BELIEVE IT OR NOT... YOU ARE LOVED!
Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in my love.
John 15:8
I talk to people quite often who have a hard time really believing that God truly loves them. I mean they believe that God loves people... but they are not so sure He loves them. They do not see themselves as deserving or worthy of His love, so they surmise that He does not/could not love them. Does that describe you?
In John 15, the Lord tells to abide in His love, to stay connected and remain in His love. He says His love for you and me is as great as the Father's love for Him. WOW! Can you get your mind around that?
BELIEVE IT!
Without question, the most important thing in your life and mine is to truly believe this truth: God really does love us with an everlasting love. The greatest commandment is to love God with all we have within us (Matt. 22:37). We cannot begin to do this until we understand and receive His great love for us - "We love, because He first loved us" (1 Jn. 4:19).
One of my favorite verses in the Bible is found in 2 Chron. 7:3, "And all the sons of Israel, seeing the fire come down and the glory of the Lord upon the house, bowed down on the pavement with their faces to the ground, and they worshiped and gave praise to the Lord, saying, 'Truly He is good, truly His lovingkindness is everlasting.'" Did you catch that? It says, TRULY!! Truly He is good, and truly He loves me!!!!
When I blow it, and the devil moves in on me to tell me God does not love me anymore because of the sin I committed, I remind my self of "TRULY!!" When life is falling apart and I feel forsaken of God, I remind myself of "TRULY!!" The fact of "truly" trumps all my negative feelings and all the devil's lies.
It is a rock solid truth that God is good and that He loves you and He loves me. Over and over and over again, the Lord speaks of His lovingkindness (His loyal, faithful and unfathomable love) toward us. If there is anything we should know from reading the Bible it is this main truth. The bloody cross of Jesus Christ screams out these life-changing words, "I LOVE YOU!!!!" Even though you and I are sinners and have done terrible, horrible things, God STILL loves us and wants to work mightily in our lives.
THE SOONER, THE BETTER
The sooner you believe and receive God's great love for you, the better you will be. What happens to a person who truly believes and receives God's great love?
That person feels a tremendous sense of acceptance and peace.
That person will be free to love the Lord back.
That person will be free to love other people (see Rom. 5:5).
That person will be able to face life with joy and a song in his/her heart.
That person will see difficult circumstances as an opportunity for Jesus to shine.
MY CONFESSION
For me, I have to continually remind myself of the truth of God's love because I can easily see all my shortcomings and conclude that there is NO WAY He could love me. I can easily start focusing on all the negative circumstances in my life and conclude that all these difficulties are arising because He does not love me. Those are lies from hell!!
As I write this, I am making a fresh declaration this day. I invite you to join me in it:
I am tremendously blessed and favored because the One who matters the most, God, thinks the world of me. He TRULY loves me... and nothing can ever change that (Rom. 8:38-39). He has purchased me with His own blood, and He has a special and wonderful plan for me. I choose to believe and receive His love, and reject the devil's lies. I will rejoice and be glad this day because He loves me, He is good, and He never fails to work all things together for good in my life.
Remember, my friend, your number one job as His child is to keep yourself in His love... and love Him back with all that you are. If you do this each day, you will be led by His Spirit and your life will be a great success in His eyes.
Love,
Pastor Jeff Schreve,
From His Heart Ministries
Dr. Jeff Schreve believes that no matter how badly you may have messed up in life, God still loves you and has a wonderful plan just for you. From His Heart provides real truth, love and hope on over 700 radio stations each day, in 182 countries each week on TV, and is always available online. Pastor Jeff takes no income from this ministry. All donations go to furthering the broadcast outreach. As a listener/viewer supported ministry, we thank you for joining with us to help speak the truth in love to a lost and hurting world. Go to www.fromhisheart.org for more information.
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