His children had behaved badly for many years, despite many warnings, and it was time for them to “experience” Fatherly correction. But the correction was not without purpose, it was not borne of anger. Rather, as a good father, the correction that God was about to inflict was meant to help them change from doing evil to doing good: God wanted them to become the best children they could be.
We are told that nothing shall separate us from God’s love for us. And that is greatly comforting, even inspirational. However, it is difficult to remember this truth and walk in this truth when trials come into our lives.
Here we are told, without LOVE it is impossible to SERVE God. Preaching/Teaching is empty without Godly love, Spirituality is pointless without Godly love and Generosity/Giving is worthless without Godly love.
Originally posted on Help My Unbelief:
Question: does God want you to be healthy, wealthy, and wise? Many Christians would say that yes, this is God’s desire for our lives. Better Question: does God want to conform us into the image of His Son, Our Savior, Jesus Christ? Yes, yes, and yes again. This means that the Lord will go to great lengths to accomplish this in your life. Including bringing suffering into your life. Not a once of us would ask to go through the school of suffering. But, I can attest, great growth in faith and the Gospel comes through our suffering well in Christ. A friend of mine called it a subtle heresy that most Christians believe, when we that God wants to make us happy and comfortable. Actually he wrecks our comfort, especially our comfort with our sin. When we quit fighting for our sanctification. God wrecks our apathy. My friend and his wife had great plans for their son, until they realized that he was autistic. All of a sudden they…
If we want God’s praise, if we want to excel in what God values, then we must trust Him more and we must love each other more. We don’t earn God’s praise by the songs we sing, or by how often we go to church, or by how many committees we sit on, or by the image we project.
Reflections in The WORD 