God's Love Revealed: How He Turns Our Greatest Needs Into Opportunities to Know Him

"God is love." That may be one of the simplest statements in the Bible, but it contains an almost unfathomable truth: God is love.

Yet there is something about God's love that can be difficult for us to fully appreciate. God is invisible. We cannot see Him with our physical eyes, and because His love is not always immediately visible either, we can easily take it for granted, fail to recognize it, or simply not understand how amazing it really is.

But God doesn't merely tell us that He loves us. He shows us. And I believe this helps us understand something important about why God allowed humanity to fall and why He permits us to live in a fallen world.

God Gave Us Free Will Because He Wants a Relationship With Us

God made mankind in His image (Genesis 1:26-27). One important aspect of that is that we are personal beings who possess a will. God Himself has a will, and He created us with the capacity to make genuine choices. That matters because God desires a genuine relationship with us.

A computer can be programmed to say, "I love you," but it doesn't actually love. It simply does what it was programmed to do. God didn't create us that way. He didn't want humanity to be a collection of pre-programmed creatures who could do nothing except obey. He wanted us to be capable of knowing Him, trusting Him, choosing Him, and loving Him.

But giving humanity genuine freedom carried risk. If we have the ability to freely love God, we also have the ability to reject Him. And that's exactly what happened.

God Allowed the Fall-But He Wasn't Surprised by It

God could have prevented Satan from tempting Eve. He could have stopped Adam and Eve from eating the forbidden fruit. He could have intervened. But in His sovereignty, He allowed them to exercise the freedom He had given them. And God already knew what would happen.

The Fall was not an unexpected disaster that forced God to come up with a backup plan. God's plan of redemption existed before the foundation of the world. Paul writes in Ephesians 1:4-6: "He chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will to the praise of his glorious grace."

Think about that. Before creation, God already had redemption in mind. Before Adam sinned, God knew. Before Satan tempted Eve, God knew. Before humanity experienced the consequences of sin, God knew. And before the cross, God knew.

The Fall did not catch God off guard. He knew that giving humanity free will carried risk, and He already had a plan to redeem fallen humanity through Jesus Christ.

Sin Brought Shame, Fear, and Hiding

Genesis 2:25 tells us that Adam and Eve were naked and felt no shame. Then came Genesis 3. After they disobeyed God, we read: "Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized that they were naked."

Their physical condition hadn't changed. Their spiritual condition had. Suddenly, they experienced shame. They tried to cover themselves with fig leaves. Then, when they heard God in the garden, they hid.

God called out: "Where are you?" Of course, God knew where they were. He wasn't asking because He needed information. He was calling them out of hiding.

Then God asked Adam: "Who told you that you were naked?" God already knew the answer. But He wanted Adam to think about what had happened. Why was Adam suddenly ashamed? Why was he afraid? Why was he hiding? What had changed? The answer was sin.

Before the Fall, nakedness was accompanied by innocence and no shame. After the Fall, sin brought shame, fear, alienation, and hiding. And yet, even in this darkest moment, something remarkable happens: God comes looking for them. They ran from God. God pursued them. They hid. God called. They sinned. God began dealing with the consequences while simultaneously unfolding His redemptive purpose.

Our Need Can Become an Opportunity to Experience God's Love

This is where I believe we can begin to see something beautiful about God's dealings with us. We can know intellectually that God is merciful. But there is a difference between knowing that God is merciful and experiencing His mercy.

We can be told that God is our helper. But when we're helpless and cry out to Him, we discover what His help means. We can be told that God is our refuge. But when we're afraid and run to Him, we experience Him as our refuge. We can be told that God is gracious. But when we realize that we have nothing to offer Him, His grace becomes incredibly precious. We can be told that God forgives. But when we recognize our own sin and receive His forgiveness, we discover something about His heart that we could never understand merely as an abstract concept.

This is one reason the circumstances of a fallen world can become opportunities for us to discover the depths of God's love. Pain. Heartache. Troubles. Trials. Afflictions. Failure. Weakness. Need. None of these things are good in themselves. But God is so sovereign and so good that He can use even these things to draw us toward Himself and reveal His character to us.

He can show us mercy. He can heal. He can deliver. He can rescue. He can help. He can give grace in our time of need. And when we experience His love, something happens: We love Him more.

John says: "We love because he first loved us." 1 John 4:19 God's love comes first. We experience it. We respond to it. And our relationship with Him deepens.

God Can Turn a Negative Into a Positive

One of the most encouraging truths in Scripture is that God can take something genuinely negative and bring something genuinely good out of it. Joseph expressed this beautifully when he told his brothers: "You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good." Genesis 50:20

The ultimate example, of course, is the cross. The crucifixion was an act of terrible injustice and evil. Jesus, the innocent Son of God, was rejected and put to death. Yet God used that very event to accomplish the salvation of the world. What appeared to be defeat became victory. What appeared to be tragedy became redemption. What appeared to be Satan's triumph became God's triumph.

This is the kind of God we serve. He can turn a negative into a positive. That doesn't mean everything that happens to us is good. It means that God is so powerful and so sovereign that the things that are not good cannot prevent Him from accomplishing His good purposes.

That's why Romans 8:28 is such a powerful promise: "We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him." Paul doesn't say that everything that happens is good. He says that God works in all things for good. The negative does not get the final word. God does.

Grace Means God Gets the Glory

And this is why salvation is by grace. Paul says: "It is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast." Ephesians 2:8-9

We cannot save ourselves. We don't earn God's love. We don't rescue ourselves from sin. God does it. He gives us grace. He gives us forgiveness. He gives us salvation. He gives us adoption. And because it is His work, the glory belongs to Him.

Ephesians 1 says that God predestined us for adoption through Jesus Christ "to the praise of his glorious grace." Think about the extraordinary exchange taking place. We bring our sin, weakness, failure, and need. He gives us mercy, grace, forgiveness, redemption, adoption, and life.

What a great deal! We get to be loved. We get to be saved. We get to experience His goodness. And He gets the glory.

From Him, Through Him, and To Him

This brings us to Paul's magnificent conclusion in Romans 11:36: "For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever. Amen."

Everything ultimately points back to God. Our salvation is from Him. Our salvation is accomplished through Him. And everything ultimately returns to Him in glory.

God's love is the beginning. God's grace is the means. God's redemption is the result. And God's glory is the ultimate purpose.

