Jer 31:3 The Lord hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.
Obviously, the Holy Spirit has much to do with the loving kindness of God. And since Jesus spoke of the Comforter that He would send to His apostles, the Comforter is another name for the Holy Spirit (Holy Ghost). So in looking for evidence of God’s loving kindness in our and others lives, we need to look for what the Holy Spirit has done for God’s people. What can we discover?
When as a child, my mother insisted that I take piano lessons. From this I gained the basics of music. In sixth grade, I became a member of the sixth grade chorus. In junior high, I was in junior high chorus. As a freshman, I was in Boy’s chorus. As a sophomore and junior, I was in A Capella Choir along with being in the Madrigal group my junior year. Then in the summer of my junior year, I spent two weeks in a singing school at Sardis PBC. (My Dad did not agree to let me go until ten days after the invitation was given. I believe this came from the Holy Spirit.) My senior year was limited to studying for school as well beginning to read places in my new Bible which I purchased at the direction of the Holy Spirit the beginning of this school year. And as the final part of my musical education, I attended the University of Illinois for four and a half years. There I attended New Liberty PBC on the first and third Sundays. After morning services, lunch was served. Then while the women were cleaning up and the men were chatting, the young people gathered in the sanctuary to sing out of our hymnal. During these years, I was able to get plenty of practice sight reading.
What was the purpose of all of these things? First, upon finishing my course work, I received a commission in the US Air Force. About three months later, I began my service years in Biloxi, MS. That summer, I bought a car and regularly attended a church that my pastor had told me about. Within two years, I was regularly leading singing in church. I continued to do this whenever asked ever since. Do others see the loving kindness leading me in this? (I had a similar situation that led to my marriage.)
What about the experiences of others? Remember Saul of Tarsus? As he headed toward Damascus, he deserved to be be destroyed by Jesus for the horrors inflicted upon God's children. Yet, God's loving kindness had a different lifestyle in mind, and drew him into it. We are all far better off because of this.
The cripple that lay at the gate called Beautiful could have survived with some money from Peter. But God's loving kindness drew Peter to provide him with what he needed to have a much better life. There are so many examples in the Scriptures of the drawing power of God’s loving kindness just as there are of personal experiences that make wonderful memories.
First must come the background of this passage. The previous chapter describes the things God is going to do with Judah and Jerusalem. These things were sure promises. The verse of that chapter is, The fierce anger of the Lord shall not return, until he have done it, and until he have performed the intents of his heart: in the latter days ye shall consider it.
Yet, the first verse of chapter of 31 is, 1 At the same time, saith the Lord, will I be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be my people. 2 Thus saith the Lord, The people which were left of the sword found grace in the wilderness; even Israel, when I went to cause him to rest.
What is God saying to Israel? You are going to greatly suffer for your disobedience: this is a given. Yet, in all of this horror, I will be with you. Even though I will put you behind my back, I still care for you. Or, as it states in Jer 4:27 For thus hath the Lord said, The whole land shall be desolate; yet will I not make a full end. This was earlier stated at the end of the book of Leviticus. Here are a couple of verses that affirm this. 44 And yet for all that, when they be in the land of their enemies, I will not cast them away, neither will I abhor them, to destroy them utterly, and to break my covenant with them: for I am the Lord their God.45 But I will for their sakes remember the covenant of their ancestors, whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the heathen, that I might be their God: I am the Lord.
With this background, I want to concentrate on many ways in which God has drawn us to Himself. Before the world began is a good place to begin. this is the "first" time that it has been used. Ephesians chapter 1 teaches what this is, 4 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: 5 Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,
So far there a lot of quotes from the Bible concerning this drawing power of God. Before He created the universe, He determined our destiny as well as what it would be like: we are going to live with God when this life on earth is over. He set everything into motion that would make this happen. Then through time, each of these were accomplished at the time He had set before the beginning.
One of these involves the Holy Spirit. It is He that places the Spirit of Christ in our souls, quickening us into Spiritual life. At this time we have the laws of God written in our hearts and minds. This verifies that we are in the new covenant described in Jeremiah 31:31-34. It is later described in Hebrews 8:10,11. Why does all of this happen? It is because of God's great love that He does all the things that He accomplishes for us. This love drives His purposes and His determination to do all of His good pleasure.
At this point we are only babes in Christ in need of Spiritual nourishment from the sincere milk of the word so we can grow thereby. It is as this point that we can only begin to respond to the drawing of the loving kindness of the LORD. In fact, this power is what God uses to draw us to His Son, Jesus. Otherwise, we could not come to Him.
