What a Wonderful Salvation - Believing Doesn't Make It So, It Just Helps Us Enjoy It!

Since everyone was included in Adam's sin, everyone was included in Christ's righteousness!
Since in Adam all died, in Christ all are made alive!

Believing this good news that He saved us from sin and death allows us to relax and enjoy the journey home that we are guaranteed to complete! Our spirits are already there, seated with Him in the heavenly realms, and our bodies are sure to catch up - the Holy Spirit within us testifies to this very fact and guarantees the redemption of our bodies, guarantees that we'll be resurrected with glorified bodies!

Believing doesn't make any of this true or make it happen...believing allows us to relax, rest and enjoy the reality we've been brought into already, the relationship we've been included into already - Jesus has picked us up out of the gutter of sin and death and put us on the Father's lap in heaven, in union and life! We can be at peace and have joy, enjoying wonderful and unhindered fellowship with God as we walk through life together..

We are saved from the heartache of thinking He is far away or angry or punishing, saved from fearfully withdrawing from Him and trying to navigate life alone, saved from the emptiness of thinking we are unwanted and unloved, saved from trying to fill the need for unconditional love with unsatisfying and hurtful things, saved from feeling we must earn approval and saved from fear that something we do will bring rejection, saved from bondage to the LIE that says we are inferior and alienated - because we have been shown the truth - we are loved, we are approved, we are accepted, we are embraced, we are SAVED!

We have found out who He is and who we are.. We don't have a punishing God, we have a forgiving and restoring God.. We aren't unlovable rejects, we are beloved children.. We aren't trapped and hopeless, we are rescued and free!

Now we don't have to go through this life afraid of death, afraid of God, afraid of punishment, afraid of rejection, afraid of anything! His perfect love casts out all the fear of torment or punishment, because we find that He is LOVE that saves, not HATRED that retaliates! "With God on our side like this, how can we lose? He who did not spare His own Son, but freely gave Him up for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things! Nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord!" (from Rom.

What a wonderful God, and what a wonderful salvation!

LOVE Is How He Always Acts Toward Us!

Not only is God loving, but actually God IS Love...Love is who He is, Love defines Him, Love is His nature, He is Love in a Personal Being!  It is such a relief to me that God is Love!  God being Love means that God is ALWAYS Love and He is ONLY Love - He just doesn't ever act any other way than Love!

I started thinking about the different verses on love in the Bible, and it helped me so much to think about them in relation to how God treats us:

Love keeps no record of wrongs, so God, being Love, is never keeping track of the wrongs we do!  Our sin never enters His mind, for He promised to remember our sins NO MORE!  His thoughts concerning us are never about sin but always and only about how good and perfect and righteous and beloved we are.

Love is patient, so God, being Love, will never lose patience with us but will instead endlessly and untiringly teach, help and encourage us, no matter how many times we mess up, and He will consistently support and accept us, even if we never improve, change, get the victory, or 'overcome.'

Love does no harm, so God, being Love, will never harm us!  He will never hurt us, and He will never send anything our way that would be damaging, hurtful or painful to us..He will never send sickness, depression, pain or suffering on us!

Love thinks no evil, so God, being Love, never has a bad thought about us, never plans anything negative for us!  God's plans for us are only good, and His thoughts about us are only positive! 

Love gives up one's life for his friends, and God, being Love, was willing to become a man and die for us even while we were yet sinners!  Love reconciles the world to himself.  We were calling ourselves God's enemies, but He was calling us His friends and dying for us!  He didn't demand that we change, straighten up, or believe right first, He just went ahead and gave up His life for us before we ever made a move in His direction!  In fact, we were running from God in many ways, and He chased after us and caught us up in His loving embrace! 

Love believes all things, and God, being Love, will never give up on you, never stop supporting you, never stop believing in you!  He is your biggest supporter and encourager and will always stick up for you, believe in you, and be proud of you!

Love endures all things, and God, being Love, will endure everything in relationship with you.  You can't make Him leave, He will never reject you.  You can't drive Him away by anything you do or don't do. You can't fail, doubt or rebel your way out of His arms.  He is in this relationship for keeps. He's got you and He's never letting go!

