Christian Living

Gods Love

by Thomas Kirkpatrick
11/23/21
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“By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him.” (1 John 4:9)

When I was a young teenager, my father asked what I had planned my life should be. I hadn’t decided yet, as I was still stuck on becoming the United States president. I wasn’t too concerned as I had this vast amount of time ahead of me. I had known of people who had died, but they were significantly older people, which would be a very long time from the present. When I got to my final year in junior high, my security was shaken in a vast amount of time. A friend of mine named Dale was hit by an automobile and a few days later died. I was not as sorrowful as I should have been but more curious about the justice of his death. It was unfair for someone so young to be cheated out of all that time ahead of him. From then on, it became clear that death was but a heartbeat away.

I remembered something my father told me long ago before I was ten. Listen to me and learn what I teach you, and you will live forever. For a while, I kept listening but never connected the dots to what he had been teaching. There were simple things as “I wouldn’t do that” to the profound “a little faith in a big God.” After Dale’s death, I wanted to know more about God. Death was no longer far in the distance but as close as right now. I no longer wanted to be foolish but to develop a little faith in a big God.

The more I sought, the more I learned God’s love. The more I understood His love, the more the deceit of this world’s hypocrisy became visible to me. In days of my youth, where everything was taken at face value, I had passed away to discern everyone and every action. I grew up in an age where a man’s word was his bond, and now every man’s word needs discernment of the man who speaks the word. I needed to know if it was foolishness or truth. How could I do that if I didn’t know the truth to judge by? There has to be an absolute truth from which all things are judged. My father told me that God was before the beginning; therefore, His Word is the absolute truth. It’s easy to say, as the logic is sure. But it is not easy to live without faith in a loving God.

I have walked through the valley of the shadow of death for seventy years, and the Lord has blessed me with and life to this moment He has granted me. Over this space of time, I have not lived without more errors than I can count. The Lord has been faithful and true to forgive a heart that repents. He has loved and cared for me in the worst of times and the best of times without impartiality. I have praised Him for each moment in the same manner. I admit that not for most of that time but for now in this time, my life is not my own, but I live through Him who created me. (1 John 4:9)

Over my time, I have met and have known many who I believed to be very wise. It may sound like I think of myself as greater than I should, but if you give it a second thought, you may see it is true for you as well. Of those, I have thought to be very wise over time, became foolish, and those who remain wise have been known to do some foolish things. My opinion, meaning I do not claim truth, if there is only one absolute truth, then there is only one absolute wisdom. I revert to my father’s words. God was before the beginning, and His truth and wisdom are absolute.

The world is populated with people, and too many believe they can survive this world and have a successful life. Too many of them live a life of constant trial and terrible tribulation. To the successful “I got this folks,” they live in the deceit of worldly wisdom, and the “hard timers” are suffering from worldly wisdom. In the light of God’s absolute wisdom, their selfish desires of grandeur is a false haven that will end in their destruction. Their intent is only for their profit, and those around them only reap a portion of the overflow. “For the wisdom of this world is foolishness before God. For it is written, ‘He is the one who catches the wise in their craftiness’; and again, ‘The Lord knows the reasonings of the wise, that they are useless.’” (1 Corinthians 3:19-20)

The Lord God is infinite and ever-present through His creation. God is not restricted by time as He is above His creation. Therefore, He is before the beginning and resides at the border of eternity. There is nothing that has or is or will be that He is not present. God knows as He is the “I AM.” All of our time and time itself is history to God. Life is a historical event unfolding before our eyes. In His love for His creation, God told us the end of His plan and purpose in His Word. The worldly-wise scoff at His creation, they scoff at His plan and purpose, and they know nothing of the next moment except their selfish dreams. “Declaring the end from the beginning, And from ancient times things which have not been done, Saying, ‘My purpose will be established, And I will accomplish all My good pleasure.” (Isaiah 46:10)

To have the wisdom of God is to have a reverent fear of who God is, to have respect for His mighty power, and to love Him in the humility of spirit. “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” (Proverbs 9:10) His creation is the most extraordinary way to see the power of His Word. To humble ourselves and turn from our wicked disobedience of His Word, study His Word, and found our lives on His absolute truth. There is nothing in life that cannot be discerned through God’s Word. It is a path through this world in preparation for the realm to come. “Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path.” (Psalm 119:105)

Solomon teaches us this from the Word of God. “He stores up sound wisdom for the upright; He is a shield to those who walk in integrity.” (Proverbs 2:7) Integrity is being honest and having strong moral principles. Morality in this world changes with the popular wants and desires of the population. There is no foundation for this world’s moral attitudes, as the principles change with the times. What was moral behavior, in the beginning, is no longer a guide for morality today. In the beginning, morality had the foundation of God’s Word, as moral judgments were made according to God’s law. People today cannot make sound judgments because they have no sound principles to guide them.

It creates a division between people of one set of false principles and those of another group of false principles. Therefore, those who I once thought to be wise are only practical in their thinking. God’s wisdom is absolute, and if we inject the world’s wisdom into our thought, we have become double-minded. You can only make a right turn by moving right; you cannot go in a circle and achieve a right turn. When people make discernments, they need to employ the same wisdom from the source of wisdom. With clean hands and pure hearts, we need to draw nearer to God to receive His truth. “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.” (James 4:8) “For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.” (James 1:7-8)

The Apostle John writes a beautiful verse from God’s Word. Beloved, I pray that in all respects you may prosper and be in good health, just as your soul prospers.” (3 John 1:2) Our prosperity has a relationship; our health has a relationship with our soul’s prosperity. It’s a formidable challenge in this world to have a prosperous soul. We are under constant bombardment from the world. Radio, television, news networks, entertainment, and advertisements fill our minds with Satan’s propaganda. How do we guard our hearts if the mind is continuously feeding them with worldly desires? Our lead verse tells us that our life is lived through Him. Jesus is the captain of our soul and the master of our fate. We stay in His Word every day and meditate on it, and the light of His truth will drive out the darkness from within. “Watch over your heart with all diligence, For from it flow the springs of life.” (Proverbs 4:23)

The abundant life is to grow in the Spirit of Christ and live in the wisdom of His truth. We can have that abundant life now with a life filled with the purpose of being what God created us to be. The abundant life is more than now but eternal, as His death and resurrection have promised us we will also be raised to life. God is love, and we have received His mercy and been saved by His grace. We will live eternally with Him from His lovingkindness. His Word is proven true, and His faithfulness will sustain all generations of His saints. How great it is to live in thankfulness and praise Him for His eternal love. “Enter His gates with thanksgiving And His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him, bless His name. For the LORD is good; His lovingkindness is everlasting And His faithfulness to all generations.” (Psalm 100:4-5)

Thomas N Kirkpatrick

First Baptist Church of Durant, December