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What is Love?

I am a big fan of emotions.

I desire to fully experience the feelings of love, joy, peace, gratitude, etc. I have listened to a whole sermon on how joy is not a feeling. My response to such a sermon: "meh...you can keep it." And can you imagine explaining to a spouse how deeply you love them as shown by how you act sacrificially for their best interest...but then add that you have no feelings for them? When I worship, I think God is pleased to see me swept up in joy and gratitude for Who He is and what He has done.

In my experience of evangelical Christianity, many times emotions got treated like the illegitimate child of the Christian experience. I have come to believe that emotions, in their right place, are central to our faith; they give great pleasure to experiencing our salvation and are pleasing to God.
 
Hospes said:
I am a big fan of emotions.

I desire to fully experience the feelings of love, joy, peace, gratitude, etc. I have listened to a whole sermon on how joy is not a feeling. My response to such a sermon: "meh...you can keep it." And can you imagine explaining to a spouse how deeply you love them as shown by how you act sacrificially for their best interest...but then add that you have no feelings for them? When I worship, I think God is pleased to see me swept up in joy and gratitude for Who He is and what He has done.

In my experience of evangelical Christianity, many times emotions got treated like the illegitimate child of the Christian experience. I have come to believe that emotions, in their right place, are central to our faith; they give great pleasure to experiencing our salvation and are pleasing to God.
Click to expand...
Amen
 
Hospes said:
I am a big fan of emotions.

I desire to fully experience the feelings of love, joy, peace, gratitude, etc. I have listened to a whole sermon on how joy is not a feeling. My response to such a sermon: "meh...you can keep it." And can you imagine explaining to a spouse how deeply you love them as shown by how you act sacrificially for their best interest...but then add that you have no feelings for them? When I worship, I think God is pleased to see me swept up in joy and gratitude for Who He is and what He has done.

In my experience of evangelical Christianity, many times emotions got treated like the illegitimate child of the Christian experience. I have come to believe that emotions, in their right place, are central to our faith; they give great pleasure to experiencing our salvation and are pleasing to God.
Click to expand...
I agree.
And here's the context:

Happiness is a feeling/emotion.
It is fleeting because this feeling will pass.

Joy is a deeper feeling...it is serenity in knowing that
you know God - the creator of the universe, the being
that holds everything together with His power; the One
who made everything for us and put us here.

It's a feeling that does not TEND to go higher or lower
(although this could happen at times)....It's, maybe, more
a knowing than a feeling.
 
Just had a prayer group at home.
One hour.
It was great filled with the Holy Spirit.
This is what it's all about.
Praying for each other, and now our country.
Asking God to do things that are out of our control.
Will God allow our country to become socialists?
We need to keep praying.
 
Rollo Tamasi said:
Just had a prayer group at home.
One hour.
It was great filled with the Holy Spirit.
This is what it's all about.
Praying for each other, and now our country.
Asking God to do things that are out of our control.
Will God allow our country to become socialists?
We need to keep praying.
Click to expand...
Last night we had no internet due to heavy snow in some areas here.
This morning I got to see the news and was pretty horrified at the scenes
I witnessed on TV. I thought I was watching some demonstration down
in some 3rd world country.

It's too bad I'm over here and can't really know/understand what's going on.
Things sure have changed over there.
You think the country will go socialist?
I don't care for socialism at all.
☹️
 
God is love!!!

That is explained in the Bible!!

It is also written that only God is good!

Jesus also said, "If you being evil"!

Therefore if you are going to love you neighbor as yourself you must talk to our Lord Jesus Christ and listen to what He tells you to do!!!

So love is not "treasuring. God values" it is obedience to God. Trying to love others as yourself by expecting you, being evil, can apply God's values does not make sense. We like to say things like WWJD (What Would Jesus Do) meaning that we are going to apply our understanding of God's values and that would make us love, is simply wrong, because only God, not you, are good, and God is love, and not you! That approach leads to doing what we sometimes call, "Good Works", as opposed to seek the Lord and listening to Him.

So let us actually take a look at WWJD! What did Jesus actually do, according to Him?

Jesus said He did and said only what the Father told Him!!!

So not even Jesus Christ, who is the Word of God, with God and is God, leaned on His understanding of "God's Values"!!!

In fact it seems that even He, though the perfect image of the invisible God, did not think understanding the depths of God something that could be comprehended. Therefore He did and said only what the Father told Him, and He is still doing that "Today". That is why it is written, "Today, if you hear His voice", and why He is called the Word of God - meaning that He still says only what the Father tells Him. So if you want to know what the Father has to say to you, seek Jesus Christ, the Son, and you will hear what God has to say to you. You can hear from the Son because He sends the Holy Spirit, who does not speak on His own initiative but the Holy Spirit only speaks what He hears and thus takes the Words of God which belong to the Son, because the Father has given the Son all things, including the Words of God for you personally, and thus the Holy Spirit takes those words and speaks them to your spirit.