Love never fails, and God, being Love, will never fail you.  He will carry you through anything and everything, whether you always trust right, think right or act right OR NOT!  His love will hold you. His love will sustain you.  His love will be there for you, no matter what, and He will be faithful to carry you all the way home to heaven.  You are so safe and secure in this unconditional love.  For truly, you can't extinguish or ever get to the end of this infinite Love that is God Himself!  He has intertwined Himself with you forever!

Thank You, Papa, for being such Perfect Love!

You Are My God by Jesus Culture Music (Emerging Voices)

"You Are My God"

CHORUS
You are my God, You are my King
To You alone my heart does sing

You are all I ever wanted
You are all I ever needed
You are my God, and You're my King

VERSE
And You are always faithful and true
And You have given me life and placed by Your side forever

BRIDGE
All my days I will live
To seek Your face
To know Your heart

Grace Is For Us Even When We're At Our Worst...

Grace means you don't have to have it all together to be loved, accepted, included and safe in His family circle..you can fail mightily, and still be IN..you can even struggle, rant and rave, doubt and get confused, and He will still hold onto you..you can get distracted, lose hope, get stuck in addictions, and still have blessings come pouring over your life..you can be at the lowest point you can go and be as 'far' from Him as you could imagine, and find Him right there beside you, hugging you, loving you, understanding you, helping you..because grace is love that is FREE, given with no strings attached, therefore everyone - no matter what their lives may look like, no matter what their track record may be - 'qualifies' for grace because you don't have to be 'qualified' to receive it! It just comes freely, with no stipulations, no requirements, no obligations..what wonderful grace!

Even after our very worst sin, when we've sunk lower than we ever thought possible, even then, ESPECIALLY then, He is telling us: NOTHING has changed in our relationship! We are just as close as ever, and I am just as committed to you - and to us - as ever! Our sins and failures don't sway God's opinion, resolve, commitment or stance toward us - how can they, when Christ already took them AWAY and God has promised NEVER to remember them!?!

His forever stance toward us, no matter what, is the stance of the Perfect Father, the stance of the Perfect Husband, the stance of the Perfect Friend! Through Jesus He showed us just how strong and committed He is to us, sending His Son to die for us at our very WORST moment, so lost in sin! He came down, tied Himself to us, reaching down and picking us up from the gutter, and pulled us up to the heavenly places where He reigns! If He went through all that to get us back when we were at our WORST, do you think He is ever going to give up on us now that He has transformed us into His BEST, into a complete and beautiful Bride for His Son? No way! His love, His loyalty to be there for us, in relationship with us, is here to stay, and nothing we do could change that! For Love never gives up on you, no matter what..

It is as if God were saying through Jesus: "I will NEVER leave you or forsake you! You can't change that! You can't change My love for you, My faithful commitment to you! You can't drive me away with your inconsistencies - they don't even EXIST in My mind! I have committed Myself to stick with you forever, to love you forevermore!"

We just can't get away from this Wonderful Love, this Wonderful Lover, that will not ever let us go!

Grace - the unconditional love and acceptance of God that pours over you at all times and that has given you everything through Christ, without you having to do a thing! Before we could do a thing, He loved us...He loved us as we were, in the midst of our sinfulness, and He plucked us out of our sinfulness into His marvelous light through Jesus' finished work! Oh, what wonderful grace! 

Christ's Work of Grace Defines Your Life!

God gave us grace before time began, and Christ the Lamb was slain from the foundation of the world...so what does that tell us? 

It tells us some wonderful news:

Before we ever fell, God had already picked us up! 

Before we ever committed sin and became guilty, Christ already cleansed us and made us righteous! 

Before we ever got lost, He had already found us! 

That is His eternal reference to us - what Christ did and the grace He poured out on us through that act of love!!

Christ's finished work is the true center of our lives around which everything revolves. 

Everything that has happened to us in this time and space arena called mortal life is subordinate to what Christ did for us, for that stands before, beyond, and outside of time itself!

God's final word about you is Jesus and everything He did for you, everything He is for you!

God's final word about you is:

innocent, 

clean, 

pure, 

lovable, 

righteous, 

included, 

accepted, 

chosen, 

held! 

