The Connection Between Grace and the Holy Spirit

				Reflecting on the Holy Spirit and Grace       by Bob Hoekstra "And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication." (Zechariah 12:10) Let's take a reflective look at our meditations on the Holy Spirit as a reminder that we are still studying about the grace of God. In considering how to live by the fullness of the Spirit, we have examined how to live more fully by the grace of God. In Zechariah 4:6, we observed the connection between living by the Spirit and living by the grace of God: "Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit." Serving the Lord is accomplished by the work of the Spirit in and through our lives, not by natural capabilities. The next verse restates this truth in terms of God's grace. "And he shall bring forth the capstone with shouts of 'Grace, grace to it'!" Every completed task in the service of God is accomplished by His grace (God's undeserved resources), not by our ingenuity or merit. We also saw how the early church experienced this relationship between the Spirit and grace. "They were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness…And with great power the apostles gave witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And great grace was upon them all" (Acts 4:31, 33). The boldness they experienced through the Holy Spirit is described as a result of great grace at work upon them. Jesus came to establish a new covenant. "This cup is the new covenant in My blood" (Luke 22:20). This covenant was characterized by grace, in contrast to the old covenant that Moses set in place. "For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ" (John 1:17). This new covenant of grace is also a covenant of the Spirit. "Our sufficiency is from God, who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life" (2 Corinthians 3:5-6). When the Lord Jesus returns and Israel humbly bows to Him as their Messiah, this wondrous response will be the result of "the Spirit of grace" being poured out upon them. This glorious title, identifying grace with the Holy Spirit, beautifully sums up the grand truth that living by grace and walking in the Spirit are two perspectives on the same precious reality.                                                                              Bob Hoekstra I really enjoyed reading this about how grace and the Holy Spirit are interwoven. The wonderful goal of the cross and resurrection - having the very life of God to be within us by the Holy Spirit -  is a grace-gift.  The Holy Spirit is freely given to us without our earning or deserving. The Holy Spirit ministers the New Covenant of grace to us.  He always relates toward us in grace.  He pours the unconditional love of God into our hearts.  He doesn't point out our sin but instead convinces us of our righteousness in Christ. His way is never the way of law but always the way of grace.  He doesn't require from without; He gives godly desires from within.  Thus He moves us to live a life of love by motivating us through grace and freedom, not compulsion. He even bears the fruit of righteousness in our lives, doing what we couldn't do on our own.  From first to last, our Christian life is a product of the work of the Spirit of God in and through us! He is grace in a Person!  How wonderful that the blessed Spirit within us in this New Covenant is Grace Himself!

God Wants Us Around

It hit me yesterday that our times of just "hanging out" with God don't just bless us - they bless HIM  as well! 

God actually wants us around!  He loves being with us and loves our company!  It blesses His great heart to have us communing with Him.  He truly delights in our company!

What a Friend!

It's so nice to know that we have a Friend

• who loves us unconditionally
• who is never too busy to talk
• who loves to laugh with us and to hear us laugh 
• who truly rejoices with us and weeps with us
• who stands up for us and defends us against our accusers
• who comes along to bear our burdens so we don't feel alone
• who  won't discard us when we seem no longer "useful" to him
• who isn't just "using" us
• who isn't just tolerating us but really likes our company
• who actually enjoys our company
• who truly enjoys hearing all we have to say
• who never judges or criticizes
• who always builds us up, never tears us down'
• who won't kick us when we're down
• who WANTS us for a friend
• who thinks we're amazing, wonderful, and worth knowing
• who is actually blessed by our companionship
• who will faithfully keep all our secrets
• who won't ever desert us or abandon us
• who will always be there for us
• who just loves our times of being together
• who is faithful no matter what
• who lets us be real
• who accepts us as we are 
• who doesn't demand that we change or improve 
• who always speaks to us in love
• who won't be driven away by our rants and quirks and failures
• who still loves us even when we lash out at him
• who feels our pain and cares about our hurts
• who truly understands us, always
• who says we're his best friend
• who won't replace us sometime with someone he likes more
• who does everything in his power to help us and encourage us
• who is there for us whenever we need him
• who delights in and celebrates our personality
• who won't ever be irritable or angry with us
• who will be our BEST FRIEND forever

Thank You, Lord, that You are our Best Friend!  It amazes me that You want me around, that You won't discard or desert me, that You treat me as Your best friend and see this friendship as so important and valuable to You that You would be dying to have us in fellowship!  I have always felt so lonely, always felt people were just tolerating me, and that once they found out what I was really like  they would leave.  I have always wanted a friend who would truly love me for me and not leave me.  I have found that Friend in You a thousand times over.  You are all I could ever hope for in a Friend and in a God!  Thank You forever!

The Bottom Line

The bottom line for me, the truth that God keeps bringing me back to, the truth I need to hear every day of my life, the foundation of my whole way of living, now and forever, is expressed so well in this quote from The Ragamuffin Gospel by Brennan Manning:

"...through no merit of ours, but by His mercy, we have been restored to a right relationship with God through the life, death, and resurrection of His beloved Son.  This is the good News, the gospel of grace."

Wow! We have been put into a right relationship with God through Jesus' work.  There is nothing wrong with our relationship with God and there never will be, no matter what sin or confusion or doubt we may experience.  There is nothing wrong with our relationship with God; instead, there is everything right with our relationship with Him! 

This is a perfect relationship where everything is always fine between us, even after we blow it, even if we fail to pray today, even if circumstances suddenly go crazy.  We will always be in that beautiful place, safe in His arms, forgiven and whole, accepted and cradled, loved and valued, alive and vibrant, full and free, carried through in strength and hope and triumph - safely home, at peace, at rest, in fellowship with the One who truly cherishes us and looks on us with delight, forever! 

And to think - we have that wonderful joyous relationship for free, as a gift, simply to be received with the "Thank You, Daddy!" of simple faith.  That is beautiful!  What a glorious gospel is the gospel of grace!

Grace and Getting a Smile...

"The Gospel is not the message of what we must do to get a SMILE on the face of God.  It is the message about what HE HAS DONE to get a SMILE ON YOUR FACE.      The GOSPEL soooo gooood.  It reveals GOD! How can we then but LOVE HIM?"

                                                                                        Bertie Brits

Wow, I'd never thought of it that way before...what a wonderful truth!

This quote makes me think of the wonder of the gospel of grace!  It reminds me that God wasn't the One who had a problem and needed to be placated.  He has always loved us humans and has always been on our side, wanting us to know Him.  He has been longing for restored fellowship with us since that fateful day of the Fall back in Eden.  We were the ones with the problem - sin had altered our perception of God, and our shame and feelings of guilt were keeping us from approaching Him with any kind of confidence.  We couldn't understand or enjoy His love.  We were trapped in the confused and distorted lies of sin.

So He did everything possible to put that smile back on our face, that smile in knowing without a doubt we are loved and cared for by God.  While we were still sinners, He showed that love for us by Christ's own death for us.  He took upon Himself the guilt and shame we felt, took upon us that old sin nature that gave us such a distorted and erroneous view of God and which controlled us and brought us to ruin.  He took away every sin and reconciled us to God (not God to us, He always loved us and wanted us near!) - wow!

The whole work of the cross wasn't to get an angry God to finally calm down enough to tolerate having us in His presence without destroying us.  NO!  The whole point of the cross was to win our hearts back!  To open our eyes to the One who has loved us from eternity past, before there ever was a world, before we ever sinned, before anything.  To draw us back into His arms, the arms that long to hold us forever!

He thinks you're worth knowing.  You are a pearl of great price, so precious and valuable to Him that He gave up everything to have you with Him.  He thinks you're worth dying for!  The Love we've longed for all our life not only exists, it's ours right now and forever!  The gospel message isn't "do this or that and hope to get on His good side."  It's "All is forgiven, come home, I can't bear to be without you!"  Amazing love!  The gospel is such good news!  It truly does bring a smile to our face, and it is so true - how can we NOT love such a wonderful and beautiful God?

