Love Self

Do We Really Love God?

Dr. Mike 2026 , , , ,

“Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.” 1 John 4:8

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“But if anyone loves God, he is known by God.” 1 Corinthians 8:3

How do you behave toward those you love?

If you are in a committed relationship, how do you act with your other half?

Are you truly in love with them or are you only using them until something better comes along?

Relationships are messy. We spend most of the time living them out in our minds. How well our thoughts match reality though may be a problem.

We may whisper I love you to the other person. But deep inside it only means I want something from you. Instead of thinking of ways to support the other person in their life adventures, we placate them. We are nice to them in exchange for what we want. We see this within the immature. I love you only means until I lose the feeling. Or I love you until you stop giving me what I want. The basis of I love you is ME.

In my early walk with God, I behaved the same way. I wanted a relationship with HIM because I needed HIS help to live my dreams. The basis of my love was centered around me. I may have stated in my head “I love you Lord,” but my heart was directed around ME. Like the mature parent, Papa God knew. HE continued to walk with me through life’s challenges. HE patiently showed me the difference between HIS love and my self-centered forgery.

I often state that my love for my wife didn’t really begin until some twenty-years into our marriage. That is when I quit seeking what she could do for me. Instead of living life thinking our relationship was a 50/50 split, I repented. That is when I started giving 100% of myself for her without expecting anything in return. Now over forty-years into our relationship, it has somewhat become a game between each of us. Who can out give the other without expecting anything in return?

What does all this have to do with loving God?

How do you know whether you love God for being God and not what is in it for you? Tough question. We are all human and fall short of measuring up in the mirror of Jesus. But our actions do show how well we are maturing. As we allow the Holy Spirit to transform our heart after our heavenly Papa’s desires, our actions follow.

Is it possible to hate your brother and love God? Not what the Bible states in 1 John 4:20. Is it possible to repeatedly desire breaking God’s commandments and love HIM? Not according to 1 John 5:3.

Can you deny Jesus’ claims after reviewing the evidence, and say you are in love of God? John 5:42 indicates otherwise.

When you love someone, you are willing to sacrifice your life for the other. You are open to serve and surrender your will for their sake. You do so without expecting anything in return. You do so because Papa God’s love resides in you. And you have learned over time that this love cannot stay silent in you any longer. It always needs to be expressed in the life of others. That includes Father-Son-Spirit. The love of our life.

Rooting For You in Christ!

Dr. Mike

Faith-Integrator, Encourager, Scribbler

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“We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives,” (Colossians 1:9)

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The Triune Way

Dr. Mike 2025 , , , , ,

And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.”   Luke 10:27

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But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.   Matt 6:33

In a recent small group discussion, an eighty-year-old asked life’s big question. What is our purpose in life?

He was quickly responded to by several of the men. Their answers covered all the religious responses one hears from YouTube preachers. Before I had the opportunity to respond, the group topic went into another direction. So, I now will respond to him and others who may be asking the same question.

Since this is a general question, I will reply with a general Biblical response from Jesus’ own words.

To love God. To love others. To love HIS Kingdom and ways.

This is the Triune Way. Father-Son-Spirit united in purpose. The reason – to birth humanity into their world. A world patterned after their character. A world reeking with the fruit of their Spirit. A world of real flourishment, freedom, and fulfillment.

Jesus when confronted by the Pharisees was asked a similar question. What is the greatest of all the commandments in the Torah? His reply turned the focus unto God. To love HIM with all one’s being. But HE didn’t stop there. HE included the importance to also love all those people around you. In other words, love is the focus and essence of living.

Then during HIS ministry on earth, HE introduced the people to God’s Kingdom. On the sermon of the mount, HE outlined the manifesto of God’s government. If one wants to experience life the way God designed humanity to live, they must deny themselves. Then accept their cross-bearing responsibilities, and follow HIM. When one does, one comes under the order and provision of God’s Kingdom.

