Dieu Le Pilote

5 Facts About God's Love: Fact Three

2012-01-14T19:34:00.000-05:00

"The work of redemption was accomplished by Christ in His death on the cross, and has in view the payment of the price demanded by a holy God, for the deliverance of the believer from the bondage and burden of sin. In redemption the sinner is set free from his condemnation and slavery to sin."

~ John F. Walvoord

God loves us enough to redeem us of our sins. Because the life and plan God has for us is so much better than anything that we could plan ourselves, he wants us to follow him and ask for forgiveness.

“Come to me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.”

~ Matthew 11:28

Some people might deal with guilt, and feel like God could never forgive them or love them because of what they have done. But God is more than willing to forgive you, in fact, he is just waiting for you to ask for his love to come into your life.

“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

~ 1 John 1:9

Or maybe some people feel like after they are forgiven, they couldn't do much for God anyway. But after they accept new life in Christ, he changes them into a whole new person! It is truly amazing how God works.

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away, behold, all things have become new.”

~ 2 Corinthians 5:17

5 Facts About God's Love: Fact Two

2011-12-14T22:54:00.003-05:00

Jeremiah 10:12

It is he who made the earth by his power,
who established the world by his wisdom,
and by his understanding stretched out the heavens.

God is all-powerful. He is the maker of the heavens and the earth, he doesn't need our help to do anything! So why did he choose to give up his own son so that we could live? Well, he chose to give us life because he knew he could change us. And then we could serve him, and love him back just like he planned in the first place. Isn't it wonderful that God has enough mercy to use us for his glory?

"God is love. He didn’t need us. But he wanted us. And that is the most amazing thing."

Rick Warren

5 Facts About God's Love: Fact One

2011-12-10T23:10:00.001-05:00

God loves us. We hear this all the time, but do we really understand His love? Think about it. You will have time to, because for the next 5 blog posts I'm going to post a fact about God's love.

Fact One:

God's is with us where ever we are. Even if we choose not to accept God's love, he is still with us.

"We may ignore, but we can nowhere evade, the presence of God."

-- C.S. Lewis' Letters to Malcolm

"Where can I go from your Spirit?

Where can I flee from your presence?

If I go up to the heavens, you are there;

if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.

If I rise on the wings of the dawn,

if I settle on the far side of the sea,

even there your hand will guide me,

your right hand will hold me fast."

-- Psalm 139:7-10

Love That Can Change Us

2011-12-06T12:58:00.001-05:00

God loved us so much that He gave up His only Son to die for us. He did nothing wrong, and yet he saved us. Still, even after we accept Jesus into our lives, we still sin and do wrong. But God shows his same characteristic of mercy by forgiving us and giving us a second chance.

Romans 5:8 "But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

When we sin, we learn from our mistakes. I'm sure all of us have wondered about why God is making us go through hard times, but they are to help us grow. God loves us enough to put us through the hard times so that afterwards, we can be happier and have more faith in Him.

"God loves you just the way you are, but He refuses to leave you that way. He wants you to be just like Jesus." – Max Lucado

2011-09-27T22:29:00.000-04:00

"But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”

Matthew 6:33

I'm feeling like this could apply to everyone in any situation! Seek God for your answers, because they'll always be right. I stole this verse from biblegateway.com! It's really a neat site, it has a verse of the day, plus you can search whatever verse you like, in any version of the bible. You should check it out!

Dearly Loved

2011-09-17T09:00:00.000-04:00

Have you ever read the Bible and thought, "wow, this is a lot of rules!" Or maybe you just feel like God is more like a dictator then a loving father at times. Well, the truth is: He loves us, that's why He made those rules. Just think of it this way. If the government didn't make it illegal to steal and kill, we wouldn't be very safe! Well, God wants to protect us too -- but He cares more than any government could. His love is unimaginable!

“Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children” Ephesians 5:1

Bible Verse a Day

2011-08-30T20:59:00.000-04:00

Last Day!

John 3:19

This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.

This verse would be depressing if this was the end of the story. Many people choose this path, but it is a choice! We can choose to love the light instead of the darkness, and accept Jesus' wonderful gift of salvation.

Bible Verse a Day

2011-08-29T16:44:00.000-04:00

Next to last post for Bible Verse a Day! Here's the verse:

1 Corinthians 4:3

I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself.

The author of this book, Paul, says that he doesn't care what others think of him; he doesn't even care what he thinks of himself! And later in the book, he says that he only cares about what Jesus thinks of him. If we all only cared what Jesus thought of us, we might make more right choices. We might think of others more than ourselves, and we might just be more focused on God. It isn't very easy to get to this point in our relationship with God; I think it takes time. Lots and lots of time. But with God? Anything is possible.

Bible Verse a Day

2011-08-28T14:18:00.000-04:00

The verse for today is:

2 Corinthians 1:3

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort."

