Loving One Another

I walk into a church. At the door are greeters and they say "good morning" but after I get inside, I look around and suddenly feel alone. People are busy getting their coffee and donuts and chatting with their friends. It seems that nobody notices me. During the service, we learn about what God desires for the church - diversity and communion with each other - even those that are different. How can we embrace those that are different from us when we can't even embrace those that seem to be the same?

I realize that we are all different. We are not comfortable with others. We live in a broken world. A world that has broken ways of relating. We have fears of rejection, of being let down or hurt, and trust issues. When we reach out to others, things always get in the way; jealousy, insecurities, indifference, busyness, and annoying behaviors. This is the tactic of our enemy. He wants to keep us divided. He knows that a kingdom divided cannot stand. God is in the business of reconciliation. He wants us reconciled both to him and to others. We were created for relationship.

"Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God." (1 John 4:7) Friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. (1 John 4:11)

The first thing we see here is that we are to love another. Why? Because God loves us. He loved us so much that he sent his son that we might have life. That we might know his love because love comes from God. It's really the only way. Our broken, selfish nature just doesn't really know how to love. We expect to have "feelings" but that usually is just attraction. We like the way someone looks or the status they have. We are attracted to the things we desire for our own lives. If we are not "attracted", we do not initiate relationship. But God says that we ought to love one another because He loved us. I can tell you - there was nothing very attractive about us, yet God, because of his most amazing Grace gave us what we didn't deserve - His love.

"God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. In this way, love is made complete among us... There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear…We love because He first loved us. If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a lier. (1 John 4:19-20)

When we have a growing relationship with the God who is love, then God makes love complete among us. Once again, God does it. God's love is wide and deep. He loves us and loves others through us. When we are loving others in the power of the Holy Spirit, there is no fear. We do not have to worry about what the other person can do for us or give us. We don't have to worry if they will like or accept us. There does not have to be an "attraction" or a "feeling". We just love because we live in God and He lives in us.

"Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart." (Proverbs 3:3)

Father God -
You are abounding in love and faithfulness, never withholding and always maintaining your love to a thousand generations. You have filled the earth with your enduring, unfailing love. How priceless is your unfailing love! You ask us to not hate our brother but to love him like you love him. We admit Lord, we do not know how to do that. It is only through your love that we can even begin to know about this thing called love. Pour your love into our hearts, precious Savior. Your perfect love is the only power we need. May we love you with our whole heart, soul, and mind and may we seek to be filled with your Spirit and be empowered to see others through your heart and eyes. Then your perfect love will drive out our fears. Thank you for redeeming our life and giving us crowns of love and compassion! We put our hope in your unfailing love. Lord, let your face shine upon your servants and save us in your unfailing love. Surely, goodness and love will follow us all the days of our life. Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you. (Psalm 63:3) For Great is your love, higher than the heavens! Amen

Cry Out To Jesus

There is hope for the helpless, Rest for the weary, Love for the broken heart
There is grace and forgiveness, mercy and healing, He'll meet you wherever you are
Cry out to Jesus, Cry out to Jesus ------- Third Day

Does Jesus really "meet us wherever we are"? Yes! But.... He won't let us stay there.

The reason that baby boy was born over 2000 years ago was for you and I. God loves us so much that he sent his Son (John 3:16) -- for you. Praise God! We are the helpless and He is our hope. The prophet Isaiah tells us that "those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

"do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired of weary, and his understanding no one can fathem. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak." (Isaiah 40:28-29) Feeling "weary" after all the holdiay hubbub? Cry out to Jesus! He is rest for the weary. He never grows tired. He desires to give you his strength. Receive it for it is for you - right where you are.

Did someone break your heart this Christmas? God is love and his love endures forever. The earth is full of his unfailing love. Even when we walk through the shadow of death, his love endures forever. He prepares a table and anoints us with oil. His love follows us all the days of our life. It reaches to the heavens. He is not an angry God, He is a God abounding in love. A God who forgives all our sins and heals all our diseases, who redeems us from the pit. As if that wouldn't be enough, He then crowns us with love and compassion! When you are brokenhearted, cry out to Jesus. There is grace and forgiveness. Because of Jesus, God does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. He has removed our transgression from us. As far as the east is from the west."For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous." (Romans 5:19) Jesus paid the price for our sins and we are righteous in his sight! He meets us right where we are and then shines his light into our darkness, exposing the lies and revealing his truth. He finds us dead in our sins, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. That's where we start out. BUT... Because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ. We are sinners, saved by his grace. We do not deserve it, we can't work for it. It is ours for the taking when we CRY OUT TO JESUS. There is hope for the helpless! Jesus will meet us wherever we are and then he will take us places that we could never imagine! Thank you Lord for meeting me right where I am. All honor and glory to you, my God and my Lord.

