God's Love

I've got my mind made up,by Donnie Mclurkin

                                                                Chorus:

I've got my mind made up and I won't turn back 
Because I want to see my Jesus someday 
I've got my mind made up and I won't turn back 
Because I want to see my Jesus someday 

Goodbye world, I stay no longer with you 
Goodbye pleasures of sin, I stay no longer with you 
I've made up my mind to go God's way the rest of my life 
I've made up my mind to go God's way the rest of my life 

Born, born, born again Thank God, I'm born again 
Born, born, born again Thank God, I'm born again 
Born of the water, spirit and the blood Thank God, I'm born again 
Born of the water, spirit and the blood Thank God, I'm born again 

(Repeat Chorus)

I am under the rock, The rock that's higher than I 
Jehovah hide me, I am under the rock Go tell my enemies,

I am under the rock. Jehovah hide me, I am under the rock 

Jesus name so sweet, Emanuel name so sweet 
Jesus name so sweet, Emanuel name so sweet 
(Repeat)
Every rock, me rock upon Jesus Jesus' name so sweet 
Every rock, me rock upon Jesus Jesus' name so sweet 

(Repeat Chorus)

Oh, I want to see Him, look upon His face 
There, to sing forever of His saving grace 
On the streets of glory let me lift my voice 
All my cares are past, home at last, ever to rejoice 

I've got my mind made up and I won't turn back 
Because I want to see my Jesus someday 
I've got my mind made up and I won't turn back 
Because I want to see my Jesus someday 

Fire, fire, fire Fire fall on me 
On the day of Pentecost, the fire fall on me. 
On the day of Pentecost, the fire fall on me.

God's love,mercy and forgiveness

I’d like to share with you a passage I read this evening that moved me deeply.  It is in a book of Psalms written by David, and speaks of the almost inconceivable mercy and love that God has toward us.  As one who has failed Him so many times, in so many ways it is a reminder of the purest kind of love from a Father who, above all, wants us close to him…no matter what we’ve done.

The Lord is compassionate and merciful,
slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love.
He will not constantly accuse us,
nor remain angry forever.
He does not punish us for all our sins;
he does not deal harshly with us, as we deserve.
For his unfailing love toward those who fear him
is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth.
He has removed our sins as far from us
as the east is from the west.

Psalms 103:8-12, New Living Translation

Psalm of the day

I love God

Do you love God?

Christian prayer

When you listen to believers talk about the Christian life there is a common theme: prayer is important and difficult. This is not a new phenomenon, even the earliest disciples requested some classes on prayer (Luke 11:1). Therefore, it is encouraging and instructive to hear Jesus' teaching on how to pray from what is called "The Lord's Prayer."

What is interesting to me is the way he begins: "Our Father..." (Matthew 6:9). In this Jesus calls us to the family room for a conversation with our heavenly Father. Before we go further, however, it is important, even imperative to acknowledge and overcome a major obstacle that this opening presents.

We all have the tendency to project a concept of fatherhood upon God instead of to receive the image that he projects. This is obviously due to the fact that we all have fathers. Some are or were better than others but none are or were perfect. All of our fathers had significant shortcomings—even on their best day.

As a result, we often see God in this light or at least with influence from this light. I have seen it over and over again in counseling: we project our thoughts of our earthly fathers upon our heavenly Father. As you might imagine, this causes major problems in the prayer closest. If your father was demanding and lacked grace then you see God this way. If your father was cold, distant, and uninvolved, then you see God this way. If your father was unable to deliver on his grand promises, then you see God this way. If your father did not keep his word then you see God this way. This is the spiritual equivalent of having your shoes tied together by some pesky kid before getting up from the table. It halts you at the starting blocks of the race; you are not going to go very far.

As Christians we must not project our image of God upon God but rather receive the one he supplies us in his Word. We come to the Lord's Prayer and we see that Jesus lays a heavy emphasis upon the Fatherhood of God. Evidently everything that follows flows out of the fact that God is a Father, and a good one at that. Therefore, understanding God as Father is essential not only to our knowledge of him but also our relationship to him.

Let me provide a few sparkling jewels from God's crown that showcase his Fatherhood. These jewels draw us to pray.

1. God's Loving Nature.

The best praise that we can give a person is to say that they are loving.  It agelessly attractive to be a loving human. However, when we talk about God being loving we are not saying that like "Joe is a generally loving guy." No, God is quite unique. God is not only loving he is love (1 John 4:8). This passage in 1 John reminds us that this love is chiefly understood not in terms of a feeling but an event! God's love is displayed through the giving of Jesus Christ for us and our salvation. If you ever doubt God's love for you then you need to remember the cross. It is the great if...then argument. If God has not spared his Son then he will give you everything you need, with abundance (Rom. 8:32). God is love at his core! Everything that God does and says flows from this glorious source. All of the rivers of his thinking and doing and saying flow from the same source water, the ocean of God' love. We should note that we can say this not because what God says and does is evaluated by some third-party source or some love-o-meter as loving, but rather it is loving because the God who is love has done it! It is this God who is your Father! He invites you to come to him to receive and rejoice in his love. This draws us to pray.