Peace Be Still

You are our only peace when our world turns upside down.

You are the Only One who can calm our troubled hearts.

You are the only place we can find refuge and rest for our weary souls.

Thank You, dear Lord, for being our Peace!

Here are the lyrics from "Peace Be Still" by Rush of Fools:

Come to Me, you who are weak
Let My strength be yours tonight
Come and rest, let My love be your bed
Let My heart be yours tonight

Come empty cup, let Me fill you up
I'll descend on you like a dove tonight
Lift your head, let your eyes fall into Mine
Let your fear subside tonight

Peace be still, Peace be still
Please be still and know that I am God
and know that I am God
                                                                            Rush of Fools

Spring Flowers

 Here are some Spring flowers from around our yard..my daughter took the photos..

Sufficient Grace

Sometimes I look at my weakness, my performance and my believing, and I say, "Lord, it's not sufficient."

But God looks at His grace and love and Christ's performance and believing, and He says, "It's more than sufficient."

I am totally accepted and qualified and righteous FOR FREE, not because of anything in me or my works, but because of what Christ did.  His work on my behalf stands for all time, perfect and blameless!

Now THAT'S something (Someone!) I can rest in with confidence! 

"Faith is the awareness of His grace."  (Sammy Bilyeu)

Holy Love

"God is love...God is light...God is holy.."

I was thinking recently how all these phrases come together.  In the past my idea of God's holiness and the fact that He is Light ran along these lines:  "He is so perfect that He doesn't want to be soiled by us dirty sinners."  This idea didn't really make me feel I could approach God - it just seemed to make me feel more unworthy and despairing of ever being close to God.

But the reality is that God's holiness is so different than that!   God's holiness doesn't have a connotation of judging and condemnation, of pointing out our faults.  God's holiness has a connotation of attracting us to His love.  Jesus was perfectly holy, and that holiness didn't repel people.  It attracted the worst kinds of sinners and gave them hope.  His holiness was the purity and perfection of love and grace! 

He is holy - without any imperfection.  All that He is - grace, love, joy, gentleness, goodness, peace, patience, self-control - He is all that perfectly, without an ounce of anything different.  Think of having a person like that as your Friend; you would be drawn to such a person and feel totally at ease openly up to Him.  You would be able to trust Him implicitly, knowing you would never be rejected by Him but only perfectly understood, cared for, and loved!  As He shows me His love and grace, I see His holiness is beautiful, healing, attractive and freeing!  It means that He is perfectly pure in all His attributes, perfectly and completely those things in all His relations with us:

He is kind in a perfect way, with no unkindness in Him!

He is patient with no impatience mixed in at all!

His compassion and goodness go all the way, and all He does all the time is in perfect compassion and goodness!

He is pure, unadulterated joy and peace, with no hint of displeasure or strife.

He is totally gentle, without one single speck of harshness!

He loves perfectly, is that way every time, without fail, without any unloving traits - ever!  He loves without fault, without wavering, without stopping, without shortage.

He is holy in every way toward us - He is perfect love, peace, joy and grace - without fault or blemish or change!

There is no shadow of turning with Him.  God has no "dark side," no shadowy part of His character.  He is HOLY - He is 100% purely and completely who He is -  Perfect LOVE, GRACE, JOY, and PEACE!  That means He is 100% trustworthy for all our needs, for all our days...

"Christ In Me" by James Stewart

Here is an excerpt on the meaning of "Christ in me" from the book A Man in Christ by James Stewart.  (I found this on Merrill Thompson's facebook page.  Check out his page for many more grace excerpts from different writers.)

"'Christ in me' means Christ bearing me along from within, Christ the motive-power that carries me on, Christ giving my whole life a wonderful poise and lift, and turning every burden into wings.  All this is in it when the apostle speaks of  'Christ in you, the hope of glory' (Col. 1:27).  Compared with this, the religion which bases everything on example is pitifully rudimentary.  This, and this alone, is true Christian religion.  Call it mysticism or not - the name matters little;  the thing, the experience, matters everything.  To be 'in Christ,' to have Christ within, to realize your creed not as something you have to bear but as something by which you are borne, this is Christianity. It is more:  it is release and liberty, life with an endless song at its heart.  It means feeling within you, as long as life here lasts, the carrying power of Love Almighty; and underneath you, when you come to die, the touch or everlasting arms."

                                                                                                                            James Stewart

Wow - We don't have a religion we have to carry around - we have a Christ that carries us! 

Jesus Culture - I Adore You

What a beautiful worship song...it's by Phil Wickham and sung here by Jesus Culture..

We adore You, Lord Jesus!

We love everything You are!

And You are everything to us...

The lyrics:

Mercy falls from Your heart down on me
Glory streams from Your face so lovely
A million words could not describe
How marvelous Your perfect light

I adore You
I will sing it with all my heart
I adore You
I love everything You are

That my heart, beats to the rhythm of Your heart
That my eyes focus on Your beautiful eyes
A million tongues could not express
How beautiful Your holiness

My life is yours and will be forever
My love is yours

Nothing is Wrong!

I sometimes have these feelings that something is wrong between God and me, that I am lacking in some way, have failed or need to do more, that I need to do something to get close with God.  These feelings produce an uneasiness and sense of something being "off" in my relationship with God.  They are the typical lies of our old enemy, aren't they?  Fellow grace-lover Mike Fitzpatrick calls these lying feelings "the stun-gun of the ol' blamer boy." Yuck..

Yet God is reminding me of reality - that NOTHING IS WRONG!

Nothing is wrong with me - I am PERFECT before Him, since by one sacrifice Christ perfected me forever!  So that's that..

And nothing is wrong with the relationship between God and me - Jesus has brought me into this grace in which I stand.  That's where I always am, in a perfect grace relationship with God.  Actually, I have been put into the midst of the relationship of the Father and the Son - now THAT'S a perfect relationship, one that is never lacking or "off" in any way!

There's nothing missing, nothing "off", nothing lacking, nothing incomplete between God and me.

I am perfect and complete before Him, in a perfect and complete relationship!  Whether I always feel it, realize it, experience it, or not!

Because of Christ, NOTHING is wrong with us and EVERYTHING is right with us!
Because of Christ NOTHING is wrong with our relationship with God and EVERYTHING is right with our relationship with God!

We walk around today as perfectly loved and perfectly righteous saints in a perfect relationship with the God who perfectly acts on our behalf!

We've got it so good...  Oh, what a happy gospel!  That means when I have those old lying feelings of lack and condemnation, I can just rejoice in the truth that EVERYTHING is really fine between God and me.  I can just ignore those lies and keep enjoying the perfect fellowship I have with Him in the Spirit, because that fellowship hasn't been disrupted or changed at all, no matter what thoughts or feelings may have insinuated.  I love it!  Thank You, Lord, for reminding me of this..

We are living in the Spirit in PERFECT fellowship with Him today.  There is nothing between us.  We are so bonded with Him that we are ONE forever.  Our Perfect Friend is in perfect relationship with us forever.. Thank You, Holy Spirit, for being that perfect, always understanding, always present, always uplifting, always loving friend to us!  You never stop pouring out that waterfall of love and grace upon us!  Hallelujah!

:)

Forever reign

What a wonderful song - it's Forever Reign by Hillsong..

All that we need, He is..

We are one with Him in spirit, always together, always having all we need - HIM!

Noone and nothing satisfies our heart like He does..

In our hearts, we're running into His arms and He is the provision for our every need!

