He is not some cruel ogre who exists only to punish us if we mess up.  He is not a perverted prankster that delights in dangling good things in front of us only to yank them away just as we reach out for them.  Nor is He looking for ways to control us or manipulate us though fear and threats.  He loves us!

God not only loves us - He IS Love!  That's His character.  That's Who He is.  He cannot not love or He would be going against His very nature.  I repeat - Everything He has ever done was done out of Love!  That in itself should be the greatest news we have ever heard.  But there is more. 

Not only is God Love - He is a Warrior!

I know.  That sounds like an oxymoron, doesn't it.  One does not usually think of the two as being the same.  But when you ponder that, it could be no other way.  The two - being love and being a warrior are really one.  They are inseparable!

Look at parents.  We love our children.  Everything we have done for them - and will do for them - is because we love them.  We desire only the very best for each of them.  When they need someone to protect them, we go to battle for them.

I don't know about you, but if my children needed help, I didn't go in expecting to lose.  I went in prepared, armed and ready to do whatever needed to be done, for a s long as it needed to be done, to win the victory on their behalf.

See, it's our love for them that gives us strength and makes us courageous.  Love becomes our adrenalin and adds a sense of invincibility to the fight.

Isn't that exactly what God does for us?  When one of His kids needs protection, He is one "lean, mean, fighting machine."  Think of the power.  He doesn't just love us - He IS love.  He's not just fighting for us - He IS a warrior.  The two aspects, combined, assure the victory for us, every time!   Makes one glad He's on our side, doesn't it?

God, the Love, established His kingdom.  God, the Warrior, maintains it.