It is All About God's Love

Romans 8:37 - 39 (The Message)
None of this fazes us because Jesus loves us. I'm absolutely convinced that nothing—nothing living or dead, angelic or demonic, today or tomorrow, high or low, thinkable or unthinkable—absolutely nothing can get between us and God's love because of the way that Jesus our Master has embraced us.

For this week's encouragement I am using the Message translation, as it gives us a fresh perspective on one of the most powerful Truths in the Universe; that God Loves us unconditionally, and nothing is going to get in the way of that Love!

Friends, this is the central Message of Scripture, the pivot around which the entire Gospel hinges!  That God Loves you unconditionally.  Now, you may have heard that on a number of different occasions, and it may not seem personal to you anymore.  This is why Paul prays for the Ephesians in Ephesians 3:19 that we might know this Love.  Because like this verse says, nothing will faze us when we live in the revelation that God Loves us.

I once heard a preacher named Jason Westerfield say that him and his wife have raised their son in a way that he would know how much he is loved.  Because of this, he thinks everyone loves him.  And this affects how he lives and deals with people.  And if people don't love him, it doesn't faze him, because everyone else loves him.

This is how we should live, knowing that we are deeply Loved by the Creator of the Universe, and therefore not letting anything affect us!

What is incredible in this passage in Romans is that Paul emphasises that nothing can separate us from God's Love for us.  And do you know what brought about that revelation?  The Cross.  "The way Jesus embraced us" is referring to what Jesus accomplished on the Cross.  2 Corinthians 5:19 says that God was in Christ reconciling the world (that's you!) to Himself!

Friends, Jesus sweated blood in the garden of Gethsemane because of what He was about to face at the Cross.  And He endured it because He saw a glorious day on the other side of it all where you could be one with Him!  That is the depth of His Love for us!

The more revelation we receive of the Cross, the more we will become convinced that nothing can separate us from God's Love for us!  My friend, know this today, that nothing can separate you from God's Love!  Absolutely nothing!  You are deeply and passionately Loved by your Heavenly Father, and He went to the very furthest He possibly could to ensure that nothing can stand between you and His Love!  Receive it today, and know, that no matter what you have done and where you have been, He Loves you with a Love that can barely be conceived by the natural mind.

I pray each and every one of us would receive a fresh and deeper revelation of the Work of the Cross, and God's Unconditional and Unending Love for us personally.

AMEN!

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For some good sermons regarding God's Love, here are two links worth downloading...

Right-click the link and then click "Save Target As" and save it anywhere on your computer:

- God's Love is Above All Things

- The Love Revolution

Sanctifcation By Grace - Part 2

Ephesians 4:22 - 24
You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.

Last week we looked at the fact that as Christians we still have the ability to choose to do the right or wrong thing; or in some cases even do nothing at all.  And we also explored the Truth that at being Born Again, God gave us a New Nature that wants to make the right choices.  And I promised I would continue with this again this week.  Hopefully to explore the practical side of "how to" make positive choices.

Well, the truth is, there is no easy way to help Christians make more positive choices and say no to the "negative" ones.  There are hundreds of ways of going about it, but none are easy.

For a preacher, it is easy to get up in front of a congregation of thousands and a TV audience of millions and shout at the audience telling them to pray more, help more of the poor, love their spouses and kids more, stop smoking, drinking and swearing etc.  That is the easiest route of them all for a preacher.  It will play to the religiosity of man's mindset and they will agree with shouts and applause (most anyway).  But all the preacher has done is put more requirements on these well-meaning Christians, raise the bar even higher, and told the people if they call themselves Christians they should be jumping over that bar.  But guess what?  When they can't, they will feel like failures.  They will feel unworthy as children of God, and so will continue the downward spiral into a legalistic system of self-effort.

Like most Gospel preachers, I know that most Christians want to do the right thing and say no to the negative stuff.  We want to help people make the right choices in their lives, but we don't want to "set a standard" by which people would compare themselves to and thus feel one of either unworthy or self-righteous.  This is the difficulty for the Gospel preacher.

I think Paul faced the same difficulty.  He would sympathise with his followers in their every day lives of making right choices, but he didn't want them to ever feel like he was superior to them and they didn't make the grade.  I believe this is why in each of his letters he would spend at least 3 chapters emphasising the Christian's Royal Identity and God's unconditional Love and acceptance for them.

And so we finally get to this text...  This is what he was doing here in Ephesians.  He had spent the last 3 chapters emphasising God's Love and Grace, and in chapter 4 he starts to describe the Christian life.  Note:  He doesn't prescribe the Christian's life, he describes it.  Christianity is not a prescribed set of rules, it is a life lived in Love, and that can look very different in various people.

By the time he hits this passage in verses 22 - 24 he gets to the root of the Christian way of life.  And I believe it is three fold:

1)  The corruption of the old self and it's deceitful desires
2)  The attitude of the mind
3)  The new self already created to be like God

Understanding these 3 areas are keys to "victorious Christian living".  (A subjective phrase in itself!)  I believe it always comes down to understanding that there (1) was a corrupt old man that we used to be.  (2) God recreated us and regenerated at the Cross and Resurrection, and (3) our minds need this revelation to live this Truth effectively.