So to be loving, you need to seek your Lord Jesus Christ, and His Holy Spirit will give you the words of God for you personally that came from the Father, belong to the Son, and are spoken to you via the Holy Spirit. Seek Him and do what He tells you then you will be doing the loving thing!!

Now we just don't understand what the loving thing to do is for a number of reason!

I already mentioned the fact that we are evil!!! Most that is because we are selfish, whether we care to believe it or not. We also have pride, whether we care to believe it or not. Also we are in our flesh, so we are always going to be influenced by our flesh. Also, we are not omni-present so we are not in the right place to judge things from anyway. We also did not actually create people so we certainly don't know exactly who everyone works. We don't even know all that they have gone through, so we can't understand how they think for that reason. We also don't know God plans for them, so how are we going to know the loving thing to do for them. I could go on, but basically we are not God so we don't know the loving thing to do - we have to ask the Lord!!!

What gets me is that I see this all the time. People talk about being a good and loving person instead of repenting and turning to the Lord for what to do, then they each tell themselves they are good and loving people. I beat most all the protesters who broke through the police and went into the congress all thought they were doing the good, right, and loving thing when they did it. I also doubt that any of them there had actually been hearing from the Lord!

I say that because way back in March, a week or two before the first BLM protests, I was walking with the Lord and He talked to me about an upcoming protest that was about to happen in Huntington Beach, CA.. They were going to protest the closing of the beaches due to Covid, because they felt people could safely social distance at the beaches. During the walk the Lord told me I was not to go to that protest. I wasn't planning to, thought I used to live there and surf there.
I wondered at the time why He brought this all up, since I was not going to go there. He then gave me a teaching about how it is fine to speak to leaders about what we feel, but "protests" are rebellion. It was one thing to tell our leaders how we feel and another thing to protest their judgements. He being the ultimate leader, it is ok to talk to Him about how you feel and reason with Him. He wants us to come and reason with Him (see Isaiah chapter 1), but to protest His decisions is to start to get into rebellion, no matter if you think it the good and loving thing to do our not!

So don't start thinking you are going to be able to do the loving, righteous, and good thing by leaning on your understanding - even your understanding of His values!! You are in no position to fully understand Him or His values. You are in a position to get to know Him, though. And honestly, if you have really gotten to know Him, didn't it become clear really quickly that He is a whole lot smarter than you?
 
K2CHRIST said:
God is love!!!

That is explained in the Bible!!

It is also written that only God is good!

Jesus also said, "If you being evil"!

Therefore if you are going to love you neighbor as yourself you must talk to our Lord Jesus Christ and listen to what He tells you to do!!!

So love is not "treasuring. God values" it is obedience to God. Trying to love others as yourself by expecting you, being evil, can apply God's values does not make sense. We like to say things like WWJD (What Would Jesus Do) meaning that we are going to apply our understanding of God's values and that would make us love, is simply wrong, because only God, not you, are good, and God is love, and not you! That approach leads to doing what we sometimes call, "Good Works", as opposed to seek the Lord and listening to Him.

So let us actually take a look at WWJD! What did Jesus actually do, according to Him?

Jesus said He did and said only what the Father told Him!!!

So not even Jesus Christ, who is the Word of God, with God and is God, leaned on His understanding of "God's Values"!!!

In fact it seems that even He, though the perfect image of the invisible God, did not think understanding the depths of God something that could be comprehended. Therefore He did and said only what the Father told Him, and He is still doing that "Today". That is why it is written, "Today, if you hear His voice", and why He is called the Word of God - meaning that He still says only what the Father tells Him. So if you want to know what the Father has to say to you, seek Jesus Christ, the Son, and you will hear what God has to say to you. You can hear from the Son because He sends the Holy Spirit, who does not speak on His own initiative but the Holy Spirit only speaks what He hears and thus takes the Words of God which belong to the Son, because the Father has given the Son all things, including the Words of God for you personally, and thus the Holy Spirit takes those words and speaks them to your spirit.

So to be loving, you need to seek your Lord Jesus Christ, and His Holy Spirit will give you the words of God for you personally that came from the Father, belong to the Son, and are spoken to you via the Holy Spirit. Seek Him and do what He tells you then you will be doing the loving thing!!

Now we just don't understand what the loving thing to do is for a number of reason!

I already mentioned the fact that we are evil!!! Most that is because we are selfish, whether we care to believe it or not. We also have pride, whether we care to believe it or not. Also we are in our flesh, so we are always going to be influenced by our flesh. Also, we are not omni-present so we are not in the right place to judge things from anyway. We also did not actually create people so we certainly don't know exactly who everyone works. We don't even know all that they have gone through, so we can't understand how they think for that reason. We also don't know God plans for them, so how are we going to know the loving thing to do for them. I could go on, but basically we are not God so we don't know the loving thing to do - we have to ask the Lord!!!

