Pride vs. Grace and God=Love
Thanks to Esther on the MyLatestRevelation.com Forum for this revelation.
The thing we must accept is that we don’t, in fact, deserve God’s grace, kindness, and love on our lives. But we move beyond that and accept the fact that it is offered to us anyway. The pride part comes by us wanting to make ourselves okay without God. When we resist grace it is because conciously and/or unconciously we are afraid to admit that we aren’t perfect - so we keep trying out of our own flesh. That is why sometimes it is hard to accept grace. The only way to accept it and receive it, is when we aknowledge that we are, in fact, desperately fallen and that we need Him to help us. And you know what, IT IS OKAY. WE NEED GOD - EVERY SINGLE ONE OF US IS SCREWED UP IN SOMEWAY(S) WITHOUT HIM!!! To receive His grace we must stop fighting, stop resisting His call to rest in Him and in His strength. We must acknowledge that we need Him and then give those areas of lack over to Him.
Romans 3:23-24 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” Matthew 11:25, 28-30 “At that time Jesus declared…Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” 1 Peter 5:7 Casting the whole of your care [all your anxieties, all your worries, all your concerns, once and for all] on Him, for He cares for you affectionately and cares about you watchfully.
God the Father is not the same as our earthly examples. We can trust Him with all our hearts. So, if God is love (1 John 4:7), then 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 is in reference to Him. So read that way, it reads… God is patient, God is kind. He does not envy, He does not boast, He is not proud. He is not rude, He is not self-seeking, He is not easily angered, He keeps no record of wrongs. He does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. He always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. God never fails.
Webmaster’s note: In math, a word problem that says “something is something” can be written as “something=something” and anytime you see one of those somethings you can substitute the other for it. For example, if a word problem says, “a” is the same as “b” then you can write “a=b” and if “b+2=c” then “a+2=c” is also true. Now, if that confused you ignore it and get this. Because of this, what Esther wrote above (substituting God for the word love) is possible. Something that i found instrumental in my Christian growth was using this principle to gain a greater understanding of God. Try this exercise and see if you don’t begin to understand God better. Do a word search of the Bible at www.BlueLetterBible.com for “God.” Then read through as many scriptures as you like substituting love in place of “God.” You’ll begin to see God in a new light. i’ve done this and selected a few of my favorites meditate on them and enjoy.
Matt 6:24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve love(God) and mammon.
Matt 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of love(God), and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
Matt 9:8 But when the multitudes saw [it], they marvelled, and glorified love(God), which had given such power unto men.
Get this, Jesus was the Son of God, God=Love, So Jesus was the Son of Love. This is true because it was love that birthed God into our world to save us, it was love that kept Him on the cross to take our sins, and it was love that allowed Him to conquer death.
Substitute love for God once in a while while you’re in your personal Word time it’s powerful. The Bible also says that God is Light(as in opposite of darkness or evil), Good, Spirit, and a host of other things find them and you will begin to understand the character of God.