Bring Heaven to Earth? Sonship and Manifested Sons of God

One of the foundational teachings of the Manifested Sons of God and Sonship Movement is this idea that we as believers are charged with bringing heaven to earth. This is taken from a misunderstanding of the Lord's prayer, which was meant to be a prayer of surrender to the Lord's will.

This idea of taking charge sounds appealing to our flesh. It sounds appealing to those who are in generally good times. It is also quite appealing to those who are looking for a way to obtain power and purpose in life. Yet it causes believers to chase after men (either for prayer or for their teachings) instead of looking to and trusting in God Himself. The thought that a believer is in charge of making God's will come to pass is unsettling when you are the one sick, out of work, having marital problems, facing an abusive situation or simply got into a car accident. It is in those difficult times where we realize that we don't want to be the ones in charge of making things better. We learn we really want God to be working all things together for good to those who love Him, to those who are called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28) and that He also works all things after the counsel of His will (Ephesians 1:11). 

I don't believe that every single thing that happens to us was God's doing, but I do recognize that in life things don't always turn out the way we wanted, had hoped, had prayed and had asked of God. We must trust Him regardless of what is going on at the current time. In the Sonship Movement I do not see this submitting and instead see a lot of finger pointing going around to those hurting or I see a lot of excuses from their leaders like "we are growing in this". 

The Manifested Sons of God and Sonship Movement insist what they believe is the truth. However their beliefs wrongly put our will, our desires and our limited view and understandings of things as the main focus instead of submitting and surrendering those very things to the Lord. When you surrender to the Lord, you are telling Him you no longer want to be the one who always has the answer. You are telling him that you trust Him no matter where life takes you. Sometimes life may take you to places you don't like. 

Maturity in Christ isn't about having all of the answers or having secret revelations. It is about knowing that Jesus is Lord of all and willingly submitting to that. It's really about learning that you don't have the answers. There is freedom and maturity in letting go.

Rejection Leads to Confidence

God has used rejection from people to build confidence in me that could not have been made any other way. Now I am still trusting that God will bring people into our lives that we will be able to fellowship with on a more consistent basis. However I do believe this time alone was God ordained just as Jesus, John the Baptist and Paul were alone in their wilderness seasons. 

My hope is for people to see that God can and will use everything that happens to us for His good and that includes the rejection we may have experienced in our lives too.

Ultimately God wants us to learn to depend on Him and that usually includes taking us out of our own comfort zones. Each of us have our own comfort zone and God will tailor the challenge specifically for us. 

God wants us to surrender our lives to Him. He wants us to willingly come to the place where His will is more important than ours. He wants us to leave the comfort zones and learn to trust Him into the calls He has placed on our lives. 

The Devil Wanted Me Dead

Looking back now, I realize the devil was out to get me in my junior year of high school. At 16 years of age, the devil wanted me broken and dead. 

During marching band camp, I started to have symptoms (fainting, lightheadedness and heat intolerance) that would eventually be diagnosed as Postural tachycardia syndrome.  No one (not even doctors) listened to me back then and I suffered undiagnosed with this condition for 8 years. I still suffer with this illness today.

I also found myself in a very controlling relationship for a few months. When I tried to dump that boyfriend, he threatened to harm me and harm himself. It was also during this time where a family member psychologically abused and raped me. It was a traumatic time for me.

It felt like a horrible nightmare except it wasn't a dream. It was real life. 

As all of this was going on, not a single one of my friends (nor my family) knew anything about it. I suffered in silence in my junior and senior years of high school. People just knew that I became an emotional, broken and messed up person who wanted to die. I couldn't talk to them about the symptoms I was feeling nor could I tell them about the events that took place. Unfortunately those friends stopped talking to me in my senior year and I was alone back then too.

Thankfully when I was born again, God was able to heal me of the trauma from that season. 

After high school, I entered into the work force and was going to college full time. I started to feel increasingly unwell though. I first quit college in the beginning of 2004 and then eventually quit working all together at the end of 2005. At the age of 21, I was already disabled and unable to hold a job or go to school. Looking at my life by worldly standards, I had absolutely nothing going for me. I was a burden and waste of space. 

As I got sicker, I started to look online for support and answers. It was on forums, yahoo groups and websites that I started to make friends with others who had the same story as me. It was great! I was so happy that finally there were people who understood chronic illness and its limitations at a young age. 