God's ultimate reference about you is His beloved child, and the cross proves it is so, for through it He showed we are so loved, so valuable to Him, that we are worth dying for....And through it He came and rescued His own from the clutches of the enemy and brought us home, all before time even began!

The Good News Is That It Is Already Done!

The good news, the gospel of grace, is that we are loved, accepted, home-free, righteous, and safe - forever - all by God's doing through Jesus' finished work, without us having to do a thing...
His work really is finished and done!  The work is really over, it has really all been done for you by Jesus.  So there is no 'try' or 'must' or 'you should do this' or 'you need to become more that' - there is only the wonderful message that all you've wanted to be, you already ARE, and the place you've wanted to be at, you already ARE at - you are His beloved and precious child, safely tucked into His arms, and He will never let you go.

Since you are already in His arms, you don't have to do anything or become anything to get in His arms!! You don't have to fear anything...You don't have to worry about anything...You don't have to 'do' anything!  Hallelujah, what a Savior!

The message of Grace, of Christ's complete and finished work on our behalf, is the only thing that truly brings relief to our weary hearts...We find in Him true REST for our souls!  

Unlosable Grace..

You cannot run so far as to get away from His grace...
You cannot slip so far as to slip out of His grace..
You cannot doubt so much as to lose His grace..
You cannot fail so much as to forfeit His grace..

You are IN grace and you are never going to be OUT!
He is always going to be there for you, always going to love you, always going to keep you, always going to hold you!
Grace has brought us safe thus far and grace will bring us home..
Safe forever with Him, hallelujah!

Grace is for the broken, the messed up, the unqualified, the ruined, the confused, the doubtful, the failure - grace is for me and for you!
Grace is for those who are running from God, not seeking God, rebelling against God, confused, blind, and hurting - grace is for me and for you!
Grace runs after the least, the last and the lost, runs after the rebel, the selfish, the proud, and grace overtakes us all and wraps us in His arms!
Grace goes into every ditch and hole and pit we have dug for ourselves and grace lifts us up into His embrace forever!

We don't have to qualify for grace or do anything to get it..our failures qualify us for it, and it comes to us constantly through no effort of our own!

We are upheld by an indestructible life, an unconditional love, an unlosable grace - Jesus Himself, Mr. Grace, upholds us in His loving arms always, for He is the same yesterday, today and forever!! We are safe forever in His arms!

No matter what we do, or don't do, His grace upholds and keeps us and is FOR us! For grace doesn't depend on us in any way, therefore nothing we do, or don't do, could cause that grace to stop being there for us!

He will never fail us..
And He will never let us totally fail!
We are safe in His arms, upheld by unlosable GRACE!
We cannot fall out of those arms, we cannot be lost from His love!

Law/Religion is unwinnable...
Grace/Love is unlosable!     

Christ IS Our Life! A Wonderful Post by Gregg Gibbons

This is a wonderful post by my friend, Gregg Gibbons, of Journey in Christ..He has a weekly grace devotional called Gregg's RestStop..check it out sometime, I think you would love his thoughts on God's grace and love!  This post is part of one of his recent devotionals, on how Christ is our life!  So beautiful that our joy, peace, life, hope, etc. is a Person, Jesus Christ!

"Below are Scriptures that attest to our union and intimate relationship with Christ.  I don't claim to understand how to most practically walk out these truths.  However, there are two truths that I am most confident:

 

(1) These Scriptures are God's Word, and God's Word is precise, precious, and true, and

 

(2) I no longer walk alone separately from Christ, even when it feels that way.

 

Hear these Scriptures through your relationship with Christ.

 

CHRIST IS YOUR HOPE

 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ,

by the commandment of God our Savior

and the Lord Jesus Christ our hope...

(1 Timothy 1:1)

 

Christ in you,

THE hope of glory.

(Colossians 1:27)

 

CHRIST IS YOUR LOVE

For the love of Christ compels us.

(2 Corinthians 5:14) 

 

For the love of God

has been poured out in our hearts

by the Holy Spirit

who was given to us.

(Romans 5:5)

 

And the fruit of the Spirit is love...

(Galatians 5:22)

 

CHRIST IS YOUR JOY

Jesus prayed,

"that they might have My joy

fulfilled in them."