What gets me is that I see this all the time. People talk about being a good and loving person instead of repenting and turning to the Lord for what to do, then they each tell themselves they are good and loving people. I beat most all the protesters who broke through the police and went into the congress all thought they were doing the good, right, and loving thing when they did it. I also doubt that any of them there had actually been hearing from the Lord!

I say that because way back in March, a week or two before the first BLM protests, I was walking with the Lord and He talked to me about an upcoming protest that was about to happen in Huntington Beach, CA.. They were going to protest the closing of the beaches due to Covid, because they felt people could safely social distance at the beaches. During the walk the Lord told me I was not to go to that protest. I wasn't planning to, thought I used to live there and surf there.
I wondered at the time why He brought this all up, since I was not going to go there. He then gave me a teaching about how it is fine to speak to leaders about what we feel, but "protests" are rebellion. It was one thing to tell our leaders how we feel and another thing to protest their judgements. He being the ultimate leader, it is ok to talk to Him about how you feel and reason with Him. He wants us to come and reason with Him (see Isaiah chapter 1), but to protest His decisions is to start to get into rebellion, no matter if you think it the good and loving thing to do our not!

So don't start thinking you are going to be able to do the loving, righteous, and good thing by leaning on your understanding - even your understanding of His values!! You are in no position to fully understand Him or His values. You are in a position to get to know Him, though. And honestly, if you have really gotten to know Him, didn't it become clear really quickly that He is a whole lot smarter than you?
Click to expand...
You got something right. ?
I don't want to claim love. I can't..
He can!
 
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K2CHRIST said:
God is love!!!

That is explained in the Bible!!

It is also written that only God is good!

Jesus also said, "If you being evil"!

Therefore if you are going to love you neighbor as yourself you must talk to our Lord Jesus Christ and listen to what He tells you to do!!!

So love is not "treasuring. God values" it is obedience to God. Trying to love others as yourself by expecting you, being evil, can apply God's values does not make sense. We like to say things like WWJD (What Would Jesus Do) meaning that we are going to apply our understanding of God's values and that would make us love, is simply wrong, because only God, not you, are good, and God is love, and not you! That approach leads to doing what we sometimes call, "Good Works", as opposed to seek the Lord and listening to Him.

So let us actually take a look at WWJD! What did Jesus actually do, according to Him?

Jesus said He did and said only what the Father told Him!!!

So not even Jesus Christ, who is the Word of God, with God and is God, leaned on His understanding of "God's Values"!!!

In fact it seems that even He, though the perfect image of the invisible God, did not think understanding the depths of God something that could be comprehended. Therefore He did and said only what the Father told Him, and He is still doing that "Today". That is why it is written, "Today, if you hear His voice", and why He is called the Word of God - meaning that He still says only what the Father tells Him. So if you want to know what the Father has to say to you, seek Jesus Christ, the Son, and you will hear what God has to say to you. You can hear from the Son because He sends the Holy Spirit, who does not speak on His own initiative but the Holy Spirit only speaks what He hears and thus takes the Words of God which belong to the Son, because the Father has given the Son all things, including the Words of God for you personally, and thus the Holy Spirit takes those words and speaks them to your spirit.

So to be loving, you need to seek your Lord Jesus Christ, and His Holy Spirit will give you the words of God for you personally that came from the Father, belong to the Son, and are spoken to you via the Holy Spirit. Seek Him and do what He tells you then you will be doing the loving thing!!

Now we just don't understand what the loving thing to do is for a number of reason!

I already mentioned the fact that we are evil!!! Most that is because we are selfish, whether we care to believe it or not. We also have pride, whether we care to believe it or not. Also we are in our flesh, so we are always going to be influenced by our flesh. Also, we are not omni-present so we are not in the right place to judge things from anyway. We also did not actually create people so we certainly don't know exactly who everyone works. We don't even know all that they have gone through, so we can't understand how they think for that reason. We also don't know God plans for them, so how are we going to know the loving thing to do for them. I could go on, but basically we are not God so we don't know the loving thing to do - we have to ask the Lord!!!

What gets me is that I see this all the time. People talk about being a good and loving person instead of repenting and turning to the Lord for what to do, then they each tell themselves they are good and loving people. I beat most all the protesters who broke through the police and went into the congress all thought they were doing the good, right, and loving thing when they did it. I also doubt that any of them there had actually been hearing from the Lord!

