. Our relationship with GOD is the same, first we are His children and we learn to trust Him by our experience, He even refers to the Church as the Bride of Christ, so in our preparation for the Marriage Supper we learn the give and take of Love and Trust.

All this is to say that I am learning to stop trying to prove my love for GOD by my obedience and deeds based on what I think GOD expects and to just trust GOD that His Word is True and I can depend on Him to do what He says. This is not an overnight transition but as I care less about me and doing and more about Him and being I know my trust in Him will be fulfilled!

IT IS NOT ABOUT ME – IT IS ABOUT GOD (FATHER, SON AND SPIRIT)!