Do you feel … loved?

Posted on janLeave a commentPosted in Grace, Love

                                          … because you are?

In the account of the woman at the well
      Jesus said to her, You have well said, ‘I have no husband,’
      for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you
      now have is not your husband; in that you spoke truly.
      John 4 1-26

Why did Jesus show up her sin,
… yet praised her at the same time?

When God shows us our faults,
… our weaknesses or our sins.
He does not do that to judge or condemn us,
… but to free us from what is holding us back,
to help us step into the fullness of His love!

      You will never know Love until you feel loved,
      … which God does by accepting you as you are,
      Not to stay as you are,
      … but to guide you into love through grace, to
      where you know you are accepted as you are.
      How?
      By helping us see what is wrong in our lives!

What is it that God is doing?
God is opening the way for you
… to walk away from what is wrong
and into what God has prepared for you.

      A life free of the pressure of sin and guilt
      … that special place in Him
      … where He can be your strength,
      where love becomes your guide and your peace.

      if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation;
      old things have passed away; behold,
      all things have become new.
      2 Cor 5:17
 

Created by …

Posted on jan1 CommentPosted in Character, Love

                                                   … Love!

Created like Love,
… in the image of Love.

      Then God said, Let Us make man in Our image,
      according to Our likeness;
      Genesis 1 26

Created by Love,
… from the heart of Love.

      He who does not love does not know God,
      for God is love.
      1 John 4 8

Created for love,
… in the likeness of Love.

      Love has been perfected among us in this:
      that we may have boldness in the day of judgment;
      because as He is, so are we in this world.
      1 John 4 17

Created with love,
… in the presence of Love.

      Now hope does not disappoint, because
      the love of God has been poured out in our hearts
      by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
      Rom 5 5

Created to love,
… in communion with Love.

      And we have known and believed the love
      that God has for us. God is love, and he who
      abides in love abides in God, and God in him.
      1 John 4 16
 

Faith …

Posted on jan1 CommentPosted in Faith, Love

                                                      … works!

Ever wondered why the apostle James wrote,
FAITH WITHOUT WORKS IS DEAD?

Well, what works is he referring to?

Considering that your works show your heart,
… they show what is behind your faith,
so therefore …

      If your works are about you,
      … there is no God in your faith,
      as you are depending on yourself and your ability,
      … and that faith is not going to work!

      If your works are about others,
      … then your faith is God-based,
      because,
      … faith is working through love.
      Galatians 5 6

Love is what links your faith to God,
… and is what makes faith work for you!
As Paul wrote to the Corinthians …
      And now abide faith, hope, love, these three;
      but the greatest of these is love.
      1 Corinthians 13 13

And the apostle James concluded,
      Show me your faith without your works,
      and I will show you my faith by my works.
      James 2 18

If God’s way of doing things is in you,
… God’s provision will also be in you,
and your faith will surely not be dead,
 

Filled with …

Posted on janLeave a commentPosted in Faith, Responsibility

                                              … His divine nature!

Ever wondered what it means to be in Christ?

      If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things
      have passed away; behold, all things have become new
      2 Cor 5:17

What exactly is this new creation?

      For we are His workmanship,
      created in Christ Jesus for good works
      Eph 2 10

How did God do this?

      as His divine power has given to us
      all things that pertain to life and godliness,
      2 Peter 1 3

So how should I live this new life?

      If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you,
      you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.
      John 15 7

And how will I manage that?

      But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will
      send in My name, He will teach you all things, and
      bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.
      John 14 26

When you are in Christ, the kingdom of God is in you.

      So simply respond to His divine nature
      – that is in you,
      and let His Spirit teach and guide you
      – into the fullness of life in Him!
 

Perfected…

Posted on janLeave a commentPosted in Character, Potential

                                                              … in us!

      Love has been perfected among us in this:
      that we may have boldness in the day of judgment;
      because as He is, so are we in this world.
      1 John 4 17

But how do I get to know this perfected love?
Quite simple …
      seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness,
      and all these things shall be added to you.
      Matt 6 33

And you will both know Him and how you should live,
… how He does things and all that He has prepared for us,
those …
      exceedingly great and precious promises,
      that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature,
      2 Peter 1 3-4

That divine nature, as He is,
… is what is also in me, and therefore,

      I can love others!
      I can bless others!
      I can forgive others!
      I can lay hands on the sick!
      I can stop those things I don’t want to do!

Yes, I am a partaker of His divine nature
… and the more I find out about His divine nature,
the more I will walk away from my old nature
… and live that overcomer’s life that is mine!

      because as He is, so are we in this world.
      1 John 4 16
 

Now abides …

Posted on janLeave a commentPosted in Faith, Hope, Love

                                          … the greatest!

