“for the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me and have believed that I came forth from the Father.” -{John 16:27}

The word used in this passage for “Love” is not the one used for  the selfless love that is used in John 3:16. the Love of commitment, but it is the love of affection that is used here. It is to have a common  affection, indeed we could say to “like.”

The Father “LIKES you” and the way it is written grammatically it is a continuous, unbreakable warm, tender and deep emotional affection that He has for you. HE GENUINELY TENDERLY, AFFECTIONATELY… LIKES YOU! But you refuse to believe this and you have several objections of why God CANNOT  and DOES NOT LIKE YOU. For example…using this passage let us look at the heart of the problem.

There are THREE INGREDIENTS…LEVELS… TO EVERY HEART PROBLEM...

1.  A FEELING PROBLEM;

You Don’t Believe He  Likes You- Because you Don’t’ “feel” He can. And so again your feelings  are your ultimate authority, not His Word. You have a “feeling problem” as it contradicts His REVEALED WORD. FAULTY FEELINGS, based on a lie, not on the Truth of Scripture. We “feel” we can’t say it about ourselves, “God LIKES ME!”… “But GOD…” He says it about you THEREFORE…IT…IS …TRUE!

We can name so many REASONS why He could not “Like” us.

We don’t think He can like us, so we reject the thought… we reject the truth of what He says.

Maybe we see Him as “He puts up with me, but He could never like me if He really knew me as I  know myself… or what I have just done or not done…!”  As if God can be surprised or hid from!! We see life from our perspective, how we “feel” and we “think,” and equate that to Truth and Fact and as official, the final and definitive authority on the issue, rather than Him and what He says! Our “thinking” we “feel” is the ultimate authority rather than His!  Therefore we conclude He could never “LIKE ME!” If He really knew me as I know myself and see myself as I am! We elevate our faulty opinion and feelings over His Word and come to wrong conclusions about Him and Who He says we are “In Christ!” It’s Crazy thinking, as He is God, He is truth, He cannot lie! He is trustworthy. It is not what we say, or how we “feel,” for now we are  turning inward and away from Him and basing “truth” as we interpret rather than He declares it! We will believe He died for us, but do not believe He could like us. Indeed we will not allow Him to say so, as it makes us feel uncomfortable! And somehow it just seems wrong and unholy. And not the image of God we have in our mind. And now we fall into idolatry creating a god of our own imagination, one we can control, rather than submitting and relishing in His grace, that not only did He voluntarily choose to die for you and me because He loved me but that He also has a warm, tender, caring affection towards me that He chooses to…LIKE ME! It is not what you or I say, But it is ONLY what He says that counts! We, in essence, oppose God, when we elevate our thinking above His Word, which is… Truth!

2.  A THINKING PROBLEM;

You Have Set yourself above God because you have a THINKING PROBLEM. You believe you are wiser than God, cannot be deceived, are all knowing and what you “think” is the highest authority, even Higher than God Himself and His Word!  We do what he forbids, “…we lean to our own understanding…” We choose not to “renew” our minds so we can prove the will of God which is good and acceptable and well pleasing, as revealed in Romans 12;2-3. So we do not have the Mind of Christ in the matter, we are basing our decision making and views on UNGODLY THINKING… STINKING THINKING!  God says that we are to Renew tour mind. We in our own arrogance and deception do not believe it is necessary when it comes to us, as we “think” so highly of ourselves and our understanding of life. We are the “umpire,” deciding what is true and what is not. We decide what to accept from the Bible and what not to.We have set ourselves above God.

” For as he thinks within himself, so he is.”- {Prov 23:7}. You are what you think you are!

“Above all else, guard your heart,
    for everything you do flows from it.  “-{Prov 4:23}

“The good person out of the good treasure of the heart produces good, and the evil person out of evil treasure produces evil; for it is out of the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks.“-{Luke 6:45}

3.  A DOING PROBLEM;

You don’t believe He can “Like” You. You “FEEL”He doesn’t, you”THINK” He can’t, and so it effects the way you live life and the way you view Him and even present Him to others. You have a DOING PROBLEM! The Sin of UNBELIEF. It’s not ignorance, that “I Didn’t know,”  but defiance! It is upon hearing His Word and deciding, “I do Know what He says and I make a choice to “WILLFULLY REFUSE ” TO PUT MY TRUST, BELIEF in Him Or His Word! 