The lyrics:

You are good, You are good
When there's nothing good in me
You are love, You are love
On display for all to see
You are light, You are light
When the darkness closes in
You are hope, You are hope
You have covered all my sin

You are peace, You are peace
When my fear is crippling
You are true, You are true
Even in my wandering
You are joy, You are joy
You're the reason that I sing
You are life, You are life,
In You death has lost it's sting

You are more, You are more
Than my words will ever say
You are Lord, You are Lord
All creation will proclaim
You are here, You are here
In your presence I'm made whole
You are God, You are God
Of all else I'm letting go

Oh, I'm running to your arms
I'm running to arms
The riches of your love
Will always be enough
Nothing compares to Your embrace
Light of the world forever reign
 
My heart will sing
no other name
Jesus, Jesus

Four Big Truths

There are four big truths I keep coming back to over and over in my Christian walk.  They are so deep and rich, I feel I will continue learning about them more and more as time goes by..

These truths ground me in my faith and make me rejoice in my wonderful Savior and Friend, Jesus, the lovely One!  They free me to enjoy the real goal of the Christian life - knowing and fellowshipping with Christ!

I am my Beloved's and He is mine.  He has called me to rise and come away with Him, away from my problems and worries and efforts and struggles and confusions and distractions and feelings of lack - to just come away with Him to the heights of joy and be happy with Him!  To just be happy in our perfect relationship!  For we have a perfect relationship; I am perfect before Him, and He is perfect towards me - forevermore!  All because of His finished work!

Four big truths:

1)  I am loved and accepted by God - so He will never shun or mistreat me!

2)  I am right with God - so He'll never get angry or disappointed with me!

3)  I am complete in Him - so He'll never see any sin or lack in me again!

4)  I am united with God - so He'll never leave or abandon me!

Think about it - you are perfect to God!  You are completely included, accepted, taken in and embraced today.  You are right with Him, complete and not lacking before Him in any way.  And you are bonded with Him, sealed with the Spirit into a relationship of perfect oneness and intimacy!  He is always delighting in you!  Wow!

Lord, reveal the depths of these truths to us!  That way we can forget about our sins and struggles and self-efforts - just as You have forgotten about them - and we can focus on just enjoying You and Your grace!

Dance, Dance! Because of Amazing Grace..

Oh, what a happy gospel!

Our sins are gone, remembered no more (Heb. 8:12)!

We are alive in Christ, new creations - the old is gone (2 Co. 5:17)!

We are accepted in the Beloved (Eph. 1:6)!

We are right with God, at peace with Him, by grace through faith (Rom. 5:1)!

We are complete in Christ (Col. 2:10)!

We are in the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is there is freedom (Rom. 8:9, 2 Co. 3:17)!

We are in the kingdom of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit (Rom. 14:17)!

We are one spirit with Him, in beautiful, intimate fellowship (1 Co. 6:17, 1 Jn. 1:3)

Oh, what a happy gospel - thank You, Jesus!

Random Thoughts

(My daughter took this picture of the rhododendrons in front of the house..just wanted to share that!)

Here are some random thoughts that have come to me:

What God wants to do in my life cannot be stopped!  Circumstances can't stop Him, the devil can't stop Him, and even my own failings can't stop Him from completing His purpose in my life!

Our new spirit is born of imperishable seed and cannot die..the life we have now is HIS life, which is eternal and can't die!  That's security..

The Spirit is like a boxer who has entered the ring to fight for me.  I may be puny, but He is gigantic and enforces His victorious strength so easily!

He is holding on to me.  I don't have to worry about holding on to Him.

Sin isn't on God's mind.  Jesus is on His mind, and us in Him..

The friend I've always wanted, to be committed to me, to listen to me without judgment, to always be there for me, to unconditionally accept me, to always want me around and actually enjoy my company - is HIM!  He tells me "All that you want in a friend I AM!"

Assume that you  have faith and have righteous desires, because...you do!  It's our nature..

When feeling that old feeling of not-good-enough, guilty, condemned, must "do" something to get close to God again - remember it's all a lie from the enemy.  EVERY negative thought is a lie from the enemy.  Remember that NOTHING is wrong and that you are fine and right and one with Him, right now!

Since Jesus set us free, we are free forever and free indeed!  The evil one cannot touch us, and no attack or lie will prove fatal.  We are free!

Because of what Jesus did, God will never stop favoring me, accepting me, being on my side, or blessing me.  No matter what!  That's grace!

The gifts of God - salvation, freedom, acceptance, righteousness, the Spirit, power, victory - are irrevocable and can't be lost, no matter how much we mess up!

Right now the Holy Spirit is in me delighting in me...I am valued and loved.  Someone thinks I'm special..  The God of all the universe was literally dying to fellowship with me. 

At all times, every day, no matter what happens, whether we sense it or not, we are in the Presence of Perfect Love!  We live out of the Father's embrace..Our Daddy is 100% pure and infinite love, the love we've always wanted and the love we'll celebrate for all eternity.  THAT'S where we live!

God isn't about punishing sin.  He's about imparting LIFE.  His main focus isn't shaping us up.  His main focus is loving us!

:)

Stray Thoughts and His Whispers

Stray Thought:  Sure He cares about the ones who are "together", but why would He care about you...

His Whisper:  YOU are My beloved child in whom I am well-pleased!

Stray Thought:  Maybe you were once a strong Christian, but look at you now, you've fallen away..

His Whisper:  You ARE My beloved child in whom I am well-pleased!

Stray Thought:  You don't belong anywhere, nobody thinks you're worth including in their life..

His Whisper:  You are MY beloved child in whom I am well-pleased!

Stray Thought:  How could God love you - you're a mess and worthless..

His Whisper:  You are My BELOVED child in whom I am well-pleased!

Stray Thought:  You're all on your own - face it, noone is going to take care of you anymore..

His Whisper:  You are My beloved CHILD in whom I am well-pleased!

Stray Thought:  You blew it, you're guilty and God is surely displeased and disappointed..

His Whisper:  You are My beloved child in whom I AM well-pleased!

Stray Thought:  You'll never be good enough, you are always lacking..

His Whisper:  You are My beloved child in whom I am WELL-PLEASED!

The Father said it to Jesus at His baptism:  the Spirit descended on Him like a dove, and the Father said, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased."

And we have been put in Christ.  His history is our history.  The love the Father has for Him is the love the Father has for us.  As He is, so are we in this world.  We've been brought into that same intimate relationship with the Father that Jesus has, and the Spirit of sonship is there to tell us of that sonship that we have.  He's there to cement into our hearts that intimacy that is ours with Him!  He is there crying out "Papa, papa!" within us, and He is transmitting that word to our hearts that the Father is constantly speaking over us: "You are My beloved son (child), in whom I am well-pleased!"

I needed so much to hear that today.  I asked God to just remind me of my acceptance in Him.  It is what ours hearts long to hear and the very foundation of our Christian lives.  Well, He led me to a devotional reading, and I read those very words that we are accepted in the Beloved, accepted as God accepts His own Son!  Wow!  He is so good to always remind us of the truth and build us up.  He is perfect love.  May we all enjoy the acceptance that is ours as a fact, by right of inheritance, freely given to us in Christ!

Dear Father, thank You for whispering to us over and over, "You are My beloved child, in whom I am well-pleased!"

The Bear Hug of God

Here's a wonderful quote from  The Lost Secret of the New Covenant:

"When we are given a bear hug, or a fervent embrace, all the ideas associated with love move from an intellectual concept to the actual experience of being loved.  When we say that God loves us, we must never think of that in terms of a cold statement of doctrine; we must understand that the Holy Spirit is God in the act of loving us, embracing and enfolding His arms about us.  The Holy Spirit is God running to us, flinging His arms around us, and passionately loving us."               Malcolm Smith

The Holy Spirit is God Himself loving me, embracing me, holding me, caressing me, cherishing me, enfolding me in His arms.

