{"id":3272,"date":"2020-10-20T11:00:47","date_gmt":"2020-10-20T17:00:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.theclarion.org\/?p=3272"},"modified":"2020-10-20T11:00:47","modified_gmt":"2020-10-20T17:00:47","slug":"thoughts-from-the-bible-10-21-20","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.theclarion.org\/?p=3272","title":{"rendered":"Thoughts from The Bible: – 10\/21\/20"},"content":{"rendered":"

Strengthening My Love For God<\/strong>
\nby Terry Broome<\/em><\/p>\n

There is a difference between a command to love God and the cultivation of deep and abiding love for Him. It\u2019s one thing for someone to tell me that I ought to love God. It\u2019s another matter to help me learn how to grow in my ability to love Him. Over the years I\u2019ve paid attention when people told me of ways and circumstances that had enhanced their love.
\nOne such comment from a church member reminded me of my dating days when I feasted on every line of my fianc\u00e9\u2019s letters when we spent several months apart in summer work. Reading and meditating on the thoughts she had written made me feel closer to her. This particular church member suggested that the deeper she got into her study about God and about His dealings with man, the more she was drawn to a love for Him.<\/p>\n

If one has not developed the habit of going to the Bible to read God\u2019s \u201clove letters\u201d to man, one misses the unraveling of a great mystery of all times — \u201cHow could God love me so when I am so unlovely?\u201d In Romans 5:6-8, the apostle Paul suggests, \u201cFor when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.\u201d David the Psalmist King of Israel had discovered a great love for the law of the Lord. Reread Psalms 119 and note the numerous verses in which he accents the great passion he felt for every word from God. You want to have more passion for God? Try getting to know Him better.<\/p>\n

Another comment I\u2019ve received had to do with coming to know the love of God by experiencing the joy of giving to others. Jesus said in Matthew 10:42, \u201cAnd whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward.\u201d When we see the joy in someone else\u2019s face whom we have helped and discover the joy that is similar to what Jesus felt when He gave His very all, a warm glow comes alive within us. You want to learn to love? Try giving yourself away.<\/p>\n

And don\u2019t forget the power of song. James 5:13 reminds us: \u201cIs any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms.\u201d Some years ago I felt that the song had gone out of my heart. Sometimes our experiences can dull that sound of the song of joy. Again, the Psalmist had learned this precious benefit of pouring out his heart to God, not only in prayer as we are invited from Scripture to do, but also in song. His Psalms were his songs to God. They touched the very inner fiber of his being. Come to think of it, it was that way when I was falling in love as well. I sang all the time. Music from one\u2019s heart is a special gift by God to allow the soul to express itself far deeper than we often know how with mere conversation. I was so happy when the song came back into my heart.<\/p>\n

May we learn to love God more dearly. (Psa 51:10,12) \u201cCreate in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. . . . Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.\u201d<\/p>\n

(Psalm 63:1,3) \u201cO God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is. . . Because thy loving kindness is better than life…\u201d
\nThe author can be reached for comments at 256-574-2489.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Strengthening My Love For God by Terry Broome There is a difference between a command to love God and the cultivation of deep and abiding love for Him.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3272","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-tho"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.theclarion.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3272","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.theclarion.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.theclarion.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.theclarion.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.theclarion.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3272"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/test.theclarion.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3272\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3273,"href":"https:\/\/test.theclarion.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3272\/revisions\/3273"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.theclarion.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3272"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.theclarion.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3272"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.theclarion.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3272"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}