The major application of God's everlasting love is in the Spiritual lives of His children. We have already mentioned the time up to the Spiritual birth of the child of God. It is the period from needing the sincere milk of the word to the time he or she is called home to Glory.
Early Spiritual life
There are so many lessons that need to be learned by newly Spiritual children. This especially includes diligence, valor (excellence), knowledge, temperance (self discipline), patience, godliness, brotherly kindness, and charity. Obviously, for a young child, this is going to take years. For physically older ones, This needs to be done in a shorter period of time. And yet, these areas will need to be revisited throughout one's life time. Specifically, diligence is needed to be a habit before one can add valor their faith. The rest of the list need to be added in succession. (These are found in 2 Peter 1:5-7).
Another source of things to learn are found in Proverbs. There the emphasis is on getting knowledge, wisdom, and understanding. There are others mentioned there as well: prudent and discretion for example. There is strong emphasis on obtaining wisdom and understanding. These are needed to direct one's lifestyle.
This is why reading the Bible from cover to cover regularly is a necessity. The more time this is done, The larger effect it will have on one's behavior. Why? Because God's loving kindness will draw us to do the things that is taught in the Bible. We will feel the need to do things that God requires, yet our human nature screams out NO!
About nine years ago, I had pent up anger about a former fiance. That is when I got an email from her saying that she needed to meet me. You see, during the time we were together (not physically), she was very manipulative. So, why should I agree to meet her: she was just going to try to manipulate me in some way? (my human nature opinion). But the loving kindness pointed out that she may have a very good reason for meeting. So, I met her at the time and place she had stated.
So what was so important? It was not what I had thought. To be honest, I was prepared to say no to any scheme she might have. But that was not it at all. She was apologizing for the things she had deliberately done. She even apologized for the things which may have hurt me that she was not aware of.
So, what am I suppose to do? Do I accept her apologies, or not? The flesh says, NO! But Jesus said, for give her. You see, as near as I can tell, she had not hurt me even 490 times. (Mat 18:21,22) In reality, my mind went to these two verses even as she was apologizing. I believe that this was God's loving kindness drawing me to do what Jesus has taught. It was the presence of the Holy Spirit who was leading me to accept her apologies. (John 14:26) With her help, I came to realize that there were a vast number of people toward whom I had held similar grudges and bitterness. What I had done for her had to be done for them as well. This set me free from being captive to my feelings. They had been a strong hold, and now they are gone. (2 Cor 10:4) Obviously, the Holy Spirit guided me in the using of the armor of God.
When as a child, my mother insisted that I take piano lessons. From this I gained the basics of music. In sixth grade, I became a member of the sixth grade chorus. In junior high, I was in junior high chorus. As a freshman, I was in Boy’s chorus. As a sophomore and junior, I was in A Capella Choir along with being in the Madrigal group my junior year. Then in the summer of my junior year, I spent two weeks in a singing school at Sardis PBC. (My Dad did not agree to let me go until ten days after the invitation was given. I believe this came from the Holy Spirit.) My senior year was limited to studying for school as well beginning to read places in my new Bible which I purchased at the direction of the Holy Spirit the beginning of this school year. And as the final part of my musical education, I attended the University of Illinois for four and a half years. There I attended New Liberty PBC on the first and third Sundays. After morning services, lunch was served. Then while the women were cleaning up and the men were chatting, the young people gathered in the sanctuary to sing out of our hymnal. During these years, I was able to get plenty of practice sight reading.
What was the purpose of all of these things? First, upon finishing my course work, I received a commission in the US Air Force. About three months later, I began my service years in Biloxi, MS. That summer, I bought a car and regularly attended a church that my pastor had told me about. Within two years, I was regularly leading singing in church. I continued to do this whenever asked ever since. Do others see the loving kindness leading me in this? (I had a similar situation that led to my marriage.)
What about the experiences of others? Remember Saul of Tarsus? As he headed toward Damascus, he deserved to be be destroyed by Jesus for the horrors inflicted upon God's children. Yet, God's loving kindness had a different lifestyle in mind, and drew him into it. We are all far better off because of this.
The cripple that lay at the gate called Beautiful could have survived with some money from Peter. But God's loving kindness drew Peter to provide him with what he needed to have a much better life. There are so many examples in the Scriptures of the drawing power of God’s loving kindness just as there are of personal experiences that make wonderful memories.
First must come the background of this passage. The previous chapter describes the things God is going to do with Judah and Jerusalem. These things were sure promises. The verse of that chapter is, The fierce anger of the Lord shall not return, until he have done it, and until he have performed the intents of his heart: in the latter days ye shall consider it.