For about 3 years I had many wonderful chronically ill friends online. I became a researcher and guinea pig. I subjected myself to treatments in hopes that I could help others. I was part of a community and felt like I belonged. I finally thought that I was making some sort of contribution to the world. Not everyone agreed or liked my style, but I talked to people on a daily basis online and considered many of them great friends. 

In this time frame, my husband also became chronically ill and times got much worse. We entered into a new level of hell.

Things Got Harder After I Was Saved

When I came to believe in Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior in 2012, God called me out of those chronic illness communities. I had to stop looking at treatment protocols and researching potential cures for chronic illness. That did not go over real well with my chronically ill friends and I walked away from many friendships there. It was hard, but it was part of "taking off the old and putting on the new". God was very clear to my husband and I that we were forbidden to go back to these groups and we were forbidden to even discuss these things with people. I still hold to that today.

I was a new believer in Christ and started to become more active in Christian circles. I figured making friends was going to be much easier. I was wrong. Very quickly I realized that many people want to use you in the Church too. 

They want you to be a testimony for their ministry. 

They want you to join their church. 

They want you to participate in events and ministry. 

With both of us having unpredictable chronic illnesses, we knew it was not going to work well. My husband and I were the odd people out, often times sitting outside during worship because it was too loud. The noise sent my body into sensory overload and it caused horrendous pain in my husband's ears. It was a mess. 

Just a few short months after being saved, I began to write on my blog about things God had shown us. 

This was not a comfortable place for me to be in. I had little to no bible knowledge, little experience as a born again Christian, zero experience in ministry and yet God said to write! I had to extensively research, pray and wait on God to write every post. It is hard writing deep theological posts with migraines and brain fog, but somehow God gave me the strength to it. Although I have many unfinished blog posts that hopefully one day will be published...haha!

In May of 2014, someone locally unfriended me due to one of my blog posts and it caused me to begin questioning everything I thought I heard from God. I was close to shutting down my blog and forgetting about it all. I was in total anguish. 

This brought me to a fork in the road and I had to make a decision. 

Was I going to listen to the people who were upset with me? Was I going to let fear of man take over my heart? Was I going to follow God and continue to speak regardless of it being out of my comfort zone and regardless of the potential fallout? 

I didn't have an answer to those questions at the time. I felt so lost and confused on what was the right thing to do. I didn't want to make people angry, but I also did not want to be silenced either.

What I have learned in this season is:

If we choose to remain silent when God tells us to speak it is disobedience.

If we choose to remain silent for fear of what men will say it is disobedience.

Fear of man may disguise itself as humility, but it is actually false humility! False humility can lead us into a place where we are pleasing people at the cost of obeying God. This is what the devil was after in my life. He wanted me to turn from God and to listen to the other voices around me instead of the only One who matters. 

With my history of losing friends, the devil just kept telling me how much of a bad friend I was to everyone. He kept telling me that I should have kept my mouth shut. He kept saying,  "See what you did!". On the other hand, I knew the things God had shown us were truth and important to talk about.

I was being pulled in all directions and at that point my own heart was betraying itself too.

A Prophetic Word Changed It All

I thank God for a perfectly timed prophetic word in July 2014. If it were not for that word, I truly believe this blog would no longer exist. That single prophetic word changed everything. It gave me the confidence to continue to open my mouth and speak as God was commanding me to do so instead of cowering back. 

God said to me in that word, "When you feel insecure, when you're pushed back on stand in the confidence of the Lord and open your mouth and do the things that he has given you to do."

However when I opened my mouth, I heard from people around me....

...You are just "hurt". 

...You are "critical". 

...You are being "judging".

...Who made you judge?
...You are casting stones!

...Who are you to speak?

Nowadays when these accusations and labels are thrown at me, I know they are originating from the flesh or the devil. I simply continue on speaking what God has called me to do because I know that those people are not hearing from God. 

When I no longer needed validation from men and knew God was with me, it gave me the confidence to speak.  It doesn't make it easy or fun. I still have feelings, emotions and can be hurt by words said to me by friends, family and strangers online, but now I know I'm in God's will. That is the most important thing.

Sometimes I make mistakes and ask forgiveness where necessary, but when I make a mistake it doesn't mean I should stop speaking all together. The enemy wants us to feel insecure, so that we stop speaking.

