Remember angry at life and angry with God brings stagnation.
How do you love God when you don’t even like Him? How do you love God when you don’t even like yourself? How do you love God when you think He is nasty? Do you only love God out of duty? Do you only love God out of fear of losing your salvation? Do you love God because you have to? But the truth is to love out of keeping laws is like chalk and cheese.
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” Deuteronomy 6:5
“This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Matthew 22:37-40
“Love is the fulfillment of the laws.” Romans 13:8-10
How do you love God when you believe He expects so much of you? How do you love God when He wants you to be perfect? How do you love God when you are always trying to be good for Him? How do you love God when you are always feeling judged, condemned and guilty? How do you love God when you never feel good enough? How do you love God when you have to earn His love? How do you love God when He thinks I’m a failure? How do I love God when I always have to seek His approval? Man how do you love a God like this? How do you love God when it’s His fault and He made me this way? How am I supposed to love You God when I'm like this and I try to work hard enough for what You expect from me! So how do you continue on with God when you feel like this?
We do so only by Him at work in the heart and by the renewal of our mind with these distorted beliefs about Him. When we grasp what it is to live a grace-based life and that He is for us and not against us then we will be at peace with self and peace and contentment with God and change will come into the heart.
Old messages, parental upbringing, worldly beliefs, former hurts, religious spirits, distorted thinking, religion that defames the character of God and says, “Dammed if you do and dammed if you don’t” make us unhealthy. Therefore you learn to function in your dysfunction, give in, leave, except this life as a norm, just plod along, find an escape route, go back to the worship of self, return to your former ways or put your own in here ...................….
Recall when you go about renewing your mind in this area to know God as a God of Grace and Mercy it will become crystal clear to you that your thinking was distorted and above all He is not this and that type of God.
God’s unconditional love and approval cannot be brought, cannot be worked for, cannot be earned, cannot be given because of any works, action, attitude or even gender or race or status. His love and approval is manifested because of grace, because of His nature cannot stop but love and understand the human nature. We receive not because of us fulfilling laws, but because of why He gave us Jesus and what Jesus “finished” and what Jesus does as our High Priest and Intercessor and Covenant Lamb.
Grace is God’s love in action to us, God does not say I will love you if…. Or I will love you after you…. Or I will love you provided…. Or I love and approve of you only when…. Or I will love and approve you because…. His love depends not on us doing anything, or being anyone, or doing this or doing that but on what He is. God is love so He loves. God approves because He sent His only begotten perfect sinless Son as our substitute. Cats meow because they are cats, same thing; God loves us because He is just that and just can’t stop loving us, as He is Love.
And what about the cross, what about the whole purpose and message of His life, His crucifixion, His death, His burial, His resurrection and His ascension – a perfect work for we’ve got buckles of being perfect and fulfilling and obeying His laws and requirements; there was only One man who did that or who could ever do that so that’s why He sent Jesus to come in the flesh and that’s why He came, our substitute, our redemption, our sacrifice, our penalty was paid for by His perfection.
God says I know I ask you to love Me with all your heart and love your neighbor as yourself but Grace says I know you cannot do such a thing without my help, without my enabling power, without my Love coming from the inside of you out, without Me empowering you to walk in My Spirit.
Lighten up, we are going to fail, we are going to fall, we are going to sin, we are going to see things distorted, we are all going to misunderstand the race set before us, we are going to get deceived that we think we should or could be a better Christian. Don't weep over the melody and madness of your mind He knows the mystries He knows why you are broken He knows your weakness, He knows homosexuality does not drop off over night but a process that takes years and years of healing restoration renewal and commitment and faithfulness to Him and His lifestyle.
The good news is you are going to have a change of the way you think and see we all fall short of the glory of God; so that’s why we look to Jesus the One who went before us and accomplished all that God expected, planned and equipped Him to do so we could stand excepted, loved and approved." 1. [Malligan, 2005:39] [all words in italics here mine]
1. Malligan Kathleen M.D. When You Have Had Enough of Christianity [Triumphant Ministries Toowoomba, www.triumphantministriestoowoomba.com.au]
NOTE: This Ministry www.fruitfulvine.com has three teachings on Fatherlessness and one on Motherlessness that bring forth restoration and healing and much understanding with prayer strategies that I recomend to uproot why we have conscious and subconscious distorted views on our Heavenly Father.