God's Story and Our Story

That was the theme of the church retreat.  We spent time looking at the overview of God's Story; looking back, looking forward and looking up at who God is.

If you ever get a chance to go on retreat, either with others or by yourself, I'd recommend it as a great time to step away from normal life and getting to know God (and yourself!) a bit better.

On Saturday afternoon, I had some time to myself, so I listened to worship music whilst reading and exploring the Bible.  After doing that for a couple of hours, it was interesting to see that though I had no specific plan of what I wanted to study, it was very clear that God was showing me all about His love, and that His love is continual and evident throughout the whole of His story and our story (which coincidentally, or God-incidentally, was this weekend's theme).

So, I'm going to share with you some of the verses I was reading and meditating on: God loved us, loves us, and will always love us.  We do not deserve God's love and there is nothing we can do to merit it.

Psalm 138:1-3

I will praise You with my whole heart;
Before the gods I will sing praises to You.
I will worship toward Your holy temple,
And praise Your name
For Your loving kindness and Your truth;
For You have magnified Your word above all Your name.
In the day when I cried out,
You answered me,
And made me bold with strength in my soul.

John 15:5, 12, 16

"I am the vine, you are the branches.  He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing."
"This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you."
"You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you."

1 John 4:18-21

There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment.  But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.  We love Him because H first loved us.
If someone says "I love God" and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? And this commandment we have from Him; that he who loves God must love his brother also.

Proverbs 13:5

A righteous man hates lying,
But a wicked man is loathsome and comes to shame.

1 John 1:6-9

If we say that we have fellowship with Him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.  But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His son cleanses us from all sin.  If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.  If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.


Our Father
Who art in Heaven
Hallowed be thy name
Thine Kingdom come
Thy will be done
On earth as it is in Heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread
And forgive us our sins
As we forgive those who sin against us
And lead us not into temptation
And deliver us from evil
for Thine is the Kingdom,
The power and the Glory
Forever and ever.
Amen


Revelation 3:5

"He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before my Father and before His angels."

Jude 24, 25

Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling,
And to present you faultless
Before the presence of His Glory with exceeding joy,
To God our Saviour,
Who alone is wise
Be Glory and majesty
Dominion and power,
Both now and forever.
Amen.

Psalm 150

Praise the Lord!
Praise God in His Sanctuary,
Praise Him in His mighty firmament!
Praise Him for His mighty acts;
Praise Him according to His excellent greatness.
Praise Him with the sound of the trumpet;
Praise Him with the lute and harp!
Praise Him with the timbrel and dance;
Praise Him with stringed instruments and flutes!
Praise Him with loud cymbals;
Praise Him with clashing cymbals!
Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.
Praise the Lord!