Eagle's Wings

He is like an eagle carrying us on His strong back, so we are soaring ever higher on His swift wings, and we just keep going up with Him, no matter what. He has us bonded to Him in love and oneness, so that we can never fall out of Him or lose altitude. Instead, we just keep going up and up. Grace has found us at our lowest point, picked us up and taken us to the highest point, and right now we are soaring with Christ in heavenly places. That is the amazing grace of God!

"In all their suffering he also suffered, and he personally rescued them. In his love and mercy he redeemed them. He lifted them up and carried them.."

Isaiah 63:9 (NLV)

"I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself."

Exodus 19:4 (NLV)

A Prayer: I'm soaring with You!

God Does It

We are not under law but under grace. 

Grace means God does it all, upholds it all. 

It's His job, not ours. 

God has saved us completely and God keeps us completely. 

We cannot fall out of this union or this kingdom. 

How can we get away from ourselves? 

Christ is one with us in our human flesh, permanently joined with humanity. 

We can't escape Him or be lost from Him. 

God gets us wherever we need to go, shows us whatever we need to know. 

What If I Still Struggle with Being Judgmental?

But what if you still find yourself having unloving and judgmental attitudes, even once you've experienced God's grace for yourself? It doesn't change anything. You are still accepted unconditionally. Noone is perfect in all their actions anyway. Just keep on hearing the message of grace and let it nourish you. Clearing up those areas where you don't see love is not your responsibility, it's God's. He is completely in charge of ministering grace to you and working the effect of it out in your life. And He will do it! He will keep loving you, keep showing you grace, keep accepting you no matter what. And ultimately grace will melt away every last bit of bitterness, anger or judgment you feel inside. We can know it's true because love always wins, love never fails, and it is a promise that His love will produce the fruit of love in us.

In Your Presence

 In Your Presence, O Lord:

• we find glory (Your good opinion of us) and honor, strength to get through anything, and gladness (1 Chron. 16:27)
• there is fullness of joy and pleasures forevermore (Ps. 16:11)
• we are protected from our enemies and their accusations (Ps. 31:20)
• we find deliverance in affliction (Is. 63:9)
• is where we, the righteous, dwell (Ps. 140:13)
• is true liberty and expansive freedom (2 Co. 3:18)
• we find true rest (Ex. 33:14)
• is the place we can't get out of, the place where we always are, no matter what!  (Ps. 139:17)

Thank You, Lord, that we are always in Your presence and that Your presence is always with and IN us!  Never alone, we are never alone.  Our Friend is here.  Praise You, Lord, for Your presence!

About Negative Feelings

I've found in my life that I can just admit that to God, that I don't feel like rejoicing but instead feel fearful or bitter and rotten or doubtful or worried or hurt or alone (or whatever the feeling is), and I can have an honest heart to heart with Him.  We don't have to come up with anything on our own.  We can ask Him to fill us and take over.  His love and joy will start filling us up.  He will uplift us!  "When my cares overwhelm me, YOUR COMFORTS DELIGHT MY SOUL!"  (Ps. 94) And then suddenly we feel like praising! 

God is always accepting us.  We can bring to Him our honest thoughts and feelings.  He will never reject us.  All our feelings are valid before Him.  He truly understands us and our hurts and how we feel!  He doesn't ever minimize our feelings or wounds or say we 'shouldn't' feel or hurt!  He died for those hurts and pains, they were very real when He bore them on the cross for us!!  He's taken them away and doesn't want us to bear them a minute!  They are illegal, really!  NO negative feeling is meant to be on us!  We have been made whole and given joy and peace, and that's our rightful inheritance that He wants us to experience always.  And He will make us to experience it!  Not us, not by our work but His!

Love Does No Harm

Love Does No Harm

“Love hurts nobody.”

Romans 13:10 (PHP)

Our Father is pure Love. And Love does no harm!

He will never hurt or wound us. He will never cause pain or destruction.

Jesus said it was the thief that came to “steal, kill and destroy;” 

Jesus said He came only to give life, abundant life (Jn. 10:10)!

We can trust this wonderful Savior, wonderful Father, wonderful God.

He is Love. Love does no harm. He is safe to be with.

He is not destructive, He is a Life-giver!

He is supportive and healing, renewing and resurrecting.

He does not cause pain. He takes pain away.

He only gives us help, healing, life, and life abundant!

In every situation, He is infusing life, uplifting us, bringing things to renewal again, and filling us with His strength and healing.

In every situation, He is doing the very best for us and filling us with more life than we’ve ever dreamed, full of His love and peace and joy.

Life just overflows from Him. It overflows from Him IN US!

Alive with divine life, the best life there is. Nothing can get us down!

A Prayer: You are Love and all You give is Life.

Convinced About His Love

This is a wonderful post by Rick Manis of Rick Manis Ministries about letting yourself be convinced of the love of God:

"There comes a time when we become convinced about the true nature of God (who is by far the most misunderstood person there is). The convincing happens when, in spite of our thoughts and imaginations, our mind is won over by the Spirit of Truth who reveals God to us and testifies of Him.

