"I always see the Lord near me,
and I will not be afraid
with him at my right side.
Because of this,
my heart will be glad,
my words will be joyful,
and I will live in hope.
The Lord won't leave me
in the grave.
I am his holy one,
and he won't let
my bones decay.
He has shown me
the path to life,
and he makes me glad
by being near me."
Acts 2:25b-28
(quoting David in Ps 16)
I'm realizing there is a big fear Satan has tried to push on me most of my life - the fear of being rejected and left alone. We all crave that unconditional love, to know we're known, understood, and completely embraced and delighted in...accepted. And it seems the reverse of that is the fear of being misunderstood, uncared for, ignored, and abandoned....rejected.
But God says in the New Covenant of Grace, "You ARE accepted in the Beloved" (Eph. 1:6) and "I will NEVER leave you or forsake you!" (Heb. 13:5b)
In the good news of grace, God is promising us that He accepts us without the possiblitly of our ever being rejected and left alone/forsaken. He has so rigged the New Covenant that it is based on Christi's faithful work in His perfect, once for all time sacrifice, and also based on Christ's undying presence before the Father as High Priest of the New Covenant. We have a perfect sacrifice, a perfect righteousness given to us, and a perfect High Priest standing up for us against all the accusations of the enemy! We can't be condemned because we have HIS own righteousness! We have been perfected forever through HIS perfect sacrifice! And this stands forever because HE ever lives to intercede for us! And what's more, He has sent His own Spirit into us to be the life source within us, a life that is eternal and CAN'T be destroyed! The Spirit is in us as a law, HIS nature has been given to us as our new nature, and that nature CAN'T sin or turn away from God, for He's the HOLY Spirit who always believes, thinks, and acts right!
We are a clean temple with the Perfect God of the Universe dwelling within, and it's all set up in such a way that it can't be revoked, changed, or ruined by us! That's because the whole New Covenant is based on HIM and HIS work, and therefore it's settled and done forever...Wow! We have really been brought into perfect union with God forever, in an unchangeable way, for it's impossible for God to lie, and He said, I will NEVER LEAVE YOU OR FORSAKE YOU; instead, He promises with an oath, even, that Surely I will BLESS YOU!
He will never leave us. He is always near us. He is within us, Spirit bonded to spirit! Our spirits are ONE! You can't get any closer than that!
This gives me great relief and joy. We will never be abandoned or left alone to face this world on our own. We have Big Brother Jesus backing us up, the dear Comforter Holy Spirit guiding and reassuring us and being with us through it all, and Father God carrying us in His arms at ALL times - we are safe, secure, found, hopeful, cherished, free from fear - His perfect love won't ever be removed from us, and it's a love that ACTS on our behalf to move mountains, calm storms, heal broken bodies and hearts, and change circumstances to always bring us through in victory. His is a love and a life that always conquers, always wins, is always over all!
Grace reigns through Jesus Christ in my life! All because of Him, and I need do nothing - He has done it all and will carry it to completion! Thank You, Lord! Your nearness makes me rejoice and sends the fear of abandonment away!
Rob Rufus - the Holy Spirit Tells Us We Are Righteous!!
What a wonderful thought by Rob Rufus on what the Holy Spirit is telling us:
"The Holy Spirit isn't telling you that you are a sinner - He is telling you that your sins are gone and that you are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus.
"The Holy Spirit testifies...that your sins are forgiven! That you are perfect forever and that God doesn't remember your sins anymore.
"Give your testimony: 'I am the righteousness of God.'"
Rob Rufus
Wow! How awesome to be able to stand and say, "I am righteous! I am the righteousness of GOD in Christ Jesus! I am not evil but righteous! I am not a slimy wormy sinner but a clean and pure saint! I am glowing with the glow of Christ and my heart has been cleansed and is now good and pure, for I am righteous and have Christ's very own divine nature in me as my very nature!
I read recently that righteous means without sin, sinless - SINLESS! That is what we are because of Jesus! God has MADE us the righteousness of Christ in Him! At our rebirth, we were recreated and remade that way, and we will be righteous before Him forever! Righteous before we do anything right today! Righteous even if we blow it today! Righteous once for all, righteous forever, right with Him, pleasing, in right standing before Him, accepted and acceptable! We please His heart! We make Him smile, sing and shout over us with love-shouts of joy! Wow!
Thank You, O dear Father God, for Your marvelous grace shown to us through Christ! Thank You, Jesus, for being MADE sin for us, so that we could be MADE righteous with Your righteousness! Thank You, Holy Spirit, for telling us it is SO, especially when the devil attacks us with lies and tries to make us ashamed. Thank you that whoever believes on You, Lord, will never ever be put to shame! You lift our heads high to look at Your face and see the love and acceptance in Your eyes! And You lift us up to look in triumph on the enemy! We are living in the freedom and joy of GRACE! Living in Your perfect right standing before the Father! Thank You, God! I felt like a failure today over something I felt I'd done wrong, and You reminded me of all this wonderful truth that we are forever RIGHT with You through Jesus! Thank You! Amen...
"The Holy Spirit isn't telling you that you are a sinner - He is telling you that your sins are gone and that you are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus.