Father Are You There?

A little child lay in the dark; the room was strange, she saw no where, she was afraid; but then she called, FATHER, ARE YOU THERE?She felt a hand, so strong and warm, close clasping hers; then calm and clear. she heard her father's tender voice, YES, LAS, I AM HERE.Like the small child, we sometimes feel that we are in the dark of care; In terror of some harm, we call, O FATHER, ARE YOU THERE?We reach our hand to Him, and find, a blessed answer to our fear. His hand holds ours; we hear His voice, FEAR NOT FOR I AM HERE.So though we tremble in the dark, in need of strength and help and cheer, We have a tender Father's word, FEAR NOT, FOR I AM HERE.Dinnie McDole Hayes

You are not alone. You will call upon me and come and pray to me and I will hear you. "You will seek me and you will find me; when you seek me with all your heart, I will be found by you, says the Lord." (Jeremiah 29:12-14)

Father God,
You are always with us. In all our days, in every moment, if we open our eyes and heart to you, you are there and you desire to be found. You are everlasting love, everlasting life. When we are needy, you are sufficient. When we are helpless, you are helpful. When we are weak, you are strong. When we feel alone, you are intimately present. When it is dark, you are the only light we need. When we are insecure, you are our rock and fortress. Thank you Father for your faithfulness.
Jesus - thank you for the cross. There is no sinner that your blood cannot save. No sin that your blood cannot forgive. Your blood heals our wounds, breaks the chains of bondage and destruction, redeems our shame and pain and struggles of life. Thank you, Jesus for your sacrifice.
Holy Spirit - The counselor, the comforter, the Spirit of truth. When we are lost, you regenerate. When we are thirsty, you give us water. When we are divided, you unite. When we are carnel, you convict. When we can't pray, you intercede. When we are visionless, you show us things to come. When we are purposeless, you show us purpose.
Father, Son, and Spirit - fill us with joy and peace that we might overflow with hope. Thank you for your love, mercy and grace. We need you. We can't live without you. You are the light of the world. Make your face shine upon us O Lord! We give you honor and glory every day, every hour and every moment. Amen

We Live By The Spirit

"So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature" (Galatians 5:16)

We inherited a sinful nature. Before that dreadful day that Adam and Eve ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they lived a life under the watchful, loving hand of God. All their needs were provided for. God had made them "in his image" to rule over the earth under God's authority. Adam was to do nothing without God. God would do his work in the world through His children.

After many years of man trying to "do it on his own" in his inherited sinful nature, God , in his mercy, sent His Son to earth so that man could be "reconciled" to God. Jesus death on the cross was payment for our sins. God placed all of His judgment on Him for our freedom. Freedom from what?

Freedom from the sinful nature. How does that happen? By accepting the "sacrifice" and placing our trust in God. By allowing him His authority over us as originally intended. Not only did God himself pay the price for our sins, He also put his very being inside of us. The Holy Spirit would live in every believer to guide and direct them that they would be transformed and conformed into the perfect image of God.

"…your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own. You were bought with a price." (1 Cor 6:19)

We are not our own - we are God's. He is our authority and if we want victory in this life, we must trust , abide in and submit to God. The Holy Spirit lives in our spirit. God's revelation comes from the Holy Spirit into our spirits.

What this means is that we must "live by the Spirit". Romans 8:8 tells us that "those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God." But Praise God! Paul continues and tells us "You however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you."

Romans 8:10-11 tells us that if Christ is in us, (if you're a Christian, He is), our Spirit is alive because of righteousness. 1 Cor 2:12 tells us that "We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us." The Holy Spirit is the motivator, energizer and operator of every revealed plan or vision from God. He wants to reveal our God-nature and cause us to live in a higher level than we now live. He is the only power to live the Christian life.

"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)

As Christians, we now serve in the new way - the way of the Spirit. We are to "set our minds on what the Spirit desires." (Rom 8:5) "... the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace…. (8:6)

I will be writing a lot in this blog about the Holy Spirit. (I already have some notes on my FB page) Through Christ Jesus, the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. My body is dead because of sin and my spirit is alive because of righteousness. I believe with my whole heart and soul that a Christian cannot live a victorious, fruitful life without submission to God's Spirit. I desire that all Christians know that "The Spirit of him who raised Jesus Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies, through His Spirit."

Freely Justified

"But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known... this righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus." (Romans 3:21-24)

I did not used to think that I was a sinner. I wasn't a murderer, I went to church on Sunday. I was a good person. But this verse tells us that ALL have sinned. The prophet Isaiah tells us "All our righteous acts are like filthy rags." Paul told the Romans that there is no one righteous, not even one. So, what's a person to do?

