The River Within Us

God is an ever-flowing stream within us!

"There is a river whose streams bring joy to the city of God, the holy place where the Most High lives."

Psalm 46:4 (GW)

We are the sacred dwelling place of God. He lives inside us, and flowing out from Him is a river of life, the Holy Spirit pouring forth constantly in an ever-flowing stream. It is a stream of blessing, a stream of love, a stream of strength, a stream of wisdom, a stream of peace, a stream of joy. We do not have to work up enough good deeds, determination, or even faith to get this stream to flow. It is already flowing. It is always flowing! He is taking care of all our concerns right now. He is being more than enough for all our situations. All that we need is found in Him, and He is pouring forth all that He is in us right now. He is bringing us His fullness of joy, His fullness of peace, in the midst of everything we are going through in this life, and nothing can stop the flow of His life in us, welling up in such joy and peace. And He will keep on gushing forth in us, pouring Himself out for us, no matter what.

A Thought: God is pouring His overflowing blessing, comfort, strength and joy in my life at all times, like a stream whose waters never fail.

Just To Be Loved

"Perhaps you were born just to be loved."

Rachael Cannon

"Long before He laid down earth's foundations, He had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of His love."

Ephesians 1:3 (MSG)

We think that we are here to be servants and serve God, doing our duty. But Jesus said He came not to be served but to serve us and give His life up for us in self-giving, other-centered love. We think we must revere, honor God, yet He reveres and honors us, calls us precious, adores us.  We think we must be humble and grovel before God, yet He humbles Himself to take care of us, even to the point of washing dusty feet. We hear the command to love God and others, but He says that we only love because He first loved us. 

Long before the world began, long before time began, we were already the object of His affection. We were already loved. That is the whole purpose of our existence - not to work for God as His servants but to be loved by God as His children. All He wants is to love on us! We are loved, just as we are, with no conditions, forever and always, with the infinite love of a Perfect Father. 

A Thought: I exist to be loved by God!

The Freedom of Grace

"The lightness of grace...sets loose the lightest feeling of life: being accepted; totally, unreservedly accepted."

Lewis Smedes

"You live under the freedom of God's grace."

Romans 6:14 (NLT)

There is such a freedom to living under God's grace.  It is the freedom of knowing we're completely secure in His love.  It is the freedom of total acceptance. It is the freedom of knowing that nothing we do could ever change what Jesus did for us. It is the freedom of knowing that nothing can take us out of Him. It is the freedom to simply be ourselves without fear of rejection or judgment. It is so safe here. We can relax. We can laugh, run, play and dance in the sunshine of God's forever love. We can know His smile is always upon us, and we can fall asleep in the warmth of His embrace, totally at rest, knowing we are completely understood, unreservedly taken in, and loved with no possibility of being unloved!

A Thought: I am free to be myself in His presence.

Love, Not Punishment

God's love and mercy towards His creation triumph over any notions of judgment or punishment. 

"Mercy triumphs over judgment."

James 2:13

People may hear that "God's justice demands that He punish sin." Actually, His justice (righteousness, fairness) demands that He heal sin, since He is responsible for creating this world and allowed the option to sin to exist here, thus allowing sin and suffering and death to happen. If God allowed sin to happen in His creation, it would only be fair and responsible that He repair the damage caused by sin to His creation. So whatever goes wrong with us humans, who were just born into this broken world, He is responsible for bringing restoration and healing. God is a good, kind, committed caretaker of His creation!

The truth, then, is that God is Love. And His Love demands that He heal and remove sin from His beloved humans and His beloved creation! There is no way He would let sin keep hurting us, His created children who are called His own offspring. There is no way He would let confusion, lies, and suffering keep His created offspring from enjoying Him and His presence!

A Thought: God's love demands that He liberate us from sin, and it is only just and fair for Him to do so.