Love Captures Me

What is this love, amazing grace so divine.  It captures my soul, my all.  Who is this King that calls us sons. Whose inheritance is mine.  Who gives me identify and worth and eternity with Him.   Who is this Father whose heart broke for me as He saw His Son on Calvary.  Whose plan was above what man can comprehend to share the love for His delight and mine. For justice and mercy to marry. Who sings and dances with me with a love that is more than this world can explain. Who is this Son that came to rescue me?  To set my heart ablaze and free.  This One who loves me and couldn't leave me in the pit, but came to get me into the family.  To know this love.  To experience His awesome delight in me.  That He would sacrifice it all that i might share in this love so deliberate, so determined, to get me.  For me to receive His love and His grace for me.  Beyond comprehension, beyond my knowledge my understanding.  So astounding.  So majestic.  My mind cannot comprehend.  His greatness and His power but humility to seek me.  To serve me.  To live in me this holy one of Israel. The King of the universe.  Of all universe.  The King of all Kings.  The beginning and the end.  To love me. To lay His life down for me. To sacrifice all for me.

Oh that I know this grace, this joy and peace beyond understanding.  This intimacy within the Trinity.  That no matter what my circumstances I trust His hand and His love for me.  That He is my Father and I am His child.  His ways are perfect and holy and just.  His mercy is mine.  Love so amazing, grace so divine.  He is my life, my God, my all.  I offer a sweet sacrifice of praise to the holy One.  The Only One who is the One true God.

The Power of Words

As a little child I remember saying, "Sticks and stones may break my bones."  "But words will never hurt me".  I would say this to someone on the play ground that would make fun of me.  And then I would run.

We have words inside and outside our head.  Is there someone in your life, maybe at work, at home, even your past. that is recounting your faults.  Telling you what a failure you are?  How you don't listen and you will never learn?  How you can't do anything right?  These words are painful.  They stick in our memory.  They affect what we believe about ourselves.

What do the voices in your head tell you?  Both are full of pride.  I don't need anyone.  I made it this far...I can do it own my own.  Or, I did it again.  I will never be free from this sin or failure.  There is no hope?  God is not listening.  I am all alone.  Does anyone really care.  These words and thoughts are straight from the pit of hell.  Satan knows he can't take you from God but he can make you powerless and ineffective in the kingdom.  He wants you to be independent of God.  He wants to make your life miserable.

Jesus is the word of God.  His words about who we are more powerful than any other words.  We need to fill our hearts and minds with the truth of who God says we are.  We are righteous. forgiven, loved with an everlasting love of God.  We are His workmanship.  Treasures of His grace.  We reveal His glory.  We are saints.  We have the very heart of Jesus and the Father living in us.  We need people of grace, telling us the truth.  We need to ask the Spirit to make these words real to our hearts.

Jesus was reject by man and by God. Jesus suffered so much in thinking about the separation from God, He sweat blood.   'He thinks He is the King of the Jews', they said.  They spat upon Him and beat Him.  They made Him a crown of thorns.  He never opened His mouth.  He kept His eyes on the Father and the plan He had made.  On the Fathers love for Him, even though He couldn't feel it.  We maybe rejected by man but we will never be rejected by the Father or suffer what Jesus suffered, because of Jesus' blood.

 Keep a short account with Jesus.  Keep your heart before Him.  Don't let your hurt turn to anger and bitterness. If it does repent before God.   Forgive as you are forgiven.  'This love of the Father is what has carried you in the past.  Will carry you in the present.  And will carry you home.'  (paraphrased from my pastor).

What is Love?

This afternoon someone had a splinter in their foot.  They ask me to take a look.  It was so deep and had been in there so long it was dark all around the area.  I had to take a needle and dig it out.  It hurt for a little while but then it was so much better.  Now it could heal.

So are our relationships.  We may go on for a while trying to love someone but when there is unresolved sin in the relationship it will never flourish.  When there is anger in the heart, caused by not forgiving.  God, in His mercy, digs the sin out of our hearts and our relationships.  It is so very painful in the process.  But hopefully,  the relationship will be healed and restored.  You cannot fix the relationship.  It takes God and two humble people to restore a sick relationship.

