Glorious Good News

The good news we are meant to share is that God loves us and is looking out for us no matter what, and that nothing we do, even killing His Son, could ever drive Him from our side. 

"We know that God loves us."

1 John 4:16 (NIRV)

A message that God is love and nothing else, love and nothing BUT love!  And that He's got us all in His hand and is bringing us safely through everything, that everything really will turn out fine for all the whole universe.

Sometimes people make it all about how bad we are and how angry God is, all about sin and payment and wrath, when really it's all about LOVE.  Love only sees the best, only sees us as pure little children.  Love bears all things we could possibly do, Love believes in us no matter what, Love endures to the end of all our misguided acts, and Love never fails us!  Love loves us when we can't love ourselves and keeps on saying that we are innocent and 'don't know what we're doing' no matter what we do. 

His mind just isn't on sin or punishment at all, is it?  For He has never seen us as anything but innocent.   Love just doesn't see or think or dwell on sin - Love thinks no evil.  Love thinks no evil of US!  Love thinks only good and beautiful thoughts of us, thoughts of compassion and care, thoughts of blessing and peace, thoughts of giving us the future we hope for..Love thinks of us as "my beloved children, in whom I am well-pleased!"

And He would never harm us..He would never hurt or wound His dear little children..That is the FARTHEST thing from the mind of a good father; on the contrary, a good father is wanting to PROTECT his child at all costs. 

The good news isn't God is going to get you if you don't shape up but that He is instead always protecting you and will never let anything fatally, eternally, happen to you to damage you in any way. 

It's as if He is saying to us, like the best father would (and of course, He IS the best):  "Don't worry, little one...I'm holding you, I'm protecting you..I will always be there for you, I will always save you.."

This is the message of the gospel, the good news of great joy which is for all people, the message of peace from God towards all on earth, and of God's good will toward mankind. "I WILL ALWAYS SAVE YOU!"

A Thought: He's got us in His arms and won't let us go..

Loved into Trust

"The Gospel doesn't demand faith. The Gospel supplies faith!"

Francois du Toit

"Faith comes from hearing the Good News."

Romans 10:17 (NCV)

If we don't have faith or find it difficult to trust in God, He doesn't reject or punish us. Instead, He works even more to convince us of His love. The Holy Spirit works to show us how good and kind He is, so we can relax and trust Him. He keeps on sending us flowers, blessings, joys.  He keeps on loving us. He loves us into trust!

A Thought: Even my faith and trust turns out to be a gift from You, dear God!

A Fairy Tale Come True

"There is a weightlessness about grace. It has the feel of a fairy tale; what makes it a very special fairy tale is that it is true."

Lewis Smedes

"Through this man we all receive gifts of grace beyond our imagination."

John 1:16 (VOICE)

What if God were making no demands on you, had no expectations of you today?

What if God saw you as perfect and righteous because you really were that way?

What if God loved you with a love that you could never erase, no matter how rotten you acted or how many doubts you had?

What if God carried you through every problem of your life, whether you trusted Him all the time or not?

What if God never ever thought about your sin?

What if God had as His goal for your life not to "use" you but to simply love on you and watch your face light up when you saw that love?

What if God is never anything but totally delighted in you, never disappointed in you?

What if God was actually working to turn every rotten thing you've gone through into something good and beautiful for you?

What if God never ever punished you or was angry with you?

What if God held you in His hand and there was no way you could ever fall out, no matter what you felt, doubted, or did wrong?

What if God put absolutely no rules or conditions on you, allowing you to run free?

What if God accepted you completely - as you are - with no possibility of rejection, ever?

What if God called you His friend and loved to just hang out with you, doing whatever you enjoy doing?

What if all this is not  an "if" but truth?  Grace shows us that God is so much better than we have ever imagined, so that the life of grace seems almost like a fairy tale. Yet grace is a fairy tale come true, and the life we could ever only dream of having with God is actually reality!

A Thought: Grace seems too good to be true, yet IT IS.....!

He Delights in Us

At my worst moment, He calls me His perfect and beloved child.

"You are My dearest child, the one I love best. Whenever I mention your name, I think of you with love."

