God Loves You With the Love of God

Do you ever feel that what you read in some Christian books is not really God's truth at all, but is merely the opinion of the writer, dressed up in the clothing of truth? Such books are merely imposters and are like the fig tree Jesus cursed-they look promising on the outside, but when you get up close, you find that they, like the fig tree, are barren, written for the glory of the writer and his or her ideas, not for the truth of God and his glory.

Unfortunately, many sermons and teachings fall into the same category. One such teaching is that we have to work very hard to please God, because he is just about fed up with us because of all our shortcomings. This is a teaching that is just plain wrong, according to Darin Hufford, and in his book, "The God's Honest Truth," he sets out to correct it.

"The God's Honest Truth" is a great book. Its premise is that knowing God is based on love, because God is love and he loved us first (and continues to love us). Too many conceptions of God, Hufford points out, are based on faulty images of our human fathers that we transfer to our divine father. Thus, we see God as demanding, abusive, absent, or passive-aggressive, because that is how we (sadly) see our human fathers.

But God is not like that; rather, God is love, and to frame his teaching, Hufford uses the pure and true description of love from 1 Corinthians 13 to guide his discussion about God and our relationship with him.

As an example of what this book is really about, Hufford cites the problem of "loving" God more than we love our spouse or our children. God does not compete for our attention, and if we set up our relationship with him in such a way that we must choose between time with God or time with our family, we act as though God is insecure. Instead, Hufford writes, "The only way to love God more than your spouse is to love God through your spouse. Your husband or wife would be the direct recipient of that love" (p. 169).

Hufford's book is filled with similar true-to-life examples and the corrective truth the Bible offers. The most important thing we can realize and understand is that God loves us purely. By studying what love truly is (in 1 Cor. 13, for example), we can sincerely and simply love God more and more.

Jeremy M. Hoover is a book reviewer and Christian minister. You can request a review by emailing him at jeremyhoover@gmail.com. He also sells a set of 11 ebooks on prayer, which you can find here.

---

The Tess Syndrome

There's a lot of talk about angels these days. They're... Read More

The Great Battleground

Being a Christian does not exempt us from having to... Read More

Grace - The Divine Influence of God

The greatest frustration in a Christian's life is not being... Read More

An Illuminatus Speaks

An Illuminatus Speaks:You will have to decide if this Illuminatus... Read More

5 Paper Management Tips for Christians

My favorite scripture is Roman's 8:28. "And we know that... Read More

Spiritual Sanity

Prior to the September 11th terrorist attacks on the United... Read More

The Power Of Prayer - Gush Katif Needs You Now

You can't help but feel a sense of electricity in... Read More

10 Interesting Facts about Archangel Michael

1. The name Michael means, "Who is like God". In... Read More

Solitons and Wavelets

Everything in the entire universe, big and small, visible and... Read More

I Am Not An Island or What Does God Have to Do With Animals?

"May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the... Read More

I Helped Exorcize a Spirit

Actually I have 'helped' exorcize spirits more than once but... Read More

Dark Cages

Acknowledgement of our need of God and reliance upon Him... Read More

By Their Fruits Ye Shall Know Them

Military personnel at a U.S. prison in Guantanamo, Bay, Cuba... Read More

Choosing Peace, One Shift at a Time

It doesn't matter what magazine or newspaper you pick up... Read More

Loving Your Neighbors

If I speak in the tongues of men and of... Read More

Our Body is a Hologram of Living Light

We are apart of all that is, our consciousness spring... Read More

The Trouble With Tarot Reading

Anything can be used for divination; coins, tea leaves, cards,... Read More

Working With The Light

I do not want curiosity seekers, who come for a... Read More

Alone in a World Filled With Only Me

We come into this world alone, we experience physical life... Read More

Dancing with the Devil

"If you can't dance with the devil You will never... Read More

Anam Cara - Discovering Your Being

The more that "little me" allows surrender the more is... Read More

God Lives and Heals Today

I have a confession.I used to have doubts about God's... Read More

What Does It Mean To Hear Gods Voice?

Excerpt from The Journey That Never Was: a guide to... Read More

The One Who Heals

It's late. But it's usually those words that you cannot... Read More

Creating Your Soul-Centered Community

Imagine for a moment. It's Tuesday night about 7pm. You... Read More

Basic Tarot for Beginners

If you would like to learn to read tarot cards,... Read More

Life Coaching and Beyond

In Corrogue the air is chill and the frost is... Read More

An Open Invitation

"All you who are thirsty, come and drink." ISAIAH 55:1,... Read More

It Seems We Have All Taken a POW

Just for a moment think of what is stopping you... Read More

A Dozen Facts of Life

1. Life is a precious gift given to us by... Read More

Path to Healing

It is within us to... Read More

Terrorists Again - 14 Prayers to Protect Your Family

In the last 2 weeks or so, I have been... Read More

People May Let You Down

Is your hope in God? Or, is it in people?I... Read More