Heaven Testimony of Camille Gent

When Camille Gent died of heart failure and septic shock in 2013 and went to heaven, she was sitting on the steps leading up to the throne of God the Father, where Jesus was seated on His throne beside Him. After she had been enjoying herself for quite a while, here is what happened next. She says:

Then I look over at the Father and he's on his throne and he says, "You having fun yet?" 

"Yes, this is amazing. I can't believe I'm here." 

"Cuz now you got to go back."

Right when He said that—it’s so hard to explain—this huge crystal heart came down, and it looked just like this big crystal heart. As soon as it got close to me, it fell on the ground and shattered into a million pieces right below me. I remember at the time knowing it was representative of my heart at that moment. I was looking at it when it fell and looking down at the mess, then the mess disappears.

And I look up, and I see the Father Himself standing up from His throne. When He stood up from His throne, I said, "No way does the Maker of everything care if I’m hurt." And He starts walking toward me. I have to tell you that I have never seen anything more humbling and beautiful than Him like that. But the amazing thing is He has since told me, "I do that with all of my children. They just don't see it when we're brokenhearted."

So He’s walking up to me, He grabs me by my right hand, and we start walking...

The Father grabbed my hand, and I remember looking down at His huge feet—He had the biggest feet. We took three steps, and as soon as we took those three steps, we went from heaven into outer space itself. I remember we were hovering over the earth, and I have never seen anything so beautiful, almost like the earth in orbit. It was so amazing. 

I asked Him a few questions, but the first question I asked was, "Why do we have to do this? Why do we have to do this?"

He knew what I meant—I meant coming back, because I was so upset that I had to return. I said, "Why do we even have to do this, anyway?"

And He said, "That's easy. It's to love."

So I came back thinking that's my mission: is to love. And how do you love most? Through knowing Jesus Christ and serving as He was a servant. That's how I show my love, by serving and by doing—telling people the truth because, again, the truth sets people free.

What a Great God

When we step back and look at the whole story, we see something astonishing. God created us in His image. He gave us free will so that genuine love and relationship would be possible. He knew that freedom carried risk. He knew the Fall would happen. And yet, before the foundation of the world, He already had a plan to redeem us through Christ.

When humanity fell, God came looking. When we were ashamed, He showed mercy. When we were guilty, He offered forgiveness. When we were helpless, He gave grace. When we were lost, He came to rescue us. And when we encounter suffering and difficulty, He can take even those things and work them together for good.

Why? Because God is love. He loves to show His love. He wants us to know His love. He wants us to experience His mercy. He wants us to receive His grace. And He wants us to love Him in return. The God who created us for relationship with Himself has made a way for fallen humanity to be reconciled to Him through Jesus Christ.

So yes, the world we live in is fallen. Yes, sin has brought pain, shame, suffering, and death. But sin does not have the final word. Suffering does not have the final word. Satan does not have the final word. Death does not have the final word. God does.

And His final word is redemption. His final word is grace. His final word is love. And when everything is finally brought to its appointed conclusion, we will discover that it was all—from Him, through Him, and to Him.

"To him be the glory forever. Amen."

What a great God. What a great salvation. What a great love.

Related Worship Song: I wrote a worship song and produced a worship video about this very subject called Brought Our Hearts to You, which I would like to invite you to watch.

Attribution notice: Scripture take from the Holy Bible NIV, copyright Zondervan, used by permission. Image generated using AI. This article was written by Len Lacroix with the assistance of artificial intelligence tools.

Author's note:  If you enjoyed this post, you may also like Brought Our Hearts to You, The Blessings of Being in Christ. Does Being Saved Make All Your Problems Disappear?, The Love of Jesus, Having the Love of God in Your Heart, Compelled by Love, One Thing, Seven Things That Accumulate Building Materials in Heaven, and the other posts available through the links on the Home page. You may also access my complete blog directory at Writing for the Master.

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Him.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe. 

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"

______________________________________

Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.

The Revelation of Love

Dear saints,

I'd like to share with you the revelation of love. There are so many Scriptures about love that I cannot possibly cover them all in this post, but I'm going to share some key ones to make the point that I am led to share with you. I'm going to discuss The Father's love for us, the Father's love for Jesus, the love of Jesus for us, our love for God, and our love for one another.

The Father's Love for Us

First and foremost is the love of God for us. This is spoken of all throughout Scripture, but the most famous one is:

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." (Jn 3:16).

God loves us all so much that He gave His one and only Son to come into this world as God's Lamb to be sacrificed for our sins. He didn't just tell us with words that He loved us, but He demonstrated it to us. Scripture says:

"But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Rom 5:8).

He did that for us while we were still sinners, so clearly God took the initiative. As the apostle John says:

"This is how God showed his love among us: He sent His one and only Son into the world that we might live through Him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins." (1 Jn 4:9-10).

Now that we've touched on the fact that the Father was first to love us and demonstrate His love for us by sending His Son, let's look at the Father's love for Jesus.

The Father's Love for Jesus

The father's love for Jesus is, of course, greater than His love for anyone else. In order to understand just how much the Father loves us, we need to understand His love for Jesus, since He sent Him into the world to save us. Here are just a few of the Scriptures that declare the Father's love for Jesus:

"The Father loves the Son and has placed everything in his hands." (Jn 3:35).

When Jesus was baptized in water and with the Holy Spirit, "a voice from heaven said, 'This is my Son, whom I love; with Him I am well pleased.'” (Mt 3:17).

When Jesus was transfigured on the sacred mountain, and His clothes became dazzling white before Peter, James, and John, the Father declared His love for Jesus again. 

"While he was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!” (Mt 17:5).

There can be no doubt, based on the Word of God, that the Father's love for Jesus is supreme. It's the highest form of love, known as agape ("a-GA'-pey") love in the original Greek.

The Love of Jesus for Us

Jesus, in turn, loved us with the same love the Father has for Him.

He said, “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love." (Jn 15:9).

This clearly show that Jesus loved us just as the Father loved Him (key words: "just as"), and His love for us hasn't changed. But we can change, and that is why we are responsible to remain in His love by the way we live. More on that in the next section.

"This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down His life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers." (1 Jn 3:16).

We know what love is by the fact that Jesus Christ laid down His life for us on the cross. He doesn't have to prove His love for us, since He already proved it on the cross. Such redeeming love, unfailing love, everlasting love, steadfast love, and faithful love did He demonstrate for us on Calvary! It is a love that is nothing like what we humans call love here on earth. His response to the Father's love for Him was to please the Father, obeying the Father's command to lay down His life on the cross for us. And Jesus taught that there is no greater love than this.

"Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends." (Jn 15:13).

If you could experience in person the love of Jesus for you, as many people have in after-death experiences, you would feel as though He loved only you, or that He loved you more than anyone else on earth; however, that's the same way He loves everyone. It's a euphoric love that can't be described. There is no greater love than the love of Jesus, for nobody loves you like Jesus.

This brings us to our love for God.

Our Love for God

Our love for God is our response to the love He has first shown to us through His sacrifice of Jesus on the cross for us. Perhaps the verse that best teaches this effect is the following one:

He said, “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love." (Jn 15:9).

This shows the love initiating with the Father for Jesus, flowing through Jesus as He responded to that love by loving us with the same love the Father had for Him, and then the need for us to remain in His love. This begs the question, "How do I remain in the love of Jesus?" The answer is found in the very next verse, in which Jesus said:

"If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in His love." (Jn 15:10).

Do you see how to respond to the love of Jesus for you, which was His response to the Father's love for Him? We respond to the love of Jesus by remaining in His love, and we remain in His love by obeying His commands. This is the same way that Jesus responded to the Father's love for Him: He obeyed the Father's commands and remained in His love. Therefore, Jesus commands us to do the same.

"Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him.” (Jn 14:21).

Our Love for One Another

Since we respond to the love of Jesus by remaining in His love, and we remain in His love by obeying His commands, then it's necessary to know what He commands. Jesus said:

"My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you." (Jn 15:12).

We remain in the love of Jesus by obeying His command to love each other with the same love Jesus has for us, which is the same supreme kind of love the Father has for Jesus. It's the perfect love that Jesus showed us when He laid down His life for us, as was previously stated:

"This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down His life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers." (1 Jn 3:16).

We respond to the love of Jesus by loving each other, and we love each other by laying down our lives for our brothers. We love others by being kind, compassionate, and forgiving toward them. We even love our enemies, as the Lord commanded us to do (Mt 5:44).

That kind of love that we show to each other in response to the love of Jesus for us will then bring about a loving response in the hearts and lives of those we love, as they in turn love others with that same kind of love. It's like a chain reaction or a ripple effect. As the Scripture says: "We love because he first loved us." (1 Jn 4:19). It just keeps on flowing from one person to the next, and this pleases the Father. 

Peter's Reinstatement

Most of us have heard of the Lord's reinstatement of Peter as an apostle, following his denial of Christ. Let me break that down for you and show how it illustrates the point I've been making.

First let me say that while there is one word for love in English, there are multiple words for love in the original Greek language that the Bible was written in. These Greek words reflect the various Aramaic words that Jesus and Peter used in their conversation together. 

There is first of all agape love, which is the perfect, supreme, highest kind of love that God has and that Jesus has. Then there is philos ("FEE'-los"), which is brotherly love that brothers have for each other, whereby they love or like each other. Then there is storge (STOR'-gey), which is "natural affection" or "affection between family members," often used to describe the love between parents and children. And finally there is eros, from which we get the word "erotic", which is the kind of love that involves the unique intimacy meant to be shared only between a husband and wife. Eros translates to "love" and "desire," specifically referring to sensual, romantic, or passionate love.

In the reinstatement of Peter, just as Peter had denied the Lord three times, now after the resurrection, the Lord asked him three times if he loved Him. First Jesus appeared on the shore after the disciples had been fishing all night and caught nothing, and He enabled them to make a huge catch. Then He fed them some breakfast of fish and bread that he had cooking over the hot coals, along with some of the fish they caught. Afterward he questioned Peter:

1. First ask: When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you truly love (Gr., agape) me more than these?” “Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love (Gr., phileo) you.” Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.” (Jn 21:15)

Notice that Jesus asked him if he loved Him with agape love, and Peter responded that he loved Jesus with philos, or brotherly love. He had been humbled by his denial. Whereas he previously declared so proudly that he would never deny the Lord and would go to prison or death with Him, now he was only able to say with a more honest evaluation of himself that he possessed a definite philos love for Jesus.

Notice that the Lord's response to Peter was to command him to feed His lambs, which are the people of God, and that was to be His way of showing His love for Jesus. He was reinstated as an apostle of God sent by the Lord to serve His people.

2. Second ask: Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you truly love (Gr., agape) me?” He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love (Gr., philo) you.” Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.” (Jn 21:16)

Once again, Jesus asked Peter if he had agape love for Him, and Peter responded that he had philos love for Him. And once again, Jesus commanded him to take care of His sheep, which is the role of a shepherd or pastor, and that involves caring for people. This is how Jesus wanted Peter to demonstrate his love for Jesus.

3. Third ask: Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you love (Gr., phileo) me?” He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love (Gr., phileo) you.” Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.” (Jn 21:17).

Notice how Jesus now switched to asking Peter if he possessed the brotherly kind of love for Jesus, since He saw that Peter no longer had the confidence to say that he loved Jesus with the highest kind of love shown by Christ. Jesus seemed to condescend to Peter by now using the same word for love that Peter was using. 

Finally, Jesus told Peter:

I tell you the truth, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go. ”Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then he said to him, “Follow me!” (Jn 21:18-19)

Jesus was foretelling to Peter that in the future in Peter's old age, he would stretch out his hands (perhaps to allow others to bind him with ropes), and someone would dress him (perhaps with ropes to bind him), and that they would lead Peter to a martyr's death. Legend has it that Peter was crucified, but that he insisted on being crucified upside down, since he considered himself unworthy to die right side up as his Lord was. The Lord commanded Peter to follow Him just as He had originally called Peter to follow Him, and this would include following Him not only in his life but in his death. The Lord wanted Peter to know that this was how Peter would show his love for Jesus.

What this teaches us is that our love for God is not something we initiate, as Peter originally did when he pridefully told Jesus that he would go to prison and death with Him. It is something we do from a humble and contrite heart when we realize what the Lord has done for us on the cross despite our own sinfulness and unworthiness, and we respond to His love with that same kind of love. Therefore, our love is a response to God's love for us, His love for Jesus, and Jesus' love for us, as well as His forgiveness toward us. It flows through us when we have been humbled as Peter was through his past experience of failing the Lord and being forgiven. As Jesus once said, he who has been forgiven much, loves much, "but he who is forgiven little, loves little." (Lk 7:47).

After-death Testimonies of Love

Many people, who have had experiences of life after death, near death experiences, and out of body experiences, have returned to testify that God is love, and that love is the whole point of our life on earth. John the apostle also said that God is love (1 Jn 4:8). And Paul the apostle said that without love we are nothing, even if we have great faith, great knowledge, and rich generosity (see 1 Cor 13).