Paul is saying in this verse that we should praise God, the father of kindness and caring for others. One way of praising him would be to do what he does -- be kind and care for others, just as Jesus cares for you.

Bible Verse a Day

2011-08-27T16:18:00.000-04:00

Here's today's verse!

Isaiah 26:3

Lord, you will give perfect peace to anyone who commits himself to be faithful to You. That's because he trusts in You.

This verse is saying that if you commit yourself to God and our faithful to him, He will give you a sense of perfect peace! No stress, no worries, no sorrow... He covers it all! And it's all because we trust in Him.

Bible Verse a Day

2011-08-26T20:41:00.000-04:00

Today's verse is:

Proverbs 3:5

Trust in the Lord with all your heart.
Do not depend on your own understanding.

Bible Verse a Day

2011-08-25T16:27:00.000-04:00

The verse for today is one almost everyone has read or heard.

God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son. Anyone who believes in him will not die but will have eternal life.

This verse means so much, and in only two sentences. God loved each and every person on the earth, and going to be on the earth, that He gave His only Son up for them. Anyone who believes in Him will never die, but live forever! This one message has saved so many lives, and is the basic foundation to the Christian faith. I think sometimes we all need a reminder of what Jesus did for us, and how much he loves us.

Bible Verse a Day

2011-08-24T09:17:00.000-04:00

Today's verse is:

1 Corinthians 3:16

Don't you know that you yourselves are God's temple? God's Spirit lives in you.

This verse is talking about the fact that God lives in us. We don't understand how much of a blessing this is -- but it truly affects our lives. Once we accept Christ, God sends His Holy Spirit to come live in us, and direct us in the right path. But to use this gift, we must agree to keep the temple clean -- that's us! God can't live in people who haven't asked forgiveness for their sins. That's why we must accept Jesus' gift first. Once we do that, we can experience just another aspect of God's love in our lives.

Introducing.....

2011-08-23T10:29:00.000-04:00

It's pretty self explanatory... for the next week I'm going to post a Bible verse every day, and write my thoughts about each verse. So today's verse is:

I said, "My foot is slipping."
But Lord, your love kept me from falling.

Psalm 94:18

In this verse, the author says that his "foot is slipping." I think it means that he was going through a very difficult time, and he didn't think he would make it. But the Lord's love kept him from falling, he was uplifted by God's grace! This isn't something that only happened during that time period; it still happens today! If you're foot is slipping, Jesus' love will keep you from falling if you turn to Him.

Who Can Seperate Us?

2011-08-22T14:56:00.000-04:00

When times are tough, sometimes we feel like are lives are being torn apart. We feel like our world is crashing down, and God must not even care. But why do we feel this way? When Jesus died on the cross, everyone who beleived in him must have felt their world was ending. But what happened? Jesus came back to life, and took away all our sins so that we could be with him for eternity! It's just one example of how a desperate situation turned into a perfect ending. So even if you are going through hard times, do not fear! God has a perfect plan for your life, one he had figured out before you even existed. No hard times can seperate us from God's love!

Romans 8:38-39:

I am absolutely sure that not even death or life can separate us from God's love. Not even angels or demons, the present or the future, or any powers can do that. Not even the highest places or the lowest, or anything else in all creation can do that. Nothing at all can ever separate us from God's love because of what Christ Jesus our Lord has done.

Lean Not on Your Own Understanding

2011-08-18T20:14:00.000-04:00

Sometimes when we're in a situation, we only see our side of things. We only think about ourselves and forget about other people, and what they must be experiencing. It's very hard to do the right thing when we are focused on ourselves -- that's why we need to focus on Jesus. If we trust in God to work things out, His perfect will for us can take place. God sees the bigger picture: the past, present and future. We only see what's happening now; God sees what's happening for eternity.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will make your paths straight.

Proverbs 3:5-6

I Will Praise Him

2011-08-05T16:34:00.000-04:00

Everyday we come across people who aren't Christians. They're our neighbors, are friends, and employees. Sometimes it's hard to act just like Christ wants us too, (and to listen to God's voice) when we're with these people. It's because they think of themselves as their own god. They worship and praise themselves! But we can make a difference in their lives by not putting ourselves first.. by putting them first, and by putting others first as well. They'll see the difference inside of you... and you will too! Thinking about how your actions are praising and pointing the focus towards Jesus will help you stay on track.

Psalm 138:1-2

  Lord, I will praise you with all my heart.
      In front of those who think they are gods
      I will sing praise to you.

Psalm 84:4

Blessed are those who live in your house.
      They are always praising you.


We need to be constantly praising Jesus with our actions -- it will help us to react in better ways, and help others see God in us.

