{Online Bible Journey} Why Does God Love Me?

Sorry I started this and then it fell away the very next week.  Things have been a little crazy around here we can't seem to get well.

But we are back ... We are looking at the You Version Bible Plan - Why Does God Love Me?  This week we are going to look at Psalms 136.

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good!
His faithful love endures forever.

Give thanks to the Lord of lords.
His faithful love endures forever.

Give thanks to him who made the heavens so skillfully.
His faithful love endures forever.

Give thanks to him who placed the earth among the waters.
His faithful love endures forever.

Give thanks to him who made the heavenly lights -
His faithful love endures forever.

The sun to rule the day,
His faithful love endures forever.

And the moon and stars to rule the night.
His faithful loves endures forever.

Give thanks to him who killed the firstborn of Egypt.
His faithful love endures forever.

He brought Israel out of Egypt.
His faithful love endures forever.

He acted with a strong hand and a powerful arm.
His faithful love endures forever.

Five thanks to him who parted the Red Sea.
His faithful love endures forever.

He led Israel safely through,
His faithful love endures forever

but he hurled Pharaoh and his army into the Red Sea.
His faithful love endures forever.

Give thanks to him who led his people through the wilderness.
His faithful love endures forever.

Give thanks to him who struck down mighty kings.
His faithful love endures forever.

He killed powerful kings -
His faithful love endures forever.

Sihon king of the Amorites
His faithful love endures forever

and Og king of Bashan.
His faithful love endures forever.

God gave the land to these kings as an inheritance -
His faithful love endures forever -

a special possession to his servant Israel.
His faithful love endures forever.

He remembered us in our weakness.
His faithful love endures forever.

He saved us from our enemies.
His faithful love endures forever.

He gives food to every living thing.
His faithful love endures forever.

Give thanks to the God of heaven.
His faithful love endures forever.

When we gratitude flows out we are filled with love.  Expressing gratitude shows we are secure in God’s love for us.

In the bible I use (review here) there is commentary about this Psalm.  The Hebrew verb for “give thanks” is more than just saying thank-you.  It is more than just our attitude.  The Hebrew word for love here is often translated as steadfast love.  God’s love, His steadfast love is forever.  It is not temporary or conditional.

Because God loves us and we are secure in that we can live our lives with overflowing gratitude.  This is something that I work on daily.  Being grateful and express gratitude for ALL the things that God has done for us.

Next Week the passages are:

Jeremiah 29:11-13
“For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord.  “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.  In those days when you pray, I will listen.  If you look for me wholeheartedly you will find me.”

Jeremiah 31:3
Long ago the Lord said to Israel: I have loved you, my people, with an everlasting love.  With unfailing love I have drawn you to myself.  

Zephaniah 3:17
For the Lord your God is living among you.  He is a mighty savior.  He will take delight in you with gladness.  With his love, he will calm all your fears.  He will rejoice over you with joyful songs.  

Matthew 10:29-31
What is the price of two sparrows - one copper coin?  But not a single sparrow can fall to the ground without your Father knowing it.  And the very hairs on your heard are all numbered.  So don’t be afraid; you are more valuable to God than a whole flock of sparrows.

Luke 15:11-32 Parable of the lost son.

{Online Bible Journey} Why God Loves Me - Week One

My take on the first week - Here are the scriptures and I put my thoughts after each passage.  At the end I give an overall summary.  See if that is how I do it again next week.  :)

Why God Loves Me

Genesis 1:26-27
"Then God said, "Let us make human beings in our image to be like us.  They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth and the small animals that scurry along the ground."  So God created human beings in his own image.  In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them."

We were created to be like God.  He created in HIS image "to be like us".  God loves us because he wanted us to be just like him.  He loves me because he created me.

