AuntiE Loc: 45th Least Free State

A letter from God.


http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=aYEFkYtANVg

fiatlux

Perfect! Best I ever heard to open to these words: Love, and forget about the rest...all you need is love. Thank you.

no propaganda please Loc: moon orbiting the third rock from the sun

We all define love differently. Out of curiosity, how do you define it? I have given you my definition of love a number of times, and I have yet to hear other people's concept of love, not lust, but love. Maybe we can talk that out here with like minded people.

AuntiE Loc: 45th Least Free State

Not to be unkind; however, sweetie, obviously your back pain has adversely effected your thinking processes if you believe you can have such a "talk" with this individual. :idea: :idea: :idea: :cry: :!:

no propaganda please Loc: moon orbiting the third rock from the sun

You have a point. Maybe someone else would define their concept of love and we could get a conversation going. could be interesting, and there must be some thoughtful people out there who have something to say.

AuntiE Loc: 45th Least Free State

Exactly which definition of love should we start with? There are several varieties. :idea: :idea:

Theo Loc: Within 1000 miles of Tampa, Florida

To "LOVE" is to want what is best for someone. sometimes you may love someone enough to leave them alone if you find yourself being not what is best for them.

"LOVE" is not defined so much as it is developed, sometimes differently for different circumstances or places or persons.

If we can so understand God's development of the theme as to see God's image in every fellow Human, I think proper "LOVE" will become a thing understood finally by all.

no propaganda please Loc: moon orbiting the third rock from the sun

You are correct. the English language is sadly lacking in words to cover the various kinds of love. I love chocolate cake, fresh strawberries in heavy cream, and peanut butter cookies. The love is for the act of tasting them on the way down, not for the pounds they can add.
I love my orchids that I finally got to bloom. Their red and orange color with brown throats makes them stunning, so it was worth the three years to grow them up big enough to bloom. But if the house caught on fire, I would not rush to save them. I also love my new car and love driving it, but it it is also on my do not rescue list.
I love our three dogs. The special human, animal bond that is so well expressed in dogs and the connection that we make to them is a special kind of love. I would rescue them from a burning fire, and spend what ever it took to keep them healthy, but I would not marry them.
I love our friends and neighbors and would always help them any way i could. A few I might even risk my life for as our connection is that close.
I love all of"our boys" as if they were our biological children. They have all taught us so much about true love, the type that cares deeply, sacrifices much, and is willing to tell someone that what they are doing is wrong, damaging or hateful, and guide them to a better and more holy path.

I love NPP even though there are days that I don't particularly like him. We joke that almost fifty years of marriage, and we have not killed each other yet. I would give my life for him with no second doubts. The man woman bond that god designed is well completed in our marriage. that type of love is the strongest kind, outside of our love for God, which is not as strong as God's love for us. that is the ultimate love.

I am sure that others can think of other forms of love, and how they express it.

fiatlux

Thank you for asking. "God is love"; define God and you got it! Love is the root of justice, mercy, and forgiveness. Love has all the qualities of God. Love never fails because those that accept it are healed and those that give it are instantly rewarded. Love is unconditional and sacrificial...or it is not love. Love is our only clear view of reality. All love in the human heart comes from being as a "little child."

susanblange Loc: USA

Christians believe God loves everybody. This is not true. The scriptures say that God loves the righteous who love her. Loving God is a requirement for entrance to heaven. You also cannot sin against God personally and expect to live. Proverbs 8:36 "But he that sinneth against me wrongeth his own soul: all they that hate me love death".

ColdDrink

For AunTie and npp:
I liked her answer: why no response?
Augustine, the primary theologian of Christianity, the first to put forth the concept of Original Sin, said when near death, "Love, and do what you will." His great study brought him to this laser-focused simplicity: "Love, and do what you will." Does that sound too hippie-esque?

Theo Loc: Within 1000 miles of Tampa, Florida

When scripture tells us "God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that WHOSOEVER BELIEVES on Him will not perish, but will have everlasting life;" I think that tells us God loves everybody.

When some of those whom God loves, do not love Him, problems begin to arise. But when some of those who do not reciprocate His love, begin to hate Him, He is in a much better position at reciprocation, than are those who choose enmity with God, over God's love.



"WHOSOEVER WILL..."



Agreed!



I can if I believe in God's ability to forgive my stupidity!



Sin is not quite as simple a subject as you suggest;

THERE ARE sins committed due to ignorance;
Numbers 15:28 And the priest shall make an atonement for the soul that sinneth ignorantly, when he sinneth by ignorance before the LORD, to make an atonement for him; and it shall be forgiven him.

THERE ARE sins committed due to a feeling or thinking one is safe because of a lifetime of obeying God -
Ezekiel 18:4 Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die.
Ezekiel 18:20 The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him. 21 But if the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die. 22 All his transgressions that he hath committed, they shall not be mentioned unto him: in his righteousness that he hath done he shall live. 23 Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? saith the Lord GOD: and not that he should return from his ways, and live?

24 But when the righteous turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and doeth according to all the abominations that the wicked man doeth, shall he live? All his righteousness that he hath done shall not be mentioned: in his trespass that he hath trespassed, and in his sin that he hath sinned, in them shall he die.

25 Yet ye say, The way of the Lord is not equal. Hear now, O house of Israel; Is not my way equal? are not your ways unequal? 26 When a righteous man turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and dieth in them; for his iniquity that he hath done shall he die. 27 Again, when the wicked man turneth away from his wickedness that he hath committed, and doeth that which is lawful and right, he shall save his soul alive. 28 Because he considereth, and turneth away from all his transgressions that he hath committed, he shall surely live, he shall not die.

Sinning against God is a complex and sometimes perplexing thing. But a contrite and humble heart will cure it all, because it leads to the curative supplied by God, the blood of the lamb, slain before the world began.

ColdDrink

Did Christ give his life for all the world, as told in scripture, or just a token few?

ColdDrink

Good post.

susanblange Loc: USA

Jesus came for the wicked. In the NT it says your god is kind to the evil. God appeared to Moses for 40 days and nights, and commissioned him. Satan appeared to Jesus for 40 days and nights, and commissioned him. Jesus is his emissary and came to finish his work. The only person that can die for your sin is yourself. There is no substitutionary atonement or ransom. The condition of your soul (body) when you die determines whether you live or die eternally. Christianity is idolatry and Christians are as tenaciously joined to their idols as idolaters were in ages past. The God of Israel will abolish the idols in Israel. Isaiah 2:18.