The Bigger Picture

2011-07-09T10:19:00.000-04:00

Have you ever prayed and asked God to do something? Most of us have. We say prayers like, "Dear God, please don't let us move. I love it here. I can't imagine you having us leave this place. Amen." We've all prayed those prayers, but do we ever think about was God is doing in our lives? Or do we close our minds to God's will because, well, we just plain don't like it. If we don't like the idea, it couldn't possibly be God's plain, right?

Wrong. God understands when we don't want to do something, but he also knows what must be done for our own good. God's plan might be for someone to move. They only see the sadness of leaving good friends behind -- but God sees the bigger picture.

“God is able to do far more than we could ever ask for or imagine. He does everything by his power that is working in us. Give him glory in the church and in Christ Jesus. Give him glory through all time and for ever and ever. Amen.” ~ Ephesians 3:20-21

Videos

2011-06-30T17:25:00.000-04:00

Here are some videos I think are hilarious! I think you might find them funny too :)

While We Were Still Sinners

2011-06-27T16:56:00.000-04:00

Some days, things go great for us. We have really good days when we know God loves us -- we can see the proof! But other days, things just plain stink. The day just keeps getting worse and worse, and we find ourselves asking, "Where are you, God?" Here are two Bible verses that help remind us God loves us.

"For the LORD loves the just and will not forsake his faithful ones."

~ Psalm 37:28

"But here is how God has shown his love for us. While we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

~ Romans 5:8

This shows us how God really cares. Even if it seems like God has abandoned us, we just have remember that He has a plan, and he won't forsake us. God loved us so much that even when we were still filled with sin and evil, He had His own Son, Jesus, die for us. We were worth absolutely nothing. But to God, we were worth positively everything -- His own Son.

Your Will Be Done

2011-06-17T19:34:00.000-04:00

      When we pray The Lord's Prayer, we think we understand it -- and sometimes we do. But there are a few spots in which we just recite the same old prayer just to say it, without really knowing what it means. One of these places is in this phrase:

Your kingdom come,
Your will be done,
On Earth as it is in heaven.

Why do we have trouble with this?

     Because sometimes we don't really mean it at all. We pray, "Yes God, do whatever you want in my life," but really we're still holding back. Sometimes when we pray those words, what we really mean is,

"Your kingdom come,
My will be done,
because You can make it happen."

That prayer would work out great if we had the wisdom and forsight of God.

      But, we don't. We're much to near-sighted to know what's best for us -- we're so close to the big picture we can't see the whole picture.

God was the artist, don't you think He'd know a little bit more about the picture than we do?
We need to trust God and walk in His footsteps, sometimes seeing what's ahead, and sometimes not. It's a big step to take, so we might as well start now.

Do Not Fear What They Fear

2011-06-12T22:13:00.000-04:00

God's Word tells us that he takes away our fear -- but sometimes we doubt that. For some of us, if we even think about performing or speaking in Church or other places, we are afraid. But doesn't God take away fear? And there are different kinds of fear. What about being afraid your friends will think you're weird if you tell them you're a Christian? Or maybe hust being afraid of telling your friends how you really feel.

"But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. Do not fear what they fear ; do not be frightened."

1 Peter 3:13

God doesn't say that we can't be frightened -- he means that if we're scared, we shouldn't stop because of it. We should do it anyways! But we need God's help to do things and follow through.

"So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand."
Isaiah 41:10

Behold, I Am Doing a New Thing

2011-06-06T16:47:00.000-04:00

Isaiah 43:19

"Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert."

Sometimes in life, we get so bogged down we just want a new begining; a clean slate, a fresh start. I feel like at the end of the school year, God gives us a fresh start -- and free time to spend with Him and His Word. Summer is a chance God gets to speak to us easily, when we aren't so busy and surrounded by our friends that we get lost in the moment. We need to stop getting lost in the moment; we need to stop and find a moment to listen God.

Memory Verse

2011-06-02T17:18:00.000-04:00

Here's a verse I've been trying to memorize, I just recently got it down:

"In God whose word I praise -- in God I trust and am not afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?"

~ Psalms 56:4

Decisions: Bad Company or Good Character?

2011-05-28T10:06:00.000-04:00

We all have decisions in life. When you first hear it, the question of haivng bad company or good character seems easy. Good character over bad company, of course! But really, who are we choosing to be with? Are the people we see frequently good influences? Are the people you're with influencing you? These are questions we all have to ask ourselves.

Do not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character.”Come back to your senses as you ought, and stop sinning; for there are some who are ignorant of God—I say this to your shame.

~ 1 Corinthians 15:33-34

These verses lead to another question: are you a good influence to the people you are with? Do you think about how you are God's representitive every time you do anything? The thought that people are judging God off of me scares me a little bit; I can't be even near everything that God is. That's why I have to ask for God's help to reflect Jesus.