The Holy Spirit is in us to give us the Father's bear hug of love!

God and the Dolphins

Recently my family visited a big aquarium that has a dolphin show. As we watched these beautiful creatures leap through the air with flips and twists and amazing synchronized arches over the water, I admit that tears ran down my cheeks.  It was just so beautiful to see these lovely creations of God in a playful and graceful celebration of life.  For some reason it reminded me of God, His beauty and gracefulness seen in these animals He made.

Later on I found a library book that was a dolphin story, so I read that aloud to the kids since we'd just seen the show.  I was struck by this amazing true story of a man rescued by dolphins, and once again I saw a God connection.

The book is called Dolphin Treasure, and the author, Wayne Grover, befriended a family of dolphins while diving off the Florida coast.  In the book he describes an experience he had with one of the dolphins.  He had been diving with friends a few miles offshore looking for treasure from a Spanish shipwreck, and the weather had become treacherous.  He foolishly made one more dive to pull out an artifact he had glimpsed on his previous dive, and when he surfaced, his boat and crew were gone, pulled away by the wind and storm that had come upon them.  Wayne found himself floating alone in the ocean.  Nearing exhaustion in the middle of the night, he felt something bump against him.  When he reached out his hand, he felt the rough skin of a shark inches away.  He was about to be killed by sharks!

At just that moment, as hopelessness and anguish swept over him, he heard a sound followed by sharp clicking noises.  His friends the dolphins had arrived just in time, and they quickly drove the sharks away! The dolphin he knew best came to him and allowed him to grab onto his dorsal fin; then, the dolphin began gently swimming toward the shore. Yet Wayne was so weak he couldn't hold on to the dolphin, and he kept slipping off.  The dolphin communicated to a companion nearby, who came up on the other side of Wayne and lifted him from underneath.  So one dolphin was pulling him and another was supporting his weight, buoying him up so he could be brought along in the water.

As the day dawned, they finally neared the shore and the dolphins moved back a little.  Wayne stood up - he was in shallow water near the beach. He was saved!  He turned around and the dolphins were chattering and swimming around as if in joy about his rescue.  The dolphin he knew best jumped up high in the air as if in triumph.

What an amazing story!  It's unbelievable but true!

And as I read this aloud to the kids, it dawned on me how much these dolphins acted just as the Holy Spirit acts with us.  He is called our Paraclete, which means "one called alongside to help."  He is there to lift us up when we can't go on, there to lead us out of trouble, there to fight off enemy attacks, there to be the strength we don't have.  He is the One buoying us up from beneath, for underneath us are His everlasting arms.  And He is the One guiding us into the way ahead, gently leading us along.

He's always there to help at a moment's notice.  He won't ever let us down!  Our enemy is already defeated and is no match for our Paraclete!  Even after we have blown it and gotten ourselves into a mess of our own making, He is there for us, helping, rescuing, carrying us along, fellowshipping with us as if nothing had happened, because in His eyes, nothing has - our sins can't ever keep Him from us, because they've already been taken away at the cross and we have been forever cleansed and joined to Him, our Paraclete, forever!  This union with Him means I'm never ever alone in any problem I face, even if I feel alone, even if I get confused, fail, or seem to forget about Him.  He is still there for me, and He will be there for me forever!

And just like the dolphins celebrated over Wayne, the dear Holy Spirit celebrates over us.  He dances and sings and leaps and twirls with joy that we are God's beloved ones.  He has pure delight and happiness about us!  His presence with us is the constant experiential reminder that we are loved, accepted, safe, kept, right, complete, full and delighted in by God Himself.

God wants a relationship with me.  He doesn't want to save me so I can be His worker.  He saved me to be His beloved little child!  He wants fellowship, interaction, a relationship that is so open and free and full of trust that I can be myself, be totally real, and never fear rejection.  I have been welcomed into His arms forever.  He is sharing all of Himself with me.  This is a wonderful love relationship, the kind I've always longed for, of mutual sharing and joy.  Out of that wonderful celebration of love comes the power that will change this world and bring His kingdom of love to earth.  Wow!

A Declaration

Those irritating lies of the enemy can get me down.  Old programming from years of legalistic thinking can seem to come back to haunt me.  But the Spirit continues to whisper the truth to me.  And my spirit continues to know the truth deep down.

So I'm led to make this declaration:

• God loves me so much that He calls me His child - that is what I am!
• I am born of God's Spirit and have His nature within me and no more a sin nature.
• I am safe in His arms forever because I am kept safe in Christ Jesus!
• My sins are gone, removed as far as the east as the west.
• As He is in this world, so am I!
• The peace that passes understanding will guard my heart in Christ Jesus.
• I am in the Kingdom of righteousness, joy and peace in the Holy Spirit.
• I am never alone, for He is always with me.
• I will never be abandoned - for He will never leave me or forsake me.
• He will supply all of my needs through the riches of Christ.
• I am strengthened with power through the Spirit of the resurrection that lives in me!
• He has given me authority over all the power of the enemy, and nothing can harm me.
• He will always lead me in triumph in Christ!
• I have been perfected forever by the perfect sacrifice of Christ.
• I stand before Him washed and cleansed forever.
• My sin will never come between God and me.
• I will never be punished for my sins.
• There is no condemnation on me today or any day!
• My guilt is gone.
• God only looks at me with love.
• God will never harm me but only help me.
• God will do me good and not evil all the days of my life.
• God gives me a future and a hope - things are not hopeless!
• I am one with God, one with Him - my spirit and His are in perfect communion always!
• God's greatest joy is fellowshipping with me in the Spirit!
• Jesus calls me His friend and shares Himself completely with me.
• My relationship with Him is one of complete openness with no barriers.
• There is no possibility that God would ever reject me.
• I am accepted and acceptable to Him!
• God delights in me!
• I have the right to the full inheritance from my Father.
• I am qualified to pray and my prayers are heard and answered and are effective.
• No matter what the circumstance, He will turn things around for good.
• No matter what my failure or sin, I'm forgiven and right with God in Jesus' name!
• Every gift I have from God is a gift and is mine for free without my earning or deserving it.
• I am unconditionally loved by a love that won't ever run out or fail.
• The infinite and sufficient One Himself lives inside me, so I have sufficiency for all things.
• I can impart Christ to the world.
• Everywhere I go, I glow with a Jesus glow in the Spirit.
• I am in the Spirit, never in the flesh again.
• I sit with Christ in the heavenly places.
• I enjoy the goodness of God upon me always.
• I walk in His favor and grace at all times.
• I am never out of His presence and never out of His care, His thoughts, His love!
• I am complete and not lacking.
• I am full and free!
• I am His, and He is mine!

The One I've Looked For All My Life

He is the One I've looked for all my life, 

the Friend I have wanted so much, 

Someone to understand, to care, to always be there, 

to always support and help, to always accept and say soothing words, 

always ready to listen and to give encouragement.

Someone who loves me unconditionally, 

Someone I can dare to trust, knowing He won't crush my heart or reject me. 

Someone who understands!

I have felt so lonely all my life, and now I'm never alone!  

He actually wants to be around me!  

I am in awe that the God of the universe would dwell in me by His Spirit.  


He's there not to use or abuse me, but to fellowship with me..

to interact with me, to talk to me and listen to me,


to commune with me, to love me..


He is my Intimate Ally,  my Strong Defender,


my Tireless Supporter,


my Truest Friend!

If..

If Jesus took all my sin, there's no sin left on me..

If Jesus took all my guilt, there's no guilt left for me..

If Jesus took all my condemnation, there's no condemnation left for me..

If Jesus took all my shame, there's no shame left on me..

If Jesus bore all my sorrows, I need bear them no more..