(John 17:13) 

 

And the fruit of the Spirit is...

...joy.

(Galatians 5:22)

 

CHRIST IS YOUR PEACE 

Jesus said,

"MY peace I give to you."

(John 14:27)

 

For He Himself

IS our peace.

(Ephesians 2:14) 

 

CHRIST IS YOUR WISDOM

But of Him you are in Christ Jesus,

WHO became for us wisdom from God.

(1 Corinthians 1:30)

 

CHRIST IS YOUR STRENGTH

I can do all things THROUGH Christ

WHO strengthens me.

(Philippians 4:13)

  

CHRIST IS YOUR WAY

Jesus said, "I am THE way..."

(John 14:6) 

 

Jesus said, "I am the good Shepherd...

...My sheep hear My voice,

and I know them,

and they follow Me."

(John 10:11, 27)

 

CHRIST IS YOUR TRUTH

Jesus said, "I am...THE truth..."

(John 14:6)

 

Jesus said, "And you shall know the truth,

and the truth shall set you free.

And if the Son sets you free,

you shall be free indeed."

(John 8:32, 36)

 

CHRIST IS YOUR REST

Jesus said, "Come to Me,

all you who labor and are heavy laden,

and I will give you rest."

(Matthew 11:28)

 

There remains therefore a rest

for the people of God.

For he who has entered His (Christ's) rest

has himself also ceased from his work

as God did from His.

(Hebrews 4:9-10)

 

CHRIST IS YOUR NAMESAKE

For to you it has been granted

on behalf of Christ,

not only to believe in Him,

but to suffer for His sake.

(Philippians 1:29)

 

Beloved, you do faithfully whatever you do

for the brethren and for strangers.

Send them forward on their journey...

...for His name's sake.

(3 John 5-7)

 

CHRIST IS YOUR LIFE

Jesus said, "I am...THE life..."

(John 14:6)

 

When Christ who is our life appears,

you also will appear with Him in glory.

(Colossians 3:4)

 

Jesus said, "I am (the life) of the vine,

you are the branches,

he who abides in me and I in him

bears much fruit,

for apart from Me you can do nothing.

(John 15:5)

 

 

  CHRIST IS YOUR FULFILLMENT

And of His fullness

we have all received,

and grace for grace.

(John 1:16) 

 

Amen and amen!"                    

Gregg Gibbons

God Asks, "Do You Believe What I Believe About You?"

 

I love this wonderful song!  The song says God thinks we're amazing - !  It amazes me that I amaze God! That He could think I am wonderful!  Yet He really does, how beautiful is that!  I want to see myself more and more as He sees me, not put myself down, not think ill of myself, for He NEVER does!  

 

His ONLY thought when He thinks about us is LOVE!  We can see our bad performance and equate our identity with that performance (I know I do this sometimes); God, however, only sees LOVE when He looks at us!  When He looks at us, His mind is never on sin but on how much He loves us and how amazing we are as His beautiful and precious children! 

God Is For You

God is for you...He is never against you!

God is on your side...He is never opposing you!

God is there for you...He is never abandoning you!

God is supporting you...He is never letting you down!

God is carrying you...He is never failing you!

God is working things out for you...He is never leaving the responsibility on your shoulders!

God is blessing you...He is never cursing you!

God is doing good things for you...He is never causing you pain!

God is in you...He is never leaving you!

God is loving you...He is never tossing you aside!

God is faithful to you...He is never giving up on you!

God is accepting you...He is never rejecting you!

God is approving you...He is never condemning you!

God is encouraging you...He is never criticizing you!

God is affirming you...He is never judging you!

God is enjoying you...He is never disappointed with you!

God is embracing you...He is never dropping you!

God is noticing you...He is never forgetting you!

God is valuing you...He is never bored of you!

God is enjoying you...He is never frustrated with you!

God is resting with you...He is never struggling with you!

God is freeing you...He is never restricting you!

God is for you...He is never against you!