Here are short excerpts from what a few different people said upon returning from their experience with God in heaven or with Jesus:

The first one said of life, "It's all about love. Love is the goal of all that exists regardless of where and how it exists. Love is the origin of all that exists. Love is the origin and the goal. All decisions in life need to be tested by the only valid question: Am I doing this out of love? If you follow that rule, you follow what your life is ultimately about. Then you do what you were born to do."

 

Another person who encountered the Lord in a near death experience said: “Growing in faith and learning to love God is the point of life.”

A man named Thomas B. wrote after his near death experience that the meaning of life is to “Learn how to love others properly. This is a test to see if you are worthy. And it is never too late to stop bad behavior and turn back to love, which is what we are designed for.”  

Howard Storm, who died of a perforated stomach in a hospital while he was still an atheist, said that after he died, he met Jesus who called over a group of angels: "[The angels] gave me a life review and we went over my life in very great detail. And the life review, at the conclusion of it, I realized that I was here to love people, to be compassionate, to love God and love one another and I had utterly failed." Afterward he had a chance to ask Jesus any questions he wanted to ask Him. Then he said to the Lord, "Now I want to go to heaven." And Jesus said, "No, you've got to go back to the earth and do this the way you were created to do it in the first place: to live a life the way God created you to live a life," which Storm says he knew "very [clearly] was to love, to be a loving, kind person, loving God, loving my fellow man." 

When the Father sent Camille Gent back to earth during her life-after-death heaven encounter, she asked Him "Why do we have to do this?" (Meaning live on Earth). He lovingly responded, "That's easy. It's to love." In her testimony, she emphasizes that this command reshaped her entire understanding of life. The Father simplified the complexity of human existence down to a single, powerful mandate—to love others unconditionally. Because of this direct answer, Camille has stated that she never again underestimated the sheer, transformative power of love on Earth. (see podcasts here and here).

Closing Words

In closing, I tried to be as concise as possible on such a broad topic. I hope that this article has helped unveil this revelation of love that God has for us, for Jesus, and that Jesus has for us, and how we are to repent, humble ourselves, and respond to it with the same kind of love by obeying God's commands and loving one another. Life is all about love. In fact, learning to love God and others is the whole point of life and its goal.

Attribution notice: Scripture take from the Holy Bible NIV, copyright Zondervan, used by permission. Image may be subject to copyright, used per the Fair Use Act for educational and commentary purposes only.

Author's note:  If you enjoyed this post, you may also like Testimonies of People Who Have Seen Jesus, The Love of Jesus, Having the Love of God in Your Heart, Compelled by Love, Law of Love in the New Testament, One Thing, Seven Things That Accumulate Building Materials in Heaven, and the other posts available through the links on the Home page. You may also access my complete blog directory at Writing for the Master.

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Him.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe. 

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"

______________________________________

Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.

Who is God - Part III

View Over Crystal Lake, C.V. Lacroix

Dear God seekers,

In my three-part series, Who is God, I've been explaining from Scripture who God actually is, and I hope to continue doing so in this present article. Let's begin with some of the Hebrew names of God:

Elohiym

This is the Hebrew word, 'ĕlôhı̂ym (el-o-heem'), meaning "gods" (plural) in the ordinary sense, which is used for the one, true, Supreme God. This word occurs 2,606 in the Bible, and one of the most famous verses is Genesis 1:27, proving that it is a plural word for God, thus revealing God's triune nature:

"Then God (Elohiym) said, 'Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.' So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them." (Gen 1:26-27)

God is the One in whose image and likeness we are made.

El Shaddai

The Hebrew expression, El Shaddai (Ēl Šaddāy) or just Shaddai is one of the names of the God of Israel. El Shaddai is usually translated into English as God Almighty. It means "the All-sufficient One", which indicates that He is not dependent upon anyone for anything, and that He is sovereign over all. 

One of the most famous and beautiful verses where this name for God is used is in the opening verse of Psalm 91, where it is translated as "Almighty":

"He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty." (Psa 91:1)

El Elyon

This Hebrew word ‛elyôn (el-yone') means lofty, Supreme, upper most, or Most High, and it is used of the Most High God 28 times throughout Scripture, as in Psalm 91:1 quoted above, where it is translated "Most High". 

Another verse where this occurs is in Genesis 14:22, where it says, "But Abram said to the king of Sodom, 'With raised hand I have sworn an oath to the LORD, God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth, that I will accept nothing belonging to you, not even a thread or the strap of a sandal, so that you will never be able to say, 'I made Abram rich.'" 

El Roi

This Hebrew expression comes from two words, El, meaning God, and Roiy meaning One who sees. When the two words are combined together, they mean God Who Sees. This name is found in the account of Hagar by the spring in the desert, when she ran away from her mistress, Sarah.

"She gave this name to the LORD who spoke to her: 'You are the God who sees me,' for she said, 'I have now seen the One who sees me.' That is why the well was called Beer Lahai Roi; it is still there, between Kadesh and Bered." (Gen 16:13-14).

Râ'âh (raw-aw') is another Hebrew word, which is translated "sees" in the bolded part of that same verse 13 above. So the bolded expression above literally means El Roi sees me, or The Seeing God sees me.

We are told in many other places in Scripture that God sees us. For example, here are just a few:

"Though the LORD is exalted, he looks kindly on the lowly; though lofty, he sees (Hebrew, râ'âh) them from afar." (Psa 138:6)

"For your ways are in full view of the LORD, and he examines all your paths." (Pro 5:21)

"The eyes of the LORD are everywhere, keeping watch on the wicked and the good." (Pro 15:3)

"For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil." (1Pe 3:12) 

Other verses tell us that we must do what is right in the eyes of the Lord and not do evil in His eyes, and that we can also find favor in the Lord's eyes. For He is always watching, and He sees everything, even the thoughts and motives of our hearts.

El Olam

The meaning of this Hebrew name is "Everlasting God". It comes from the Hebrew word ‛ôlâm (o-lawm'), meaning "time out of mind (past or future), vanishing point, forever, everlasting, eternal, or perpetual." The very first time this name appears in Scripture is in Genesis where it says:

"Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba, and there he called on the name of the LORD, the Eternal God." (Gen 21:33)

Perhaps the following verse in Psalm 90, which is a prayer of Moses, best describes the meaning of this name of God:

"Lord, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations. Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the whole world, from everlasting (Hebrew, olam) to everlasting (Hebrew, olam) you are God (Hebrew, El)." (Psa 90:1-2). From everlasting (past) to everlasting (future), He is God.