I truly believe the enemy will speak to us through other Christians to get us to second guess ourselves and to second guess what God has already spoken. He will bring back old labels, old hurts and old wounds that God has already healed. He wants us to begin to believe those lies again about ourselves so we do not continue on in our calling from God. YES the enemy will use a Christian to do it too. I've seen it time and time again with the emails I've received from strangers via this blog. 

Some of the most demonic, twisted words have come out of the mouths of Christians and Christian ministers in this season!

I admit, I'm a broken disaster on most days. Sometimes the attacks take a toll on me. It just shows me how much I need to depend on God to do any of this. If I had my way, I'd never speak out ever again. Yet because I have walked through this season with God, I know that I can't walk away. If I have truly laid my life down to Him, then I must speak.

With everything that has happened to me in my life and the way that God has redeemed it, it has given me a boldness in certain areas that scares people. I think most people would expect me to be hurt and unhealed emotionally. I think most people would expect me to be a doormat. I think most people expect me to be depressed and constantly negative. I think when people meet me in person, they are shocked of the joy and the smile on my face despite the hardships I write about on my blog. 

How did this happen? Only God can do it. You can't learn it from another.

You have to get to a place where you have nothing to lose anymore. 

You have to get to a place where doing God's work is more important than having men on your side.

Thankfully I know I can trust in God. I know that God has different thoughts about me than those around me who yell and curse me. 

Somehow in His amazing ways, God can use everything that I've been through in my life and use it for His good. He has used all of this to prepare me for the call on my life. 

I now have compassion for those who have been the victim of incest. 

I now have compassion for those who are chronically ill and doctors cannot help.  

I now comfort those who feel alone in their walks with God. 

I now comfort those who have been believing God for healing and it has not yet come.

I now point people to the One who truly matters; Jesus Christ!

It was in this season where the dependency of man was removed from me and I've had to learn what it means to really truly depend on God. That involved tears, pain, frustration, anger, lack and confusion at times. It is a normal part of the process!

When I stopped looking to men for my help,  I stopped sending others to men too. 

I started telling them directly about Jesus Christ and did not refer them to a book, teaching, video or healing course. These days I'm rather selective of the things I recommend to my friends, strangers and family because I know the impact it will have on that person's walk with God.

You don't learn to trust God by watching a video or reading the latest Bethel book or going to the next conference. You learn this by surrendering yourself to God as you go through tough times in life. There is no other way and no shortcuts around this.

What the devil has tried to use to literally kill me, silence me and wound me, God has redeemed. The devil sends his little minions from time to time in the form of baby Christians to attack me personally, but I just sing praises to God that the enemy lies are just that..LIES!

It is in this season where I had to decide if I was going to let the words of people get me to back down. Do I care that much about what people think about me to disobey God? Would I allow false-humility to keep me from fulfilling the call of God on my life? 

For some what I say looks critical and judging. 

For some my testimony and who I am today is offensive. 

For some they say I'm too young to speak.

For some they say I haven't been trained properly to have an opinion or voice.

There is always something that people will say about you, but the only thing that truly matters is what God is saying. It is common for people to label others with terms that have negative emotions or connotations attached. They do this to write you off, to discredit you in order to do character assassination. 

Jesus tells us an important lesson in Matthew 10:24-28 (emphasis mine).

24“A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a slave above his master. 25“It is enough for the disciple that he become like his teacher, and the slave like his master. If they have called the head of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign the members of his household! 

26“Therefore do not fear them, for there is nothing concealed that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. 27“What I tell you in the darkness, speak in the light; and what you hear whispered in your ear, proclaim upon the housetops. 28“Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell."

For those who God has called, there comes a place where you have to simply say to the people...."I'm continuing on and doing what God has called me to do. You can smear my name. You can do character assassination. You can even kill my body, but I'm going to continue with what God has called me to do!"

Once you are truly able to get to this place, then you are free. It doesn't mean the words won't hurt or you won't have dark days, but overall you realize that only following God and fearing God is what matters. 

Feeling Alone in the Storms

I've been really quiet on my blog because it's been a very difficult, trying time (once again) in my life. There has been so much stress and pressure put on me and I did not feel like writing.

This blog post is going to be pretty emotional and raw.