If Jesus bore all my anxieties, I need bear them no more..

If Jesus bore all my fears, I need bear them no more..

If Jesus bore all my despair, I need bear it no more..

If Jesus gave me His Life, I'm alive forevermore and will never die!

If Jesus gave me His righteousness, I'm righteous and will never be a sinner!

If Jesus gave me His relationship with the Father, I'm beloved and will never be an outcast!

If Jesus gave me His wholeness, I'm complete and will never be lacking!

If Jesus gave me His joy, I have rejoicing no matter what..

If Jesus gave me His peace, I have calm in the midst of any chaos..

If Jesus gave me His love, I have love for the most unlovely..

If Jesus gave me His faith, I have trust that can move mountains..

Since Jesus took away all that weighed me down, I'm free!

Since Jesus gave me all that He is, I'm abundantly satisfied!

Lord, We're Amazed at How You Love Us!

He dances over us, even while we are unaware!  We see our sins and struggles and issues, and we think we're so imperfect before Him, yet He is dancing with joy over us! 

He doesn't see any fault or blemish on us.  We are perfect before Him, perfectly loved and accepted and in perfect relationship with Him!

He delights in us every moment of every day, even after we've just blown it for the umpteenth time.  He delights in us...  Wow - God is delighted with us!  He thinks you and I are something special.  He thinks we're worth knowing, worth being around.

And He's always in us, loving us, caring for us, carrying us - how amazing..

He is Perfect Love.  To be in His presence is to be in the presence of Perfect Love in a Person, Someone who will always do us good all the days of our life.  Surely goodness and mercy shall follow us all the days of our life, and we shall dwell in the house of Perfect Love forever!

Lord, we're amazed at how You love us!

Rob Rufus on New Covenant Faith

Here is an excerpt from a sermon by Rob Rufus (at the Grace and Glory blog) that is just wonderful.  In it he talks about the nature of faith in the New Covenant.  It's so encouraging to be in the New Covenant, where everything is up to Christ and the pressure is off me...He even takes cares of faith!  New Covenant faith is about God's faith in us, not our faith in Him - wow!  I need to ponder that for a while!  Here's the excerpt:

"Listen stop trying to have faith - put all that blooming Old stuff and weights and laws and put it all off and run with patience". Not looking to have faith or trying to have faith! But looking to Jesus the author and perfecter of faith! The NIV says; "Our" faith but it is not in the Greek. "To Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith". So we have a high priest who authors our faith. You didn't author your faith. Your High Priest - HE is the originator and the perfecter! You need perfect faith to be perfectly saved!

Some say; "Am I really saved - I don't know if I have enough faith!?".

No - there is someone called your High Priest that represents you on all matters relating to God and He has perfect faith and is the author and perfecter of faith and so because of Him you have perfect faith before a perfect God and you are perfect in your High Priest!

I want to say a few things about this.

Old Covenant faith is me trying to please God. New Covenant faith is something God gives to me and something that Jesus has on my behalf. Jesus has faith for you. And Jesus has faith IN you.

Did you know that our New Covenant High Priest is better than the Old Covenant priest that failed? He dealt gently with those who are ignorant and went astray - this perfect High Priest is touched with the feelings of our infirmities and He sympathises with you. He has faith for you - but listen to me. He has faith IN you.

I want to say something life-changing here. Your life is not primarily or essentially changed by who you believe in. Your life is essentially changed by Who believes in you.

The most powerful influence over your life is not who you believe in - the most powerful influence over your life is Who believes in you. Our great High Priest has faith in you and has faith for you and is the author of faith and the perfecter of faith as the perfect High Priest because He has made you perfect forever.

When you know someone believes in you, it has such a powerful positive effect on your life. Everyone in this room has many natural gifts and talents - forget about the supernatural for a moment. Many natural gifts and talents. But most people do not exercise them in fullness unless someone you love and respect believes in you and lets you know that. Whether that be a mother, father, brother, sister, friend or a mentor. Take away the Old Covenant law and bondage and condemnation - and see this great High Priest who believes in you and a Father and a Holy Spirit who believes in you. Can you imagine the revelation of that supernatural power that would be released into your life?

Do you know that when someone recognises you it empowers you? Do you know that if you went to a celebrity concert and whoever your great celebrity is was performing on the concert with 20, 000 people there and they stopped and said; "Oh there's so and so! They were a great blessing to my life!". You would just feel a thousand feet tall! Someone as important as that has just recognised you!

It is not the lesser recognising the Greater - it is when the Greater recognises the lesser that the power of the supernatural of the New Covenant takes place!

The Old Covenant had great emphasis on faith in God. The New Covenant's emphasis is on God's faith in you and for you. The Old Covenant lays the burden on you to have faith in God. The New Covenant lays the burden on our Great High Priest to have great and perfect faith on our behalf so you are not examining yourself all the time to see if you have faith - but your eyes are on Jesus all the time - the author and perfecter of faith.

It takes all the pressure off self-focus! It is not your concern anymore. No - my focus is on the revelation of Christ and in Him I was crucified. He did it because He loved me and gave Himself for me. I am crucified with Him! And the life I now live, I live by the faith of the Son of God.

Before the Cross, the flow of faith was us to God. After the Cross the flow of faith was God to us.

When someone asks you; "Do you believe in Jesus?" - you say one thing. "Well I know one thing - He believes in me!". And I am not insecure about whether I have enough faith in Him - I am very secure that He has enough perfected faith for me! If you ask me - do I believe in Jesus? I say - absolutely! How much do you believe in Him? That's not the issue. I do not even want to probe or analyse or introspect that. I just want to keep looking at His lovely face!

I want to keep looking at what He did at the Cross because THAT releases His faith and confidence in me. Your life is not stabilized by you trying to have faith. Your life is stabilized by the revelation of how much faith He has in you and for you.

You see - the High Priest has to have faith for you. The power of the King is not rooted in man's faith in God. That is Old Covenant elemental milk teaching. The power of this kingdom is rooted in God's faith in you. He believes in you - His faith in you is not a blind faith. He is not pretending. He invested everything at the Cross for you so that now His opinion of you is one of integrity.

He sees you not as one trying to be holy or trying to be righteous or trying to be sanctified or trying to be redeemed - He sees you AS YOU ARE. You are acknowledged by God because of the perfection of your great High Priest.

Yes - God says - "I know who and what you are. I know everything I have made you to be through the Cross."

                                                                                                                        Rob Rufus

Jesus, Friend of my Heart..

I loved this song back in the day..and lately as I've been going through some anxious times, the Spirit has kept this song playing in the background of my mind.  I finally stopped to notice, and I realized I'd been trying to deal with my worries rather than simply looking to Him.  So I began to talk to Him about things and began to truly feel better and know He was there.  Of course He had been there all along, and it was like He was reminding me that He carries me, He's the friend of my heart, He's the One who truly cares and takes care of my issues - so I don't have to.  Ever since I became God's child, my heart and life have been in His hands and He's been taking care of me.  That brings such peace.

Here are some of the lines in the song that meant a lot to me:

"Whisper the words of a prayer
  And you'll find Him there
  Arms open wide, love in His eyes!
  Jesus, He meets you where you are
  Jesus, He heals your secret scars
  All the love you're longing for
  All the love that you need
  Is Jesus - the Friend of a wounded heart."

I am so glad we are never alone, never without a Friend, never without support, for He is living this life through us!  It's a relief to stop and just bask in His Presence.  His Presence is all that's needed.  He ministers to us all that we need because He ministers HIMSELF!  His Presence by His Spirit in us is the source of all joy, peace, hope, rest, love, acceptance, comfort, victory, strength, clarity, fulfillment and life.  HE is all those things to us.  His Presence is the one necessary thing that Mary discovered, and it (HE) won't ever be taken away from us!