"[We] can never have full faith and confidence in God if we are not convinced of His goodness and His unconditional Love. When we are won over to that truth, is when we see a God infinitely larger than we thought. We see a Love more total and pure and undemanding than we thought. We begin to experience the feeling of safety and confidence. The wind-tossed sea of our soul calms, and it comes to rest like a glassy lake at sunset. We lose our feeling of need and lack, no matter our station in life. We have stopped fighting the idea of a Love with no conditions, of a God who is and does nothing but good. We have been won over. We have become convinced. We have bowed our knee and said that God is Love, and Love is everything.

"Friend, I give you license and permission to look at God in all of His goodness. I give you freedom to have no guilt, no condemnation, and no requirements. We have been given the gift of living loved by God, and also the gift of being convinced."

Rick Manis

Grace is when you've cried and Someone is crying with you....

Grace is when you've cried every last tear you have and you hear Someone weeping for you.

Grace is when you walk through a dark wood thinking you are all alone and you feel a Hand in yours.

Grace is when the world has rejected you and left you for dead, and you feel yourself lifted up and embraced.

Grace is when you are waiting to hear angry words of rebuke for your last evil deed, and you hear instead, "No condemnation."

Grace is when you are past all feeling in the whirlwind of your crazy circumstances and you are still sustained to make it to another day.

Grace is when your fears seem like they would overwhelm you and you suddenly experience a wave of peace within you.

Grace is when you believe yourself guilty and condemned and suddenly find yourself accepted and loved.

Grace is when you are consumed with negative thoughts and hate yourself and Someone says, "You are beautiful to Me."

Grace is when you feel trapped and unable to become what you've always longed to be and then you find yourself soaring freely.

Grace is when you expect a look of irritation and frustration and instead receive a smile.

Grace is when you are weak and suddenly find yourself strong.

Grace is when you are dead and suddenly find yourself alive.

Grace is when you are guilty and suddenly find yourself forgiven.

Grace is when you are sinful and suddenly find yourself righteous.

Grace is when you are lost and suddenly find yourself found.

Grace is when you are unlovely and suddenly find yourself loved.

Grace is when you are unwanted and suddenly find yourself taken in.

Grace is when you are wandering and suddenly find yourself home.

Grace is when you are unacceptable and suddenly find yourself accepted.

Grace is when you've failed to earn a thing and suddenly find all is yours by gift.

Grace is a Person named Jesus Christ, and in Him is all we've ever longed for and all we've ever needed.

That's what (Who) grace is to me.

Redeemed

 "You have never lost your value."

Ryan Harbridge

"You were redeemed from your empty way of life...with the precious blood of Christ."

1 Peter 1:18-19

We sometimes think we have little value, but  God sees something else when He looks at us - He sees someone good and precious and worth fighting for! Jesus showed us what we are worth to God - our value is equal to that of Christ, for He willingly gave His own life, shed His own blood, to set us free. When something loses its sense of value, and that sense of value is restored, it's been redeemed. That is what Christ did for us - He restored to us our sense of value, showed us we're worthy, valuable, good, worth saving. He regained for us what we had lost - the sense of our worth and goodness before God.  We have been redeemed!

A Thought: My value is equal to Christ.

Enjoying the Spirit

So often I catch myself fighting inside over some issue I'm concerned about, when God is calling me just to look to Him and enjoy His presence.  Just being with Him there in the secret place of the heart, enjoying that union of Spirit to spirit with Him, the problems pale in comparison to His grandeur.  And I realize again that He will handle the things I face.  He will speak truth into my situation.  He will bring clarity to my mind. He will remind me of all I already have in Him - of my righteousness and acceptance in Him, of His complete victory over all darkness, of His grace toward me at all times, of His presence within to live for me.  The secret always seems to be HIM, no matter what the issue or problem!

Why have my eyes on my problems when I could be enjoying His presence and perfect peace?  Yes, why?  Jesus doesn't have any problems, and I'm in Him today.  Even the biggest problem is no real problem to the One who holds the universe, holds circumstances, holds me.  I read in a book recently by Catherine Marshall that when she was ill, she had a conversation with God and His presence was very real to her.  He never rebuked or condemned her.  He only strengthened her and encouraged her.  And He told her, concerning her troubles, "You're taking yourself far too seriously.  There's nothing here I can't handle."  I love that!

He's obviously got all that concerns us in His hands.  We can simply enjoy His Presence. We can enjoy the love that is coming to us constantly, the perfect acceptance of us at all times, the eternal goodness of God pouring out on us, the sweet presence of God, the joy and peace that He exudes.  We can just enjoy being with Him.  The Christian life is a fellowship.  It's a communion.  It's a deep relationship.  It's a perfect friendship.  It's a love story.