The Triune Way is simply living in relationship with Father-Son-Spirit. It is following the teachings and practices of Jesus. HE provides you with the means to have order in your life. The Spirit empowers you with a life of assurance and security. All this within the bonds of an intimate relationship with your spiritual parent.

Love God. Love others. Love HIS Kingdom Ways. When this becomes the central core of your life, you will experience life the way God intended you to live. This is the Triune Way.

Rooting For You in Christ!

Dr. Mike

Faith-Integrator, Encourager, Scribbler

“We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives,” (Colossians 1:9)

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What is My Responsibility?

Dr. Mike Bible Life Questions , , , ,

And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. Mt 22:37, Lk 10:27, Mk 12:30

Heaven and Earth merging together is from Revelation 21 where the culmination of everything is taking place and God presents us with a new heaven and new earth merged together in the same dimension. All this happens after the return of Jesus Christ. In our Lord’s prayer we always ask “for God’s Kingdom to come and His Will to be done on earth as in heaven” and here it is finally, totally fulfilled.

Until then though, as Jesus followers, we are commissioned to serve our King by colonizing our corner of the world. How? By implementing God’s governmental (His Kingdom) way of serving others as Christ served His Father and others while he walked the earth.

In theological terms, when Jesus lived, died, and was resurrected, he rescued the human race. From a transaction view, he basically purchased us from Satan. From a relational view, he included the entire human race with Him in his finished mission at the cross. Therefore, every person we meet is connected to Jesus Christ whether or not they are aware of that truth.

Those of us who acknowledge that reality, and have surrendered to our King, are now engaged in full time service with our King. So, as we serve others (Matt 25), we are serving Jesus himself. On the other hand, those who are still ignorant of their relationship with Jesus, are still valued by Christ, and hopefully over time will come to realize who they truly are in relationship with Him, change their worldview (repent) and believe the good news.

Now there are those in the Reformed theological bent who strongly believe that God has left mankind on their own to bring about utopia. That God’s time table is predicated on how well we perform our responsibilities. On the other extreme there are those who believe that God is going to make everything happen no matter what we do. I believe the truth is somewhere in between.

The Book of Ephesians (2:10) reveals that each of us are created by God in Christ with unique talents and abilities for assignments prepared beforehand to do good work. As God opens our eyes to see the needs of people around us, we are to reach out and serve from God’s love for others in the same attitude Jesus describes in Luke 17:10. When the assignment is completed, we only did what is expected of us.

So, as usual, the questions and thoughts about our responsibility as Christ followers are never truly simple answers. My reply is a small smorgasbord of the bountifulness that is found in Jesus Christ. I have slowly learned however in my case, whenever I put more emphasis on me doing something rather than on Christ, I begin to drift away from the grace of God and become more judgmental of others in comparing the performance of others too my standard of Christianity. It always gets me in trouble. So, I like to always go back to Jesus and his relationship with His God and how Jesus served others. And even there I often get caught up in perceiving Jesus from my perspective rather than from the eye of Scripture.

When we recall our responsibility is to love God and others like Jesus loves us, and faithfully live it out each day, isn’t that asking for perfection? Yet isn’t that what God expects from each of us? And doesn’t that expression look differently for all of us?  That is why we all so often look at the same portrait and leave with differences of opinion. But then again, isn’t that what makes life so much more exhilarating and unpredictable when you know you are safe in God’s hand fully living out His purpose while your brother and sister is doing the same? Expressing God’s love with and through people comes in many forms. Your unique way is one way. So why do others believe everyone else must show God’s love the same way they do?

Rooting For You in Christ!

Dr. Mike

Encourager & Founder of
Vocational Leadership 360
Author of e-Books:

 *  Dancing With God: Life-Giving Theology Explained
 *  Great Business Emulates a Good God
 *  Be Radical…Follow Christ!
 *  Simply The Messenger
 *  Unequally Married

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