Thank You, Lord, that not only are you WITH us and IN us, but You are also living THROUGH us and You will perfect all that concerns us today!  Thank You for the way You woo us back to remembering that when we get anxious; thank You for how You draw us to look to You and see Your "arms open wide, love in Your eyes."  Jesus, thank You for being Our Truest Friend who always understands and accepts us and who lifts us UP!  Troubles can't get us down because we're upheld and kept by You, and You are living through us!  You are always just what we need, and You meet us right where we are and minister to us the word, the love, the joy, the peace, the power - whatever it is we need in that moment, You ARE that for and in us!  Thank You for being the Friend of our wounded hearts!

Because of the Resurrection...

Christ is risen...He is risen indeed!

Because Jesus Christ was raised from the dead, because of the resurrection:

- we have also been raised to new life in Him

- our spirits are now alive

- we have God's Life within us

- we are new creations in Christ, all things have become new

- we are righteous new persons, with His righteous nature as our new (and only!) nature

- we have new hearts that are good with His goodness and pure with His purity

- we are seated with Christ in the heavenly places

- our lives are hidden with Christ in God

- we are now part of the eternal

- we can't be eternally lost, because His life in us can't be extinguished

- we're in union with Eternal Life

- we're eternally secure with His indestructible life in us

- we are out of the realm of sin and death and into the realm of Life

- we are no longer married to the law but to Christ

- we serve not in the oldness of the law but in the newness of the Spirit

- we are a clean and holy temple where God dwells by His Spirit

- we are part of Christ's body along with all other believers

- Christ is our very life

- we no longer live, for Christ now lives in us

- we have been born again, born from above, begotten of God

- we are children of God!

- we are part of God's family forever, belonging with Him always

- we are in Christ, enjoying the relationship He shares with the Father, accepted in the Beloved

- we can call God "Daddy"

- the Spirit of His Son is within us testifying that we are children of God

- we are joined to the Lord, one spirit/Spirit with Him

- there is no separation between our spirit and His Spirit

- we are one with Him, in union with God

- we have perfect fellowship with Him

- we are always in His Presence!

- He is with us always, even to the end of the age!

- death has lost its sting for us

- if we die, we won't stay dead!

- Christ is in us, the hope of glory (we already have His glory in us, and one day it will be totally and visibly manifested)

- we will one day be raised up with our resurrected bodies

- we will live with God forever!

Happy Resurrection Day to all!

You're the Sweetest Thing

You're the sweetest thing, Lord!  Your love is the sweetest thing, the most beautiful, touching, tender, heart-moving thing of all!

Because of the Cross...

Thank You, Lord Jesus, for the cross where You died for us and as us!

You said, "If I be lifted up, I will draw all..to Myself."  I read somewhere that the word "men", as in draw all men, isn't in the original.  So maybe we can think of You drawing all that was against us, all that would keep us from blessed fellowship with You - drawing all that upon and into Yourself on the cross.

You were lifted up on the cross and You drew ALL to Yourself..

All our sin...

All our failures...

All our shame...

All our guilt...

All the law's requirements upon us...

All the law's judgment upon us...

All the law's condemnation of us...

All the law's curse upon us...

All the effects of the law's curse upon us...

All the pain...

All the sorrow...

All the weaknesses...

All the alienation...

All the lostness...

All the animosity...

All the power of the enemy over us...

All the accusations of the enemy against us...

All the enslavement to sin...

All the bondage to fear...

All the entrapment in lies...

All the confusion...

All the misunderstanding of who You really are...

All the unfaith...

All the hopelessness...

All the neediness...

All the dead works...

All of the sin nature...

All of the old self...

All of the old person infected with the sin spirit...

All of who we were without You...

All of the old creation...

ALL of it, taken to the cross so we need bear it no more!

ALL of it...GONE!

Thank You, Lord, that You took all that was against us, all that bound us, the sin that was destroying us, the bondage to the law that doomed us, the power of sin and the enemy to kill us - You absorbed all that into Your own body on the cross and killed it off!  You put an end to it and took it down to the grave!  And none of it rose!

Praise You, Lord Jesus, we are free! Free, free, free!

You and You Alone

Here's another new worship song by Ben Dunn, a beautiful song...

I Have the Perfect Friend

I have the Perfect Friend, the Perfect BEST Friend - the dear Holy Spirit!

He is always there for me, always loyal, always true.

He's an ever-present help in trouble!  He sticks with me through thick and thin.  Nothing I do would push Him away.

He's there for me to take my part and handle things for me.  He's a constant encourager and His words are always to build me up, not tear me down.

He's never disappointed in me.  He delights in me and in our friendship.  He loves being around me and loves spending time with me.  He understands all my little quirks and eccentricities and doesn't think I'm weird at all.  He likes me for who I am, isn't always trying to change me or make me better.  He sees the goodness in me that I can't see, and He points that out to me and empowers me with His encouragement.

My mistakes don't matter in this relationship.  They don't affect His loyal friendship or His opinion of me.  He goes right on being my friend as if nothing happened.  He never holds a grudge, either.  If I have been off in my own thoughts and then come back around, He acts just as open and close as ever.

He is a faithful, supportive, wonderful Friend.  He is always building me up, comforting me when I'm down, reminding me of the truth when I forget it.  He really wants the best for me, and He has such trustworthy words of counsel when I need them.  He is always ready to listen, always ready to help and support, always there for me when I need help, when I need encouraging, when I need someone to stand by me, when I need a Friend.

He is my Best Friend, the best friend I have ever had, the best friend I have ever known or ever will know.  He is my ally, my confidant, the One who knows all my secrets and still loves me, who has seen me on the bad days and still accepts me.  He has been with me through the dark seasons and has never let me down.

I have the Perfect Friend!

I Have the Perfect True Love

I have the Perfect True Love and Husband - it's my precious Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ!

He is the Perfect Love and Husband.  We have a deep and perfect relationship.

He's passionate about me!  He thinks I am absolutely beautiful.  He sees no fault or flaw in me.  His smile, the way He looks at me, just melts my heart!  He treats me with honor and makes me feel so special.

He loves me truly.  He loves me with all His heart, with all that He is.  He loves me completely, irrevocably, and overwhelmingly.  He can't hold back His love for me or contain the strong emotions of delight He has in me!  He loves being with me, and He couldn't bear to ever be without me, couldn't bear for us to ever be apart.

He cherishes and understands me.  He loves to talk with me, laugh together, and just be in each other's company.  We have fun together and also go through the tough times together.  We're close, and I can share anything with Him and have total acceptance by Him no matter what.  Nothing I do, say or think will ever change the way He sees me or loves me.

He'll never leave me or abandon me - I'm secure in this relationship!  He's totally trustworthy and faithful, like a rock that I can count on to be solid for me as I lean against Him for strength and support.  And when I feel my world is crumbling around me, He will hold me in His arms as I cry.  He will always be there for me.

He's never angry with me, never demanding of me. He never points out my faults.  He never mistreats or abuses me.  He's never rough or harsh with me, no matter what I've done or how I've messed up in my own eyes. He didn't enter into this relationship with me to make me His slave or servant;  He entered in this relationship to lavish all His love on me and to share Himself with me.  He loves me for who I am and makes me feel so beautiful and cherished.

His words and actions don't tear me apart, no - they heal me and lift me up!  He always reminds me of the truth of His unconditional, forever love for me, sealed by covenant vows that won't ever be broken.  I am His, and He is mine, forever!  We have perfect communion and a perfect bond of love between us.  Everything is always fine between us.  We have an open relationship of trust and care and understanding.

I am His one and only!  I have the Perfect True Love..

I Have the Perfect Father

I have the Perfect Father - God Himself is my Father and the Spirit of His Son is in my heart crying, "Daddy," and testifying that I'm His child.