      And now abide faith, hope, love, these three;
      but the greatest of these is love.
      1 Corinthians 13:13

Why is love the greatest?
Well, what is hope all about?

      Hope is what is stirred up in you,
      through something that you see as an answer
      … a something that you can believe in
      a word or a promise from God’s Word
      … that you can see happen for you!

So, what then is faith?

      Basically faith is a step or an action on your part
      … an action in response to a word from God
      … that you believe God can and will do for YOU!

OK, so now, what about love?

      Why is love the greatest?
      I thought that God is the greatest?
      Exactly, for God is LOVE.

Hope is seeing something real – in God!
Faith is being convinced – God can and will do it!
LOVE is God – God Himself in action!

      And we have known and believed
      the love that God has for us.
      God is love,
      and he who abides in love abides in God,
      and God in him.
      1 John 4 16

And that is how faith and hope work!
 

Good things take …

Posted on janLeave a commentPosted in Covenant, Trust

                                               … a little longer!

God created the heavens and the earth.

      So God created man in His own image; in the image of God
      He created him; male and female He created them.
      Then God blessed them, and God said to them,
      ‘Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it;
      have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air,
      and over every living thing that moves on the earth.’
      Gen 1 27-28

and afterwards He looked at all that He had done.

      God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good.
      Gen 1 31
      Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because
      in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.
      Gen 2 3

However it seems – good things take time
… to become all that they were created and meant to be,

      For whom He foreknew,
      He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son,
      Rom 8 29
      For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus
      for good works, which God prepared beforehand
      that we should walk in them.
      Eph 2 10

Allowing creation to grow, develop and receive
… the fullness of His plans and purposes for it
through LOVE.

      Love has been perfected among us in this:
      that we may have boldness in the day of judgment;
      because as He is, so are we in this world.
      1 John 4 17
 

Do you know

Posted on janLeave a commentPosted in Grace, Potential

                                                         … who you are?

Do you know who you are,
… and where you are going?

      Therefore, if anyone is in Christ,
      he is a new creation;
      old things have passed away;
      behold, all things have become new.
      2 Corinthians 5 17

Before you will know where you should be going
… you have to know that you are a NEW creation.
If not, then your future is insecure,
… for you’re building your future on an old foundation.
As God so clearly said to us …

      For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord.
      They are plans for good and not for disaster,
      to give you a future and a hope.
      Jeremiah 29 11

However this means that
I must first start living who He made me to be,
… that new creation that I am in Him.
Then His plans for my life become real,
… because I have the right foundation to build on,
and that is when I will also be able to say …

      And we know that all things work together
      for good to those who love God,
      for those who are the called according to His purpose.
      Romans 8 28

… because I am a NEW creation in Him!
 

Spiritual Weapons

Posted on jan1 CommentPosted in Faith, Trust

                                          … of our Warfare!

      For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal
      but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds,
      2 Cor 10 48

What is the essence or reality of spiritual warfare?

      Put on the whole armor of God, that you may
      be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
      Eph 6 11

What are the WILES of the devil?

The wiles of the devil are his trickery, his lies and deceit,
because he knows that the only way he can stop us,
… is to mess with what we believe,
… and so hinder our faith walk.
The devil cannot stop what God is doing,
but he can try stop us believing in what God can do!

Therefore God says to us (Eph.6 13-18)
… take the whole armour of God.

Girded with the truth … What God says!
The breastplate of righteousness … Your right standing!
The gospel of peace … knowing what is yours in Christ!
Shield of faith … knowing how and where you are going!
Helmet of salvation … protecting and directing your thinking!
The sword of the Spirit … His Word for you and in you!
Praying in the Spirit … hearing and depending on Him!

So…
      seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness,
      and all these things shall be added to you.
      Matt 6 33
 

A living relationship

Posted on jan5 CommentsPosted in Covenant, Relationship

                                                … with Him!

      I have come that they may have life,
      and that they may have it more abundantly.
      John 10 10

A life changing statement,
but how do I get to live this life,
… and to live that abundance Jesus spoke of?

In explaining to us what this life is that we have in Him,
Jesus said …

      I am the way, the truth, and the life.
      No one comes to the Father except through Me.
      John 14 6

Telling us that it is only through a living relationship with Him
… that the way becomes accessible,
… that the truth becomes clear,
and that LIFE becomes real!

      for in Him we live and move and have our being,
      Acts 17 28

For it is out of this life in Him,
… out of a living relationship with Love Himself,
that life becomes a life in abundance!

      A life in abundance in which,
      … whatever comes towards me
      … or whatever comes against me,
      will be turned into a victory for me!