"When a man works, his wages are not credited to him as a gift, but as an obligation. However, to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, his faith is credited as righteousness." (Romans 4:4-5)"this righteousness comes from God for all who believe through faith in Jesus Christ". Jesus came to earth to die as a sacrifice for our sins. God sent His Son to bear all the sins of humankind - past, present, and future. We are now free from our bondage to sin.

"You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly." (Romans 5:6)

Our sins are forgiven because of what Jesus did. God loves us so much that he took the very life of His Son as a ransom - a payment for the wicked, sinful things we do. We do not deserve it. It is a gift. We have been justified (God's act of mercy in which He declares believing sinners righteous, while they are still in their sinning state) through faith in Jesus. We are saved by Grace, through faith.

Jesus came for the sinners. You and I. 2.000 years ago, He came to earth to reconcile us to God by payment of our sins by His death on the cross. He rose again to life and today He is is still alive and active. He is the way, the truth and the life. He is rest for weary and power for the weak. He is the perfect lamb of God and He came to cleanse us from our sins. We can not "do better". We can only give it to Him and receive His free gift. We are forgiven because of what He did. We are made right with God because of what He did. We are transformed moment by moment into His perfect image as He cleanses us and imputes His righteousness into our souls. It's His work, it's why He came.

What can wash away my sins? NOTHING BUT THE BLOOD OF JESUS.

The Gardener, The Vine and the Branches

"I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. I am the vine, you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit... (John 15:1,5)

Without God's help, we are powerless to heal our pain and transform our ingrained patterns. We can not control the process of healing and transformation. We think we can. We try with all our might. We fail and then condemn ourselves and end up in a worse place! The rest of John 15:5 says "apart from me you can do nothing". We must stay attached to the vine. We need to be rooted and grounded in God's love. Being "rooted" means supported, grounded, and fixed firmly. A plant does not produce its best flowers or fruit unless it has its roots firmly planted. This takes special care, a rooting solution, extra water, and careful observation that all is well. Once a plant is rooted, it is kept strong by its roots. When we are rooted to Christ Jesus, our nourishment comes from him. Our transformation comes from his love and grace. Our job is too stay "rooted" or connected to Him. We submit ourselves to the process and we get the nutrients God provides, we endure the weeding and pruning and we absorb the water and sunlight of his love, grace and truth.
Many times we want to hurry through the growing process but just as a plant begins as a seed, so does our healing. Just as the soil needs to be prepared and nurtured, so do we. The Holy Spirit begins a good work in us and guides us in all truth (1 John 16:13). He is our constant companion and indwelling source of comfort and power. He awakens us to our sinfulness and broken state. He stirs and agitates us as HE prepares our soul for the grace and love of Jesus. As we receive this life giving nourishment and submit to the process, God will produce a harvest. We can not will healing or growth; like a growing plant, with the right ingredients, it happens.

"just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness." (Colossians 2:6-7)

"Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God." (Hebrews 12:2)

The Love of Christ

"that you may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long, and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge - that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God." (Eph 3:18)

Paul wants us to know "the love of Christ" - a love that "surpasses knowledge". "this is love; not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins." (1 John 4:10) "the life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me." (Gal 2:20)

Our nature before we know the love of God is a nature of selfishness, pride and rebellion. God came to earth in the person of Jesus Christ to cleanse us from our sins (Isaiah 53:5) making us "white as snow." (Psalm 51:7) "It is by grace you have been saved". (Eph 2:8) We are changed by God's unmerited, undeserved favor (grace) and his amazing love. We are chosen (Eph 1:4), redeemed (1:7,) sealed with the Holy Spirit (1:13), made alive with Christ (2:5), and put back in to right relationship with God. This is "the love of Christ".

So how does one "grasp how wide and long, and high and deep is the love of Christ"? WE CHOOSE HIM. Through faith, we come boldly to the throne to receive. We come helpless and empty and ask him to "open the eyes of our heart" (Eph 1:18). We receive God by faith. Active faith is a commitment of mind and heart. We ask him to "strengthen us with his power through his spirit in our inner being (3:16). We pray that he fill us "to the measure of all the fullness of God" (3:19). We come with open arms receiving God's gift through faith. God's love is unending and those who open their lives to it will be filled. Those who open their arms and receive love are forever blessed. They will not only receive God's love; they will become love-bearers themselves.

Father God, you are love. Thank you for loving us. While we were living in the ways of this world, your great love chose us. Today we choose to come to you as little children. Our hearts open to receive. We desire to know the depth of your unending love. A love that can only be found through faith. We submit our mind, spirit and body to you, O Lord. Your love cleanses us and gives us new life. Enlighten the eyes of our hearts so that we might know you and your indescribable gift of love. We come boldly, yet humbly to your throne in the name of your Son, Jesus Christ who loved us and came to make us white as snow. Who came to shine your love and grace in our hearts. Amen