I've been brought into intimate relationship with My Father, into the relationship of the Father and Son - I share that same intimacy and closeness with the Father that Jesus does.  The Holy Spirit has shown me that, pouring God's love in my heart and showing me my sonship, giving me the experience of that intimate relationship with my Father God!

The Holy Spirit is kind and gentle and loving, and that Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God - that is, He is my Father's very Spirit!  My Father is revealed to me to be pure Love!

Jesus said "We (the Father and the Son) will come and make our home in you" - by the Spirit this has happened!  The Spirit dwells in me as a believer, and the Spirit reveals Christ, who reveals the Father.  They have made their home in me and I am taken up into this wonderful Father and Child relationship, the perfect parent-child relationship.

He is ALL Love towards me ALL the time, always treating me with tenderness as His dear little child.  He is never angry with me, never uses harsh words with me; He always treats me with gentleness, kindness, generosity, and goodness.

Yes, He is a GOOD Father - He never puts bad or evil things upon me.  He only gives good and perfect gifts!  He loves to shower His love and favor and kindness upon me, just because He loves me.  That is the kind of wonderful Father I have.

I can sit on my Daddy's lap anytime and get a wonderful holy hug!

He holds me in His arms, and those arms protect me from all evil.  My daddy is stronger than anything, and He keeps me safe from the enemy - He won't let the enemy even touch me, and nothing can snatch me out of those strong arms!  Those arms are my support, for He's always watching, ready to catch me if I'm falling, ready to support me when I get tired.  He carries me in His arms, and I can truly fall asleep on His shoulder and just rest, rest, rest.

His arms are not just a place of protection and support, they are also a place of tender embrace, a place of total acceptance.  He loves to just hold me in His arms.  He is always there for me, always has time for me, loves to be with me and listen to and talk with me. And those arms are my comfort as well, for just being in His arms melts my anxieties and sadness away, and I calm down and breathe easily again. 

In His eyes, I am always His perfect and beautiful little daughter.  In His arms, I am always safe and secure, loved, held, understood, sheltered, cherished!

I have the Perfect Father!

You Put the Color in My Eyes, You Turned the Water into Wine, You Turned My Heart to Love YOU!

I found a new song and loved it, so I wanted to share it here with you!  What a wonderful song about His grace.  His loving presence breaks through our darkness, and then His light shines in brilliant colors in our hearts..  And we are filled with Him and His love, and fall in love with Him!  I love the line that says He is closer than our breath and we see His face and His smile..  He is smiling at us today!


You found me when I wasn't looking
My heart was cold and my way was crooked
Black and gray, they filled my day
And all I wanted, all I needed was YOU
Oh You

Then Your dawn broke in
And everything turned to color, glorious color
Night turned to light, water turned into wine,
And all I wanted was YOU
Oh, You

You came closer than the air I breathe
You came closer, Love came to me
 
You put the color in my eyes
I saw Your face and Your smile
Water turned into wine
And my heart turned to love YOU
To love You

And all I love is YOU
I love You..
                                                                       Benjamin Dunn

On Love...

Here are some more quotes from a book called Overwhelmed by Grace, by Kent McQuilkin.  These are on God's wonderful love for us.  I especially love the last one about God's love being everlasting.  I was having a bad week a couple of weeks ago, and God kept bringing that verse to mind over and over again, through people's conversations with me, in books I read..He said to me over and over "My love for you is everlasting." I can't fathom such a love!

Anyway, here are the quotes:

"Jesus is saying to you, 'The greatest thing in all My life is knowing you, loving you, serving you...!'  Do you know that God's full attention is never diverted from you for the briefest moment?  Do you know He can't stop Himself from gazing on your face in deep love, even for a moment?  God is infinite and can deal with all matters at once, but His full attention is on you as though He thought of nothing else."

"God is thinking of me [here he asks us to put our own name in]:  'I love ____ with an everlasting love (Jer. 31:3)...I have chosen ____ from the foundation of the world to be My precious treasure (Eph. 1:4,18)'.....

"'His lovingkindness is everlasting' is God's way of saying 'Infinity I love you!'"

                                                                                                                    Kent McQuilkin
                                                  

On Faith...

In the past I have almost made faith into a work.  I looked inside myself to see if I had enough faith to get God to move.  And I always felt my faith was lacking and needing a boost.  I was constantly examining my faith, which left me more focused on myself than on God.  I had more focus on faith than on its object!  And so somehow, in my performance-oriented way, I turned faith into more of a work, when actually, faith is the end of our work.  Faith isn't something I work up but something that I've been given as a gift from God.  The faith of Christ Himself rises up in me by grace as God shares His true nature and the good news of Christ with me (Ps. 8:10, Rom. 10:17).  Faith isn't about looking at myself to see if I've got enough trust; it's about looking to Him and seeing He's got enough trustworthiness!  These are some of the things I'm starting to understand about faith.  God is still teaching me and I have much to learn.

I recently found some great quotes on faith from a book called "Overwhelmed by Grace" by Kent McQuilkin. You can find the whole book online here.  Here are some of the parts about faith that I really liked:

"Jesus is not demanding faith from us as a prerequisite to grace.  He is giving grace to us as a prerequisite of faith.  He is inspiring faith in us as we look into His strong, loving face and know that this is One we can trust beyond all doubts."

"It's a mistake to think that 'Trust is that rare and priceless treasure that wins us the affection of our heavenly Father' - Never!  It's rather our Father's affection that wins our trust, that produces our trust.  Faith is not a payment we render to God for His grace, faith is the bag God gives to hold all the grace He is pouring out on us."

"We wrongly focus on faith as though it has power to win grace.  Grace is not the reward of faith, faith is the reward of grace.  It is always grace that comes first and produces faith, not vice versa.  Grace gives us the content of faith (Rom. 10:17), the understanding for faith (2 Co. 4:6), and faith itself (Acts 18:27).  Faith is God's gift from first to last (Heb. 12:2)."

[When he thought that it all depended on him to get grace from God:]  "How could grace break through when so much depended on me?  The obvious answer is that nothing did depend on me.  That's why it is called grace.  Faith is not something we must stir up within ourselves...it's an abandonment of all effort and a resting in God.  The question is not 'is your faith strong' but 'is your God strong.'  Faith is an act of giving up on ourselves, even on our faith, and trusting wholly in God, who will grace us despite our badness and weak faith."

"Faith is simply a true understanding or knowledge of God.  Is He the kind of person you love to spend a lazy afternoon with...or is He the kind you have to tiptoe around and try not to disturb?  Does His presence make you grow relaxed or uptight?  When He thinks about you is it with delight or disappointment, and are those thoughts based on how good you have been?"  [This whole quote shows me it's so important to have the true picture of God in our understanding and not receive a teaching that would give us any other picture of God besides 100% pure Love!]

"Faith is not the currency of the kingdom, something we pay God to get His approval and love.  God doesn't need to be induced, even by faith, to love us.  He loves us passionately regardless.  Faith doesn't win God's love - it merely recognizes that His love is already there.  Gods' grace is pounding at the heart's door and faith says, 'Yes, You are welcome!'....and they lived happily ever after."

                                                                   from Overwhelmed by Grace by Kent McQuilkin

God Loving People Through Us

                                     

My kids just received this homemade little house from some friends!!  It's pretty amazing, huh?  The top photo shows how it looks including the roof, and the next one is with the roof removed.

These next two pictures show the inside view of a couple of the rooms, complete with the little pieces of furniture.  Our kids found that Lego people fit perfectly into this house, and they love playing with it!

