A Pathway to the Love of God - Closeness and Relationship
Before I was first drawn back into the Church and surrendered my life to Christ I had little understanding of 'God' or His Love. And this despite the fact that I had been living for His Kingdom as a teacher - and His Spirit had been my Strength and Love that provided the Grace He blessed me with in teaching!
But I reached a breaking point!
Deep within me was a broken heart, and the pain and loss I was hiding from was the root of much hardness of heart towards myself, others, and inevitably God...
Does this sound familiar to you?
When I had to recognise that I simply was failing to 'function' in my work - He gave me an audible sign of His Love. When I was in despair that the man I was living with, did not want to marry me, He called me by Name.
Deep within, I knew this was 'God' and I wanted to Thank this 'Thing'. At that time I did not even have 'God' as a word or concept in my vocabulary!
I'm telling you this because I want to show you how God may already be providing for you..already enabling you to serve. But we have all fallen away from the 'Glory of God'. And my reaction that I wanted to 'Thank' God was His action in me that came from 'the Image' in which I was made. I needed to re-connect with Him in order to face the darkness.
We are all made in the Image of God, but circumstances either enable us to grow into His Likeness...or lead us away from His purity and Love. Purity of heart leads us to be dependant on Him whatever happens. We become surrendered to His Love and Purpose in Harmony with God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit; and thus bear His Light in the world. This is the source of PEACE. But this takes time when we have known the darkness of separation from Him.
So one day at a time, He started the journey of bringing me back to the fullness of that Harmony and Love. In that broken heart was self-despising, hatred, pride and bitterness, arrogance and shame - none of which I wanted to accept. But all these keep us away from God and His Kingdom. And yet - IN LOVE He kept leading and teaching me within the Church till I had started to accept and receive the Love through what Christ had done for us on the Cross. Indeed the Cross is Life for those who seek, knock and ask.
On Friday 2nd October the Zoom call - looked at:
- God as Father, Son and Holy Spirit
- sin, Law and Love
- the difference the Cross makes
- confession as a pathway to closeness with God- Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
A Pathway to the Love of God: Confession, Humility and the Freedom to Receive His Love
We considered how God's correction is rooted in love, not condemnation, and how honest confession can open the way for healing, forgiveness and restored relationships with God, ourselves and others.
God’s Love: Father, Son and Holy Spirit
God created us in His image and calls us into an ever-deepening relationship with Him. The Holy Spirit sustains us, Christ opens the way to forgiveness and reconciliation through the Cross and service, through the Holy Spirit; and the Father welcomes us into His redeeming love and Kingdom Life.
The Law helps us recognise what is right, but we cannot make ourselves righteous through our own efforts. We need the grace and love of Christ.
Confession and Humility: Opening the Door
Pride, arrogance and self-righteousness separate us from God and from one another. If we carry hidden pain, shame and self-protective habits these also make it difficult to receive and give love.
Confession is not an invitation to condemn ourselves. It is an act of surrender and openness: allowing God to bring what is hidden in the dark into His light, trusting Him with what we discover, and receiving His forgiveness.
God's loving correction opens the door to hope. It invites us to recognise what needs to change and to continue walking with Him.
Humility also means learning to believe and Live what God has told us, rather than continually seeking reassurance because we struggle to trust His word.
We need not be confined to a formal formula of confession. We can begin with a simple, honest prayer:
“Lord, enable me to confess with trust in Your Love.”
Bringing Our Burdens to the Cross
As we reflected on Christ's suffering, we considered how bringing our own pain to Him can change the way we understand our experiences.
Even suffering that has left deep wounds can be entrusted to Christ. We can ask Him to help us see our lives from His perspective, allowing His love to reach places we have struggled to face. He invites us to let Him into our hearts.
This is not about pretending that suffering does not matter. It is about allowing God to meet us within it and lead us towards healing and redemption.
Learning Through Shared Experience
During our gathering, participants shared reflections on recognising pride, receiving God's correction and discovering freedom from shame.
These experiences reminded us that conviction can bring both the recognition that something needs to change and the assurance that we remain loved by God and He will enable the change.
God's loving correction will be experienced as a gentle invitation to adjust and continue, rather than a voice of condemnation, for a humble heart. This is very different from shame that leaves us feeling unworthy or beyond hope.
We learned from one another's experiences while respecting the privacy and dignity of everyone who shared.
Putting the Teaching into Practice
When we experience spiritual unease, we can pause and ask God:
“What needs to come from the dark? What do I need to own or let go of?”
We can bring our answers honestly to Him, without fear.
Praise and thanksgiving can help turn our attention away from the noise of self-condemnation and towards God's presence. We can also pray for the restoration of our own good-will, and for those whose suffering has made it difficult for them to trust, love or choose what is good.
The Christian life is not a journey of becoming perfect through our own strength or being matched to an idol of self-righteousness! . It is a journey of learning to receive God's love, surrendering what hinders us, and allowing Him to transform us into what He intended us to be, alive in His Grace and Love.
Continuing the Journey
We reflected on the biblical invitation to persevere through trials, recognising that suffering can reveal our need of God and teach us to rely less upon our own strength.
We were also invited to consider what further questions might help us explore the pathway to God's love in future gatherings.
The invitation remains open:What might God be inviting you to bring into His light to receive more fully the love He longs to give you?
You may wish to take that question into prayer, as the next Zoom on November 16th is looking at Jesus instruction to Ask, Seek and Knock.
See Below for details of Zoom Meeting to share questions etc.
Pathway to the Love of God: Ask, Seek and Knock
Friday 16 October 2026 | 6–7pm BST
What is Jesus inviting us into?
Join us on Zoom as we explore His invitation and what it means for our walk with God.
“Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.”
Matthew 7:7