Experiencing and Sharing God's Love

Country and Western music has it's own unique way of saying things. Take a look at some of these song titles and you'll see what I mean:

* I Liked You Better Before I Knew You So Well
* Thank God And Greyhound She's Gone
* I'm So Miserable Without You, It's Like Having You Here
* You're The Reason Our Kids Are So Ugly

Inside each title you can hear the howl of a broken heart! How, in a world so broken, can we experience and share the real love of God? Is it even possible? Absolutely! One of Jesus' students was severely challenged in this call to love like He does. Nicknamed the "son of thunder", his explosive temper was infamous; but soon gave way to a redeemed nickname- "the apostle of love".

In 1Jo 4:12 this apostle of love writes, "No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us." Later on in the same chapter John explains how it is that he is able live such a life of love. He says in 1Jo 4:19, "We love because he first loved us." This is why Blackaby spends so much time encouraging us to understand that God is always pursuing us in love. If we don't work from that place, we are left feeling abandoned and alone. Hardly the kind of strength and resources we need to overcome the struggles of our "country and western" world!

My encouragement to you is to "keep yourself in the love of God". This is the work of faith (see Gal. 5.6). When apparent failure strikes...His love remains. When disappointment appears to have won...his love overcomes. When your day appears darkest...the light of His love seeks to break through. As 1 Cor. 13 declares..."love never fails". Determine, as we continue on this adventure of experiencing God to "love as He loves us". For as the apostle of love says, "This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith." 1 Jn. 5.4b

Welcome to the Experiencing God Adventure

In Psalm 103, there is a subtle but powerful verse that describes the difference between Moses and all the rest of the people of Israel.

"He (God) made known his ways to Moses, his deeds to the people of Israel…" Psalm 103:7

God revealed Himself to Moses. Moses knew God – he heard God when he spoke, he knew God’s ways, he knew God’s heart. God revealed Himself to Moses. That is our desire – to really know God. That’s why we gather together each Sunday – to encounter the Living God! To know Him through a real and personal relationship. And that is God’s desire for us! God reveals Himself!

This series is not about head knowledge. It is not entitled “Knowing God” for that specific reason. We want to experience God. We want to go deeper with God in a relationship that is real and personal.

In Hebrew, the original language in which the Old Testament was written, the word for "know" implied experiencing something or someone. You could not say you knew something or someone unless you had known it or known them by experience. So, when we speak of knowing God we are speaking of knowing Him through experience in a very real and personal way!

And this is what God calls us to in the coming weeks. To come to truly know Him in a love relationship that is real and personal. To come to know His voice. To learn to recognize Him at work around us - in our lives, in our families, in the workplace. To recognize His hand at work and respond to God's invitation to join Him in His great work! To make that shift we spoke of Sunday - the shift from living a "me-centered" life to beginning to live a "God-centered" life.

And through this process orchestrated by the Holy Spirit lives are truly transformed! We come to know our God by experience as we obey Him and He accomplishes His work through you and me. We become true Kingdom people and we will never be the same again. And neither will the lives of those God touches through us!

Buckle up your seatbelts and get ready for the adventure. We are just getting started!

In Christ the King,

Pastor Jim Olson

Welcome to the new Bridgewood Blog

This is the new blog from the desk of the Bridgewood Pastors. Hopefully, in this blog you will find insight, humor, and encouragement. Keep checking back as we regularly update this blog!