He is teaching me over and over again to just enjoy that fountain, that waterfall of grace and love which is really the Spirit of Grace Himself pouring onto me.  To rest and just drink in the Spirit!  To be refreshed and invigorated by His presence and grace!  To commune with Him who is Perfect Love!  All our deepest needs are met under that waterfall which is "Christ in you, the hope of glory."

Just enjoying the Spirit of Christ within us is, to me, what this Christian life is all about.  He refreshes us with Himself!  And we overflow with love, overflow with grace, overflow with HIM to this world around us...

I love this quote by Rob Rufus that sums up what I've been pondering here.  I love the idea of drinking in the Spirit rather than thinking about my problems! 

"Have you ever seen a drunk who is aware of their problems?  They drank because they had problems and now they can't remember their problems and they're happy...we're meant to stay drunk and happy and joyful in the Holy Spirit!...Instead of thinking...stay drinking in the Holy Spirit!  Do your thinking later!"              Rob Rufus

He Came to Our World to Bring Us to His World

He entered our natural world so we could enter His supernatural world.

He entered our temporal realm so we could enter His eternal realm.

He entered our brokenness so we could enter into His wholeness.

He entered our sinful world so we could enter His righteous world.

He entered our pain so we could enter His healing.

He entered our despair so we could enter into His hope.

He entered our loneliness so we could enter into His love.

He entered our sorrow so we could enter His gladness.

He entered our darkness so we could enter His light.

He entered our prison so we could enter His freedom.

He entered our death so we could enter His Life!

Grain, Wine, Oil

 He makes grass grow for the cattle,

   and plants for people to cultivate—
   bringing forth food from the earth:
   wine that gladdens human hearts,
   oil to make their faces shine,
   and bread that sustains their hearts.       Ps. 104:14-15

I have been thinking on three things that are often used in the Old Testament as symbols of God's abundant provision:  the grain, the wine, and the oil.   I guess I'd never thought about it much, but they are listed in the offerings that were to be given in the Temple, and they are listed in prophetic writings as things that God would provide for the people, showing that their needs would be satisfied. 

I can see how they also seem to be symbolic of the New Covenant.  At the Last Supper, Jesus said the bread was His body, broken for us, and that the wine was the cup of the New Covenant, representing His blood shed for us.  Upon Jesus' ascension into heaven, where He sat down because He had finished the work of redemption, the Holy Spirit was poured out from heaven at Pentecost.  1 John speaks of us all having an anointing from the Holy One, here the Holy Spirit's presence in us being compared to anointing with oil.

The grain/bread represents Jesus' body broken for us.

The wine represents His blood shed for us.

The oil represents the Holy Spirit poured out on and into us.

I love how these three things summarize the work of grace that God has done in us!  Christ in His body represented all people.  He was the second Adam.  He died AS US on the cross, bringing down the old creation self, with its sinful nature controlled by the evil one, down into the grave, never to rise again!  Christ shed His blood, dying FOR US, taking away our sins on the cross so that we are completely forgiven and free of those sins, past, present, and future, free of them forever!  Our sins will never be counted against us.  Yet all this, wonderful as it is, was just a prelude, a preparation for the whole goal and purpose of the work of the cross:  that God might live IN US  and THROUGH US by His Spirit!

Jesus rose from the dead and ascended into heaven, presenting His perfect sacrifice in the temple not made with hands, in heaven itself.  The work was perfect, it was a perfect sacrifice that took away every sin and destroyed the hold of the sin nature on humanity.  The vessel of human lives could now contain God, the human temple was now be ready to be filled with the glory of God, just as His glory cloud had filled the temple in Solomon's time.   So He poured out the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, and now we by simple faith can receive this wonderful promised Spirit - the life of God Himself within us to regenerate us, to indwell us, to baptize or fill us with all the fullness of God Himself!  This is how we were meant to live!  To have perfect union of our spirit with God's Spirit.  To have a Friend within us so that we are never alone.  To have Someone to actually live for us and handle everything we face!   To watch as the the One who is Perfect Love loves the world through us.  We walk through this life actually imparting Jesus to people.  And we live in a perfect, unchanging, permanent fellowship with God Himself by His sweet Spirit within us!

The verse says that grain strengthens our heart - Jesus killed off our old self and old heart and gave us a new and strong heart - HIS very own heart and nature within us!  Sin shall never again be our master.  His own righteous nature is ours, a nature that naturally loves and trusts.

The verse also mentions that wine gladdens the heart - His sacrifice has made us totally forgiven, clean, perfect and righteous before Him, we have the wonderful gladness of knowing we are accepted,loved and taken into His arms forever!

The verse mentions the oil that makes our faces shine - He has given us His very own Spirit to live within us, to fill us full, to make us shine with His own glory.  We are in union with God forever.  God's own Spirit lives in us to fight for us, pray for us, love for us, live through us, and be the Friend to us that we have only ever dreamed of!

I love the New Covenant and how complete it is!  We have it all in Him!