What does it to mean to love God?

[rosered]

:HeartThrob: RoseRed, thank you. The words from Paulthat you posted just simply sang to my heart, they we do beautiful.

I have often thought of myself as a sole maple leaf bobbing with the current down a stream. Only to discover, the stream is tranquil and breathtaking in it's splendor and the current, gentle on it's flow. Now I just wish to share everything. I never knew the meaning of Heaven on Earth, yet like most, I have surely did my time in Hell.

For all the words we have, how does one share their heart in words? The fruits of the Spirit are thankfully not words.

Father he's given me a strong will and a soft heart. My will is still a little reckless  :doh:

Love Julie  :girlheart:

That is  great Julie    those scripts   blessed  in a timely manner  ! Glad I posted   and was not  certain  I should  post any more    :sigh:

   I certainly understand   the  hell on earth as well and Heavens  gain   within, as God sees fit to give the increase ,   and can relate
  and could not agree more that the fruits of the Spirit  are not mere words , but  Life to the believer !!   God bless your heart !!

[Jock]

Hi Sheila

No worries, sister. There are lots of things I don't understand but I find that when the Spirit speaks to me (or another) I am immediately given a verse of scripture to validate what I heard. That's what I mean, that's the Amen! Sometimes I get it wrong and can be corrected, then "I" shut up and sit down  :laugh: Just kidding! I guess what I mean is that we can't labour against the Truth.

I'm off to bed now, getting to be that time

Jock

BTW, I see no wrong in you  :HeartThrob:

[Jock]

Hi Julie

How could I be angry or hurt by you? You have a lovely heart and actually, I know the sort of experiences you mean, had em myself. I think I misunderstood what you were trying to get across. I am always glad to read posts from your lovely heart  :dsunny:

Good night sweet sister

Shalom

Jock.

[JulieTang84]

The way I see things can be understood through a hypothetical:

Supposing my daughter and I were in a pitch black room and she couldn't see me and she was scared. I could tell her with my voice that I am here and will not leave her or let her get hurt. If she trusts me, she can have confidence in that. That voice could mean the word of God, or it could be a feeling, or it could be an audible voice. But one thing I think we could all agree on, is the the written word counts as God's voice in a foundational way. Even if someone hasn't heard an audible voice or felt anything, or had a specific validating experience, the voice is also still present in the Word and can be "heard" and trusted in the darkness.

That's how I resolve the understanding between Julie and I, which I don't take to really be a disagreement after all.

Dear Seth, I like your analogy, but as usual I see things a little differently.  :girlheart:

You wrote: "But one thing I think we could all agree on, is the the written word counts as God's voice in a foundational way"

I do wish it had for me. I was just 5 when I discovered that the God whom I knew molded my heart,, was not the God I was told of in the bible. To the young girl I was, the bible was like a horror story. I was told I had no faith and I believed them, for the faith I had was nothing like theirs. I spent years trying to reconcile the Bible. The book of Revelation was placed in the "too hard" basket. Sure, I found snippets that resonated, but even after growing up, being told constantly that I was taking everything out of context; I didn't lean on my understanding too much.

If I had a foundation it was the faith that Father had gifted me. I always reasoned that, to be true to Father, I had to be true to myself. I just could not sell myself out and buy into the things I was told I HAD to believe.

My most treasured Scripture was always Psalm 23

So, with all of this, I am thinking that Fathers Word is great to shore up what is being built on Jesus's foundation that he laid. I can only imagine how many of Jesus's foundations have been torn down by the church and replaced with horrendous lies.  :sigh:

I will be totally honest, the Bible had never brought me much comfort until Father revealed himself to me. Only then did the Bible become s cohesive whole. It was just a jumbled jigsaw puzzle before.  :sigh:

Just sharing with much Love  :HeartThrob:

Julie

[Seth]

I will be totally honest, the Bible had never brought me much comfort until Father revealed himself to me. Only then did the Bible become s cohesive whole. It was just a jumbled jigsaw puzzle before.  :sigh:

That's really the thing. While I believe that the written word is part of the voice of God, it doesn't mean his voice is understood. I didn't hear the voice either, in that I didn't understand it, and it was a big jumbled jigsaw puzzle to me as well. We must "hear," and also understand what we "hear."