"The Holy Spirit testifies...that your sins are forgiven! That you are perfect forever and that God doesn't remember your sins anymore.
"Give your testimony: 'I am the righteousness of God.'"
Rob Rufus
Wow! How awesome to be able to stand and say, "I am righteous! I am the righteousness of GOD in Christ Jesus! I am not evil but righteous! I am not a slimy wormy sinner but a clean and pure saint! I am glowing with the glow of Christ and my heart has been cleansed and is now good and pure, for I am righteous and have Christ's very own divine nature in me as my very nature!
I read recently that righteous means without sin, sinless - SINLESS! That is what we are because of Jesus! God has MADE us the righteousness of Christ in Him! At our rebirth, we were recreated and remade that way, and we will be righteous before Him forever! Righteous before we do anything right today! Righteous even if we blow it today! Righteous once for all, righteous forever, right with Him, pleasing, in right standing before Him, accepted and acceptable! We please His heart! We make Him smile, sing and shout over us with love-shouts of joy! Wow!
Thank You, O dear Father God, for Your marvelous grace shown to us through Christ! Thank You, Jesus, for being MADE sin for us, so that we could be MADE righteous with Your righteousness! Thank You, Holy Spirit, for telling us it is SO, especially when the devil attacks us with lies and tries to make us ashamed. Thank you that whoever believes on You, Lord, will never ever be put to shame! You lift our heads high to look at Your face and see the love and acceptance in Your eyes! And You lift us up to look in triumph on the enemy! We are living in the freedom and joy of GRACE! Living in Your perfect right standing before the Father! Thank You, God! I felt like a failure today over something I felt I'd done wrong, and You reminded me of all this wonderful truth that we are forever RIGHT with You through Jesus! Thank You! Amen...
More Great Quotes from Rob Rufus
Here are more great words from Rob Rufus on His wonderful grace toward us and our new identity in Christ:
"I am His son because I have the DNA of rebirth."
"[God says to us:] Everything I have is yours! You are My son -it's automatically yours! Irrespective of your behavior - it BELONGS to you!"
"[What we have] all day, every moment of every day, every second - is open heaven fellowship closeness with the Father - no condemnation - even when [we] do wrong.."
"At the cross, Jesus identified with you at your worst so that in Him you can be identified with Him at His best."
"Grace is God's total and absolute acceptance of you unconditionally..Grace is also God's empowering presence of life!"
"Your identity is forever settled and God gave it to you and made you in His image and likeness."
Rob Rufus
"I am His son because I have the DNA of rebirth."
"[God says to us:] Everything I have is yours! You are My son -it's automatically yours! Irrespective of your behavior - it BELONGS to you!"
"[What we have] all day, every moment of every day, every second - is open heaven fellowship closeness with the Father - no condemnation - even when [we] do wrong.."
"At the cross, Jesus identified with you at your worst so that in Him you can be identified with Him at His best."
"Grace is God's total and absolute acceptance of you unconditionally..Grace is also God's empowering presence of life!"
"Your identity is forever settled and God gave it to you and made you in His image and likeness."
Rob Rufus
Rob Rufus on What the Gift of Righteousness Means for Us
Here is a great quote from Rob Rufus that I read recently. It is so uplifting to think of this wonderful gift of righteousness God has given us and what that really means for us!!
"What does the gift of righteousness mean? It means 'right standing with God!' The gift of righteousness gives you permanent, unconditional, irreversible, from first to last right standing with God. Now what does right standing with God mean? It means that there is nothing between you and the Father.
"Right standing - nothing separating us! Does the Father have any problems with the Son? Is there any conflict between the Father and the Son? Does the Father pint out the Son's faults? No! You are in Christ and through what happened on the cross you are actually ONE with the Father! So actually friends - every second of every moment of every day you are actually as close to the Father as Jesus is!"
Rob Rufus
"What does the gift of righteousness mean? It means 'right standing with God!' The gift of righteousness gives you permanent, unconditional, irreversible, from first to last right standing with God. Now what does right standing with God mean? It means that there is nothing between you and the Father.
"Right standing - nothing separating us! Does the Father have any problems with the Son? Is there any conflict between the Father and the Son? Does the Father pint out the Son's faults? No! You are in Christ and through what happened on the cross you are actually ONE with the Father! So actually friends - every second of every moment of every day you are actually as close to the Father as Jesus is!"
Rob Rufus
O God, You are an Endless Ocean (Jonathan Helser)
He and His love are an endless ocean, infinite in scope. We will never come to the end of that love, that goodness, that joy and peace, that Presence! We are floating in His presence, and His waves of love constantly flow to us and over us. Whatever our need, He is an infinite supply for us, meeting our need out of His riches in grace, out of His boundless sea of kindness and favor toward us!
Conversation
Me: I am the biggest failure this planet has ever seen!
Him: You are beautiful to Me!
Me: How can You say that when I act and seem and feel so very ugly, inside and out!?
Him: It's the way I MADE you..I MADE you beautiful, inside and out, when I regenerated you.
Me: I don't see it..I look at myself and see faults and uglies..
Him: I look at you and see the image of My Son!
