{"id":1365,"date":"2023-08-09T14:20:20","date_gmt":"2023-08-09T18:20:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/loavesandfishesnc.org\/?p=1365"},"modified":"2023-08-09T14:20:21","modified_gmt":"2023-08-09T18:20:21","slug":"how-big-is-gods-love","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/loavesandfishesnc.org\/how-big-is-gods-love\/","title":{"rendered":"How Big is God&#8217;s Love"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>How Big Is God\u2019s Love?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>A psalm written by the men in the Loaves and Fishes addiction treatment program. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When I was in active addiction, while I thought I knew OF GOD, I did not KNOW GOD.\u00a0 My sinful acts gave me momentary pleasures.\u00a0 But then I would feel shame and feel unclean.\u00a0 Instead of turning away from these sinful acts, I kept returning to them and they kept me in bondage tighter and tighter.\u00a0 How could God love me?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I was mad.&nbsp; Depressed. Out-of-control. My ego deceived me, told me how great I was. Truly I was lost.&nbsp; I had grown selfish, willing to take what wasn\u2019t mine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>All of these emotions and experiences created conflict in me.&nbsp; When I came to Loaves and Fishes, Pastor David Bruce told me, \u201cI\u2019ll give you not what you want, but what you need\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What could that mean?&nbsp; What did he think I needed?&nbsp; He introduced me to God \u2013 not the God I thought I knew.&nbsp; But the God who will forever love me. A love that is unconditional.&nbsp; A love that is steadfast, gracious, a love that is pure and perfect.&nbsp; Merciful. A love that has no end.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To KNOW GOD I have to do my part \u2013 to actively pray, study the Word of God and be willing for HIM to transform me (Romans 12:2).&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>All this time, you searched me, God, and knew me; you know my every move; you know my every action and thought before<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I do it.&nbsp; You give me the decision to accept and love you; or to go my own way. And be lost (Psalm 139: 1-4).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Bible says, \u201cSee how much God loves us, we are called children of God!\u201d.&nbsp; (1 John 3:1).&nbsp; We are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus (Galatians 3:26). As a true believer, I will be your adopted son, an heir to the heavenly kingdom. But I have to accept Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>My old self has been crucified with Christ.&nbsp; It is no longer I who live but Christ lives in me.&nbsp; So I live in this earthly body trusting in the Son of God who loved me and gave His life for me (Galatians 2:20).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Lord is my strength and my defense.&nbsp; He has become my salvation (Exodus 15: 2).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>How big is God\u2019s Love?&nbsp; Beyond my imagination a short time ago.&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>How Big Is God\u2019s Love? A psalm written by the men in the Loaves and Fishes addiction treatment program. When I was in active addiction, while I thought I knew OF GOD, I did not KNOW GOD.\u00a0 My sinful acts gave me momentary pleasures.\u00a0 But then I would feel shame and feel unclean.\u00a0 Instead of&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/loavesandfishesnc.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1365"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/loavesandfishesnc.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/loavesandfishesnc.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loavesandfishesnc.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loavesandfishesnc.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1365"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/loavesandfishesnc.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1365\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1366,"href":"https:\/\/loavesandfishesnc.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1365\/revisions\/1366"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/loavesandfishesnc.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1365"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loavesandfishesnc.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1365"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/loavesandfishesnc.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1365"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}