I don't believe that God is a physical being, and so when I say "voice," I don't mean like with vocal cords. The way I see the written word is that it is part of the Trumpet, the call out, the voice, which when understood can give great comfort and trust to the hearer. I do believe that the Spirit must give us guidance to understand his own words, but once understood, they can be trusted.

When we open the Bible and see the words "I will never leave you or forsake you" and we believe those words to be true, they are as good as hearing them audibly, or from another kind of experience. They are just as truthful, and so if Universal Sceptic sees those words, and the Spirit has given understanding, he has heard God's word on this matter. He can have confidence in the truth of those words and stand strong on them.

[JulieTang84]

Hi Julie

How could I be angry or hurt by you? You have a lovely heart and actually, I know the sort of experiences you mean, had em myself. I think I misunderstood what you were trying to get across. I am always glad to read posts from your lovely heart  :dsunny:

Good night sweet sister

Shalom

Jock.

Thanks Jock  :friendstu:

I didn't want to burn yet another bridge......

Love Julie  :HeartThrob:

[JulieTang84]

I will be totally honest, the Bible had never brought me much comfort until Father revealed himself to me. Only then did the Bible become s cohesive whole. It was just a jumbled jigsaw puzzle before.  :sigh:

That's really the thing. While I believe that the written word is part of the voice of God, it doesn't mean his voice is understood. I didn't hear the voice either, in that I didn't understand it, and it was a big jumbled jigsaw puzzle to me as well. We must "hear," and also understand what we "hear."

I don't believe that God is a physical being, and so when I say "voice," I don't mean like with vocal cords. The way I see the written word is that it is part of the Trumpet, the call out, the voice, which when understood can give great comfort and trust to the hearer. I do believe that the Spirit must give us guidance to understand his own words, but once understood, they can be trusted.

When we open the Bible and see the words "I will never leave you or forsake you" and we believe those words to be true, they are as good as hearing them audibly, or from another kind of experience. They are just as truthful, and so if Universal Sceptic sees those words, and the Spirit has given understanding, he has heard God's word on this matter. He can have confidence in the truth of those words and stand strong on them.

This is cool because we seem to be on the same page.  :gimmefive:

I too believe that much of the Bible requires a higher interpretation than the words alone convey. However, with this being said. There are likely just as many that do not, like the one you quoted. I would Psalm 23 in there too. These are important as are others like Jesus's two commandments and Paul saying: This is a faithful and true saying worthy of all acceptance that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners, whom I am the greatest.

Where the church has generally messed up is that they have separated themselves from the persona of Jesus, who was a servant of the down trodden. I truly enjoy reading Paul, but have read several books devoted only to the teachings of Jesus. His message was so simple yet so profound at the same time. He always turned the status quo upside down; like the time the learned caught a woman messing around (note: they blamed the woman but I bet the man started it (Julie's conjecture)) Well, there law permitted the stoning of the woman, yet Jesus said just a few words and they walked away: "Let he has not sinned, throw the first stone." He then told the woman that he did not condemn her either.

There was no doctrine in Jesus's teaching and I truly feel much of His simple truth of Loving Father and all others as ourself was and is still KEY in Father opening the Spiritual gates. This message has largely been replaced with one of fear, of death and eternal punishment. As crazy as this sounds, I have NO spiritual concern for anything that is not Love. I just cannot even go there. Jesus told us that Father's Kingdom was within and that all the searching "out-there" would be to no-avail.

I know this was my problem for all those years. Father could never be "in" me!!!! Really!!!! And I never even took a quick look.
We are all a work in progress and it is good to share our successes and our failures.  :cloud9:

Kind of got side tracked didn't I   :Chinscratch:

Love Julie  :girlheart: