God Hates Me! Okay maybe He doesn’t hate me, but at the very least He is mad at me! He’s just waiting to get a hold of me and punish me. I have sinned so much, there is no way that He could ever forgive me. If I can’t forgive myself, why would He forgive me.
Sadly, that is the prevailing opinion of many Americans today. God is unrelenting. He is vengeful and angry. How could He ever forgive me for what I’ve done?
Gods promise in Isaiah 54: 9-10 gives us the hope and assurance we so need.

9 “In the time of Noah I promised
never again to flood the earth.
Now I promise not to be angry with you again;
I will not reprimand or punish you.
10 The mountains and hills may crumble,
but my love for you will never end;
I will keep forever my promise of peace.”

Yet there are so many that don’t, can’t or won’t believe that God could love them. And if God can’t or won’t believe them, then why should they love God.

There are those that believe that God is a commanding and critical God. There are those that believe that God can be generous and takes a cursory interest in our daily lives. There are those that believe God is judgmental and couldn’t care less about us and our daily lives. There are those that believe that God is there somewhere – totally disengaged with our lives.
And then there are those that believe God is awesome and amazing and loving and totally engaged in our lives. They believe that He is the One and Only God in Heaven – the Creator of the Universe and all that exists within it.
What I know is this… He is love and peace and joy and forgiveness and life and He is calling your name. Yes You. He is calling your name. He wants to bless you with all that He has… He wants you to come to Him as His child – a co-Heir to the throne. He wants to deposit His Spirit within you. He wants to reveal Himself to you. He is the Shepherd and we are His sheep and He is calling you to Himself.
His love is there every day. He does not hold it out to you only on special days, or if you’ve been “good”. His love surrounds you, it is steadfast and unchanging.
His love for you is revealed through His Son Jesus Christ and what He did for you on the Cross. His love is poured into you through the Comforter, the Holy Spirit and surrounds.
Still questioning His call to you? Take a few minutes and check out these scriptures. Make the time to look them up and really discover what they are saying to you.

“Know therefore that the LORD your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love Him and keep His commandments, to a thousand generations.” Deuteronomy 7:9
“But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.” Psalm 86:15
“Give thanks to the God of Heaven, for His steadfast love endures forever.” Psalm 136:26
“The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness; He will quiet you by His love; He will exult over you with loud singing.” Zephaniah 3:17
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16
“God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8
“Through Him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God. More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our Hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” Romans 5:2-5
“… in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:37-39
“But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ— by grace you have been saved.” Ephesians 2:4-5
“See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know Him.” 1 John 3:1
“In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent His only Son into the world, so that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” 1 John 4:9-11

While you are studying these scriptures consider personalizing them for yourself. Where you see the word “you” or “us” or in this case “the world”, exchange it for you name.
Ex: John 3:16 “For God so loved the world ANN, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.”

What does it mean to love God? It means Freedom. Freedom from guilt. Freedom from condemnation. Freedom from eternal death. Freedom to love and be loved. Freedom to forgive and be forgiven.
So…. know this… God is not mad at you. He doesn’t hate you. He is not disappointed with you. He is not waiting to chastise you. He is waiting to love you. Perhaps you might not believe that. But He is not going to stop loving you. He is not going to stop calling you to Himself. He is waiting for you to make the slightest turn towards Him.  He wants to shower you with His love. He wants to show you the plans He has for you. He wants to show you your purpose. He wants to give you His Son that died in your place. He wants to indwell you with His Holy Spirit. He wants to assure you that He has prepared a place for you. He wants to spend eternity with you.
He doesn’t care about your history. He doesn’t care about your past. Yes, He will convict you of your sins, but He will NOT condemn you for your sins. He wants you to repent of your sins. He wants to wash you whiter than snow. He wants to take your sins and remove them as far as the east is to the west. He wants to walk with you in love and peace and joy and forgiveness. He has a most precious gift for you … His Grace. His Grace covers you – you are redeemed. You are His. He is calling you. Will you answer?