My dad was the Pastor of our church before I became the pastor.  I was the third pastor of our home church.  Our first Pastor ministered and took care of two churches for 50 years.  My dad was born and raised in the faith and helped the Pastor at one of the churches.  I remember him saying many times that when people get converted, they sometimes develop an attitude that says: “I am better than other people.”  Today, we would call them elitists. I am speaking of Believers who sometimes get snobby.  Yes, even Christians, even Believers begin to believe that they are Super Christians.  That God owes them something for getting saved.  Then, if things don’t go their way they start whining and saying” “Where is God in all of this?”  My father used to say that just because you get saved God does not roll out the red carpet for you.  He would say that on the red carpet the only thing that is of any importance is the red blood of Jesus Christ.
 
I am quite sure we have all seen the Red Carpet rolled out when Hollywood gives out Academy Awards.  You see what has happened to us; we begin to take on the world’s ways and the world’s thinking.  We think that is what God should be doing for us.  We see the women wearing dresses valued at $10,000 and they are wearing jewelry worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.  We begin to think that God owes us.  BUT that is not what the Christian life is to be like.  You know what happens….even Believers get tainted by the world.  We think that we are entitled to certain things and rewards because we are children of the King of Kings.
 
I remember a phone call that I received from a young woman.  She and her husband were Pastoring a church.  She said that she started thinking of all the good she and her husband had been doing for the Kingdom of God.  But then her voice went low, she said that she was beginning to develop a prideful attitude.  One night she asked the Lord to show her, her rewards.  Oh, she said he showed her.  She told me that she dreamed that she died and went to heaven and she saw this bright light.  She could not see the face of the Lord because the light was so bright.  And around the throne were all sorts of crowns: large, medium and small.  Oh, they were beautiful and sparkling.  She said that she said to herself, “Oh these must be MY crowns.”  Then in the dream she saw the hand of the Lord touch the crowns and they all burned up like dross, like trash, like garbage, like they were worthless-just the way the Bible describes it.  All that was left was a teeny, tiny crown, the smallest crown you could hardly see.  In fact, it was so small it could not even fit on the end of her pinkie finger.  She said all that she could do was to cry out to the Lord: “Forgive me for my rotten, stinking prideful attitude.”
 
Some of you may be saying well, it is not right to speak to God like that.  “We should not ask Him a question such as did this woman.”  All the years of my life in the church I have heard people say it is not respectful to ask God why?  Yes, we must be respectful of our Lord.  But He is not offended by our honesty and sincerity.  We all forget that the Bible tells us that He already knows what we are thinking.  He knows our questions. He even knows our motives and most of the time we don’t know our motives.  I truly believe that we do not want to ask Our Lord about certain things because then we would have to do what He asks of us and we may not like the answer.
 
In the Old Testament there is a small book that only has 3 chapters - Habakkuk. It is the name of the prophet.  Here, we have a great example of a man of God who was not afraid to ask God the tough questions that really bothered him.  Most prophets spoke to the people for God.  Habakkuk spoke to God for the people.  He lived in times that were hard on the faith.  He saw the righteous suffering and the wicked prospering.  He asked God two questions that we often ask: ”Why?”  and “How long?”  He wanted to know why are these things happening and how long before they are corrected.  We need to go head and ask God but ask sincerely, correctly and humbly.  Habakkuk is one of the good guys.  He fears God and does what is right but it is getting him nowhere.   When you get to the end of his book his name which means “to embrace or wrestle” becomes appropriate.  He chooses to cling firmly to God regardless of what happens to his nation. (Habakkuk 3:16-19)    That is the final conclusion we need to come to in our lives.  Regardless of what happens in our lives, or in the lives of our family or what happens in our country; our final conclusion must be to cling firmly to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  He is our refuge and our strength.  He is our strong rock, our fortress, our deliverer. 
 
We learn from Habakkuk the progression he went through.  He goes from questioning God to trusting God.  Habakkuk would be right at home in our society today.   We witness murderers getting away with punishment because of a technicality.  We see terrorists allowed to go free.  We witness the persecution of Christians world-wide and no newspaper or television news outlets report it.  If it weren’t for the religious organizations we would know nothing about the world-wide persecution. But that was when Habakkuk cried out to the Lord and maybe that is what we Christians need to do: Cry out to Our Lord and start praying. 

