At the First Baptist Church in Oswego we have started a study called, “Experiencing God.” Our focus is getting to know God so that we can do His will. We meet each Sunday night at 6:30 PM, just in case you would like to join us. I’m going to try and post something each week from our study, and this morning I wanted to begin by sharing this quick excerpt. I hope you find it encouraging today!

Thanks, Kevin & Roger

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One of the most powerful pictures of God that we see in the Bible is the one that portrays Him as a loving Father who wants nothing but the best for His children. As Christians, we believe that once we accept Christ as Savior that we are adopted into the family of God. John 1:12 says, “…as many as received Him (Him referring to Christ) He gave the right to become children of God.” Seeing God as a loving Father, and understanding that a loving Father always wants the best for His children, is fundamental to our ability to know and understand how God wants to work in our lives. I believe it is also the key to trusting God during confusing circumstances.

GOD IS LOVE— HIS WILL IS ALWAYS BEST
According to 1 John 4: 16, “God is love.” This does not say that God loves, though He does love perfectly and unconditionally. The Scripture says that God’s essential nature is love. God will never act contrary to His nature. You will never experience God expressing His will except in a demonstration of perfect love. God’s kind of love always seeks His best for each person.

If we reject His best, He will discipline us. However, the discipline will come from a heavenly Father who loves us and who will do whatever is necessary to bring us to a place in our lives where we can receive what He wants to give us (see Heb. 12: 5-11). God does bring discipline, judgment, and wrath on those who continue to live in sin and rebellion against Him. Even this discipline, though, is based on love. “For the Lord disciplines the one He loves, and punishes every son whom He receives” (Heb. 12: 6).

Because His nature is love, I’m confident that however He expresses Himself to me is always best. Many other verses describe His love toward us. For example: “For God loved the world in this way: He gave His One and Only Son” (John 3: 16), and “This is how we have come to know love: He laid down His life for us” (1 John 3: 16). Your confidence in the love nature of God is crucial. This has been a powerful influence in my life. I always view my circumstances against the backdrop of the cross, where God clearly demonstrated once and for all His deep love for me. I may not always understand my current situation or how things will eventually turn out, but I can trust in the love Christ proved to me when He laid down His life for me on the cross. In the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, God forever convinced me that He loves me. I choose to base my trust in God on what I know— His love for me— and I choose to trust in Him in the midst of the confusing circumstances I may be experiencing.