Despised for our sake!

 He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted

(Isaiah 53:3-4).

Do we really understand the price that was paid for us?  How could we, we were not there! We have water down version of a love that was so great. That not even death could stop this groom for coming for His bride.  He proved How faithful He is to his bride, even when daily we prove to be unfaithful. Thank you Jesus of the amazing love that you have for us! A redeeming love, a sacrificing love, a never ending love!

How easy we forget the price

 He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed

(Isaiah 53:3-5).

How easily I forgot the price that was paid for me! Was paid in blood and suffering. Why do we walk around acting ungrateful and with a chip on our shoulder? Jesus did it all for us. He told us that we would have troubles and trials in this thing we call life. Lord God fill us with your joy  and peace!

The Love God has

 So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him

(1 JOHN 4:16).

To my own shame I must admit  I have endeavored to walk with the Lord for decades, only in recent times have I started to really believe God loves me.

My problem was that I kept focusing on myself, instead of God.

I saw myself in my immaturity with all my faults and failures. I was not looking at Jesus the perfect sacrifice, but focused on myself and my shortcomings.

Even though I preached messages on the love of God, I never had complete confidence that God truly loved me just as I was. Instead I thought more in terms of God tolerating me, but not being too happy with me.

I was trying my best to do what I thought God wanted, not really realizing that I could never earn God's love.

Now I am realizing that God's love is not dependent on me, but is entirely dependent on God alone. He does not love me because I am lovable, but because by nature He is perfect love.

As long as I thought God's acceptance of me and good standing with Him was based on my performance, it made it hard to believe God loved me.

I could believe God accepted me, that He didn't want me to go to hell. I could believe God tolerated me. But I did not believe God was happy with me. I did not think He took any delight in me.

Have you ever had a child? I can tell you, as a parent, that it is a great delight! Every child, no matter how many you have, is very special to you. You love them so deeply it is difficult to express.

So I have decided to believe the Bible. God is my Father. He is the perfect father, so He loves me! 

He Has Overcome

"These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.” -John 16:33 (NASB)

Jesus is preparing His disciples for His death, resurrection, and ascension into heaven.  This is His promise to them: You will have troubles.  You will suffer.  Life will not be easy for you.  That should put paid to any health and wealth, prosperity, false gospel.

But he doesn't stop there.  He says "take courage."  The King James translates this "be of good cheer."  He is calling His disciples to joyful confidence.  Why should they have joyful confidence?  This world says trials and suffering are not something to be joyful or confident about.

Jesus gives them the reason.  What do we expect here?  Why would we be joyfully confident in this suffering?  Is it because He's going to take it away?  No.  Is it because He's going to protect us from it?  No.  It is it because ultimately it's all for our good and we'll look back on it in the future and say "Thank you, God, for letting me go through that?"  No.  It's none of those things.

Here's why we can be joyfully confident in the midst of every tribulation and trial and sorrow and suffering:  Jesus has overcome the world.  Not "He will overcome it."  Not "He's overcoming it."  Not "He might possibly redeem what you're going through."  Our Lord has already overcome the world.  We serve a King who reigns over every circumstance, over every suffering, over every sorrow.  And He took them on Himself on the cross.  His wounds poured out blood for the healing of the nations and for the healing of our sinful, broken hearts.  Thank you, Jesus!

Looking to Jesus

 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope

(Romans 15:13).

I can not speak about you, but this verse. I claim for myself as I’m surrounded by darkness. So I must look to Jesus. My government, my job or my family will not save me from the dark times that are upon us! Lord renew my mind and strengthen my body. Let my mind be upon you, instead of focusing on the enemy. For you are God all by yourself . There is no one greater than you. Which is why I must put my eyes and my hope upon you oh Lord. Deliver me from weak flesh filled with fear, worry, anxiety. Replace it with your perfect love!

Our hope must be

 The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake

(Psalm 23:1-3).

My hope is in the fact that Jesus Christ is our redeemer! He wants you and I to fully trust Him with more than our money, but with our hearts and our lives. Are you ready to blindly trust Jesus both in good times and in hard times??? Has He not keep you this far?

No other Name but Jesus

And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved”

(Acts 4:12 ).

So to make sure I understand, there is no other way into salvation? What if I were a good person? Well I would never be good enough, for you see we are measured by the one who was and is good enough. This is not like horse shoes, close enough does not work! Only through Christ are we  redeemed making us right with God. So there is no other name in heaven or the universe that we can be saved by. It Christ alone. If you think you can stand before a just and perfect God without Christ as your advocate you will not like how that will end. But for those of us who have accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior and have placed our trust in Jesus as our Savior. We are the redeemed of Jesus!

 

Be strong in the Lord

 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm

(Ephesians 6:10-13).

Every day I that I don’t lean into the word of God and pray I find my old Master ready to welcome me back. His name is fear. Yet I keep crying out to my Father for I know that no weapon formed by man or the evil one can take me from the hand of God! I must learn to dress for battle daily! When I fail, like Peter I must cry out Jesus after all He is my Savior and Redeemer! That is no storm to great that He can’t calm!

Thy name is selfishness

 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things

(1 Corinthians 13:4-7).

This is the type of love God has for us!

Selfishness is  a disease/ the first sin. Some believe  it is natural for a human being to be selfish to look out for our self. I say no this began in the garden it was a lie that was believed. This is why Jesus told us we need to be born again. We need to become "new creations" with a new nature the nature of divine love. We need to have the love of God in our hearts.

Then we will have the ability, if we so choose, to walk in divine love and put the interests of others before our own. When you have everyone doing that, you have heaven.

Buddha does not offer this cure. Mohammad does not offer this cure. Only Jesus Christ offers this cure for mankind.

There is only one way to be cured from this fatal disease of selfishness receiving Jesus Christ. When you receive Him, Jesus imparts His life to you giving you a new nature.

How to

So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ

(Romans 10:17).

A literal translation, tells us that faith results from accepting the word of God as being trustworthy and true.

How does someone get faith in God? By being presented with truth about God, and accepting it as the truth. Faith in God comes by choosing to accept the message of God.

We must not restrict our understanding of how faith comes to our physical sense of hearing. Every way we can receive information about God is an avenue that can bring us faith.

Bible faith can result from what is seen according to (John 20:8;20:29).Faith in God can also come through the sense of touch. Otherwise no deaf and blind person could ever be saved, for they receive the message of God through reading braille with their fingers.

You can go to the Bible and decide to believe it. Then you will have faith in God, for the Bible is God's written Word. We get faith in God by making a decision to accept God’s written Word, the Bible, as truth worthy of being acted upon.

So if someone says they don't have much faith, the solution for them is to see the evidence from God's Word on that subject, then choose to accept what God said as true.

 

Let us be know as children of the king!

 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes

(Deuteronomy 6:6-8)

To my shame, most of my walk as a Christian, I have made it all about me. Not realizing that it is by God’s grace and mercy that I’m here. God the Father and king of kings, deserves true worship from those that truly love Him. God demonstrated His love for you and I. By  having Jesus suffer and die for full payment of our sins. Jesus rose on the 3rd day as we also rose with Him. Making us dead to sin. Before we were slaves to sin. What an Amazing love that the Father has for you and I!

 

I long to know your will daily

 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts

(Isaiah 55:8-9).

One of my favorite scriptures. It reminds me that there is a God and I'm not Him! Though I long to know my Heavenly Father and His will for my life.  As I seek Him I will find Him! Lord teach me that I might know more of you. I desire to know and do your will daily.

Let us trust instead of walking in the fear

 for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.’

(2 Timothy 1:7).

Yet fear is an issue I still allow into my life. The good news is that. God remains  the same loving Father even in my failure!  God is merciful. He delivers me from my enemies and walks with me in my worst storms. Lord help me to trust fully in you that I would trust you no matter the storm. For Jesus is my redeemer, yet what should I fear if God is for me.  The children of God are held in the palm of God's hand. Who can remove us from His hand? The answer is a simple one, no one can. So let us trust in the creator of the universe and all that was and will ever be. Let us l not lean on our strength for it will fail us! Jesus will never abandon you, for He suffered and died and rose from the dead. So that we could be united with the Father in Heaven.

Crazy love

 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins

(1 John 4:9-10).

It is a crazy love that the Father has for His children! How many of you would die for a murder,  a liar, a thief, etc? Well, that is exactly what Jesus did for us. While we were yet His foe, He loved us! What a price He paid for you and me.

Who do they say you are?

 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

(Matthew 22:37-40).

How shall we be seen as separate from the world? If you indeed are a true follower of Christ, then should not your actions speak of Christ and love?

Or does your speak of a selfishness instead of the selflessness Jesus demonstrate. My children are know by their last name being the same as mine. As a child of the king of kings, your identity must be in Him! Yet if He light and you walk in darkness then you can not be a child of light. Until you come out of the darkness and start to do things we see our Heavenly Father do. Which starts in love and ends in redemption of the lost.

This is not a prosperity gospel message.

 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart

(Jeremiah 29:11-13).

This is not a prosperity gospel message. Instead it is a loving Father, tell us do not believe the lies about me. For I love you more than anything. I will not abandon you! I will complete the work I have begun in you. Trust in me and my great love for you. This scripture is a promise from a Father to His child not to worry. This is a loving Father who does give His child a stone when the child ask for bread to eat. Above all else God’s word has proven time after time to be true. So let us trust in God the Father and give thank to the son Jesus Christ who redeemed us and now we are children of God! We have an amazing loving Father.

1 John 4:18-21

 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother

(1 John 4:18-21).

Love is  a characteristic of a true child of God. You can not be a child of God and hate your neighbor while claiming to love God whom you have never seen.

Love does no wrong

 For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law

(Romans 13:9-10).

If we walk in the true love of God. Then we have no worries of violating God’s commandments. For you see if I love with God’s love. I will not lie, steal, murder or do any form of harm to my brother or anything that is in his possession. For a pure love that can only come from surrendering all to Jesus and accepting His perfect will for our lives!

Love as we ought to instead of how we do

 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us

(1 John 4:11-12).

Wait doesn’t that scripture read? We ought to love others however we feel they deserve to be loved? Or perhaps it should read we ought to love them once they have treated you well or they have earned the right to receive your special love? First off what is special about your love, besides the fact it is selfish? Then no of us should want a selfish love. We should desire a love that is purely given with expectations in return. Given simply because it what demonstrates to the world you are truly a child of God! When you show the same selfish love as the world has, no wonder no one wants to believe in Jesus cause you have never shown them Jesus only your selfishness. Tap into the real deal of the love of God so we might know how to love with pure unselfish love. That is something the world has not seen in a long time!