So, after a length introduction, let me try and briefly explore these 3 parts of this powerful Scripture...

1)  Put off the old self
The original Greek of Paul's writing says the "old human".  In the original Greek, Paul was saying "stop acting the way of your old humanity. That old human was corrupt and only getting more corrupt.  That's not who you are!"

2)  The attitude of the mind
Paul continued:  "The old human was crucified with Jesus on the Cross!  It is gone and we are completely new people!"  The problem is that our minds still have a few imprints and memories of that old human, and we can be led to believe that we are still like that old self.  We are not like that old person any more, because we have been recreated in His Death and Resurrection!  We are completely New People!  And it is in the mind where we need to understand this.

What is interesting is that if you have a look at the King James Version you will note it says to be "renewed in the spirit of your mind."  


Could it be that Paul is saying that we should allow our spirits to influence our minds?  Our spirits contain the Fruit of the Spirit, they contain God Himself!  If we had to allow what is contained in our spirit-beings to influence our minds, living the Christian life could be a whole lot easier and a whole lot more natural!  Think of Galatians 5:16.

3)  The new self already created to be like God
Here is a mind-bender for you...  In the original Greek Paul says to live the way of the "new human".  His word is "anthropos" from where we get the word "anthropod".  What this seems to point to is that our entire humanity has been made new!  We are entirely new people!  We need to be reminded of this Truth over and over again.

Paul then goes on to say that we have already been created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness!  True righteousness and holiness is God's righteousness and holiness!  He made us Holy!  He made us Righteous!  What He says goes.  We don't need to do anything to be righteous people.  We are righteous people!  When we believe this and realise it, we will live and act like it.

So you see, once again I believe it comes back to the mind.  When our minds realise the paradigm shift that our old self is gone and our new selves are created to be like God, making the positive choices becomes second nature.  We begin to operate "righteously" (if you like) from a sub-conscious level.  But it is imperative we "reprogram" our minds to believe that we are already righteous and holy and when we do, living that way eventually becomes "second nature".

Friends, while I have tried to tackle this subject practically, the more I delve into it the more I come to the conclusion our living righteously and making positive choices comes back to our minds understanding who we really are through what Christ accomplished in making us New People.  That really is the essence of it all!

Sure, making right and positive choices is imperative to the Christian life.  But it would seem God wants us to reprogram our minds so we eventually get to a place where we live this way sub-consciously.  Not to become self-righteous in our self effort of trying to live righteously, but to make positive choices and live in such a way that reflects the Nature of God here on Earth, and creates a culture of Love and victory.

So for now, the best practical advice I can say is to actively make the choice and decision to delve into the Word.  Listen to preachers and read material that delves into the Truth about your New Identity through what Christ accomplished at the Cross.  Give yourself to the Word, and reprogram that mind to live in the way God created you to live!

As always, your thoughts and opinions are appreciated.

Have a blessed week!

In His Grace,

James

Nothing Separates You From God's Love!!

Do you feel condemned? Maybe you feel like you aren't worthy enough to come to God?

If you are feeling that... then you have been lied to!!!

Check out what the Scripture says:

Romans 8:1
"There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus."

Do you see that? NO CONDEMNATION!! If you have been born again, then you are in Christ Jesus. And if you are in Christ Jesus, then there is NO CONDEMNATION that can come against you! Any condemnation or guilt you feel is from the devil, and it is illegal!

That means that you can come boldly before God your Father, and allow Him to hold you, and love you, and satisfy every deepest desire of your heart. My friend, when you feel His Love wash over you, everything else in life pales into insignificance.

And NOTHING can separate you from God's Love! NOTHING! It is freely available, all you need to do is come as you are.

Look at what the end of this passage says:

Romans 8:38 - 39
"For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers,
Vs 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord."

What is holding you back? NOTHING! Come boldly today. Sit at His feet and let Him speak words of Life to your spirit. Let that Love set your heart on Fire once again.

I firmly believe that God's Presence is directly related to His Love. The Bible tells us in 1 John 4:16 that God IS Love. That means when His Presence washes over you, you will have a supernatural revelation of His overwhelming, undying, unconditional love for you! And that Love will change who you are forever!

It's one thing to KNOW in your mind that God loves you, it's another thing altogether to actually EXPERIENCE that Love. God wants you to EXPERIENCE His Love for you.

If you are longing for more of God's Presence over you, and a deeper revelation of His Love, then why don't you pray this right now, right where you are? Maybe aloud? Maybe in your heart. And then go find a quiet place, and let Him Love you...

Father,

I come to You as I am. You know me inside out. And yet You Love me perfectly.
Reveal to me Your Love for me. I don't just want to know it in my head, I want to FEEL it in my heart. Let me FEEL Your Love. Reveal to me Your Love. The Love that You displayed at the Cross of Jesus. I want to know You deeply, Father. And I ask that you take me deeper and deeper into Your Love. Wash it all over me like a river. Please Father.

Thank You that You have revealed Your Love to us by sacrificing Your very own Son Jesus. Your Love is the Most Amazing Force in the Universe! Reveal it to me Lord!

In the Amazing, Holy Name of Jesus!

Amen!