Let's talk about friendships or really the lack of them. I wrote a post about this same topic in the beginning of this year here where I've had to let go people I've met in this season.

Ever since I was a teenager, I've had trouble keeping friends. In all of the friendships I've ever had with women, there was always this element where I had to be fake. I couldn't actually be honest and truthful with them because it might hurt their feelings. For me this does not work. I like to just say it like it is instead of me festering or holding on to things inside of me. However I realized that 99% of the population does not work that way and so it causes problems.

People want you to be fake. I refuse to do it.

Inevitably I've always been the one blamed for being a bad friend and then a "break up" happens. It is always in these times where the other person's true feelings finally come out. This is when I see they were the ones festering animosity this whole time and it's a big mess. After various messages back and forth, I realize that there is no possible way reconciliation can happen because it wasn't real to begin with.

It is like I was friends with a facade, not the actual real person within them.

I've seen this cycle time and time again in my life. Today, this is why I'm upfront and real with people.

My husband told me this quality in me is why he fell in love with me. He loved that I had an opinion! Apparently on our first date I was ranting about the Catholic church?! haha! I don't even remember that, but it's obvious that God put us together. No one else I ever knew liked that quality about me!

It is the thing everyone else hates that my husband loves.

I say it like it is because I will not fester and harvest things inside of me. Any time I've violated this rule of mine, it always comes back to hurt me in the long run.

In these fake friendships, I always felt like I lost my freedom and my voice. It was like that person expected me or even peer pressured me into doing what they were doing. I hated it. I had to put up an act. I had to always agree with them. I had to like the things they liked. I had to basically be them and I hated it. It's like a bad controlling relationship.

To me that is not a friendship but that is honestly a prison. Today I refuse to befriend someone if that's the terms they have for friendship. I absolutely despise it and will eventually push the person away on purpose.

To add insult to injury, having a chronic illness does not help things either. It tested all of the friendships I've had.

The main problem is that....

I don't have kids.
I did not finish college.
I don't work.
I can't regularly go to church.
I can't "hang out".
I hate talking on the phone because it aggravates my health problems.

That pretty much throws every friendship and way of making (and connecting with) friends out the window. All of the things that people do with their friends, I cannot possibly do and it always puts strain on the friendship. If I do end up making a friend, eventually the emails or texts stop and then I never hear from them again. Time and time again.

So for me, all that I have are online friendships and I am grateful for those who have stuck around even if it's just 3-4 of you. I thank God for you every day.

I feel like most of those whom people think are their friends are an illusion.

They are there for you today because:
...you still agree with them.
...you can still hang out.
...you work with them.
...there is something in your life that connects you.

If you remove all of that, will they still be there? For how long? A few months? I had amazing friends when I worked at Kohl's and Pier 1, but that was over 10 years ago now and those people are gone. I personally have never seen a friendship ever last when there is nothing to keep a person connected.

This is a sad post, but one I wanted to write today. I really don't have any friends. No one calls. No one texts. I get no phone calls on my birthday. I get no invites to weddings. I get no invites to bridal or baby showers. Honestly if I died today, I do not think anyone locally outside of my family would actually care. I've had to come to the reality of that and somehow be OK with it.

I simply have no one at all in my life except for my husband and God.

I've entered in a time where my husband cannot help me in the place I'm in. He cannot help me with the struggles and pain that I'm feeling in my heart. I have been so emotionally and physically unwell, but instead of God bringing me people to comfort me, He has taken more away.

It might seem strange to many of you reading, but I believe that God has brought me to this place. He has brought me so alone and so low to show me that He is enough. I don't need likes on Facebook. I don't need a certain number of friends on Facebook. I don't need more followers on my blog or even more visitors here. I really only need Him.

Jesus was betrayed and abandoned by the only people and friends He knew. God knows the pain I'm feeling and I continue to trust that He will bring my husband and I community and friends that will accept us as we are today. Neither of us have that right now.

Knowing God's Love During the Storms

Mix of dark clouds and sun. A storm passing through the area

When life is going good, it can be easy to see God's love in our life. Many associate God's love with the joy they feel and the blessings they have been given such as family, a good job and good health. But if those tangible things were taken away from you unexpectedly while you were faithfully following the Lord, could you still see God's love? Would you think God was upset with you because of something you had done? Would you still be able to continue to believe and trust in God?

