In the Bible We Learn that Jesus Christ is the God of Love

Jesus the Christ, the anointed one, the Messiah, walked this earth demonstrating He is the God of love. Jesus fed the hungry, healed the sick, raised the dead and walked to His death on the cross so that all might be saved. These events chronicled in the Gospels are Jesus pictures – images of God played out in action. We see God through the miracles of Jesus and we thank God for our salvation. I often pray, “God help me see Your presence clearly in my life,” because I don’t want to meander off the path He has placed in front of me and follow my own selfish direction.

Henry Blackaby, in his book “Experiencing God,” makes the point that the key to knowing God’s voice is our love relationship with Him. We can express this love relationship by the time we spend with God each day. The two most direct ways to spend time with God are through prayer and study of His Word. Reading the Bible will bring us closer to God because it is a manifestation of God in word form. By reading the Word of God we come to understand Him, experience how He reacts to people and situations and come to recognize His voice more clearly.

Of course as believers we have the Holy Spirit inside of us to help guide us through our daily walk. While we can feel and sometimes hear what we believe is the Holy Spirit moving us in a certain direction, it’s important that we test that understanding with other sources to be sure we are not being misdirected by the enemy. We start with prayer and then search the pages of the Bible for any clear direction. Finally, it’s always a good idea to seek counsel from another believer to make sure our own selfish reasons aren’t getting in the way of the truth. Remember, our old nature is constantly at odds with our spiritual self and our ways are not God’s ways. It’s easy for us to go off in the wrong direction if we are not regularly pursuing a genuine love relationship with God.

Another point Blackaby makes is that God often speaks to us through circumstances. Sometimes God’s timing is not in sync with our expectations and we miss this important message. We should wait patiently on the Lord and in His time He will guide us according to His plan. God doesn’t answer prayer like a genie granting wishes. Many times those things we want and desire are not what God has planned for our life. If we feel like God doesn’t hear our prayers, it’s a good idea to look around and see if He’s not pushing us in a completely different direction.

The more time we spend in the Word of God the more clearly we hear God’s voice. The more time we spend in prayer the more deeply we understand God and how He is working in our life. The more time we spend in fellowship with other believers the more intimately we feel God’s presence in our life. These are all elements of our love relationship with God and tools to help develop our spiritual communication skills. We should be diligently seeking God’s love by spending meaningful time with Him every day and the result will be a more clear understanding of His plan for our life.