El Gibbor

This Hebrew name for God comes from the word Gibbor, which means "powerful; by implication warrior, tyrant: - champion, chief, giant, man, mighty (man, one), strong (man), valiant man." Therefore El Gibbor can be translated Mighty God, Warrior God, or Giant God. One verse of Scripture where this name is found is in Isaiah where it says:

"For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace." (Isa 9:6)

Adonai
This Hebrew word meaning "Lord" is found 459 times in Scripture. One of my favorites is this verse in Isaiah that says:

"He will swallow up death forever. The Sovereign Lord will wipe away the tears from all faces; he will remove his people's disgrace from all the earth. The LORD has spoken." (Isa 25:8).

This word tells us that God is Master, or Ruler, possessing supreme power and authority. 

Yehova

Now let's look at some of God's names based on the name He called Himself, when Moses asked Him. He used the sacred name YHWH, which is the tetragrammaton that Jews do not pronounce. But when we add vowels to it, we get the name Yehova, meaning self-existent One. In Scripture, it is often translated into English as LORD.

Yehova Rapha

The Hebrew word râphâ' or râphâh (raw-faw') means to cure, heal, make whole, physician. So Yehova Rapha means the Lord your Healer.

"He said, 'If you listen carefully to the LORD your God and do what is right in his eyes, if you pay attention to his commands and keep all his decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the LORD, who heals you.' " (Exo 15:26)

Yehova Rapha, the Lord your Healer, has the power to heal physically (2 Ki 5:10), emotionally (Ps 34:18), mentally (Dan 4:34), and spiritually (Ps 103:2–3).

Yehova Rohi

This name comes from the Hebrew word rohi (or "ro'i" or "ro'eh") for Shepherd. Yehova Rohi means the Lord is my Shepherd. 

King David, who was a shepherd himself, wrote in Psalm 23, "The LORD is my shepherd, I lack nothing." (Psa 23:1).

For more on this, please see The Lord, Our Shepherd.

Yehova Jireh

This name comes from the Hebrew word jireh, meaning to “see, to inspect, the perceive, to provide, to consider.” So Yehovah Jireh means the Lord my Provider. One verse where this is found is in the account of Abraham offering up Isaac on the altar to God in obedience, when the Lord provided a ram to sacrifice on the altar instead of his only son.

"So Abraham called that place The LORD Will Provide. And to this day it is said, 'On the mountain of the LORD it will be provided.'" (Gen 22:14)

Yehova Nissi

This comes from the Hebrew word nês (nace), meaning "a flag; signal; banner, pole, sail, sign, or standard." So Jehova Nissi means the Lord my Banner. This is found in the account of the battle of the Israelites against the Amalekites. As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, as if the Lord was a banner between his hands, but when he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning.

Moses built an altar and called it The LORD is my Banner." (Exo 17:15)

Yehova Shalom

This comes from the Hebrew word shalom, meaning peace and health. So Yehova Shalom means the Lord is my Peace or simply the Lord is Peace. This is found in the account of Gideon seeing the angel of the Lord.

"When Gideon realized that it was the angel of the LORD, he exclaimed, 'Alas, Sovereign LORD! I have seen the angel of the LORD face to face!' But the LORD said to him, 'Peace! Do not be afraid. You are not going to die.' So Gideon built an altar to the LORD there and called it The LORD Is Peace. To this day it stands in Ophrah of the Abiezrites." (Jdg 6:22-24)

God is the One to Be Feared

This comes from a passage in Psalm 76, where it says:

"It is You alone Who are to be feared. Who can stand before You when You are angry?" (Psa 76:7).

There is a Hebrew word "yaré" in this verse that can be translated as "awesome" or "feared".

It also says in that same Psalm, "He breaks the spirit of rulers; he is feared by the kings of the earth." (Psa 76:12).

And the King James Version of that verse says He is terrible to the kings of the earth. So we could say that He is the Terrible One. This is consistent with all of Scripture, in which we are told to fear the Lord, and it is what Jesus taught us:

"But I will show you Whom you should fear: Fear Him who, after your body has been killed, has authority to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear Him." (Luk 12:5)

God is Life

God is life. Jesus said:

"For as the Father has life in Himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in Himself." (Joh 5:26)

God Rewards Those Who Diligently Seek Him

We are taught by the apostle in his epistle to the Hebrews that God rewards those who earnestly seek Him. It says:

"And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him." (Heb 11:6)

Putting it All Together

To sum it all up in closing, God is Elohiym, the Supreme God. He is El Shaddai, God Almighty. "the All-sufficient One". He is El Elyon, God Most High. He is El Roi, the God who sees. He is El Olam, the Everlasting God. He is El Gibbor, Mighty God. He is Adonai, Master, or Ruler, possessing supreme power and authority. He is Yehova Rapha, the Lord your Healer. He is Yehova Rohi, the LORD is my shepherd. He is Yehova Jireh, the LORD Will Provide. He is Yehova Nissi, the Lord my Banner. He is Yehova Shalom, he LORD Is Peace. God is the One to Be Feared; He is the Terrible One. God is Life and He rewards those who diligently seek Him.

I hope that this series has edified you and brought you a lot of encouragement in your faith in God and His Son Jesus Christ, and your walk with Him.

The first two parts of this series are Who is God? and Who is God? - Part II.

Attribution notice:  Scriptures taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version® NIV®. copyright Zondervan, used by permission. The "View Over Crystal Lake" painting by my seventeen-year old daughter, C.V. Lacroix. You can find more of her lovely artwork at A Brush with Life.

Author's note: You are invited to read Who is God?, Who is God? - Part II, The Loving God Who Bids Us to Come, The Bodily Form of God the Father, Is Jesus God?, God is an Awesome God, The Difference Between a Disciple and a Believer, The Cost of Discipleship, and Ask for the Ancient Paths. You may access the Main Directory for this Seeking the Lord blog for more articles like this, as well as my complete blog directory at "Writing for the Master."

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe.

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"

_________________________________________________

Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.

Things You Should Never Do

In my last two posts, I explained the "never" promises to the wicked and to the righteous. Today as part of that series, I want to remind you of the things you should never do if you are a saint who is following Jesus.