I say that because way back in March, a week or two before the first BLM protests, I was walking with the Lord and He talked to me about an upcoming protest that was about to happen in Huntington Beach, CA.. They were going to protest the closing of the beaches due to Covid, because they felt people could safely social distance at the beaches. During the walk the Lord told me I was not to go to that protest. I wasn't planning to, thought I used to live there and surf there.
I wondered at the time why He brought this all up, since I was not going to go there. He then gave me a teaching about how it is fine to speak to leaders about what we feel, but "protests" are rebellion. It was one thing to tell our leaders how we feel and another thing to protest their judgements. He being the ultimate leader, it is ok to talk to Him about how you feel and reason with Him. He wants us to come and reason with Him (see Isaiah chapter 1), but to protest His decisions is to start to get into rebellion, no matter if you think it the good and loving thing to do our not!

So don't start thinking you are going to be able to do the loving, righteous, and good thing by leaning on your understanding - even your understanding of His values!! You are in no position to fully understand Him or His values. You are in a position to get to know Him, though. And honestly, if you have really gotten to know Him, didn't it become clear really quickly that He is a whole lot smarter than you?
Click to expand...
This is a great post you have written.
I would not like to see people pass by this.
It is Holy Spirit inspired to write this.
Thank you.
 
Hospes said:
I have come to believe that emotions, in their right place, are central to our faith; they give great pleasure to experiencing our salvation and are pleasing to God.
Click to expand...

Key phrase...in their right place.


Many of us see emotions as the enemy of faith if they eminate from a soul that is governed by the self nature.


However, emotions that flow from a soul that has experienced restoration and renewal, in which it expresses the beauty of love and gratitude from a thankful heart that has been redeemed, is wonderful and pleasing to God.


I’m sure we have different opinions about what the soul is and what emotions are and where they come from.



JLB
 
Love found it's way into my life again this morning.
I opened to the good samaritan passage in Matthew
I shared it with my wife
Then we go to church and the pastor used that exact passage as the foundation of his sermon
We both felt filled to the limit with the Holy Spirit
Unusual, I found myself praying in tongues at one point.
One song stayed with me.
"the breath of God is in us
we praise you so much"

I love that stuff.
So here I am sitting and looking for more from God and he keeps giving me more.
Oh how I love Jesus.
 
Hospes said:
I am a big fan of emotions.

I desire to fully experience the feelings of love, joy, peace, gratitude, etc. I have listened to a whole sermon on how joy is not a feeling. My response to such a sermon: "meh...you can keep it." And can you imagine explaining to a spouse how deeply you love them as shown by how you act sacrificially for their best interest...but then add that you have no feelings for them? When I worship, I think God is pleased to see me swept up in joy and gratitude for Who He is and what He has done.

In my experience of evangelical Christianity, many times emotions got treated like the illegitimate child of the Christian experience. I have come to believe that emotions, in their right place, are central to our faith; they give great pleasure to experiencing our salvation and are pleasing to God.
Click to expand...

I know, huh? But central in what way and aspect. I have pondered this on and off for quite some time now and could not come up with the answer.

(these are just my thoughts and what I wonder. I am not saying I am right at all..I just feel like they tie together somehow...)

We're told, be led of the spirit, let the flesh and earthly things be dead to us...ok, so isn't our soul (which houses our mind/will/emotions) also to be ignored and dead to us too? But wait a minute, our soul is to be saved, so there's a wrench.

Also, I have heard about the Gospel of Thomas and I have read it some too. It says, when the two become one then you will enter the Kingdom of Heaven.
(it's been awhile so bear with me on my memory of Thomas)...As I recall this could mean many things, but I got the impression that...it could mean, our emotions and our spirit? Which may fit in with the scriptures which say, pray fervently. And that is when our prayers are fervent, when our emotions are involved, you see?

I don't know for sure. And this thread caught me off guard so this is all top of my head and on memory...so is probably all wrong, but still. Any comments on these thoughts?

I have heard quite a few testimonies from people who's loved ones were dying or dead and the believer prayed a very fervent prayer for the Lord to help. And as far as I can tell, these are the prayers that do get answered, because these are the fervent prayers. Prayers racked with so much emotion that...God hears, and acts.

Because their emotions agreed with their spirit and was in agreement for their child to be saved by God at the moment of prayer...So it could be?

Maybe?
 
God's love finds me again.
I was thinking of my health.
I talked my sister about thinking I might die.
And I took that thought with me when I went on you tube and played a song
Then another song came up, called "Stand".
I played it and I was in tears.
Listen and see why.

 
Rollo Tamasi my brother :wave.
It's such a blessing to have you back and blessing us on this topic of "What is love", with not just your precious words of loving God for who He is to you, but who He can be to all of us by your example, and in the same way, the example He gives us through you of how we can be so loving to others with kindness in our speech and our actions, and your willingness to bring your kind of "JOY" to everyone here, with your precious love for Christ to brighten our day and our lives.
THANK YOU.

God bless you as you deal with your health issues, and we support you in prayer.
My name is OLIGOS

 
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