Several months ago I was telling my husband that this long season has given me a different understanding of God's love. Even talking about this topic is tricky because God can choose to reveal His love to His children in different ways during different seasons in our lives and one way isn't necessarily wrong or right. Admittedly though my journey has been a bumpy ride and I never had a "honeymoon period" after being born again. I came to God while in a long battle and the battle raged even more afterward, so this gives you an idea of where I am coming from.

In this difficult trying place, God's love has not always been tangible, but that does not mean something is wrong with me nor does it mean He does not love me. There are some things I saw while in this season, that I wanted to write about. Because of the way many teach God's love, there were labels people wanted to put on me in this season that I had to actively and purposely reject. These labels and teachings can make those who are going through these stormy seasons, seem as if they are missing out or not measuring up in some way. It's easy to see God's love when life is good, but we also need to be able to see His love when things aren't going well because we were never promised a perfect life.

Does God's Love Mean Instant Answers to our Prayers?

 

I often saw people associating God's love with instant answers to their prayers. This is very dangerous.

God is faithful. He hears our prayers. We can trust in that because scripture tells us in 1 John 5:14-15, "This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him."

Sometimes God's timing and His answers to our prayers may not be what we expected or even wanted though. Therefore, if we attach God's love to immediate answers to our prayers, it WILL cause us to lose our faith and trust in God if there is a delay. I once heard a prophet say "Delays are not denials" and that is so important to settle within our hearts.

God really can be trusted even if and especially if there is a delay.

I have also seen many people link God's love with physical and emotional healing. Since I've walked this journey seeking God for healing of Postural Tachycardia Syndrome and other various chronic problems, it is absolutely the worst thing a person can do. While I agree healing is a demonstration of God's love, we cannot make it the cornerstone or the measuring stick of God's love in a person's walk. When a person has been praying, believing and asking God for healing for years and are not yet healed, it can be rather devastating to their faith, their hope and their trust in God.

We must more accurately focus attention to the cross instead of getting them to look to their healing as God's love.

Does God's Love Mean Instant Delivery From the Storms? 

 

Some ministries suggest since God loves us so much, that He will keep the really bad things from happening to those who have "truly surrendered". But if for some reason a trial does come, then people who "know who they are in Christ" will have a quick delivery in all trials. These two teachings coupled together are very dangerous.

I walked down this path and listened to these teachings and they produced no life. It nearly made me leave the faith only a short 8 months after I was saved. The problem is as soon as a trial comes or does not leave as quickly as we thought it should, these teachings will cause a person to question everything, even God.

These teachings have bred a disdain for those who are sick, hurting or frustrated. Those who are healthy and living a great life are perceived as "spiritually healthy" and those who are in trials, sick and hurting are perceived as "spiritually sick". This is not biblical though.

We need look no further than the ministries of Jesus, Paul and the other apostles to see that this entire idea is false. Jesus himself clarified this false idea in the bible in Luke 13:4-5, when He brought up the 18 who died because the tower of Siloam fell on them. He said, “Or do you suppose that those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them were worse culprits than all the men who live in Jerusalem? “I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”

The ideas taught in some groups have left many in the midst of storms feeling hopeless and defeated. Many teach that those going through trials especially a long term trial, that there is something wrong with their relationship with God or they haven't figured out "who they are" and they are "living in the old man" and much more. There's so many catch phrases out there that it's impossible to list them all here. However the overall idea in this group is that trials should be short lived, should not cause you any distress and should be overcome with ease. These attacks made to a person's relationship with God cause them to lose hope, lose trust in God and eventually lose their faith altogether. No matter how good they sound, these teachings are misguided.

Jesus wasn't short of revelation (given that He was fully God and fully man) and He certainly did not have a bad relationship with His Father. YET He was driven into the wilderness by the Spirit, which lead Him to be tempted by the devil. Jesus being put into this difficult set of temptations and trials had nothing at all to do with God's love for Him nor a lack of relationship with the Father. If you can believe this about Jesus' wilderness, then we must start believing it for other people's wildernesses as well.

