The Provider of Love and Belonging

Jehovah Jirah: The Provider of Love & Belonging

 Genesis 2:18 The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”  (NIV)

               Many people in the world are looking for love in all the wrong places. They try to compensate their lack of receiving love by jumping from bed to bed, drugs, alcohol, watching pornography, binge eating and various other destructive activities. Unfortunately, those who are using these methods to replace what they lack have missed the true source of love. Love comes from Jehovah Jireh. A person cannot truly understand what love is until one gets to know the Author and Provider of it. 1 John 4: 16 And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. (NIV) Because God is love, there is a need to know and understand Him. Many people suffer from the displacement of love, and therefore, it causes them to become cold, uncompassionate, and indifferent to the needs of others. However, by knowing and being in God, we can have an understanding of how to treat and be towards one another. 1 John 4:7-8 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. (NIV)

 

 

               For many in the world, love has been reduced to a “feel good” ideology. If you do what I want, then I will love you in return. However, Jehovah Jireh’s love is unconditional. He loves us even when we are undeserving of it. 1 John 4:19 We loved because he first loved us. (NIV) We wouldn’t know to love God if He had not loved us first. We couldn’t possibly know how to love each other unless we experienced the love of God first. So what does the Bible have to say about the definition of love? 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 ⁽⁴⁾Love is patients, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁽⁵⁾It is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁽⁶⁾Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁽⁷⁾It always protects, always trust, always hopes, always perseveres. ⁽⁸⁾Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will case; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge it will pass away. (NIV) Let’s break down this verse and understand the love Jehovah Jireh has and provides for His children.

 Love is Patient

Jehovah Jireh is patient with His children. He does not give us the punishment that we deserve for being disobedient to Him right when we do it. However, He waits patiently and longs for us to be reconciled to Him. He gives us warning after warning to turn from our wicked ways and come to Him. This is the love that He shows towards His children, so that we may experience His love in completeness. 2 Peter 3:9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. (NIV)

Love is not Envious

Jehovah Jireh is not envious of His creation. He is not jealous “of” His creation, but jealous “for” His creation. There is nothing that we have that God would be envious of. However, He is a jealous God in the way that a father is jealous for his children. What is this jealousy? Jehovah Jireh wants to provide the best for His children, but when we stray away from Him, it leads us into sin. Therefore, because He does not wish for His children to be bound by sin, He is jealous for us to remain close to Him. Exodus 34:14 Do not worship any other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God. (NIV) Jehovah Jireh always wants the best for His children and that best is to be pure without the stain of sin that holds us bound and promises death. The enemy wants to destroy God’s children, but Jehovah Jireh wants to give us life. John 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. (NIV) Where man becomes envious because of what someone has, Jehovah Jireh is jealous because of what He wants to GIVE.

Love does not Boast

People can sometimes boast on their accomplishments in a manner that can make others feel incompetent. There is nothing wrong in taking pride in a job well-done, but the intent behind a boastful attitude can be one of arrogance if not submitted to the Lord. Paul boasted about his afflictions, not in the way that the world boasts, but in the manner that the Spirit of God, who dwelt in Him helped him to endure. 2 Corinthians 11:16-19, 30-31 ⁽¹⁶⁾I repeat: Let no one take me for a fool. But if you do then receive me just as you would a fool, so that I may do a little boasting. ⁽¹⁷⁾In this self-confident boasting I am not talking as the Lord would, but as a fool ⁽¹⁸⁾Since many are boasting in the way the world does, I too will boast. ⁽¹⁹⁾You gladly put up with fools since you are so wise! ⁽³⁰⁾If I must boast, I will boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness. ⁽³¹⁾The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, who is to be praised forever, knows that I am not lying. (NIV) Love is not boastful to put others down, but if we are to boast, we do so as a testament of uplifting God, and in doing so, we show the Love of Jehovah Jireh.

 

Love is not Proud

Jehovah Jireh is a God of humility. He does not like pride because in pride, there is no way to display His loving kindness. Proverbs 16:5 The Lord detests all the proud of heart. Be sure of this: They will not go unpunished. (NIV) Pride was the downfall of Lucifer. He became wrapped up in his beauty and allowed himself to think that he was better than his Creator. As a result of his lack of humility, he and the angels who sided with him were kicked out of Heaven. Ezekiel 28:17 Your heart became proud on account of your beauty, and you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor. So I threw you to the earth; I made a spectacle of you before kings. (NIV) Therefore, we can learn from what happened to the devil that we must remain in total humility before Jehovah Jireh as well as display it with others because God’s love is never prideful.

 

 

 Love is not Easily Angered

 Jehovah Jireh does not anger easy, but He shows His constant love to us. We have constantly rebelled against Him and yet, He has shown us love even when we have saddened and angered Him by being disobedient. We too are not to be easily angered, but to show love to others as an act of God’s love. Ephesians 4:26-27 In your anger do not sin. Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold. (NIV) This does not mean that you will never be angry, but we are to not to allow our emotions to make us sin against God and others.

 

Join us tomorrow as we continue our study into Jehovah Jireh: The Provider of Love and Belonging pt 2