Hosanna Restoration Church

Do you love me? That was the question Jesus asked Peter three times. Loving God was really only a concept to most people before Jesus burst on the scene in His ministry. God told them to love Him. He told them He loved them. But only a few ever grasped actually loving God.
They saw God as a benefactor and a judge. He did some good for them and He also punished them. He told them he was going to remove their stony hearts and give them soft ones, but the bible tells us that they just never caught hold of a love that lasted. Of course when there is no love there is no basis for trust. They never really got comfortable enough with God to trust Him completely. At least that is what it looks like to me. So I need to make sure I love and trust Him always. How is your love and trust holding up?
Peter had in fact seen and touched Jesus. He applauds these folks for loving Jesus even though they have never seen Him. What moved them from the concept of love to real love? This was a joint effort between the people and the Holy Spirit. They yielded themselves to the truth revealed by the spirit and the love of God took up residence in their hearts.
The interesting thing is that once we yield ourselves to loving God, we begin to see God. We recognize Him in places we never noticed Him before and we understand that He always has done His part we just never really looked. We are like the Old Testament folks. We want Him to do things but we were not committed to Him no matter what. We were easily distracted and simply followed our own desires. Knowing a loving God changes the desires we follow. It becomes our desire to honor Him and the resulting relationship is amazing.
There are certainly times and circumstances where we have a hard time seeing Him, but that is when trust carries us. The key is to trust the truth. He is the truth. Unfortunately those are the times when the enemy goes to work to deceive and destroy. When we can’t seem to see God the enemy will try and convince us that God is causing the problem. He does his best to convince us that in fact God is the problem. Do not be deceived. Keep trusting in the truth. The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases. God will never forsake me or leave me. You have many more truths stirring in your heart to help you overcome the lies.
We know that God is always for us. We can trust that truth. Our love for God strengthens our trust in God. So, I will continue to look up. My help comes from the Lord. I have been lost but now I am found. I have been deceived, but now I know the truth. Between now and the time that I sit at His feet and behold His beauty I must simply love and trust Him. Help me Holy Spirit!