Christian Living

Further Great Reasons for Loving God

by Dr. Henderson Ward
05/06/16
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One of the things that amazes me, and in truth it amazes believers everywhere, is the great gulf between Christians and ordinary people in terms of spirituality, and even more so, in how we regard the person most refer to as God. Some people have no proper concept of God beyond their childhood cultural upbringing, and have never bothered to investigate for themselves, in a serious inquiry, what God is all about.

All people, everywhere, have notions of God, and those notions are colored by what is acceptable or normal for that society. Often what is acceptable and practiced are a mish-mash of beliefs and practices, that have their roots in mysticism, ignorance, history and superstition.

Sometimes, sadly, some people live and die and never experienced anything other than their ethnic religion, and never have considered God in the true and the wider context of religious faith.

I say sad, because some ethnic religions are so mind-boggling, and silly, that it is hard to see how intelligent people can adhere to such nonsense. It beggars belief that anyone can believe that you can carve out an image with your own hands from a block of wood, and then bow down, and worship it as your God.

It is equally hard to understand how any people can believe in Hinduism, an ethnic religion of Asia, and the third largest religion in the world, with a billion followers, mainly Indians, that allow their group to have many gods, no god, or one god, and to Hinduism it makes no difference.

With a world full of gods, how do we as Christians present Almighty God, maker of Heaven and earth, and all things seen and unseen, so that thinking people can examine for themselves whether He is worthy of being accepted as their only God and Saviour.

True religion must surely be more than cultural assimilation, something you born into, practice, and die in, and Christianity has shown that it is the true religion because God sent his only begotten son, Jesus Christ, and by a number of infallible proofs demonstrated that God Almighty is the one and only true God.

All religions have some good things about them, Hinduism of the Indians, Judaism of the Jews, Shenism of the Han Chinese, Shinto of the Japanese, and Candomblé of the Brazilians, to name but a few, but they all fall short in having a living God able to prove his existence with miracles and other flawless proofs.

And that is why Almighty God is so special, and for good reasons we should love him, do him justice by having faith in him, and let his grace impact our life.

Here are some additional reasons for loving God (to check the original ten great reasons click on the link here: http://www.faithwriters.com/article-details.php?id=160751)

Some additional reasons for loving God are:

1. God’s willingness to show himself real to us. Whenever we are dealing with God, we are dealing with faith, abstraction, things unseen and ill-defined. A lot of people don’t bother with religious matters, because to them, God is wrapped up in complex ideas, deep concepts, spiritual obscurity, and even elusiveness. This is understandable. None of us has seen God at any time and the Bible tells us, “God is a Spirit...” (John 4:24). People are uneasy venturing into the realm of spirituality, where it is all about beliefs, opinions, theology, and nothing firm and solid to get hold of and observe.

God understands this predicament concerning our cognitive limitation, our inability to perceive Him as He is, and helps us to overcome this deficiency in a way that leaves no doubt that He is real.

Take the case of Elijah on Mount Carmel as recorded in I Kings 18: 1- 40.

On Mount Carmel the prophet Elijah wanted Israel to choose between Almighty God and the false prophets of Baal, and so a confrontation was arranged. Notice Elijah’s proposal and their agreement, “And call ye on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of the Lord: and the God that answereth by fire, let him be God. And all the people answered and said, It is well spoken.” (I Kings 18:24.)

The false prophets of Baal prayed, shouted, cut themselves, balled all day and yet there was no answer from Baal, how could there be, Baal was just that; false. But when Elijah had his sacrifice drenched with water to make sure no one could accuse him of trickery, and he prayed to Almighty God, then fire ignited the wet sacrifice and consumed it, and licked up the water that gathered in the trenches.

Almighty God, in consequence, demonstrated his reality for all to see.

Take the case of Daniel in the lions’ den as recorded in Daniel 6:16. Notice well the key words from the King, “Now the king spake and said unto Daniel, Thy God whom thou servest continually, he will deliver thee.” (Daniel 6:16b) Here again Almighty God powerfully demonstrated his reality for all to see.

Let me give you one more example. Take the case of the crippled man as recorded in John 5:1-8. This man was crippled for 38 years, and all the people knew it. Jesus healed him and the people saw it. Remember what Nicodemus said, “Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.” (John 3:2) Sure enough, we see yet again Almighty God demonstrating his reality, through Christ, for all to see.

This is one of the great reasons we love God, because God comes to us, personally, according to our individual need, to convince us of his reality. For some it is through a vision, for some it is by answered prayer, for some it is in a dream, for some it’s a chilling, unmistakable presence, for some it’s a voice, and for some it’s a miracle of some sort. Once we are sincere, God never leaves us hanging. “For every one that asketh receiveth.” (Matthew 7:8)

2. God’s assured presence in times of crisis. Nearly everyone passing through this life will, sooner or later, experience a crisis that may be life changing. For many it would seem that their life is crisis-ridden; crisis after crisis and scarcely any fault of their own. The truth is that no one can predict what anyone will go through in this life, and all the talk cannot prevent you from the storms that surely will come.

Because believers are spiritual, we rely more on God than any other, because we are so acutely conscious of other people’s, and our own, inadequacies.

Believers’ battles are mostly spiritual, “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” (Ephesians 6:12) and as a consequence supernatural powers are lined up against us. Demons and Satan are supernatural beings, although they can appear in physical forms, God permitting.

Even when the crisis is caused by something physical, for example the death of your young son or daughter, there are still spiritual undertones. When the agony is so deep, and the loss so great, that you need support to endure, then whom can you turn to. Friends at times will let you down, even your very parents can fail you in crisis situations. It is then only one person who you can depend on and he never fails. Hear what He says:

When parents fail, God is still there standing with you, “When my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take me up.” (Psalm 27:10). God provides an impregnable shelter always, and especially, in times of crisis, “The name of the Lord is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe.” (Proverbs 18:10)

When God promised that he will never leave you nor forsake you, (Hebrews 13:5), he was affirming to us his presence in any, and every, crisis; and this is yet another great reason for loving God.

3. God’s ability to transition our soul beyond the grave. It matters not what religion you are aligned with, or your own beliefs, the truth is that at some time you are going to die. It is Almighty God, and him alone, who has the ability to take you to his heavenly home. And none can stop him. “My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand.” (John 10:29)

This assurance is summed up in verse by James M Black, 1893:

When the trumpet of the Lord shall sound, and time shall be no more,
And the morning breaks, eternal, bright and fair;
When the saved of earth shall gather over on the other shore,
And the roll is called up yonder, I’ll be there.

Refrain:
When the roll is called up yonder,
When the roll is called up yonder,
When the roll is called up yonder,
When the roll is called up yonder, I’ll be there.

Don’t you just love it that when all is said and done, when the last battle has been fought, when all the confusion and uncertainties are over, when you enter your eternal rest, that the God who loves us, and whom we dearly love, gives us another great reason, like this, for loving him?

Enough said.

Books by this author you may wish to read.

THINGS EVERY CHRISTIAN SHOULD KNOW (e-book)
Volume 1 – Five tough facts to be faced
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B004YX5NSI

STAND UP TO THE DEVIL  (e-book)
Volume 1 – You must first identify him
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005BQVLSS

BASTARD: A STORY OF REDEMPTION(e-book fiction)
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B006OF3SD6

ONE MINUTE TO MIDNIGHT ON GOD’S CLOCK (Hard copy)
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002X78D16

ONE MINUTE TO MIDNIGHT ON GOD’S CLOCK (e-book)

http://tatepublishing.com/bookstore/book.php?w=978-1-60799-630-9