Jeremiah 31:20 (GNT)

Just when you think you are so unworthy, washed up, burned out, too ruined to ever be any good for God, to messed up to be loved, too far gone to be accepted...RIGHT THEN God is saying "I am fine with you, I delight in you, I see no flaw in you!" Jesus already took away anything that could make you ashamed about yourself, and God knows that sin was never the deepest or truest part of you anyway! From before time even began He chose, knew, loved and included you as His dear child! Nothing you do or don't do could ever change that, because His love for you is totally outside the realm of earning or performance and totally in the realm of a Father's unconditional Love! THAT is grace!

A Thought: God is never ashamed of me; He is always delighted in me!

Faithfulness, Gentleness, Self-Control

I love the fruit of the Spirit flowing out of me to others, and I love the fruit of the Spirit flowing to my own heart. 

"The fruit of the Spirit is...faithfulnesss, gentleness, self-control."

Galatians 5:22-23 ( NASB)

The Spirit inside us expresses these traits to us:

Faithfulness - He will always do just as He promised and will never let us down.  He won't ever leave or forsake us.  He will be a loyal friend and will never stop loving us or being there for us.  He won't reject us or let us go.  He's faithful to hold us up and not let us fall.  He will always be there to support me, defend me against the enemy's accusations, and protect my heart from evil.  He will always come through for us.

Gentleness - He's never harsh with us.  He doesn't kick us when where down.  He always says just the right thing to encourage us and help me and never to discourage us.  He never crushes our spirit, never wounds us.  Instead He gently loves and heals us.  He knows how tender and vulnerable wounded people are, and He is ever-sensitive to all our needs.

Self-Control - He won't blow His temper with us.  We'll never get on His last nerve.  He doesn't get irritated and fly off in a rage and punish us.  He is calm.  He never gets bored with us.  He never just puts up with us, never merely tolerates us.  He LIKES having us around.  His actions toward us are perfect.  He will always be exactly what we need Him to be for us at each moment.  His great heart meets our every need in super-abundance!

A Thought: He is so faithful, gentle and easygoing towards me!

 

Patience, Kindness, Goodness

I never have to be afraid of One who is Perfect Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Faithfulness, Kindness, Goodness, and Self-Control.  The fruit of the Spirit is the way He treats others and it's the way He treats me, as well!

"The fruit of the Spirit is...patience, kindness, goodness.."

Galatians 5:22 (NASB)

He has these traits toward us: 

Patience - He is infinitely patient with us.  He will go over the same truths with me time after time, never tiring, until I understand them.  He won't EVER lose His temper or be pushed to the exploding point, no matter how we mess up.  He is always ready to help us, no matter how often we fail.

Kindness - He is kind and helpful.  He encourages us when we are down.  He loves to shower gifts on us and asks for nothing in return.  He gives gifts and never takes them back no matter what.  He meets all our needs and goes above and beyond to help us.  He is the perfect listener and is our support in hard times.  He is there for us before we even turn to Him.

Goodness - He does us good always and will never, NEVER harm us!  He always leaves us feeling better, not worse.  He gives good gifts, never bad ones.  He never sends pain but instead lifts our pain and bears our burdens for us!  He's got a GOOD heart!  He treats us well no matter how we seem to treat others or Him!  He's the Best Friend we've always wanted.

A Thought: He is always patient, kind and good to others and He is always patient, kind and good to me!

Love, Joy, Peace

The way God desires to treat others is the very way He treats us, too.

"The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace.."

Galatians 5:22 (NASB)

The fruit of the Spirit is the expression God's own Spirit. The fruit represents How He acts through us and how He acts to us, as well. He has these traits toward us:

Love - He is always loving.  Everything He does is done out of love for us.  He is Perfect Love.  Unchanging Love.  Always for the other.  He puts our needs first and always does what is best for us.  His love flows to us constantly and unconditionally.  We can never make it stop, diminish, or be diverted from coming to us!

Joy - He's happy - He knows how things are going to turn out, so He is joyful.  And He's delighted in us and joyful over us!  He smiles at us always!   He delights in us even when we fail!  He's inner triumphant happiness no matter what the circumstance. He loves to laugh, loves to hear us laugh, loves to see us having a good time.

Peace - He is calm and well-being and absence of strife.  He doesn't have to strive - He's already overcome!  He's in complete control.  He has complete authority over evil and so is not worried about it.  In Him all is at peace, in quiet and stillness and rest.  And in Him, in that realm of quiet rest, is where we dwell!

A Thought: He is always loving, joyful and peaceful in me!