What's Love Got to do With It

What's love got to do with it!

Everything!

Unlike the Tina Turner song,

love is more than an "old fashioned notion".

We were created to love by God, Who is love.

1 John 4:7-10 (NLT)

7 Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, 

for love comes from God.

Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God.

8 But anyone who does not love does not know God, 

for God is love.  9 God showed how much he loved 

us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that

 we might have eternal life through him.

10 This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us

and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.

So much of the time we put conditions on love.

We base love on a feeling or emotion.

God's love is unconditional.

It doesn't matter what we do or say, He will always love us.

The Bible has three words for love;

agape, phileo, and eros.

Eros is the type of love between husband and wife.

Phileo is the most common and generally means to love, to like,

treat affectionately and be friendly.

Phileo is the kind of love we share with family and friends.

Agape love is the highest form of love and often the hardest to attain.

It is a selfless love.

C. S. Lewis explained agape as "a selfless love, 

a love that was passionately

committed to the well being of the other".

This is the love God has for us.

It is this love which enabled Jesus to leave heaven

and sacrifice Himself for us.

It is this love that still saves and heals us.

God is committed to loving us unconditionally even 

when we turn our backs on Him.

Let God love you today.

1Corinthians 13:7
Love bears all things. believes all things,
hopes all things, endures all things.

Beyond Description

God told Adam to name all the creatures in the Garden

Genesis 2:19

so He brought each one to Adam,

to see what he would name them.

Since that time, man has put a name on everything he sees.

Once named we can visualize it by the description.

It is hard to visualize someone who is invisible.

Which is why God is beyond our ability to describe Him---

or is He?

Even though the Bible does not give a physical

description of God, it does tell us about Who He is.

Isaiah tells us in chapter 55 verse 9,

His ways and thoughts are higher than ours.

Jesus told Phillip "he who has seen Me has seen the Father"

John 14:9

So when we look at Jesus we see a man who loved,

felt compassion, taught, healed the sick, and fed crowds.

He went out of His way to serve others.

He was not boastful or prideful.

Jesus lived as a man, using His divine nature to glorify God the Father.

Acts 10:38; Matt. 9:35; Matt. 20:34; Mark 1:41;

Mark 8:2; Lam. 3:22; Romans 5:8; Proverbs 8:17

God is beyond our human understanding 

and description.

But through the Holy Spirit, we can see Him.

He is love at the highest level and magnitude.

Jehovah-Compound Names of God

YHWH / YAHWEH / JEHOVAH:“LORD” (Deuteronomy 6:4;Daniel 9:14) – strictly speaking, the only proper name for God. Translated in English Bibles “LORD” (all capitals) to distinguish it from Adonai, “Lord.” The revelation of the name is first given to Moses “I Am who I Am” (Exodus 3:14). This name specifies an immediacy, a presence. Yahweh is present, accessible, near to those who call on Him for deliverance (Psalm 107:13), forgiveness (Psalm 25:11) and guidance (Psalm 31:3).

JEHOVAH-JIREH:"The Lord Will Provide" (Genesis 22:14) – the name memorialized by Abraham when God provided the ram to be sacrificed in place of Isaac.

JEHOVAH-RAPHA:"The Lord Who Heals" (Exodus 15:26) – “I am Jehovah who heals you” both in body and soul. In body, by preserving from and curing diseases, and in soul, by pardoning iniquities.

JEHOVAH-NISSI:"The Lord Our Banner" (Exodus 17:15), where banner is understood to be a rallying place. This name commemorates the desert victory over the Amalekites in Exodus 17.

JEHOVAH-M'KADDESH:"The Lord Who Sanctifies, Makes Holy" (Leviticus 20:8;Ezekiel 37:28) – God makes it clear that He alone, not the law, can cleanse His people and make them holy.

JEHOVAH-SHALOM:"The Lord Our Peace" (Judges 6:24) – the name given by Gideon to the altar he built after the Angel of the Lord assured him he would not die as he thought he would after seeing Him.

JEHOVAH-ELOHIM:"LORD God" (Genesis 2:4;Psalm 59:5) – a combination of God’s unique name YHWH and the generic “Lord,” signifying that He is the Lord of Lords.

JEHOVAH-TSIDKENU:"The Lord Our Righteousness” (Jeremiah 33:16) – As with YHWH-M’Kaddesh, it is God alone who provides righteousness to man, ultimately in the person of His Son, Jesus Christ, who became sin for us “that we might become the Righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21).

JEHOVAH-ROHI:"The Lord Our Shepherd" (Psalm 23:1) – After David pondered his relationship as a shepherd to his sheep, he realized that was exactly the relationship God had with him, and so he declares, “Jehovah-Rohi is my Shepherd. I shall not want” (Psalm 23:1).

JEHOVAH-SHAMMAH:"The Lord Is There” (Ezekiel 48:35) – the name ascribed to Jerusalem and the Temple there, indicating that the once-departed glory of the Lord (Ezekiel 8—11) had returned (Ezekiel 44:1-4).

JEHOVAH-SABAOTH:"The Lord of Hosts" (Isaiah 1:24;Psalm 46:7) –Hosts means “hordes,” both of angels and of men. He is Lord of the host of heaven and of the inhabitants of the earth, of Jews and Gentiles, of rich and poor, master and slave. The name is expressive of the majesty, power, and authority of God and shows that He is able to accomplish what He determines to do.

God Is

God has many characteristics or attributes.

Eternal: 

Psalm 90:2 Before the mountains were born or you brought forth the whole world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.

Holy:

Revelation 4:8 ....[a] Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, Who was and is and is to come! 

Isaiah 6:3 And one cried to another and said: "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory!"

Never Changing:

James 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.

All Powerful:
Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
Psalm 147:5 ESV Great is our Lord, and abundant in power; His understanding is beyond measure.

All Knowing:
Romans 11:33 Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and how inscrutable His ways!

Good:
James 1:17 Amplified And Jesus said to him, Why do you call Me [essentially and perfectly morally] good? There is one [essentially and perfectly morally] good except God alone.
Psalm 100:5 For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting and His truth endures to all generations.

Love:
Romans 5:8  But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Giving:
John 3:16  For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.


God does have many more characteristics. Some of these include infinite, self-sufficient, merciful, just, sovereign, and righteous. These characteristics help us to understand who He truly is.

http://www.biblegateway.com/