I guess I just keep struggling over the lost who weren't murderers or physically abusive. But I like John 6:39.
Father, I pray you touch
@Rescued One and give her peace and comfort in your love, I pray this in Jesus Name, Amen.
Jesus said "
I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life, no one comes to the Father but through me"
This is very very specific.
Something else Jesus said was that we have to be willing to hate mother, father, daughter, son, etc for His sake. We always see this as something emotional, but it's not, it's positional where God is our first and foremost care and concern, even if that means our positional relationship with them changes drastically.
Hate and love with God can be seen not as emotional states, but as positional, covenantal states. When we are inside the covenant relationship we are said to be loved by God, tended, cared for etc, and outside the covenant relationship with God they are said to be hated by God. This idea of love and hate is a position, a state of being inside or outside of God's covenantal relationship with His people.
We who are within God's covenantal relationship and are called His people want everyone we love to know God the way we know have come to know God here inside this relationship with Him but it's not likely to occur that everyone we love will be joining us.
In fact, we might not even know
anyone else inside the covenant from our lives - and we have to be willing, not just able but willingly giving our loved ones into hands far more capable than we - those of God.
No matter how we slice it, whether we decide ohhhh it's all free will and God's this emotional creature that created us to worship his own image - or whether we decide that God did in fact declare the ends from the beginnings as the Alpha and the Omega and everything in between including ways and means and even the who without regard to person - we have to decide whether we are going to be willing to hate our own people, even those we love the most, to know Him more deeply, to worship Him in Spirit and in Truth.
And for those loved ones living and dead, that can mean not being in the same covenantal position as them before God for all eternity.
We really don't have a choice honestly but to trust God, as a God who is God will do God things and we can't control a God, but we do have a decision on whether we think Gods special revelation of Himself is an entity we want to be in a relationship with.
As we learn and study and grow and trust God, I do believe we see an utterly amazing God, one I am certain is of exceedingly great worth.
So... Do you give your loved ones into the hand of a Holy God and worship Him for His Being knowing that both His Justice and His Mercy brings Him Glory (shows His Holiness), or do you walk away because you can't have a God "that would" whatever you declare He "should not" do, when perhaps you're just not fully grasping everything of His Nature yet? (As if we ever could!).
Do you say to God I will give you everything of me because you alone are worthy?
We are being called to love one thing, that is God, first and foremost above every other thing. It necessarily involves hating all that God does not love, positionally.
Abraham said yes. Paul said yes. Jesus Christ said yes.
We have our own yes or no to give in response to our own call. Will we follow Jesus, or no.