Here's the story behind this beautiful handmade house:  I have a wonderful email friend named Patty who is like my soul sister, and we write back and forth and talk about God and grace.  (I have so enjoyed getting to know you, Patty!  You are God's beloved!)   Patty's husband Dave has a great pastime - making little houses and forts out of popsicle-type sticks.  He also makes the little, delightfully-detailed furnishings.  He has made a house for our kids and we were all blown away by this wonderful gift!  We have never met Patty or Dave in person - we have only known them across cyberspace.  And yet Dave spent a whole month making this little house for our kids.  That has Jesus' love written all over it - thank you so much, Dave, you are an expression of Christ's love to us!

Christ in us shines forth in so many ways, doesn't it? His life shining through us truly creates a kaleidoscope of love and grace to bless this world.  It's exciting to think of God loving someone through me, of helping them to see the truth or even bringing them an encouraging word through me.  Not only can He manifest Himself through various spiritual giftings, but I think He manifests Himself so beautifully just in our everyday life.  I think that in my lowest moments, He has encouraged me greatly just through a person's kind word to me, maybe just "how are you today?" or something so seemingly insignificant, yet God ministered to me through that little word and reminded me He saw me, He knew about my hurt, and He was there.

I think God shines forth from us without us even knowing it, how with hardly our even perceiving it, He is touching the world through us. I think He shines forth from us whether we've got it all together today or not, whether we're always in a good mood or not, whether we always feel especially spiritual or not.  He can even work through or in the midst of our mistakes to bless others.  I think of how sometimes I may get irritated, rant and rave because I burned the dinner - again (just to use a real life example, ugh).  Yet my outbursts, or "flesh-outs" like that often lead to a conversation about grace with my kids!  About how God loves us even when we're not perfect, about how even if we fail, we are still just as loved and right with God as ever. Thus God uses my mess-up to actually build me and my children up in His grace truth.  He truly makes ALL things work for good somehow!

Everywhere we go, with everyone we meet, we are anointed or "Christed" ones bearing His very Spirit, bearing His very glory in us - and He is shining out from us to bring light to the dark world, pouring out of us to give His refreshing Self to those who are thirsty.  Wow!  We're really lovers.  We really want to love people, don't we?  That's the life of Christ in us, of course, for it is our nature to love.  It's programmed into our spiritual DNA at our new birth.  We are loved by Him and we are vessels that pour out His love to the world.  I don't think it's something we have to think about, either.  I think we are caught up in Him and in His grace, and He just flows out.  I don't think we realize it sometimes, but we glow!  We glow with His glory.  You can't have the Light of the World in you and not shine!  As one of my favorite authors, Dan Stone, says, "We have received the Life.  We can't help but manifest it!"  And it isn't by our effort but by His.  It isn't us they are meeting or hearing or interacting with, it's Him. We rest in Him and He works through us!  That's the grace walk, walking in the Spirit, the wonderful Christian life!

God is wonderful and I love the way He loves people right through us...whether through a little popsicle house, through a smile, through a loving word, through building us up when we fail.. He is constantly gracing us all!

Melody of Salvation

Here's a new praise song I found that I really like.  It's by Benjamin Dunn and Friends..

His Presence IN Me Reminds Me That...

The very presence of the Spirit of God in my life tells me so many things.  He is called a seal or sign of the New Covenant salvation we have, and it is so wonderful to think on what His being within us means..

 

His presence in us tells us the staggering truth that we're actually, amazingly in union with God Himself.  Wow!  The wonderful and almighty God of the universe has come to make His home in us by His Spirit.  He has joined His Spirit with ours and we are never apart.  That is unfathomable to me.  I have sweet fellowship with the very Spirit of God!  God and I are actually one in spirit/Spirit!  In union forever, unbelievable but true.  Oh, grace is just sooo good!

Just His being in us also means we have all we need for this life.  He is the Spirit of Grace, and of Love, and of Power, and of a Sound Mind.  He is the Spirit of Truth, Holiness, and Grace.  He is the Spirit of Wisdom, Understanding, and Might.  He is everything we need, the very Spirit of Christ dwelling within in infinite abundance, joy, peace and life.  We never lack because we have the One who is all within us!

His presence in us tells us God loves us and accepts us!  He is the One sent into our hearts to pour out the love of God, to cry out Abba (Daddy) from within us, to assure us that we are accepted by our Father, to assure us that we are safe forever in His arms.  He tells us we belong with God, we're included and embraced and at home with Him.  Getting to know Him, I have been discovering that He is so much more loving, good, kind and wonderful than I ever could have imagined.  He is 100% pure love and grace, trustworthy, faithful, and good. 

Since He dwells only in a holy temple, the fact that He's dwelling inside us reminds us that we are holy and perfect and clean before the Father, all because of Jesus' perfect work, not at all based on our efforts.  (What a relief!)  His very presence within us is the constant reminder and guarantee that we are right with the Father 100% of the time, no matter whether we fail or not. 

He is the Spirit of Life, and His presence within reminds us that we are now in Life, Life that is Eternal, Life that never ends, wears out, or dies - imperishable, incorruptible Life!  He is the very Spirit of Life who has lifted us out of the realm of sin and death into the realm of Life.  We are now free to enjoy Him, our everlasting source of nourishment, flourishing, growth and renewal.  His presence in me reminds me of all this, that I'm now in the Life realm of Christ, not the death realm of sin.  Sin will never have a hold on me again, will never curse or condemn me or cause me to die.

Since He's the Power that raised Christ from the dead, His presence in us tells us we have resurrection power in us!  We have Someone in us who is way stronger than any evil, attack, lie, threat, problem, worry, fear or trouble.  We're not vulnerable and threatened, we're in the Victorious One and His Spirit is mighty in us to do all!  What a powerful Ally we have on our side and by our side.

He is the guarantee of our inheritance, the down-payment of our heavenly bliss.  Because of His joining our spirits to Himself, our spirits are IN His Spirit and that means our spirits are already in the heavenly realm, seated with Christ in the heavenly places!  He is the constant reminder that we will one day be resurrected in our body as well, and thus He is the guarantee that we're eternally safe with God and won't ever be rejected.  

And He's our Best Friend who will never leave or forsake us.  He's sent to be with us always, always, always!   So His presence in us tells us we will never be without Him, never be without His friendship and companionship.  We will never be abandoned.  We will never be left alone.  We will never be alone to face anything in this life, ever.

His presence in us also reminds us that we don't have to live this Christian life on our own.  We live by the Spirit - we never have to go it alone.  He is there to live this Christian life in us, to handle anything that comes our way, to conquer confusion by guiding us into all truth, to fight for us, to love people through us, to uplift us and carry us when we can't make it, to protect us from the evil one, to bring us through every circumstance in peace.  Paraclete means "one coming alongside to take our part" and He takes our part in this life journey and lives for us. 

He is with us to befriend us, fellowship with us, love on us, reassure us, and even live our very life through us, loving the world right through us!

The Lord is my Shepherd

The Lord is my Shepherd…THAT’S RELATIONSHIP!

I shall not want…THAT’S SUPPLY!

He makes me to lie down in green pastures…THAT’S REST!

He leads me beside still waters…THAT’S REFRESHMENT!

He restores my soul…THAT’S HEALING!

He leads me in the paths of righteousness…THAT’S GUIDANCE!

For His name sake…THAT’S PURPOSE!

Yes, though I walk through
the valley of the shadow of death...THAT'S CHALLENGE!

 I will fear no evil…THAT’S ASSURANCE!

For You are with me…THAT’S FAITHFULNESS!

Your rod and Your staff they comfort me…THAT’S SHELTER!

You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies…THAT’S HOPE!

You anoint my head with oil…THAT’S CONSECRATION!

My cup runs over…THAT’S ABUNDANCE!

Surely goodness and mercy
shall follow me all the days of my life…THAT’S BLESSING!

And I will dwell in the house of the Lord…THAT’S SECURITY!

Forever…THAT’S ETERNITY!

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