Remember God never turns away the honest and sincere seeker.  Go to God with your questions.  You may not find all the answers but in finding God you then know the One who does.

There has never been a time when you were unloved by God.  I know many, many people do not believe that statement, but it is true.  God’s love is perfect, faithful, unconditional, forgiving, all-encompassing, pure, lasting, sacrificial, strong, enduring, refreshing, redeeming, everlasting, lavish, full, inspiring, hope-filled, gracious, and so much more. It’s never based on us, our abilities, or striving to ever be good enough. It’s found in Him, His character, and a huge capacity to give. It knows no boundaries and has no limits. There’s no place too deep that His love can’t reach us still. As the old hymn says:  “He can reach way down to pick us up.”
 
Over the years, He has cared for us, thought about us on a moment-by-moment basis, and never resisted the idea of loving us.  He has been willing to laugh with us, cry with us, and listen to us describe every detail of our lives.  When the world rejects you, God is your constant Friend who accepts you just as you are.   I know many times people see and think of God as an ogre with a heavy hand ready to knock us down but that is not the God of the Bible.
 
The problem we face is not God loving us, but how we love Him.  Do we truly know how to experience the love He has for us?  Can we accept the fact that He loves us unconditionally, and that the plans He has for our lives are ones that overflow with goodness and mercy and grace?  Think about this:  God does not withhold anything in loving us.  He gave everything He had to give when He extended His love to us through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.  His love is a free gift of grace.  All that we need to do in order to have this love is to accept it, claim it and cling to it.

So how do you perceive God?  Several years ago, a student in seminary class stood to his feet and announced to the professor, "I don't believe in God!" The professor, unraveled, replied, "Describe this God you don't believe in?" After the student had described an unlovely and vengeful God, the professor confessed, "I don't believe in that God either. My God is a God of love."

It is so difficult to describe God’s love. How do you describe a rose to a blind person? How do you describe Handle's Hallelujah Chorus to a deaf person? How do you describe the thrill of down hill skiing to one who has never walked? How do you describe the impeccable, infinite love of God to impure, finite human beings?
One of the most vivid characteristics of God is that He is a God of love. The Psalmist was descriptive in recording the love-nature of God. He stated that he was "abounding in love" (Psalm 103:8 NIV), "For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His  love for those who fear Him" (Psalm 103:11 NIV), "As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear Him" (Psalm 103:13 NIV),  "But from everlasting to everlasting the LORD’S love is with those who fear Him (Psalm 103:17).  (The word fear as used here means to respect, to honor and to worship Him!)

The point is not simply that God "loves," but that He is love itself. Love is not merely one of His attributes, but His very nature. The Scripture says, "And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. (1 John 4:16 NIV). To say that God is love is not to imply that love is God. God is love means that God wants the very best for you. God has your best interest in mind. He wants to give you good gifts and provide you with "all His benefits" (Psalm 103:2, NIV).

God's love touches every part of our life. Nothing - no calling or circumstance, no adversity or advancement, no pain or promotion, no status or station - escapes the brush strokes of God's love. God's love bleeds into every fabric and fiber of our lives.  The number of times the three-lettered word "all" is used in Psalm 103 reminds us that God's love is all consuming. His love touches every area of our lives. There is nowhere we can go to escape His love. There is no problem that we will encounter that is not touched by His love. There is no advancement that we will make where God is not already there. Even when our world falls apart, we can say, "God, I don't know why this is happening. I don't understand it, but I'm sure glad to know you love me."

The Bible cuts through all the philosophical ideas and declares that God is a Person. As a personal being God is capable of loving and being loved. And as a personal being he loves each one of us intensely and personally. God's love is not simply for mankind as a mass. It is not a sentimental, vague, diffused feeling - something like Charlie Brown's attitude when he says, "I love mankind; it's people I can't stand." God really likes individual people.

When Karl Barth, the famed German theologian, visited the United States, a reporter at a dedication service asked: "Dr. Barth, what is the single most important truth you have learned as a theologian?"  Barth replied, "The most important thing I have learned is this: 'Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so.'"

"Jesus loves me" is the central pronouncement of the Christian faith and the cornerstone of the nature of God.  When God says I love you, He is saying that you matter to Him!

You are a person of worth. 

You are valuable to Him.

Regardless of what others think, in His eyes you are wonderful.

Have a Great Day and Remember...God Has Always Loved You!