love Archives - As It Is in Heaven

October 14, 2021October 14, 2021

God’s Love Can Be Tough Love Too

God's love, tough love, love, God, correcting

“God is love” is a phrase we often hear in our churches, from our pastors or our Christian family members or friends. It’s true; God is love, but what does that truly mean? We often think that God’s love is always kind, always accepting, always soft. Like no matter what we do (as believers) God will always forgive everything we do. Yet, when we look in the Bible, is that truly the case? God’s love can also be seen as tough love in many cases.

May 17, 2021May 17, 2021

Why Is God So Angry in the Bible?

God's wrath, God's anger, faith, love, betrayal, obedience, disobedience

Why does God seem so angry in the Old Testament? And why does He always destroy the Israelites, the very people He created and chose? Why doesn’t He just forgive them? Isn’t He the God of love?

I’ve grown up hearing these questions my whole life when it comes to God. Things like this made me believe in the idea that there was the wrath of God versus the peace of Jesus. These ideas grew into assumptions that God was the one who was always full of anger and wrath, while Jesus was our friend, brought peace, and never acted out in anger…or at least not as intensely as God did.

March 9, 2021June 22, 2021

Why Are There So Many Denominations in Christianity?

Have you ever wondered why there are so many different denominations of Christianity? And they aren’t just different in name, each denomination has its own understanding of Scripture. They have different traditions, different ways to worship, and various things that each regards as important.

For example, at a Catholic church, communion and confession are vital. At a Pentecostal church, speaking in tongues is emphasized. At other churches with different denominations, baptism, praise, or volunteer work have greater value.

February 9, 2021April 18, 2021

Does God Hate Me?

Has this thought ever crossed your mind? Maybe it’s in the midst of losing your job. Maybe you’re going through unimaginable heartbreak or grieving the loss of a loved one. And we all know that when it rains, it pours. Painful thing after painful thing just keeps piling up until you hit a breaking point. You cry out to God, “Do you hate me?? Why are you letting all of these things happen to me? Don’t you love me, God? Where are you??”

January 18, 2021April 15, 2021

5 God-Centered Ways to Grow Spiritually in 2021

I’m sure I’m not alone in wanting to use the new year as a chance to refocus to grow spiritually. Maybe you want to develop better prayer habits or read the entire Bible. Maybe you want to try to go to church more often. But overall, improving your life of faith is admittedly no easy feat. I used to tell myself every year that this would be the year I’d finally become the “good, mature Christian” I’d always wanted to be. The problem was that I would set the same goals, year after year, without being able to make any lasting changes in my life. I was obviously doing something wrong.

December 21, 2020August 2, 2021

Do You Love God in the Way He Wants to Be Loved?

How do you show your parents that you love them? Do you put a lot of thought into it?

When we are young, we usually express our love for our parents by giving them things that we like.

“I think this is a nice picture, so Mom will be happy to have it.”

“This is my favorite toy, so Dad will like it too.”

And of course, our parents accept these miscellaneous objects as precious gifts. It’s not because they necessarily want that crayon drawing or those Lego pieces, but because they know the pure intentions of their children’s hearts.

December 18, 2020April 1, 2021

Playing Hide and Seek with God

Hide and seek. It’s a game most of us are very familiar with and have played many times. We all know that rush of excitement and nervousness as the seeker begins their countdown while everyone else makes a mad dash to find that perfect hiding spot. The anticipation builds when you hear that, “Ready or not, here I come!” And then it’s time to hold your breath as you hope to remain unfound.

December 16, 2020April 15, 2021

A Faith God Considers As Righteous

Can one enter heaven just because they go to church every Sunday? Can our guilt or gratefulness for Jesus’ death on the cross for the atonement of our sins be satisfied with good and moral deeds like voluntary work, donations, etc.?

Simply, is heaven such an easy place to go to? If you just saying you believe in God with your lips alone, are you saved?

December 14, 2020April 15, 2021

The End of the World…Or Is It?

Revelation.

Did you shiver? Does it scare you? We’ve made it into the book of destruction, the end of the world. When’s the last time you read Revelation? Take a moment, skim through it…does it seem ominous? Terrifying? With things like dragons, seven-headed ten-horned beasts, a great prostitute, and beasts coming out of the sea and earth…and of course we can’t forget…the mark of the beast…6…6…6. This book is filled with things that make for the perfect apocalyptic movie (and actually has been used for them many times).

December 7, 2020April 15, 2021

Meeting God

A “heavenly meeting” I still remember: Light descending from the heavens kissed the ground, casting shadows equally beautiful, and leaving sparkling dust suspended in the air. Overhead, leaves whispered secrets to each other, and birds sang–this was peace and perfection. This was the holy land of my Midwest backyard. And there we strolled, my much older, visiting cousin and I, and she told me about God.