Me: Really? He is so beautiful and lovely, so perfect and wonderful. I wish I could be like Him..
Him: I see Him every time I look at you. And I am so proud of you!
Me: God, how could You love me and be proud of me when I don't even love myself and all I feel sometimes is shame about who I am?
Him: That's not who you are, that's who you were without Me. Look at yourself through My eyes only..you are perfect to me!
Me: Let me see myself through Your eyes!
Him: Snuggle up close and I will show you..I love these times together, and I love YOU so very much!
Me: I love you, too, dear Daddy!
Him: You are beautiful to Me!
Me: How can You say that when I act and seem and feel so very ugly, inside and out!?
Him: It's the way I MADE you..I MADE you beautiful, inside and out, when I regenerated you.
Me: I don't see it..I look at myself and see faults and uglies..
Him: I look at you and see the image of My Son!
Me: Really? He is so beautiful and lovely, so perfect and wonderful. I wish I could be like Him..
Him: I see Him every time I look at you. And I am so proud of you!
Me: God, how could You love me and be proud of me when I don't even love myself and all I feel sometimes is shame about who I am?
Him: That's not who you are, that's who you were without Me. Look at yourself through My eyes only..you are perfect to me!
Me: Let me see myself through Your eyes!
Him: Snuggle up close and I will show you..I love these times together, and I love YOU so very much!
Me: I love you, too, dear Daddy!
The Real You (Dan Stone)
Here is a wonderful quote from the book The Rest of the Gospel, by Dan Stone.
I read this recently when I was down on myself because of a failure in my life. As I read, my sense of condemnation and shame over how I'd failed just melted away! All the vague feelings that the enemy tried to put on me - feelings that God might look on me with disappointment or displeasure - just disappeared! The fog of confusion lifted, and I could see once again that His face had always been and was still turned toward me with a loving look and a smile! That is the power of the good news of grace, isn't it?! It is the power of God to save - deliver - us from the devil's lies, sinful confusion, feelings of doubt, etc. into the glorious freedom of being unconditionally loved and perfectly RIGHT with God!! The good news of grace is so powerful in my life, and I love how it brings me right back to reality, the new creation, Spirit-reality that God has brought about in my life..and in the lives of all of His dear children!
I love how in the quote below, Dan Stone describes the real, true self, the real and true US that we REALLY are because of Christ! He has regenerated us and made us a new creation, and that person, our true self, the deep-down spirit-self within us, is complete and perfect - that is how we've been MADE!
"You are a righteous person...
When He look at you, He sees the nature of His Son.
He sees you as love.
He sees you as joy.
He sees you as peace.
He sees you as righteous.
He sees you redeemed.
He sees you justified.
He sees you perfect.
He sees you complete...
This is the real you.
Your false self - your flesh and its independent efforts to cope in the world - is not the real you.
The real you is a new creation: righteous, holy, blameless, acceptable, beloved."
Dan Stone
I read this recently when I was down on myself because of a failure in my life. As I read, my sense of condemnation and shame over how I'd failed just melted away! All the vague feelings that the enemy tried to put on me - feelings that God might look on me with disappointment or displeasure - just disappeared! The fog of confusion lifted, and I could see once again that His face had always been and was still turned toward me with a loving look and a smile! That is the power of the good news of grace, isn't it?! It is the power of God to save - deliver - us from the devil's lies, sinful confusion, feelings of doubt, etc. into the glorious freedom of being unconditionally loved and perfectly RIGHT with God!! The good news of grace is so powerful in my life, and I love how it brings me right back to reality, the new creation, Spirit-reality that God has brought about in my life..and in the lives of all of His dear children!
I love how in the quote below, Dan Stone describes the real, true self, the real and true US that we REALLY are because of Christ! He has regenerated us and made us a new creation, and that person, our true self, the deep-down spirit-self within us, is complete and perfect - that is how we've been MADE!
"You are a righteous person...
When He look at you, He sees the nature of His Son.
He sees you as love.
He sees you as joy.
He sees you as peace.
He sees you as righteous.
He sees you redeemed.
He sees you justified.
He sees you perfect.
He sees you complete...
This is the real you.
Your false self - your flesh and its independent efforts to cope in the world - is not the real you.
The real you is a new creation: righteous, holy, blameless, acceptable, beloved."
Dan Stone
My Dear by Bethel...
My Dear (Hunter Thompson, from Bethel):
I am Yours and You are mine / I am ravished by the sight
Of one glimpse into Your eyes / My lovers coming for His bride
For there is none upon the earth that I desire before you, Lord
For you’ve been faithful all my days Your love endures,
it will never fade away
I need to say what my soul is singing
I need to say what my heart is screaming
That I love You my Dear / I love You my Dear, my Dear
I love You my Dear / I love You my Dear, my Dear
You’re everything I ever wanted, everything I ever needed
You’re everything I ever wanted, everything I ever needed
You’ve ravished my heart, You’ve ravished my … (repeat x4)
The Nature of God (Graham Cooke) - Part 2
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May the amazing grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the extravagant love of God, and the intimate friendship of the Holy Spirit be with all of you. 2 Co. 13:14