We Love God!

God: "I looked for someone to take a stand for me, and stand in the gap" (Ezekiel 22:30)

Our local deity is not Jesus. He goes by the name Jesus. But in reality, our local deity is Jesus Jr. Our little Jesus is popular because he is useful. He makes us feel better while conveniently fitting into the margins of our busy lives. But he is not terrifying or compelling or thrilling. When we hear the gospel of Jesus Jr., our casual response is “Yeah, that’s what I believe.” Jesus Jr. does not confront us, surprise us, stun us. He looks down on us with a benign, all-approving grin. He tells us how wonderful we really are, how entitled we really are, how wounded we really are, and it feels good. Jesus Jr. appeals to the flesh. He does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him. He is not able to understand them, much less impart them, because Jesus Jr. is the magnification of Self, the idealization of Self, the absolutization of Self turning around and validating Self, flattering Self, reinforcing Self. Jesus Jr. does not change us, because he is a projection of us.
Ray Ortlund

If Christ is, to us, only our substitute to admire and not also our example to follow, we will not rouse ourselves to do hard things in obedience to Him. That will be spiritually deadening in the long run. If Christ is, to us, only our example to follow and not first our substitute to admire, we will not lean on Him as our savior and be freed from ourselves. That too is spiritually deadening in the long run. We can get it wrong and still thrive for a while. But in the long run, only a well-proportioned theology can keep us spiritually alive.
Ray Ortlund

    • The Love of God

    I Need You to Love Me (God)

    Posted on

    Listen

    Why, why are you still with me?
    Didn’t you see what I’ve done?
    In my shame I want to run and hide myself
    But it’s here I see the truth
    I don’t deserve you

    But I need you to love me, and I
    I won’t keep my heart from you this time
    So I’ll stop this pretending that I can
    Somehow deserve what I already have
    I need you to love me

    I, I have wasted so much time
    Pushing you away from me
    I just never saw how much you could cherish me
    Cuz you’re a God who has all things
    And still you want me

    But I need you to love me, and I
    I won’t keep my heart from you this time
    So I’ll stop this pretending that I can
    Somehow deserve what I already have
    I need you to love me

    Your love makes me forget what I have been
    Your love makes me see who I really am
    Your love makes me forget what I have been

    But I need you to love me, and I
    I won’t keep my heart from you this time
    So I’ll stop this pretending that I can
    Somehow deserve what I already have
    I need you to love me

    Songwriters: Alyssa Katherine Barlow / Barlowgirl / Lauren Ashley Nicole Barlow / Mary Ann Barlow / Rebecca Elizabeth Marie Barlow / Vincent Robert Francis Barlow

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