Think about how much we love our children.  We 'created' them - we want to give them the world!  While that baby is brewing are we thinking - I want him to have your nose.  I want her to have your smile.  It was always a joke in our house that Hubs wanted them to have my brains and his looks.  We want the humans we 'create' to be just like us.  How does it make you feel when someone you don't know, or haven't seen in a long time see your child and says, "They are so cute!" It makes you feel good, you have cute kids.  But it makes you feel even better when that is followed up with, "You look just like your mommy."

Isn't that how God feels about us?  He created us in HIS image, to be just like HIM.  That is love.  So, why does God love me?  Because He created me.

Deuteronomy 7:6-10
"For you are a holy people, who belong to the Lord your God.  Of all the people on earth, the Lord your God has chosen you to be his own special treasure.  The Lord did not set his heart on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other nations, for you were the smallest of all the nations!  Rather, it was simply that the Lord loves you, and he was keeping the oath he had sworn to your ancestors.  That is why the Lord rescued you with such a strong hand from your slavery and from the oppressive hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt.  Understand, therefore, that the Lord your God is indeed God.  He is the faithful God who keeps his covenant for a thousand generations and lavishes his unfailing love on those who love him and obey his commands.  But he does not hesitate to punish and destroy those who reject him."

The first phrase that stuck out to me is "God has chosen you to be his own special treasure."  It is pretty obvious why God loves me - He choose me.

I am going to be honest, though, I have always had troubles with scripture like this.  I think my problem is that I am a contextual reader sometimes.  I read that and I think to myself - God is talking to the Jews who he brought out of captivity.  I am not one of those Jews.  How can this also mean that he choose me?  I wasn't there.  I didn't go through those trials.  The stuff that I go through is so, so different.  I am not and was not in slavery.  How could this passage also mean me?  I guess that is where my biggest struggle is, how does what I read in the bible really apply to me?  

The next one that sticks out is, "It was simply that the Lord loves you."  Again it is pretty obvious here, in fact it straight out says it - the Lord loves you.  Can't read too much into that one.

The last one is, "[He] lavishes his unfailing love on those who love him and obey his commands."  As long as we also love God he will lavish his unfailing love on us - oh, if we obey his commands.

That is another part that I have always struggled with - is God one we need to perform for - do what he wants and we are loved - this seems like his love is conditional, or is he a God that just loves us, regardless of what we do?  Is that the difference between the old testament and the new testament, the old covenant and the new?  Again, a big question I just don’t understand.

Psalms 36:5-10 
Your unfailing love, o Lord is at vast as the heavens; your faithfulness reaches beyond the clouds. Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, your justice like the ocean depths. You are for people and animals alike, o Lord. How precious is your unfailing love, o God. All humanity finds shelter in the shadow of your wings. You feed them from the abundance of your own house, letting them drink from your river of delights.  For you are the fountain of life, the light by which we see.  Pour out your unfailing love on those who love you; give justice to those with honest hearts.

The God described here is one that loves us, as long as we love him.  Here it doesn't seem like we have to do anything to earn that love.  That love is vast!  That love shows up in many ways.  That love shows up in his faithfulness, in his righteousness, in his justice; that love shows up in abundance.

Think about who it is when we love someone.  We do things because we love that person.  We are faithful to our spouse because we love him/her.  We try to be fair to our children because we love them.  We try to do what is right because we don’t want to hurt those with we love.

Why Does God Love Me?  God loves me because God pours out his love on those who love him with honest hearts.  I consider myself to be honest and I love God; therefore, God loves me.

Psalms 48: 9-10
O God, we meditate on your unfailing love as we worship in your Temple. As your name deserves, o God, you will be praised to the ends of the earth.  Your strong right hand is filled with victory.

Praise and worship are one way that we show God we love him.  It tells us here, and it is true, God does deserve to be worshiped and praised.  Do you feel closer to God when you are worshiping and singing his praises?  I sure do.  Those first 20 minutes of our church service is when I feel most connected to God.  Signing his praises, my voice lifted up in worship.