I feel like I have never loved anyone with the real love of Jesus.  I tried to keep the peace at all cost.  Saying what people, not God, wanted to hear.  Doing what they wanted me to do.  I couldn't even make a decision and make it stick for being afraid I would make someone unhappy.  I thought everything was my fault.  I even suffered from depression because I could not control pleasing everyone.

Then there's the opposite of this.  Doing what you want to no matter what God or anyone else says.  Pushing others or rejecting them when they don't do what you want them to do.  You might have outburst of anger when things get out of your control to bring everyone back to where you want them.  Using your anger to manipulate people and the situation through fear.  You have to cover up your own sin to feel justified in your need to fix everyone else.

Neither one of these are love.  Neither heart has been grasp by the love of the Father for them.  They are very self serving at the cost of the relationship and others.  Jesus laid down His life for us.  When you go against your sinful natures inclination to love someone it feels like you are dying.  You are not getting what feels good to your flesh.  Instead you are most interested in the well being of the other person.

 Jesus entered into our world.  He moved into the other persons story.  He listened.  He felt their pain because of the cross.  He would love them right where they were. He let them know they were valuable.  He told them the truth about themselves and their sin.  Even if it wasn't what they wanted to hear.  He got them to see their need for a Savior.  He desired their whole hearts.  He wanted them to be all they could be.  To have a life of peace and joy.  He longed for them to be free to love.

If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. ...

My Father Loves ME!

For the past two years I have been asking my Father to show me His love for me.  I grew in knowledge that He loved me but I hadn't received the truth in my heart.  I would disciple myself with verses like...you have the perfect record of Christ put in you.  It is not you.  It is Christ living in and through you.  Die to yourself.  Surrender to God.  When God looks at you He sees Jesus.  These are wonderful truths but to me they were religious talk.  And I was writing them over and over trying to get them to sink into my soul.  Somehow in these verses alone I was not getting that God loved me.  I felt like yelling, "I know He loves Jesus but does He love me"?  I have to know that deeper and wider than I have ever known it before.

My life was not reflecting what I was saying.  If I was completely honest my heart was condemning me.  I was down on myself all the time.  Talking or thinking about my faults more than how much my Daddy loves me.  I could cave in with criticism.  It would paralyze me.  I would want to go to sleep or run away to something to make me feel no pain.  Oh I would go to Jesus for comfort but I didn't know how to receive that comfort from Him or my Father.  I realized I was consumed with fears.  Going to God with them He began to work in my heart to give me a fearless heart.  I got courage because I knew from my past God would see me through anything.

But I still felt worthless.  I would hear you are not worthy but because of Jesus you are worthy.  I knew what Jesus had done for me on the cross.  I was full of love and gratitude for Jesus.   But I wanted to know God loved me for me.

 People began to pray for me.  I listened to people talk and sermons about grace.  Then I began to think about scriptures that said He loved me so much He sent His one and only Son.  That before time He said, Jesus you see that one.  I want you to go get her.  I want her in our family.  I want her as my child.  That even if I never changed He would not love me any less.  Nothing was going to separate me from His radical love for me.  That He liked me.  My personality.  What made me me.  Not only that but He was going to make me the very best me I can be.  I am a sweet smelling aroma to Him.  When this thing is over and I see Him face to face, I will be in full bloom.   The tears streamed down my cheeks as I read how I was fearfully and wonderfully made.  And how His works are wonderful.  That He searches my heart and He knows me deep within who I am.  And that He delights and sings over me.  And that love will endure forever.

Why Does God Bless Us?

For a while now I have been thinking and praying about a question.  I want to know what does scripture say.  Does God bless us because we obey?  My thoughts right off were...did anyone, besides Christ, obey more than Paul and look at his life.  He went from suffering to suffering.  Did Paul suffer because he sinned?  No!  We are told... He suffered to identify with the sufferings of Christ.  To know Christ and  and the power of His resurrections.  He suffered to the point of death so that he might not depend on himself but depend on God.  He suffered  a thorn in his flesh that he ask God to remove 3 times.  God said my grace is sufficient for you.  God had revealed so much to Paul, he had a tendency toward pride. God used Paul's suffering to humble him, to work in his heart.  God uses suffering to train us.    Paul suffered for the sake of the spreading of the gospel.  He suffered on behalf of the church.  Christ left suffering for the church to do.  Christ suffered but never disobeyed His Father.