God will guide us and carry us when the storms come and He will provide the way of escape during our struggles. However it may not be instant, even if we are fully surrendered and know our identity in Christ and are "living from the new man". In fact there is evidence in the scripture that says the opposite, which I'll touch upon later in this article. Sometimes there are things that God is doing in us during these storms that cannot be taught elsewhere. This isn't because of God, but is a part of our human nature. We tend to be stubborn and unable to see our own weaknesses until we go through difficult times.

Where Do We Find God's Love (No matter what)?

The demonstration of God's love is that He sent His son to die for us on the cross, even while we were lost and dead in our sin! He gave us His son Jesus Christ, so that we may be set free from sin and to be reconciled back to Him. Because of this we can now have a personal relationship with God and also have eternal life.

This is how one builds a strong foundation in God's love that will get them through the storms of life. This is the GOSPEL! For some people though this isn't enough. They have stopped preaching the Gospel and have replaced it with "revelation" that focuses on authority, power and experiences. But what good is power if it's not to preach the Gospel and God's love seen in His son? The power of God is the cross!

If you first have to see God do something for you to know His love, then you may never make it there. Settling in your heart that God's love is seen on the cross is what will actually carry you through to the other side, to the fulfillment of His promises for you.

When we build a foundation on this, our life circumstances won't destroy us and we will be able to step into the call God has for us no matter how difficult it may be. There may be trying and frustrating times in our life, however we know that we can still approach God in our time of need. Nothing can take away from the power and love demonstrated on the cross because it stands forever and ever. Even if we are sick or in poverty or being persecuted in chains! We can trust that God's love has not left us and has not faded away. God has not set Himself against us in any way when we meet obstacles and road blocks along the way. We can boldly come to God in our time of need and continue to ask God for our needs.

I am fully aware of all the scriptures that says that God will provide and God will heal and God will give us good gifts etc. Yes I understand and agree completely that God can and will bless us in our life according to His purposes. However if we need those things to know or to prove that God loves us, that is precisely the problem. It is not a stable foundation.

This is not limiting God. In times where we have nothing and in times where we have plenty, God will use it all for His purposes. We see this stated by Paul in Philippians 4:11-13.

"Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me."

Paul, one of the most "anointed" men, suffered from want at various times in his ministry. So if it's OK that Paul did, then it is OK if you are too. Please understand me here. That's not to say we can't ask God for help, but nothing is spiritually wrong with you if you have a need. Nothing! Do not let any teachers convince you that you are spiritually unwell because you have sickness in your body or because you lost your job or are going through financial trouble.

Some of the teachers today may have likely told Paul that "he must not know who he is in Christ" since he suffered from need at times.

Is God's Love Always a Feeling?

The third mistake is that many believe or even teach that God's love is something that they will always "feel" or "see". There are times and seasons where God may give us an outpouring of His love and we should cherish that! Sometimes though we will go through seasons where we will not feel His love, but we know that He loves us because of what His Word tells us. If you are in one of those seasons where you are not feeling His love, do not let anyone tell you that you are less of a Christian for some reason. Do not base your walk with God on other people's experiences.

In the seasons when we do not feel His love, we stand on God's word and receive His love through His word.

When our relationship with God feels a bit distant, it's important to understand that it does not mean that God is distant. Scripture says that, He will never leave us nor forsake us. This scripture is a promise to us when we aren't feeling loved and when everything in life is a disaster. In the book of Job, even though Job did not feel God's presence during his trials, God was listening to every single word and every single cry from Job.  

God is present even if we don't feel His manifest presence. This is such an important thing to remember because so many are chasing God's presence when He is always there.

If we need to see, feel and experience things to know God's love, then the enemy will use it against us so that we never make it to the fulfillment of the promises God has made to us. The enemy wants you to start questioning God's love (because of what you don't see or feel). He wants you to become discouraged and walk away from God.

It's so important in these times of our life to get in the Word and to really start reading it through on our own. If you have trouble understanding it, then every day continue to pray for God to reveal it to you, to help you understand and the Holy Spirit will come and do that. I know that I had to keep at it and then suddenly one day it was like the letters jumped out at me and everything started to make sense. And when that happens a glorious thing will take place. Instead of just regurgitating what others are saying, God will be able to lay down real foundations in your life that YOU personally live by. It won't be what "so and so says" but it will become real in your own life. It's so important to get to this place during these difficult times.

Paul Knew God's Love Despite His Hardship

As I already mentioned above, Paul went through a lot of stuff. Yet he saw God's love while in a prison, being beaten, shipwrecked and going hungry.