Psalms 52:8-9
But I am like an olive tree, thriving in the house of God I will always trust in God's unfailing love.  I will praise you forever, o God, for what you have done. I will trust in in your good name in the presence of your faithful people.

I know that if I trust someone I am extending a certain amount of love toward that person.  God has done so much for us that He deserves our trust and our praise.  By trusting and praising God we are showing him we love him.  He loves those who love him.  He lavishes his unfailing love on those who love him.

Psalms 86: 11-17
Teach me your ways o Lord, that I may live according to your truth!  Grant me purity of heart, so that I may honor you.  With all my heart I will praise you, o Lord my God.  I will give glory to your name forever, for your love for me is very great.  You have rescued me from the depths of death.  O God, insolent people rise up against me; a violent gang is trying to kill me.  You mean nothing to them.  But you, o Lord, are a God of compassion and mercy, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love and faithfulness.  Look down and have mercy on me.  Give your strength to your servant; save me, the son of your servant.  Send me a sing of your favor.  Then those who hate me will be put to shame, for you, o Lord, help and comfort me.

God’s love for me is very great.  Things are going to rise up against me, but God loves me.  No matter what happens God is going to look down on me with compassion and mercy.  He is filled with love and faithfulness.  God has my back.

Psalms 103: 10-12
He does not punish us for our sins; he does not deal harshly with us, as we deserve.  For his unfailing love toward those who fear him is great as the height of the heavens above the earth.

This one brings up another big question for me.  What does it mean when it says “fear him”?  I have never really figured that out.  What does it mean to have a fear of God?  I don’t fear those I love.

So overall what do the scriptures from this week teach us?

I think the big theme that sticks out to me is that God’s love is unfailing.  We are going to fail and we are going to disappoint God - we are humans, that is how we roll.  We are not and were not the perfect sacrifice.  Thank God Jesus took our place.  But even though we fail, His love doesn't 

I remember I was part of a small group several years back and one of the members was talking about how she couldn't understand how God could love her sister after all the bad things she has done.  I remember saying to her that since God is “our Father” he loves as sons and daughters.  So think of it this way - if my parents knew all the things I did in college they would be really disappointed, but they wouldn't stop loving me.  God is probably really disappointed with all the bad things your sister has done, but he will never stop loving her.

So why is it that I can accept that for others, but I can’t accept that for myself?  God loves me because he created me.  He loves me because I am a chosen special treasure.  God’s love for me is unfailing and unconditional.  I just need to accept it.

That is week one.  I can’t wait to read your thoughts and insights.  You can link your post below or just leave comments.  We can also interact over on Facebook.

Online Bible Journey - Announcement

I want to be intentional about my spiritual walk.  I have been pretty haphazard with it up until now.  I want to know more, I want a more intimate relationship, I to feed my soul not medicate it.  I want my story of how Jesus changed my life. 

I want to share this journey with you, my readers.  I was encouraged to do this by a few of you through Facebook, so I am going to do it.  I am going to lead a bible study here on the blog.  I was not really sure how I could do it.  I didn't want to step on any copyright toes, so this time around I am going to use You Version and one of their reading plans.  It's free and easy to sign up for.  For us smart phone junkies they also have a bible app that you can have right there on that phone. 

The reading plan I am going to use first is "Why Does God Love Me".  It is a 5 day plan - which means it will be a 5 week bible study here on the blog.  I will be sharing what the scripture said to me, what stuck out, what I meditated on, any breathe prayers I used, and anything else that strikes my fancy with the scriptures.

I would love it if you do the same thing.  You will have two options to share your insights, as a comment (where you are more than welcome to link to a blog post about the study) or link up in the linky.  Please feel free to comment on each other's insights and lets make this as interactive as possible.  If we need to make changes along the way we can. 

The first discussion post will be next Sunday January 13th.  I will be posting the scriptures this upcoming Sunday, January 6th.