We're Already There! (Son by Godfrey Birtill - "Be Still"

How wonderful that our efforts aren't necessary, we're already there, already where we always longed to be, on His lap, snuggled into His arms, close to His heart, completely and eternally ACCEPTED and LOVED!  How wonderful to just be able to be still and enjoy His heartbeat of love for us!  We don't have to try to please Him, we are already so pleasing to our Daddy!  We are already ALL we were ever meant to be - we are ONE with Him, LOVED by Him, HELD by Him for all eternity!  Safe, like a little child in the Father's arms!  Nothing can touch us there, nothing can harm us, nothing can pull us away from Him - He won't ever let us go, His love will never stop pouring out upon us...we are home!

We're In!! And We're Never Going To Be Out!!

We're in, we're in, we're in Christ Jesus, included in the beautiful dance of the Trinity forever!
(song by Godfrey Birtill)

Grace Says We Are FREE!

But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.                        James 1:25

It is amazing that in the new covenant, we have been completely taken out from under law.  The 'law' that we find ourselves under in this wonderful new covenant is called the law of liberty.  How is it described by the NIV above?  As the perfect law that gives freedom!  Wow, what kind of amazing law is this that actually gives freedom!

Usually when you think of laws being put on people, what kinds of words come to mind?  For me, thoughts of bondage/being bound, pressure, fencing people in, rules, requirements, being tied down, being compressed, structure, force, compliance, should and must - these are the words and images that come to my  mind on hearing the word "law"..thoughts of obligation and things being demanded of me, or else something negative will happen.  Yet the verse above says the new covenant law of liberty gives freedom!  How can that be, when law seems to denote restriction and loss of freedom?

I was thinking about this, and I realized that there is another use of the word 'law' in scripture - it can mean a defining or overarching principle, a description of how things work.  Sort of like the law of gravity. What does the law of gravity tell us?  Does it 'demand' that we not float off into space? No!  It describes what is always true of us, tells us that we will not float off into space because we are held on the earth by an overarching force keeping us 'grounded.'  I think the law of liberty may be kind of like that!  This 'law' explains the state we are in now as new creations in Christ - we are in a place of freedom, and we won't be  in bondage to rules anymore, we are free in grace!

What did Jesus free us from?  He freed us from sin, from the effects of sin (death), from the bondage to the law, from the curse, from our futile way of life handed down to us by religious tradition (a performance-based way of life where we thought we had to earn blessings or do certain things to avoid cursing, and it was all up to us, all based on what we did).  Jesus set us free from all this!

We are free from sin's reign in our lives:  Sin doesn't have any control or hold over us, it can't make us do wrong anymore! We are free from sin's bondage!  It doesn't have any power over us!

And we are also free from the rules and regulations of the old law:  The law doesn't have any jurisdiction over us!  The law cannot make demands on us (demands that we could not keep and were doomed to fail at anyway).  The law cannot condemn or curse us or hold a verdict of guilty or a punishment/penalty of death over our heads! 

We are free from living by performance:  We don't have to earn blessings by our good acts, thoughts, words or even beliefs!  And we don't have to worry about incurring curses by our bad acts, thoughts, words or even beliefs!  We will never get all those things completely right, and God knows that.  That is why in the new covenant everything is based on Christ's perfect acts, thoughts, words and beliefs, not our own!  His work is perfect and is already completed on our behalf, and we get all the benefit of it - all blessings, no curses - completely for free, right from His loving hand!  Now that's what I call freedom, that's what I call a glorious new covenant, that's what I call grace!

So what does all this tell me?  We have been so freed from sin's rule over us, law's rule over us, performance-based thinking's rule over us.  One thing it means to me is that we are not under any obligation today.  What a relief this is!

What does it mean to be without obligation?  It means you don't owe God anything.  Nothing is required of you.  God makes no demands on you today.  He is not pushing you.  He is not forcing you to do anything.  There is nothing you have to do, or else He'll be disappointed, withdraw from you, stop working in your life, or stop blessing you! Nothing you do could stop Him from loving and blessing you, because He does those things out of who He is, not based on your performance!  There is nothing YOU have to do, HE does it all; and also there is nothing you HAVE to do, there is no pressure on you to change, measure up, get better, improve, meet a standard, be a good Christian, be more spiritual, or perform in any way!  There is no requirement put on you!