In 2 Corinthians 11:24-27 we read about some of the hardships he was "boasting" in:

"Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure."

Remember in Philippians 4, Paul said that he learned to be content in whatever circumstances he found himself in. I hope we all can agree that God loved Paul very much and yet he went through all of these things in his life.

This helps us to realize that...

• God's love isn't based on what we are feeling.
• God's love isn't based on our life going good.
• God's love isn't based on the condition of our physical body. 
• God's love does not mean instant delivery or total protection from trials.

If you are going through a tough time, it doesn't mean you are a lesser Christian or have done something wrong or have turned God against you in some way.

We are to trust God during hardships and know that His great love is there because He sent His son Jesus! I have found meditating on what Jesus did on the cross can be really incredible. Think about how much God loved us to pay that kind of price. He wanted us to be reconciled back to Him!

When we come against obstacles, do not let anyone try to tell you that you are in that situation because you aren't committed enough or aren't surrendered enough or "don't know who you are in Christ" or 'are living out of the old man". It's best to just ignore them and to continue on seeking the Lord in your walk.

Scriptures of God's Love 

Read these scriptures and meditate on them to understand where God wants you to see His great love.

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. John 3:16

^"But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),..." Ephesians 2:4-5

"And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma." Ephesians 5:2

^"For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5: 7-8

"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. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins." 1 John 4: 9-10

We are Conquerors in the Trials

This next scripture takes the idea of God's love to a whole different level. All of Romans 8 is amazing, but I have found many chop this one verse in half and ignore the context in which it was made because it's such a difficult and yet powerful message.

"Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Just as it is written, “For Your sake we are being put to death all day long; We were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers,  nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."  Romans 8:35-39

I'm not sure about you, but this doesn't sound like the "It is Finished" "God loves you message" that is very popular right now. Paul is talking about a lot of tough situations in this scripture which are being done to the physical bodies of Christians. These are Christians in need. He is also quoting out of Psalm 44:22, which talks about how they were being killed for God's sake, not because they had turned away from God, but because they were following God.

If we quickly head over to Psalm 44:17-22 this is the context of what Paul quoted:

¹⁷ All this has come upon us,
    though we have not forgotten you,
    and we have not been false to your covenant.
¹⁸ Our heart has not turned back,
    nor have our steps departed from your way;
¹⁹ yet you have broken us in the place of jackals
    and covered us with the shadow of death.
²⁰ If we had forgotten the name of our God
    or spread out our hands to a foreign god,
²¹ would not God discover this?
    For he knows the secrets of the heart.
²² Yet for your sake we are killed all the day long;
    we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.

Paul was not preaching the love message that is being preached today in many groups. This scripture along with Romans 8:35-37, pretty much says, if you are following God, then you should expect trouble to come. It's not because you have turned away, but it's because you are following God.

Paul continues on that we can take courage that even while in these trials that we are overwhelmingly conquering in Christ and that nothing can separate us from His love. In some translations it says, "we are more than conquerors in Christ", so just because you are going through something does not mean you are "spiritually sick".

We must believe this, that when we see trials, even unto death, that it does not mean God does not love us or turned His back on us. For those In Christ, we are more than conquerors.

Conclusion

What God demonstrated in His son Jesus can not be undone. No matter what Satan or man does to us, it cannot remove us from His love. Sometimes God will call us out upon the waters like He did with Peter on the boat, but we can trust God in these places. You have been called there and that is what makes it stable. Know that God is there. He has called you here. He sees. He knows. He hears. You can feel broken, tired and weak, but God will carry you through those times. Trust in Him.

In these times, we absolutely must look to the demonstration of God's love on the cross. Things that happen to us in our life are going to call into question God's love and His goodness. If we put emphasis on how our life is going or on our feelings, then we very well may believe that we are unloved and rejected by God. If these feelings harbor long enough, one could walk away from the faith. But know if you are going through stuff, it's not because your relationship with God is bad or that God has given up on you.

I want to encourage people who feel like they lost their faith because they misunderstood God's love to come back and to recommit. God really does love you despite what you see in your life. He is calling you back today because He loves you. Tell someone the struggle you are going through and pray that God reveals His word to you in a bigger way because it will refresh you as you walk through the storms.