Never Follow A Stranger
"His sheep follow him because they know his voice. But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger's voice." (Joh 10:4b-5)

Never Use Flattery

"You know we never used flattery, nor did we put on a mask to cover up greed—God is our witness." (1Th 2:5)

Never Tire Of Doing Good

"And as for you, brothers and sisters, never tire of doing what is good." (2Th 3:13)

Never Stop Teaching And Proclaiming The Good News

"Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Messiah." (Act 5:42)

Never Be Lacking In Zeal

"Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord." (Rom 12:11)

Never Boast, Except in The Cross

"May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world." (Gal 6:14)

Never Let His Word Depart From Your Mouth

"Never take your word of truth from my mouth, for I have put my hope in your laws." (Psa 119:43)

Never Forget His Precepts

"I will never forget your precepts, for by them you have preserved my life." (Psa 119:93)

Never Let Love And Faithfulness Leave You

"Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart." (Pro 3:3)

Closing Words

In summary, some of the things we should never do, according to the Bible include the following: never follow a stranger, never use flattery, never tire of doing good, never stop teaching and proclaiming the Good News, never be lacking in zeal, never boast, except in the cross, never let His Word depart from your mouth, never forget His precepts, and never let love and faithfulness leave you.

As a companion to this article, you are invited to read my "Always" post and the other articles in this "Never" series.

Attribution notice: Scripture quotations taken from the Holy Bible NIV, copyright Zondervan, used by permission. 

Author's note: If you enjoyed this post, please also see the following: Sins That Will Keep You From Heaven, The Top Ten Things Jesus Taught, Living a Life Worthy of the Lord, Keeping a Good Conscience, and Living on Earth as They Do in Heaven. You may find the Main Directory for this blog at Home, and you may also access my complete blog directory at "Writing for the Master." 

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe. 

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"

_________________________________________________

Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.

What We Should Always Be Doing

There are several things that the Bible says we should always be doing. I have found at least twenty-two of them in Scripture. Let's take a look at God's Word and see what they are.

Always Pray
Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. (Luk 18:1)

Be always on the watch, and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man."  (Luk 21:36)

Always Do What Pleases the Lord
"The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases Him." (Joh 8:29)

Always Keep Your Conscience Clear
"So I strive always to keep my conscience clear before God and man." (Act 24:16)

Always Do As Love Does

[Love] always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. (1Co 13:7)

Always Give Yourselves Fully to the Work of the Lord
Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain. (1Co 15:58)

Always Being Given Over to Death for Jesus

"For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body." (2Co 4:11)

Always Confident
"Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord." (2Co 5:6)

Always Giving Thanks to God for Everything
"Always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Eph 5:20)

Always Pray in the Spirit
"And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord's people." (Eph 6:18)

Always Rejoice in the Lord
"Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!" (Php 4:4)

Rejoice always, (1Th 5:16)

Always Full of Grace
"Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone." (Col 4:6)

Always Strive To Do What Is Good For Each Other
"Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always strive to do what is good for each other and for everyone else." (1Th 5:15)

Always Be Gentle
"...to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and always to be gentle toward everyone." (Tit 3:2)

Always Be Prepared to Give an Answer
"But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect," (1Pe 3:15)

Always Keep Your Eyes on the Lord
"I keep my eyes always on the LORD. With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken." (Psa 16:8)

Always Be Mindful of God's Unfailing Love
"...for I have always been mindful of your unfailing love and have lived in reliance on your faithfulness." (Psa 26:3)

Always Extol and Praise the Lord
"I will extol the LORD at all times; his praise will always be on my lips." (Psa 34:1). We never take a vacation from praising God.

"For what you have done I will always praise you in the presence of your faithful people. And I will hope in your name, for your name is good." (Psa 52:9)

Always Have Hope
"As for me, I will always have hope; I will praise you more and more." (Psa 71:14)

Always Seek His Face 
"Look to the LORD and his strength; seek his face always." (Psa 105:4)

Always Do What is Right
"Blessed are those who act justly, who always do what is right." (Psa 106:3)

Always Obey God's Commandments
"I will always obey your law, for ever and ever." (Psa 119:44)

Always Trust God
"Trust in him at all times, you people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge." (Psa 62:8)

My soul is consumed with longing for your laws at all times. (Psa 119:20)

Closing Words

Therefore, based on what we have read in God's Word, there are certain things we must always do. To summarize them, we should always pray, always do what pleases the Lord, always keep your conscience clear, always do as love does, always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, always being given over to death for Jesus, always be confident, always give thanks to God for everything, always pray in the Spirit, always rejoice in the Lord, always be full of grace, always strive to do what is good for each other, always be gentle, always be prepared to give an answer, always keep your eyes on the Lord, always be mindful of God's unfailing love, always extol and praise the Lord, always have hope, always seek the Lord's face, always do what is right, always obey God's commandments, and no matter what, always trust God. May the Lord help us to do so. Amen.

Attribution notice: Scripture quotations taken from the Holy Bible NIV, copyright Zondervan, used by permission. 

Author's note: If you enjoyed this post, please also see the following: The Top Ten Things Jesus Taught, Living a Life Worthy of the Lord, The Wardrobe of the Saints, Following in His Steps, and Living on Earth as They Do in Heaven. You may find the Main Directory for this blog at Home, and you may also access my complete blog directory at "Writing for the Master." 

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe. 

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"

_________________________________________________

Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org. 

Christian Perfection

John Wesley

One of my favorite preachers from modern Church history is John Wesley, an English minister who served the Lord during the eighteenth century. He is so well-known that there is no need for much of an introduction. I've been enjoying a book that contains excerpts from his personal journals, which I highly recommend. It is called The Heart of John Wesley's Journal by Percy Livingstone Parker and John Wesley.

Wesley was highly criticized by many people for his message on Christian perfection, and he met with much opposition over it. In fact, he was often verbally and physically assaulted by various mobs and individuals, when he attempted to preach anywhere. In one of his journal entries, he explained what he actually taught about perfection and wondered how anyone, Christian or not, could have any problem with his doctrine if they understood what he meant by it.

Here is how Wesley explained it:

"By Christian perfection, I mean (1) loving God with all our heart. Do you object to this? I mean (2) a heart and life all devoted to God. Do you desire less? I mean (3) regaining the whole image of God. What objection to this? I mean (4) having all the mind that was in Christ. Is this going too far? I mean (5) walking uniformly as Christ walked. And this surely no Christian will object to. If anyone means anything more or anything else by perfection, I have no Concern with it. But if this is wrong, yet what need of this heat about it, this violence, I had almost said, fury of opposition, carried so far as even not to lay out anything with this man, or that woman, who professes it?"