I DO choose to reject this aspect of His love for me and refuse to hold forth this truth to others and often DO Live as a legalistic, devoid of love, joy, with lists as your guide to govern you rather than His Word and amazing grace,and favor towards you. This truth is meant to lead to trust in Him and boasting and exalting in Him!

So which of the above three do you have a problem with, when God says He  has a warm, caring affection towards you, that He in essence”Likes” you?

Is it  a Feeling Problem?

Is it a Thinking Problem?

Is It a DOING Problem?

Where Truth is relegated and replaced, Self exalts it self seeking to be the Highest and ultimate authority and the three fold problems mentioned run riot and cause havoc in the life of a person.  

WE FEEL AND SAY. “GOD…LIES… TO YOU…”

WHEN WE REJECT HIS WORD… THAT SAYS IN ESSENCE…

“GOD ….LIKES YOU!”  

Therefore, Grace is Not Amazing, because it is too good to be true, we believe! We then continue living not by grace but by “merit…” trying to earn God’s favor… and making others do and live likewise. Instead of enjoying and basking in God’s Amazing Grace… we are distrustful, suspicious of it and are uptight…and we labor in the flesh… with false concepts about God!

With the Three Fold Heart Problem, There Is A Three Fold GODLY… SCRIPTURAL… HEART SOLUTION To Every Problem!

Note the order….

THINK RIGHT- {Phil 4:8}-“Whatever is TRUE…Dwell on these things…”

DO RIGHT- {Phil 4;9} and the..

FEEL RIGHT. The “Feelings’ Will follow in line with His revealed Word!- {Phil 4:9}

THINK ON THIS;

  • God THE FATHER… PERSONALLY…LIKES…YOU!
  • God THE FATHER… PRESENTLY…LIKES…YOU!
  • God THE FATHER …PERMANENTLY…LIKES…YOU!
  • God THE FATHER …EXCLUSIVELY…LIKES…YOU!

This love of AFFECTION is EXCLUSIVE – It is RESERVED FOR HIS PEOPLE, of which you are one of “In Christ!” His Love of affection towards His own is PRESENT TENSE AND PERMANENT!

The word is present tense- every second of every minute of every hour of every day of every year GOD LIKES YOU!

It is a continual deep affection He has for you!

Despite knowing all about you, He has declared and set His warm deep emotional Affection upon you. And it is unbreakable.

You CANNOT change His heart towards you. He LIKES you! He really, really has a deep unchanging, warm, caring personal emotional affection for… you! He really, really LIKES you!

“BELIEVE” – He goes on to say, you “phileo”– have a deep, emotional warm caring affection for His Son and you “BELIEVE.” What is it they and you believe?

That Jesus came forth from the Father. Some believed He was of the devil, but the believers believe He came forth from God! This separates believers from all others. While some may say He was of the devil, others discounted Him as a mere “good man” or a good moral teacher, but the believer know He came forth from God- Jesus Christ, The God man! This is a wonderful verse regarding the incarnation! – {Read John 1:1; Phil 2;6-8}

God does Love you.{Agapa} – The CROSS Expresses it-“ But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.…This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down His life for us…”-{ Romans 5:8; 1 John 3:16}.

But also, God also really, really, really has a deep, caring emotional affectionate love for you.The FATHER LIKES YOU {Phileo}! Amazing Love! Both “Love’s” expressed. A Sacrificial love {Rom 5:8;1 John 3;16} but also a love of deep affection for you!-{John 16;27}.

Think on this today. God Loves you…But He also LIKES YOU! Share with another believer that GOD LIKES THEM! -{Based on John 16:27}

And the wonderful truth this is written to those who FAIL! The Father wants to assure them He loves them, has a warm, intimate, emotional affection for them He LIKES them!! For they “Like” His Son and believe He was sent from the Father… and the Father likes that and Likes them!

Do you think when you fail that He is going to disown you? Perhaps others have treated you that way, but God is not like others. He is committed to you, look to the cross! He can be grieved by our sin, for only love can be grieved but it does not change His commitment or love to you or His tender affections towards you. That is unchanging as He is unchanging! God LIKES you!

Overcoming spiritual failure is to allow the Holy Spirit to encourage you with His Word as in John 16:27, that you can go on and spiritually grow- Be assured God the Father LIKES YOU!! What love, humility, adoration and affection it should draw out from our hearts towards Him who loves us and likes us!

When you face a problem or listen to someone ask, “Is this a Feeling, Thinking, or Doing issue?” And whichever one then you can look at the Scriptures for His Answer. Good job:)