1 John 4:7-8
God is LOVE
7 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.
John 6:44-47
God Draws Us
44 “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day. 45 It is written in the Prophets: ‘They will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard the Father and learned from him comes to me. 46 No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father. 47 Very truly I tell you, the one who believes has eternal life.
Deuteronomy 4:29
Seek God with Your Heart
29 But if from there you seek the LORD your God, you will find him if you seek him with all your heart and with all your soul.
James 4:8
Come Near to God
8 Come near to God and he will come near to you.
Psalms 73:28
Being Near to God is Good
28 But as for me, it is good to be near God.
I have made the Sovereign Lord my refuge;
I will tell of all your deeds.
Acts 17:24-27
God is Always Near Us
24 “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands. 25 And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else. 26 From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. 27 God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us.
John 16:13-15
The Holy Spirit Guides Us
13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. 14 He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. 15 All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you.
1 Corinthians 13:8-13
Love Never Fails
8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. 12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
Luke 15:1-32
The Parable of the Lost Sheep
1 Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus. 2 But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”
3 Then Jesus told them this parable: 4 “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn't he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? 5 And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders 6 and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ 7 I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.
The Parable of the Lost Coin
8 “Or suppose a woman has ten silver coins and loses one. Doesn't she light a lamp, sweep the house and search carefully until she finds it? 9 And when she finds it, she calls her friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost coin.’ 10 In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”
The Parable of the Lost Son
11 Jesus continued: “There was a man who had two sons. 12 The younger one said to his father, ‘Father, give me my share of the estate.’ So he divided his property between them.
13 “Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. 14 After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. 15 So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs.16 He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything.
17 “When he came to his senses, he said, ‘How many of my father’s hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! 18 I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.’ 20 So he got up and went to his father.
“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.
21 “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
22 “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23 Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. 24 For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.
25 “Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. 27 ‘Your brother has come,’ he replied, ‘and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.’
28 “The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. 29 But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. 30 But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’
31 “‘My son,’ the father said, ‘you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. 32 But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’”
A question that I think about a lot is, where does faith come from?...How do most people get faith?...Is it that their parents take them to church regularly?...Or are people who are exposed to other religious groups more likely to have faith...I have wondered why some people have faith in God and others have little or no faith...Why are there atheists?...
St. John says whoever does not know Love does not know God...I think, His LOVE draws us to Him and to faith...God's LOVE is called an AGAPE LOVE which is the highest for of LOVE, the LOVE of God and Jesus...Love comes from God, so He wants love to be in our lives...For me this makes love a link to faith...LOVE, for me, has to be linked to God and to faith...Where else could it come from?...
Jesus tells us that no one can come near to Him, unless His Father who sent Him draws them...Not one man can come to God unless God initiates this "drawing."...Again, I think it is God being this Pure Love that is always in the air, always in the atmosphere, just always out there that helps draw us to Him...The Psalmist says it is good to be near God...I think that is good to be near Love...We are drawn to God by God, and believers know that God is Love...We have this choice to seek Him or not to seek Him...And though God gives us this choice to seek Him with our hearts, we do not have to...He gives us this freedom and free choice out of His Love... He gives us this complete free will to believe in Him or not believe in Him -to seek Him or not to seek Him...It is our choice...And because God is Pure Love, His Love is always out there waiting for any of His lost children...He wants us found...And He wants to be in our hearts...The heart is where our love resides...
Explain Love - I think that is a very good question, and a very hard question...I think love, especially God's LOVE is very, very hard to define...And love is a funny subject, due to how each of us think about it, and how each of us define it...Love may mean one thing to one person, and love maybe a little or more different to another person...Why do you really love your family, your spouse, your friends?...Is it just because we share a bunch of the same DNA, same interests or is it much more complex?...I think love on earth is a very complex subject...I think God's Love is infinitely more complex, because that is His very attribute and being...Like the sun radiates pure light and heat, God radiates Love -and He radiates His Love everywhere...So, I think, since His Love is always out there in the universe...This makes it quite handy to look for and to find, if we seek His Love with all our hearts and all our soul...We may find it if we only seek it a little, because He is all Love and always Love, but it may take longer and we may not come near to Him as we can...And believers know it is good, very good to be near Him...
God is certainly the most Charismatic Entity there is...His Charisma is infinite and eternal...We are drawn to Him, by His Love and this "Divine Charisma"...He puts the Holy Spirit in us...The Holy Spirit that is always guiding us to the Truth...Maybe part of the Spirit is part of the principle of us being drawn to Him and His Love like a magnet to His "Divine Charisma" and Love...
St. Paul teaches us that God made all the world and created us...He Himself gives us our every breath...God has put us on earth at an appointed time of His choosing...He, therefore, has given us the families that we have, and where we were to live and be from...He did this so we would seek Him and perhaps even reach out to Him, so we maybe near Him...He is not far from any of us...St. Paul also tells us in his letter to the Corinthians, that when we are children we think like children and act like children...But we age and become men, and mature and we start reasoning like adults...As St. Paul aged he saw that the three greatest virtues in life were faith, hope, and love...And the greatest of these is love...Love never fails...
God draws us to Him by His Love...Without Him, we are lost...Without love in this world, or His Love -we are lost...God does not want us lost...He wants us near Him, because it is good, and it is best...I think that is why Jesus spoke in succession on the "Lost Parables" in Luke's Gospel...He wanted St. Luke to make a point about being away from Love...We are lost without His Love, and He wants us to be found...He wants us to find His Love...He wants us to be found, and then He will rejoice...
It may sound quite funny, but Love is all around, His Love...His Love is nearby...He wants us to find it...We are His children and He wants us to find Him...God's Love is drawing us to Him...Why Love someone if you never can show it?...Why Love someone, if you never can feel it?...He is always near us, watching us, and that is good...Like a Loving Father...Love draws us to faith...Love draws us to Him...Love is the basis of faith...