To summarize his five points, they were as follows:

Loving God with All Our Heart
Perfection means loving God with all our heart. Jesus said that this is the greatest commandment: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment."(Mat 22:37-38). As Wesley asked, "Do you object to this?"

A Heart And Life All Devoted To God
Perfection means having a heart and life fully devoted to God. Hanani the seer said in Scripture, "For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him." (2 Chr 16:9a)

Jesus said, "So then, none of you can be My disciple who does not give up all his own possessions." (Luk 14:33, NASB)

And He was saying to them all, "If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake, he is the one who will save it." (Luk 9:23-24, NASB)

The apostle Paul said, "I am saying this for your own good, not to restrict you, but that you may live in a right way in undivided devotion to the Lord." (1Co 7:35)

As Wesley asked, "Do you desire less?"

Regaining The Whole Image Of God
Perfection means having the whole image of God in you restored. God originally created man in His own image. Scripture says, "God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them." (Gen 1:27). But sin marred the image of God. Yet when any man comes to Christ, the Lord begins to restore the image of God in him. It's true that old things have passed away and all things have become new (2 Cor 5:17). However, there is an ongoing process of transformation that each follower of Christ goes through. Paul said, "And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit." (2Co 3:18).

As Wesley asked, "What objection [do you have] to this?"

Having All The Mind That Was In Christ

Perfection means having all the mind that was in Christ. The apostle Paul wrote, "For, 'Who has known the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?' But we have the mind of Christ." (1Co 2:16).  

He also wrote: 

"In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." (Php 2:5-11).

Pray that God will give you the mind, the emotions, the attitude, and the humility of Christ. As Wesley asked, "Is this going too far?"

Walking Uniformly As Christ Walked
Perfection is walking consistently as Jesus walked. The apostle John wrote: "Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did." (1Jn 2:6)

The apostle Peter was in agreement with this when he wrote: "To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in His steps. 'He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth.' " (1Pe 2:21-22).

Who can find anything wrong with teaching that we should walk as Jesus walked and follow in His steps? As Wesley said, "Surely no Christian will object to this."

See my article Following in His Steps.

Closing Words

Our Lord has taught us to "Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect." (Mat 5:48). Obviously he would not command us to do something that was impossible for us. We know that apart from Christ we can do nothing (Jn 15:5), but we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us (Phil 4:13). For with God all things are possible (Mt 19:26).

Having learned from Wesley himself what he meant by Christian perfection, and then having discovered the solid Scriptural basis for it, I (like him) really don't see how anyone could disagree with this teaching. It's straight out of the Bible. If anyone means anything more or anything else by perfection than what has been explained in this post, I have no concern with it.

Wesley was honest to admit with the apostle Paul that he had not yet attained to perfection (Phil 3:12). But he used to say that we should not simply expect to attain to perfection only once we have died and gone to heaven, but we should live our lives expecting to be made perfect by the Lord at any hour. Indeed, this is a wonderful thought for all those who -- like Wesley -- are aiming for perfection and desire to attain to it in this lifetime. I hope you will take such a view as well.

Attribution notice: Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible NIV, copyright Zondervan, used by permission. Other Scriptures where noted are from the New American Standard Bible (NASB), copyright The Lockman Foundation, used by permission. Quote from Wesley's journal taken from The Heart of John Wesley's Journal by Percy Livingstone Parker, (Peabody, MA.: Hendrickson Publishers, Inc., 2008), 379-380.

Author's note: If you enjoyed this post, please also see the following: Aim for Perfection, Following in His Steps, Walking in the Perfect Will of God, Called to be Blameless, The Four Tallest Homes in Heaven, The Cost of Discipleship, The Obedience of Faith, Ask for the Ancient Paths, Holy Living in a Perverted World, and Sins That Will Keep You From Heaven. You may find the Main Directory for this blog at Home, and you may also access my complete blog directory at "Writing for the Master."

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe.

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"

_________________________________________________

Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.

Living on Earth as They Do in Heaven

Life would be much different for each of us if God's will were done here on earth as it is in heaven. I'd like to share with you just how different it would be and why.

Your Will Be Done On Earth As It Is In Heaven
The Lord taught us to pray to our Heavenly Father, "Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven." (Mt 6:10). I stated previously in my article, The Disciples' Prayer:

In heaven, God’s will goes unchallenged and is always done. There’s nobody there resisting God’s will. On earth there are many enemies of God and hindrances to block his will. Yet His will is best. “Father knows best.”  The Father is looking out for your best interest. Trust God. Go with what He says.

When you pray for His will to be done on earth as it is in heaven, then it will guide you to pray in His will.  And even if you make a mistake and pray outside His will, He will know that you asked for His will to be done, so He will answer it according to His will, rather than how you wanted it.

When you do God's will, that is one way this prayer of yours will be answered.  He said, "For whoever does the will of God, he is My brother and sister and mother." (Mar 3:35).  He also said, “Blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it." (Luk 11:27-28).

Jesus prayed for the Father’s will, when it was contrary to His own (Mt 26:39-42).  This is what we must do also, following our Lord's example. His will is what we live for, not our own. This is critical, because of the power of the will. Your will has the ability to make you miss heaven. God will not force you to obey Him. He will not force Himself on you. If you allow your will to take priority, it can take you to hell. If you aren’t willing, then you can block God’s will from being done, so live your life for the will of God. Surrender to His will, and live according to it. (1 Pe 4:1-6).  The one who does the will of God lives forever. (1 Jn 2:17). His will is holy, righteous, perfect, and true.

Citizens of Heaven

Even while we are living on earth, if we know the Lord Jesus Christ personally and are born again, then we are citizens of heaven. The apostle Paul wrote, "But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ." (Php 3:20, NIV). This means that heaven is our home and our names are already written in the register there as citizens of that glorious place. Our names are written in the Book of Life, which is an actual book in heaven with the names of every person who belongs to the Lord (Php 4:3; Rev 3:5; 13:8; 17:8; 20:12; 20:15; 21:27).

Jesus taught those of us who are truly His disciples to rejoice that our "names are written in heaven.” (Lk 10:20). It's very important that your name be written there, because it means you have eternal life and will spend eternity there with the Lord. However, anyone whose name is not found written in the Lamb's Book of Life will be thrown into the lake of fire (Rev 20:5). Hell is real! You don't want to go to that terrible place. That's why you need to make certain that your name is in the Book of Life.

