How many verses do you honestly know by heart about how God loves you?
This was totally eye opening for me because I couldn't think of very many. I know that God loves me, but God showed today how important it is to have those written on my heart, to know the depths of his love for me. How can I be completely transformed by his love if I don't know his love by what he says in his word?
Here are some verses of God's love for us:
Deuteronomy 10:15, Isaiah 63:9, Jeremiah 31:3, Hosea 3:1, Hosea 11:4, Zephaniah 3: 17, John 3:16, Romans 5:5, Romans 5:8, 8:35, 2 Corinth 5:14, Ephesians 2:4, 3, 5:2, Titus 3:4, 1 John 3:1, 1 John 4:8-10, 1 Corinth 3
Now seriously think about and soak in all of these statements about God's love and grace for us:
God loves you so much, he would rather die than be without you.
He loves you with an unmeasurable force--there is nothing that can separate you from his love because nothing is stronger than him and he doesn't withhold any of his love for you.
Love is patient-->God is willing to suffer long
Love is kind--> kindness=doing something nice with no strings attached--> it does not envy and doesn't feel bad for what someone else has. God is excited and enthusiastic in his love--his desire is that your life would go better than you deserve.
Love does not boast-->God, in his love is humble. HE is the focus of everything, but in his love, he doesn't punish you for being focused on yourself.
Love is not rude-->God will never force you to do anything you don't want to do --we have a misunderstanding of God in that we think he'll force us to do all these things we don't want to
Love is not self-seeking-->God is not looking to get anything from you, he's trying to GIVE to you today, ALL the goodness he has to give.
Love is not easily provoked or angered-->you can't push God's buttons-he is not mad at you today---he poured out all his wrath on his son Jesus Christ
Every experience of pleasure on earth is tainted with death, but every experience in God's presence is perfect. Sin distracts the very nature of who God is--God is extremely mad at sin, if God was mad at you, you wouldn't be here.
God loves you enough to take all of that wrath in your place.
Because God loves us, his actions towards us are gracious.
In his love, he chooses to give us grace. He loves us because he sovereignly chooses to, even when there is NO righteousness in us.
In our culture, we only love the people that love us--> if we have patience, we will have people in our lives that try our patience. If we are kind, we will love people who don't do anything for us.
We only love ourselves, so we only surround ourselves with people that love us. Do the people that surround you even ask for any love from you? Example of broken marriages= our culture says: when you actually require things that make me love you (patience, kindness, gentleness, humbleness), I don't want to be married to you.
It is in God's nature to love us and he chooses to love us.
GRACE is the sovereign saving love of our heavenly father exercised with omnipotent power inspite of his perfect understanding of us.
God chooses to bless us even though we deserve hell. He never demands any compensation for blessing you.
Grace cannot be won, bought, or earned. Grace is something that God gives--it is a gift, not a right.
Righteousness occurs when you frequent from the well of grace and draw from it everyday.
His grace is experienced through my relationship with him.
What is the result of grace?
-->we are saved, justified, sufficient in all things, it changes the paradigm we live life from. A person who is lacking is seeking to GET, those who have abundance are seeking to GIVE--I am God's gift to the world because of Christ in me, the hope of glory.
We should be looking to bless everyone we come in contact with if we are people of grace and should be excited because we are going to bless someone.
If I have an abundant life, I would give. It's a state of distributing, not receiving.
Has God's grace become a reality in your life, or are you not convinced that God loves you that much--are you producing the fruits of the spirit? Are you acting in love? (peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, self-control, humility?)
Love is supposed to be something LIVED.
As a result of his love pouring out on me, I should in turn, love others.
"If I don't love my brother whom I have seen, how can I love God whom I have not seen?"
If someone jumped in the ocean, what would be the proof---? A: they would be wet.
If someone says God loves me. What would be the proof?--That person should love.
God loves us excessively, extravagantly, omnipotently, recklessly. He loves us with absolute, complete abandonment.
If I am loved by God, it is going to have a profound impact on how I live my life.
RESPONSES OF GRACE:
1) Humility=it should humble me that God loves me so much
2)Trust--I should trust him--why would God withhold any good thing from you?
Grace keeps me rooted in today and keeps me worrying about tomorrow. Learn to engage God in the present, take one day at a time because TODAY is where God meets you.
3)It should cause me to participate with him, to take action. Inactivity is a rejection of grace. Are you taking advantage of your 24 hours everyday of grace? We work because we have grace, not to receive it-- I work in ministry because I understand that God is gracious and as I step out in faith, he will do above and abundantly beyond all I could ever ask or imagine.
4)Contentment--our culture has taught us how to abound. We have substituted materialism for pure joy. George Clerie's hope for us is that we all become dirt poor and in that state are able to say "God, you are enough."
Do you love this world more, or do you love God more?
Mordecai's challenge to Esther:
" If you remain silent at this time, be assured deliverance will come through another person." Even if Esther didn't act, Mordecai knew the character of God and knew he would use someone else who was willing to engage. If you will engage God, you will find his favor in it.
Don't see his favor as an opportunity for your flesh, but an opportunity to bless others.
What if you shifted your paradigm and believed that success is built on what you give, rather on what you get?
Worship meeting homework: Write 100 attributes of God.--This is such an exciting assignment because I have been thinking of attributes of God all day. They have been popping up in my head all day and it is such an amazing thing to dwell on--what human can you state 100 attributes about, or even 15? The attributes of God are immeasurable! I will share the list when I finish!
