The God of Love: The Greatest Story Ever, and It’S All About You!

By David Scott Carrig

God says, Love each other, even as I have loved you.

So how do we fulfill this command?
By learning to love from the Creator of all love.
For only God equips and teaches us to love like He loves.

And oh, how He longs for us all to be His children on earth, with
a working knowledge of the power of true love.

When the world senses the aroma of Gods love, they want
to draw close to Him, which is His deepest desire.

Come explore the very heart of God, and see why love is the
greatest gift we must masteras if everything else depends on it!

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: May 31, 2018
• ISBN: 9781973623380

David Scott Carrig

Recognizing the outstanding power and authority of Jesus for the first time in his teens, it was not until many years later that the author delved into gaining a true understanding of God and Jesus through the Holy Scriptures. He and his wife were trained in the fundamentals of faith, and were baptized with the Holy Spirit early on. It was many years later that God revealed His love nature to the author, an understanding of His essence that God continues to develop. Since faith depends on the power of love to work, the development of both are necessary. The author has been given a special gift of understanding, to reveal this essential nature of God which is shed abroad in the hearts of all believers by the Holy Spirit.

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Copyright © 2018 David Scott Carrig.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.

Scripture taken from King James Version of the Bible.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

ISBN: 978-1-9736-2340-3 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-9736-2339-7 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-9736-2338-0 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2018903331

WestBow Press rev. date: 04/23/2018

Contents

1.     What God Sees

2.     The Early Influence of God

3.     Divine Protection

4.     Hearing the Messenger

5.     Reading the Bible

6.     God Speaks from Heaven

7.     Divine Healing

8.     The Lessons of Faith

9.     Baptism of the Holy Spirit

10.   Healing the Sick

11.   Growing Up Spiritually

12.   A Message from the Holy Spirit

13.   The Utmost Importance of Love

14.   The Daily Application of Faith and Love

15.   Truth

16.   Abiding in Christ’s Love

17.   Trusting Love

Introduction

Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.

—1 Corinthians 13:13

Y es, love is far greater than the gifts of faith and hope. Even our faith will be of no effect without love, for faith is dependent on love to make it work.

For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision avails anything, nor uncircumcision; but faith which is worked by love. (Gal. 5:6 KJV)

Do you want a broader understanding of love, the most important asset we can acquire, and of how God’s love is different from emotional love? Then read closely with an open heart as God reveals His greatest gift, which when used liberally, fulfills the desire He has for each of His children on earth and in heaven!

Love does no wrong to others, so love fulfills the requirements of God’s law. (Rom. 13:10)

If you love me, obey my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you. He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. (John 14:15)

Our Father in heaven … may your will be done on earth, just as it is in heaven. (Matt. 6:10)

Chapter 1

WHAT GOD SEES

H ave you ever wondered what God sees? The truth is, He sees everything!

God knows what we think, even as we are thinking it. He knows our ways and every thought we have, and that is true of every person who was, who is, and who will ever be.

For, just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways, and my thoughts higher than your thoughts. (Isa. 55:9)

God sees the most intricate details of creation. Who among us could tell God how many hairs we have on our heads? And yet God knows the exact number at any moment.

And the very hairs on your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are more valuable to God than a whole flock of sparrows. (Luke 12:7)

God sees inside our hearts, our spirits deep within us.

Worship and serve him [God] with your whole heart and a willing mind. For the Lord sees every heart and knows every plan and thought. If you seek him, you will find him. But if you forsake him, he will reject you forever. (1 Chron. 28:9)

God sees possibilities without limits.

Jesus looked at them intently and said, "Humanly speaking, it is impossible, but not with God. Everything is possible with God." (Mark 10:27)

God has created everything that exists, and man is more special to Him than all else He has made.

He chose to give birth to us by giving us his true word. And we, out of all creation, became his prized possession. (James 1:18)

Think on that for a while. Out of all the wonderful things He has created, God sees you and me as His prized possessions—even though He knows our thoughts and our ways. Even I don’t like myself at times, so how can God possibly hold me in such high esteem, knowing what I sometimes think, say, and do?

Love is how. God our Father simply loves loving us! He always sees the potential within each of us, the creatures He has made in His image.

Understand, therefore, that the Lord your God is indeed God. He is the faithful God who keeps his covenant for a thousand generations and lavishes his unfailing love on those who love him and obey his commands. (Deut. 7:9)

God loves us so freely because He is love, and He instructs us to receive and to walk in His love, for this is what reveals Him to the world.

So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. (John 13:34) But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love. (1 John 4:8)

Certainly, we cannot see all that God sees; only He can do that. But we can see the way God sees—with our own spiritual eyes of love. This is true because, like God, we are spirits. Each of us has a body and a soul, but our essential inner being is a spirit. God even used His own image to create us.

So God created human beings in his own image. (Gen. 1:27)

God sees all spirits as living or dead, which means we are united with Him or separated from Him. His love has made a way for the dead among us to become alive through faith in Jesus Christ.

Jesus encountered a Samaritan woman who had come to draw water from a well. He told her the one who drinks from God’s fountain would receive His living water, which gives everlasting life. Receiving the Holy Spirit, this living water, is what establishes a new relationship between us and God; we become His children, and He becomes our Father. We become spiritually alive in His eyes.

Jesus replied, "If you only knew the gift God has for you and who you are speaking to, you would ask me, and I would give you living water … Anyone who drinks this water [from the natural well] will soon become thirsty again. But those who drink the water [Holy Spirit] I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life." (John 4:10, 13–14)

But the time is coming—indeed it’s here now—when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for those who will worship him that way. For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth. The woman said, I know the Messiah is coming—the one who is called Christ. When he comes, he will explain everything to us. Then Jesus told her, I AM the Messiah! (John 4:23–26)

I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me. (John 14:6)

The moment we decide in our heart to believe that Jesus is the Son of God, the most powerful gift of living water is given unto us. This gift seals us as God’s beloved children. His Spirit comes into us, permeating our spirits and making us as one in spirit with God, and with each other.

There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus. (Gal. 3:28)

In Christ, God now sees us as alive spiritually.

And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love. (Rom. 5:5)

God’s Spirit is love, just as God is love. This Spirit of love within our hearts makes us come alive in God’s sight. We can then learn to see with the eyes of our spirits and to see as God sees, through eyes of love. Training our attention to focus on spiritual desires, and reigning over carnal desires, prepares us to see the way God sees.

You are controlled by the Spirit if you have