Being a citizen of heaven comes with both privileges and responsibilities. The privileges are rather obvious. As I said, you get to live there forever in the presence of God and walk with Jesus on the streets of gold. You receive a beautiful white robe to wear, which is reserved for the overcomers. You can bathe in the River of Life and drink from it. You can eat from the fruit of the Tree of Life. You will worship with the saints at the throne of God and behold His power and His glory in the sanctuary. You will enjoy fellowship so sweet with the saints and angels up there. It's a wonderful kingdom of light, life, and love, where everyone is full of joy and cares for one another. There's no more sorrow there, no more dying there, no more sickness, and no more pain. It's only perfect peace and rest.

But with that citizenship comes the responsibility to love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself. Everyone there delightfully does the work the Lord has given them to do, which is very fulfilling and satisfying. It's not toilsome at all like work here on earth. And they live in holiness unto the Lord there, so there is nothing impure or evil allowed in that place. There is no devil, no demons, no property of satan, nothing false or artificial. There is no smoking, no drug use, and no alcohol abuse. They don't bow down to idols there. Everyone dresses modestly and godly. Everything is perfectly pure, holy, and righteous in heaven. "Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life." (Rev 21:27, NIV).

If you would like to know more about what heaven is like, you can read about it in the book of Revelation. You can also read many testimonies that I have posted on Eternal Destinations from people who have visited heaven and come back to tell about it. Heaven is real!

On Earth as it is in Heaven
Now let's relate that back to life here on earth. Since we who know Christ personally as our Lord and Savior are citizens of heaven, and we pray for our Heavenly Father's will to be done on earth as it is in heaven, that means He is expecting us to live our lives here and now just as they do in heaven. That also comes with privileges and responsibilities as well.

You get to begin enjoying your eternal life right now and experiencing the abundant life that Jesus promised (John 10:10). You also experience the presence of God and walk with Jesus in your everyday activities (Jn 15:4). You receive a beautiful white robe to wear, but you need to wash your robe and keep it from becoming stained with sin (Rev 3:4,18). You can drink daily from the living waters that Jesus promised (Jn 7:37-39). You worship with the saints at the throne of God. You enjoy sweet fellowship with the saints here. You are seated in heavenly realms with Christ (Eph 2:6), and you are hidden with Christ in God (Col 3:3). The Lord sets His angels about you to protect you at all times (Psalm 91:11-12; Heb 1:14). It's a wonderful kingdom of light (Col 1:13), life, and love, where everyone is full of joy and cares for one another. You may have hardships, trials, sorrows and griefs to bear (Ac 14:22), but the Lord comforts you, gives you grace, and enables you to experience peace that passes all understanding in the midst of it (Phl 4:7), as well as joy unspeakable and full of glory (1 Pe 1:8).

But with that citizenship comes the responsibility to love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself (Lk 10:27). Your life should bear the fruit of the Spirit (Gal 5:22-23). You must do the will of God (Mt 7:21), and complete the work the Lord has given you to do (Col 4:17). Whatever you do you must do it with love as unto the Lord for the glory of God. And you should aim for perfection (2 Cor 13:11), walking in holiness, righteousness, and truth (Eph 4:24), allowing nothing impure, unholy, worldly, sinful, or evil in your life (2 Cor 7:1). That means you must not entertain demons. You must not own or wear any property of satan on your body. You must not be deceitful, false, or artificial (Ps 101:7). You must not bow down to any idols or lift up your soul to them (Ps 15; 24:3-4). Everything in your life must be perfectly pure, holy, and righteous like it is in heaven (Heb 12:14). That includes the way you dress and adorn yourself, which must be with decency and propriety in all modesty (1 Timothy 2:9-10; 1 Pe 3:3-4), so that you honor the Lord with your body (1 Cor 6:19-20).

Since they don't smoke, do drugs, or get drunk with alcohol in heaven, then that means you shouldn't do those things here on earth either, if you are a citizen of heaven. Since they don't get tattoos in heaven, you shouldn't get them here either (Lev 19:28). Since they don't wear makeup in the Holy City, you shouldn't wear it here. Since they are not going around dressed half naked in heaven, you should cover your body. Since they are not listening to secular music in the courts above, you shouldn't listen to it here either. It's easy for you to know how the Lord expects you to live, because anything they do in heaven, you should do here, and anything they don't do there, you should not do here. This is what the Bible teaches us. It's sound doctrine that conforms to the glorious gospel of the blessed God.

Do you think that the saints here on earth are allowed to carry on living like the world (1 Joh 2:15-17) -- drinking, smoking, watching secular movies, listening to secular music, hating, lying, cheating, deceiving, not caring for one another, not praying, not worshiping the Lord, wearing the property of satan, being artificial, and dressing immodestly or indecently -- and then die and go to heaven? Do you think that just because they said a sinner's prayer and attend church they can live their life however they wish, and then as soon as they die they will walk through the pearly gates into heaven and begin to act differently and become holy people? If you do, you're wrong (Rom 6:1-2). If you don't hate sin now, you won't hate it there. If you don't like to worship and pray now, you won't like it there either. If you don't love the Lord with all your being now, you won't do so there either. If you don't love your neighbor as yourself now, what makes you think you will become a loving person after you die?

Let's pray that our Father's kingdom would come and that His will would be done here on earth in our lives as it is in heaven, so that we would live our lives on earth as they do in heaven. With the Lord's help, and by His grace, let's live on earth as they do in heaven.

Attribution notice: Most Scripture quotations taken from the NASB copyright the Lockman Foundation, used by permission. Other Scriptures where noted as NIV, taken from the Holy Bible New International Version, copyright Zondervan, used by permission. Citizens of Heaven image copyright Word of Grace Bible Church - Battle Ground, WA, used according to Fair Use Act for educational and commentary purposes only.
 
Author's note: You are invited to read Sins That Will Keep You From Heaven, Walking in the Perfect Will of God, Aim for Perfection, Godly Attire and Adornment -- Seven Divine Revelations, Carrying Your Cross or Cross Dressing?, Tattoos and Body Piercing, Keeping Your Body Pure and Holy, Alcohol and Cigarettes -- Ten Divine Revelations, Rock, Rap, and Reggae Music -- Three Divine Revelations, The Forgotten Sin of Worldliness, Called to be Blameless, Holy Living in a Perverted World, Separation from the World, The Straight and Narrow Path, Whatever You Do, Do All Like This, Your Identity in Christ, and Fruit in Every Season. You may access the Main Directory for this Seeking the Lord blog for more articles like this, as well as my complete blog directory at "Writing for the Master."

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe.

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"

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Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.