The law protects us to a certain degree in this fallen world.  If you do not kill or steal you will not go to prison for being a murderer or a thief.  If a child does not touch the stove he will not get burned.  The law cannot change a heart. To try to keep the law does not mean you know Jesus.  Being good doesn't save you.   As a matter of fact it shows us how much we need Jesus.  Because without the Spirit we cannot love.

We obey not to gain Gods blessings but because we love God.  God says if you love me you will keep my commandments.   Obedience is a sacrifice of worship and praise.  Trusting Christ brings peace and joy to the believer.  But because you obey Christ does not mean your life will be plentiful financially, in ministry, relationships or physically.  As a matter of fact the Christian is promised suffering.  Our hearts are to follow Christ out of deep gratitude and trust.  What is to obey anyway?  To love period. It is faith that pleases God.

 If you say I will just disobey because I am forgiven you don't understand grace.  You are in rebellion towards God.  To willfully sin is as if you crucify Christ again.  God says He disciplines those He loves. He will pull the rug out from under you.  If you are His, He will come get you and drag you home.  Look at Jonah.

Then why does God bless us?  I cannot possibly know all the reasons God blesses us.   Who can know His mind?  All I know is He blesses me all the time and I don't deserve it.  All I know is what scripture says God blesses the just and the unjust.  I believe it gives God great joy to bless.  He even uses our sin to bless us.  He does not bless us nor love us because we are good.  We may suffer consequences of bad choices.  No doubt we will unless God intervenes.  He makes us more like Jesus.  God blesses to bring Himself glory.  For us to know Him and His character.  God is good.  He uses it to win spiritual battles for us. To bring awe to Himself from the heavenly host.  It brings God great pleasure to bless His children.  Can you relate to that?

 Because we are covered with the blood of Jesus we receive the blessings of God.  When He sees us He sees our sin no more.  He doesn't remember it.  We are righteous and obedient and holy because Jesus has given us His righteousness, His holiness, His obedience.  God blesses us because of Jesus.
 Because of the Cross of Christ God will bless you today.  Thank Him.  Follow Him.  Surrender your will to Him.  Worship Him.  He is worthy to be praised.  Trust Him...miracles happen when we have faith.

The Road Less Traveled

Tonight I was with someone riding to their new house.  She was telling me all along where we were and where we were going. Once I drive it I will remember our ride there.  I will remember the things she told me.  But until I find the way myself I will not be able to get there.  I can tell you a lot of what she said.  But I won't understand it until I experience it.

Walking by faith is a little like this to me.  I have heard all my christian life.  Walk by faith not by sight.
I have heard the words but did not see with the eyes of my heart.  We each are on our own journey.  Oh there are similarities.  But we each are pilgrims.  God has an individual plan for each of us.  He is personal.  One thing we all have in common we all are becoming more like the Fathers Son, Jesus.

 It is of my humble opinion that no matter how hard we try we can not rush the process to living by faith.  Believe me I have tried.  God knows what He has to accomplish in each of our lives to move us from a place of self dependence to God dependence.  From oppression to freedom.  From unbelief to trusting. From pain to His comfort.  From fear to resting in His control and His love for us.

He has taken me from the most legalistic slavery, to freedom, from the desert of feeling my pain and worshipping idols by seeking them to comfort me, to facing my giants of the fears in my life, to the Promise Land of on going resting and trusting.  Peace and joy no matter what is going on.  He has not become angry when I ran to other lovers.  He did not fall asleep when I just couldn't move.  When I was so depressed and drugged I couldn't get out of bed. He did not leave me when I ran away.  He did not shame me when I was afraid.  He kept pursuing me as Hosea.  The prostitute who kept trying to find love.

It all makes sense now.  All the years of hearing about living in the unseen not the seen.  We do not reach a point to where we have arrived. But we do move to a place where we have been declared righteous by faith.  Hebrews 11.  Where we live in forgiveness and a clear conscience.  Where God is our constant companion.  Where we depend more on Him than we do ourselves.  Where we worship Him and have no other gods before us.  It is this walk by faith.  It is the Road Less Traveled.

He who began a good work in you will be faithful to complete it.

God lifts us up

God does not promise to remove us from our circumstances.  But to lift us out of them.