You are loved by God

Sometimes,we get so obsessed about the do's that encompass the Christian life such that we lose sight of God.Even in this day and age,it is easy to focus more on God's law while removing the Law giver-God.I have come to the realization that I can only appreciate the law of God only as I know Him personally. There needs to be an appreciation and love for God first,then as we continue to love Him,His love constrains us to obey Him.

In the book Steps to Christ, we are told that a religion that does not come from the heart is dry formality.As I continue to walk this journey with God,I realize how important it is to appreciate Him.To take time daily,to reflect on His goodness and proceed to thank Him.In fact,it is the beautiful experiences I have had with God that help me to go through trials because I know Him personally-that all He does is driven by love.These experiences do not necessarily come in big events but in the little things.If we can not recognise God in the "smallest" events,how can we,in the bigger ones? I often reflect on how He always has my back and I can only serve Him with joyfulness.

Just to digress a bit,one of the modules I'm doing is Child and Human Development Psychology.Today we covered the prenatal development i.e development of the child from conception to birth. And I sat in that lecture praising God :).I was just amazed at how the child develops from a zygote,to an embryo to become a fetus.And to think that I was once a zygote in my mother's womb and how God has just protected me up until now humbles me.I also realise how sensitive pregnancy is,how the mother must be in the right environment which is good for emotional and physical well-being.It's a mystery-not a mystery but really God's righteous hand that keeps children from harm even if their mothers live carelessly.

My point is God loves us!And I came across this beautiful message that has comforted me and made me blush for much longer than I normally do when I think of God's love.How I pray it may bless you and remind you how much precious you are in God's love.

"All that was needed for existence would have been yours without the flowers and birds,but God was not content to provide what would suffice for mere existence.He has filled the earth and air and sky with glimpses of beauty to tell you of His loving thought for you.The beauty of all created things is but a gleam from the shining of His glory.If He has lavished such infinite skill upon the things of nature,for your happiness and joy,can you doubt that He will give you every needed blessing."-The Mount of Blessing,p108,par.2

(flowers taken by me,November 2015.I used to just marvel at how beautiful they are and this statement reminds me of them)

Christ's Object Lessons (1900) / Chap. 10 - The Net Chap. 10 - The Net

The kingdom of heaven is like unto a net, that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind;
which, when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down, and gathered the good into vessels, but cast
the bad away. So shall it be at the end of the world: the angels shall come forth, and sever the wicked
from among the just, and shall cast them into the furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of
teeth." {COL 122.1}
The casting of the net is the preaching of the gospel. This gathers both good and evil into the church.
When the mission of the gospel is completed, the judgment will accomplish the work of separation.
Christ saw how the existence of false brethren in the church would cause the way of truth to be evil
spoken of. The world would revile the gospel because of the inconsistent lives of false professors. Even
Christians would be caused to stumble as they saw that many who bore Christ's name were not
controlled by His Spirit. Because these sinners were in the church, men would be in danger of thinking
that God
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excused their sins. Therefore Christ lifts the veil from the future and bids all to behold that it is character,
not position, which decides man's destiny. {COL 122.2}
Both the parable of the tares and that of the net plainly teach that there is no time when all the
wicked will turn to God. The wheat and the tares grow together until the harvest. The good and the bad
fish are together drawn ashore for a final separation. {COL 123.1}
Again, these parables teach that there is to be no probation after the judgment. When the work of
the gospel is completed, there immediately follows the separation between the good and the evil, and
the destiny of each class is forever fixed. {COL 123.2}
God does not desire the destruction of any. "As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the
death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn ye, turn ye from your evil
ways; for why will ye die?" Eze. 33:11. Throughout the period of probationary time His Spirit is
entreating men to accept the gift of life. It is only those who reject His pleading that will be left to perish.
God has declared that sin must be destroyed as an evil ruinous to the universe. Those who cling to sin
will perish in its destruction. {COL 123.3}