Yet, the first verse of chapter of 31 is, 1 At the same time, saith the Lord, will I be the God of all the families of Israel, and they shall be my people. 2 Thus saith the Lord, The people which were left of the sword found grace in the wilderness; even Israel, when I went to cause him to rest.
What is God saying to Israel? You are going to greatly suffer for your disobedience: this is a given. Yet, in all of this horror, I will be with you. Even though I will put you behind my back, I still care for you. Or, as it states in Jer 4:27 For thus hath the Lord said, The whole land shall be desolate; yet will I not make a full end. This was earlier stated at the end of the book of Leviticus. Here are a couple of verses that affirm this. 44 And yet for all that, when they be in the land of their enemies, I will not cast them away, neither will I abhor them, to destroy them utterly, and to break my covenant with them: for I am the Lord their God.45 But I will for their sakes remember the covenant of their ancestors, whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt in the sight of the heathen, that I might be their God: I am the Lord.
With this background, I want to concentrate on many ways in which God has drawn us to Himself. Before the world began is a good place to begin. this is the "first" time that it has been used. Ephesians chapter 1 teaches what this is, 4 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: 5 Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,
So far there a lot of quotes from the Bible concerning this drawing power of God. Before He created the universe, He determined our destiny as well as what it would be like: we are going to live with God when this life on earth is over. He set everything into motion that would make this happen. Then through time, each of these were accomplished at the time He had set before the beginning.
One of these involves the Holy Spirit. It is He that places the Spirit of Christ in our souls, quickening us into Spiritual life. At this time we have the laws of God written in our hearts and minds. This verifies that we are in the new covenant described in Jeremiah 31:31-34. It is later described in Hebrews 8:10,11. Why does all of this happen? It is because of God's great love that He does all the things that He accomplishes for us. This love drives His purposes and His determination to do all of His good pleasure.
At this point we are only babes in Christ in need of Spiritual nourishment from the sincere milk of the word so we can grow thereby. It is as this point that we can only begin to respond to the drawing of the loving kindness of the LORD. In fact, this power is what God uses to draw us to His Son, Jesus. Otherwise, we could not come to Him.
The major application of God's everlasting love is in the Spiritual lives of His children. We have already mentioned the time up to the Spiritual birth of the child of God. It is the period from needing the sincere milk of the word to the time he or she is called home to Glory.
Early Spiritual life
There are so many lessons that need to be learned by newly Spiritual children. This especially includes diligence, valor (excellence), knowledge, temperance (self discipline), patience, godliness, brotherly kindness, and charity. Obviously, for a young child, this is going to take years. For physically older ones, This needs to be done in a shorter period of time. And yet, these areas will need to be revisited throughout one's life time. Specifically, diligence is needed to be a habit before one can add valor their faith. The rest of the list need to be added in succession. (These are found in 2 Peter 1:5-7).
Another source of things to learn are found in Proverbs. There the emphasis is on getting knowledge, wisdom, and understanding. There are others mentioned there as well: prudent and discretion for example. There is strong emphasis on obtaining wisdom and understanding. These are needed to direct one's lifestyle.
This is why reading the Bible from cover to cover regularly is a necessity. The more time this is done, The larger effect it will have on one's behavior. Why? Because God's loving kindness will draw us to do the things that is taught in the Bible. We will feel the need to do things that God requires, yet our human nature screams out NO!
About nine years ago, I had pent up anger about a former fiance. That is when I got an email from her saying that she needed to meet me. You see, during the time we were together (not physically), she was very manipulative. So, why should I agree to meet her: she was just going to try to manipulate me in some way? (my human nature opinion). But the loving kindness pointed out that she may have a very good reason for meeting. So, I met her at the time and place she had stated.
So what was so important? It was not what I had thought. To be honest, I was prepared to say no to any scheme she might have. But that was not it at all. She was apologizing for the things she had deliberately done. She even apologized for the things which may have hurt me that she was not aware of.
So, what am I suppose to do? Do I accept her apologies, or not? The flesh says, NO! But Jesus said, for give her. You see, as near as I can tell, she had not hurt me even 490 times. (Mat 18:21,22) In reality, my mind went to these two verses even as she was apologizing. I believe that this was God's loving kindness drawing me to do what Jesus has taught. It was the presence of the Holy Spirit who was leading me to accept her apologies. (John 14:26) With her help, I came to realize that there were a vast number of people toward whom I had held similar grudges and bitterness. What I had done for her had to be done for them as well. This set me free from being captive to my feelings. They had been a strong hold, and now they are gone. (2 Cor 10:4) Obviously, the Holy Spirit guided me in the using of the armor of God.
