My heart longs to be near Him.  He has done so much for me. Seriously, I can look back on my 40 years of life and see His hand in everything. You folks just have no idea the amazing things He has done for me.  Is the basis of this love in my heart for Him because of all the things he has done for me or because of the Holy Spirit or both?

This verse came to mind while I was typing this post: "He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand." Psalm 40:2

Did He cause this love in my heart towards Him? I think about Him every day. Pray daily for forgiveness and strength over my flesh as well as thanking Him. However, I look forward to this fight being over. Is this wrong?

In Psalm 91:14-16 God says "Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him on high, because he has known My name. He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him. With long life I will satisfy him, And show him My salvation."

John 14:15 "If you love Me, keep My commandments."

Matthew 22:37-39 Jesus said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment.  And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’

John 8:42 Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but He sent me."

I can't thank God enough.

The thread I posted on Romans 7 got locked.

Romans 7:14-23:
So the trouble is not with the law, for it is spiritual and good. The trouble is with me, for I am all too human, a slave to sin. I don’t really understand myself, for I want to do what is right, but I don’t do it. Instead, I do what I hate. But if I know that what I am doing is wrong, this shows that I agree that the law is good. So I am not the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it. And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. I want to do what is right, but I can’t. I want to do what is good, but I don’t. I don’t want to do what is wrong, but I do it anyway. But if I do what I don’t want to do, I am not really the one doing wrong; it is sin living in me that does it.

I have discovered this principle of life—that when I want to do what is right, I inevitably do what is wrong. I love God’s law with all my heart. But there is another power within me that is at war with my mind. This power makes me a slave to the sin that is still within me. Oh, what a miserable person I am! Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death? Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. So you see how it is: In my mind I really want to obey God’s law, but because of my sinful nature I am a slave to sin.

Amen.

Yes, well said.  Amen.

Yes.
I'm dealing with some very upsetting things right now.  Yet even in them, I see Gods love for me.  In everything in my life, good or bad..things that make me happy or sad..I know that my Lord is loving and I love Him. He has a purpose and it is perfect.  I deserve hell.  He loves me enough to to die so that I can escape the torture I deserve.  How can I not love Him? If you just looked at my actions, you would doubt me.  I am a sinner.  I sin everyday.  Yet when I realize that God knows this and in spite of this died for me...man...I'm humbled. I feel guilt and shame.  Yes..I love God.  Kinda like a child who messes up and does what he wants instead of what he knows is right, still loves his parents.  With all his heart.  He can't live without them and understands that they are right.

Yes.

With all my heart - and I give thanks that I can.

Yes, Amen...

Yes. And as rotten as I em he still loves me too.

Yes. God is my everything.

Yes

Thanks for the words of inspiration, OP.



God is amazing...

Yes, He surely is.

Amen.  My amazing pastor did a series recently on Job which revealed so much on how God always loves us and even when it seems like He's doing nothing He has given us every breath we've ever taken, everything we've ever touched, heard, and seen, everyone we've ever known, and all that is in the Earth and everywhere in existence.  He could very well have done nothing at all and made nothing at all and been perfectly right to do it or not do it.  He owes us nothing yet gives us everything.  None of it could we do for ourselves--could you fashion for yourself a single living cell of a single species of plant or animal?  Could you make a human eye?  Could you cause your own bone marrow to make blood for your heart to beat?  

So many places on this Earth and every century prior everywhere I could have not had this computer at which I type.  Or lightbulbs with electricity in this house.  Or healthy eyesight to see.  Or a functioning and educated mind to read or write. It all came to me by His goodness and could be taken away at an instant of which I would have no control.  I have so much yet I spend so little of my time thanking God for it all--if I were right in what I do, I would do nothing but thank Him all day every day.  Even if I had nothing tomorrow I've had so much for so long, at at His command, all from His goodness.

There is no amount of love that I could have that would begin to repay that which He loves you and me.  I can only ask Him to teach me how to love as He does, and do what little I can.

So true.

Yes.

YES.....

I LOVE GOD because he loved me first. I wish I was a better person but I try to do good.

Yes

Yes.  I just..cannot comprehend His love for His little creature, and the sacrifice of Himself for me.  I think I understand why Thomas Aquinas was so fond of the symbol of the mother pelican piercing her own breast so she could feed her hatchlings with her blood.  The little hatchling just can't comprehend the cost of that meal.  

Yes sir

I like Jesus better. He knows what it's like down here.

I'd like to think I do, but I doubt whether it's real or just wishful thinking on my part.

Yes, I want to be with Him, the Lord, and the Spirit for all time. No doubt. I try to live a decent life, and as a result of my prayers I have turned away from several poor behaviors I used to engage in quite frequently. I still have a long laundry list to go...

It's tough for me to "love" someone I haven't met. Sure, I pray, but not often enough. I attend Mass and believe it all, but there are times I find myself wondering if the entire sordid story, from A to Z, is just a fairy tale.

There's a reason Thomas is my Confirmation name.

So do I want to love the Lord? You betcha. If you asked Him do I love Him? Well, let's just say I'll be hiding under this desk awaiting the answer, because I worry I may not like it.

Absolutely I do.

Absolutely and I am humbled by it daily.

V

Yes.

No.

I want to, but I'm just too hurt to forgive right now. I know God is real, but 11 months ago something happened that convinced me that God doesn't care.

I'm hoping the forum mod here will let me speak my mind instead of keeping this place an echo chamber.

He does care, my friend.

It's when you are suffering the most that He is carrying you...

Yes sir.

He does care. I have struggled with this question myself. He showed me He does care. One one occasion when I couldn't take anymore of an illness, I fell to the floor, in tears, after many weeks of praying, and cried out in total desperation and He immediately took my pain and sickness away in about 2 seconds. I felt it.

We will suffer in this life. I dont know why. But I know He's with me always even in my suffering.

He said so Himself.

He's with you too brother.

Simply put, He overwhelms me.  

To the poster above who is hurt and angry.  The Lord is a good gift giver.  Things that happen in this world that hurt us are not of his doing.  Trust in him with all your heart and lean not unto your own understanding, in all your ways submit to him and he will make your paths straight.  Proverbs 3:5-6.

Amen

100% Yes.