God isn't struggling with you today, wishing you would just shape up or clean up your act!  God is at total peace with you right now.   He is not judging you.  He is not evaluating you.  He is needing nothing from you.  He is completely satisfied with you, just as satisfied with you as He is with His Son Jesus!  If you did nothing at all for God ever again, never even prayed or looked His way ever again, He would be loving you and blessing you just the same!

This gives such relief and rest!  For this means you don't have to 'try.'  You can cease the strivings, you can relax, you can be..you do not have to try..not even try to have more faith or understand grace better or seek His face or ANYTHING..you can rest!  He will do it all.  He will bring you to see who you are in Him.  He will take care of everything that concerns you.  He will manifest your new creation life without your help!  Wow!  You are really free to stop trying to become and just BE your beautiful self that you already are, perfect and lovely and beloved!  You can simply BE and just enjoy life!

You are really free to do anything you wish and it will not change you status with God one bit, because it is totally based on the finished work of Christ.  You are so secure it's beyond words!  You cannot fall out of His grip.  You cannot even fail! Yes, wow, with grace, you cannot fail! Failure will make no difference in your relationship with Him!  Because He bases that relationship totally on His loving nature, Christ's finished work, and His commitment to you, not on anything that you have to do or be.  He is holding up this relationship from beginning to end - and there is no end to it, yay!   You are in Him for all eternity, safe within Him!  So if you fall, the safety net of His grace catches you every time!  He is holding on to you and won't let go!

As R F Capon says, "You can't get away from a love that will not let you go."  That's grace, the love that just won't let us go!  The love that makes us safe and free to be ourselves, free to relax and even do nothing, free to expand our horizons and discover new things, free to ponder and ask questions, free to feel and not be rebuked for the way we honestly feel, free to make mistakes and still be accepted, free to spread our wings and fly!

The new covenant law of liberty describes your state in this new creation realm - in this realm, you are free!  Free to do and be anything!  The question is, what do you wish to do?

Seeing Ourselves As HE Sees Us

There is a place where all our strivings cease..it's in His eyes of love! We look into those eyes that have been adoring us from before the creation of the world, and we see that all we ever wanted we already have in Him - all the love, acceptance, security, friendship, understanding and belonging we could ever want is in Him! And we see ourselves as He does - perfect, innocent, beautiful, flawless! And all the struggles to 'become' somebody better just cease, because we already ARE! We already ARE all God ever wanted us to be! We are just like Jesus to Him! God isn't struggling with us today! He is looking at us as He always has and always will, with perfect delight, absolute affection, and unending joy! You make His heart sing! Let's never listen to any lie that would tell us otherwise! Let's see ourselves as He has seen us since before He even made the world!  We are the treasure of His heart!  We make His heart flutter!  He holds us, He protects us, He understands us, He celebrates us!  We are His PRIDE and JOY!

Long ago, even before he made the world, God chose us to be his very own through what Christ would do for us; he decided then to make us holy in his eyes, without a single fault—we who stand before him covered with his love. His unchanging plan has always been to adopt us into his own family by sending Jesus Christ to die for us. And he did this because he wanted to!                       E[ph. 1:4-6  Living Bible

What Wonderful Good News is the Gospel of Grace..

The gospel of grace is that we are loved, accepted, homefree, righteous, and safe - forever - all by God's doing through Jesus' finished work, without us having to do a thing..and this wonderful good news brings relief, rejoicing, REST! Since you are already in His arms, you don't have to do anything or become anything to get in His arms!!

What good news that it's all already done by His grace:  we're already home and sitting in the Father's lap, already perfect before Him and in spirit to Spirit oneness, without any bit of our effort required... What wonderful rest this brings...we were always meant to live from a position of perfect acceptance, unending love, and unceasing rest! And that is just the position we find ourselves in because of His grace toward us through Jesus!

There is no 'try' or 'must' or 'you should do this' or 'you need to become more that' in this gospel - there is only the wonderful message that all you've wanted to be, you already ARE, and the place you've wanted to be at, you already ARE at - you are His beloved and precious child, safely tucked into His arms, and He will never let you go!   

Hallelujah!  What a wonderful Father, what a wonderful Savior, what a wonderful indwelling Spirit, what a wonderful gospel of grace!