The Old Life, The New Life

The old life was in Adam.
The new life is in Christ.

The old life was transitory.
The new life is permanent.

The old life was not lasting and was doomed to end.
The new life is everlasting and will never end.

The old life was bound by the law of sin and death.
The new life is bound by the law of the Spirit, the law of life in Christ!

The old life was limited and finite.
The new life is limitless and infinite.

The old life was from man's seed and man's will.
The new life is from God's seed and God's will.

The old life was of earth, earthy.
The new life is of heaven, heavenly.

The old life was a decaying life.
The new life is constantly fresh and new.

The old life couldn't be maintained.
The new life is self-sustaining.

The old life could be lost or put out.
The new life is never lost and can't be ended.

The old life was under death's power.
The new life is free from death's power.

The old life was weak.
The new life is strong.

The old life was destructible.
The new life is indestructible.

The old life was corrupted.
The new life is incorruptible.

The old life fades away.
The new life is unchanging.

The old life was human life.
The new life is God's life!

The old life was me alone.
The new life is Christ in me!

"When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory."  Col. 3:4

                      With love from
                                         

A Walk Through Autumn Woods

Here are some photos from our walk today through the woods with a friend.

The leaves were absolutely beautiful, and we walked through quiet and misty woods to the lovely river, rimmed with color.

It was a celebration of God's masterpiece called Autumn. 

As far as I understand, there is no reason for leaves to change into all those vibrant colors.

Why did God do that?

He must have "done it for love."

As if to say, "That's how vibrant, and bold, and passionate, and breathtaking My love is FOR YOU."

                    Happy Autumn to all,
                                         

I Asked You For Life

"I Asked You For Life"

I asked You for life, and You sent your son to die for me.
I asked You for hope, You came in the night and gave me a dream.
I asked You for freedom, You broke every chain and gave me the keys.
I asked You for love never-ending and every day You surround me!

And now my faith in You is a mountain that can't be shaken,
Now my strength is found in You, it is joy that can't be taken!
Praise spills from my lips, flowing onto the feet of You, my King.
You deserve all the love and all the honor that I can bring!

Here is my song, here is my heart, here is my love, all for You, Jesus!
Holy, Holy, only You are worthy!
                                                                   Jesus Culture

I love this song!  One day when I was having a very bad time, worrying over a problem, God had this song "playing" in the background of my mind constantly!  I was so worried, it took me a while to even notice this happy song playing over and over in my mind.  He just kept playing it over and over till I noticed, and I was touched and blessed.  I love how He keeps bringing us back to the good news of grace and encouraging us!  He won't leave us in our worries and fears - He comes to encourage us and remind us of the truth that we are okay in Him!  He fights the fears and worries with His love and strength and grace and JOY!  He truly is a Giver of grace, all the time!

He's all we've ever asked for.

He gives so much more than we ever ask..

He gave all of Himself and He fills up all of ourselves.

He gave all of Himself to us..

And wrapped up in Him is all we could ever need.

He meets our deepest needs..

And He's life, joy, peace and EVERYTHING to us!

                  With love from
                                   

When You're Down

Praise God that when we're down, grace doesn't go away!

When we're down, hurting, confused, lonely, feeling rejected, God doesn't reject us.  He doesn't kick us when we're down.  Instead, He comes down to where we are and enters our pain.  He makes it His own.  He cries with us.  He hurts with us.  He takes on our sorrows and pains and carries them.  And He carries us.  Even if the darkness is of our own making.  Even if the ditch we're lying in is one we chose to crash into through our own poor choices.

The prodigal son's poor choices never caused the father to stop calling him the son.  And our poor choices never negate the grace of God over our life.  He accepts us based on His own love and Jesus' perfect performance.  We are SAFE in that love and will never be abandoned or rejected or disowned, no matter how low we seem to sink.  His is a love that will never let us go.

Praise God that when we're down and can't get up to God, He shows us He has come down to us, and won't leave us till He lifts our head up high again.  Praise God He is the bearer of our burdens and the lifter of our heads!  Praise God He is the healer of our wounds and hurts.

Praise God for grace that won't leave us, no matter what!

                   With love from
                                       

He Is Our Supply

I heard Joseph Prince make this comment about Mary sitting at Jesus' feet (I hope I'm quoting it correctly):  "Mary looked at Jesus and His presence was supply to her."  He added that she just stayed under the supply fountain and received from Him.  He spoke about how Jesus is our supply, and this supply is independent of our actions.  It is not based on us but on Christ.  (I'm paraphrasing his words here.)  These ideas really encouraged me.

I am so glad that Jesus is my supply.  Just His presence with me is all that I need!  All that's asked for in my daily life, He is and has and supplies.  I love the idea Watchman Nee shares that Jesus doesn't give us love, peace or joy.  He gives us Himself, and in Himself, He is all those things.  He is love for us, joy for us, peace for us.  His presence is the supply of all we need.

I love that I do not have to ever go through anything alone!  I used to feel alone facing my problems.  I often felt overwhelmed by them.  I felt that somehow I had to handle them, and I just knew that I couldn't.  Praise God He has shown me that He is with me not just to sympathize but to actually handle my problems in and through me.  He is the strength I need.  He is the power and courage and peace that comes through at just the right time.  Just like the widow's oil, His Holy Spirit supply never runs out but instead is there every time and at the right time, being all that's needed for every situation.

I love the image of Mary just sitting at Jesus' feet, basking in His words, soaking in His presence.  His presence was all she needed.  In Him she found all she was looking for, the love, the peace, the joy, the truth.  She was renewed and invigorated just by being with Him.

I thank God for His constant presence!  We are joined to Him in an eternal union of spirit with Spirit.  We are so close that we are one.  We are intimately joined to the One who supplies all for us.  He is a fountain always pouring onto us with love, grace, acceptance, joy and power.  We are never in need.  We are never alone.  We are never without Him, who is our supply!  He is everything!  We're under the refreshing fountain, the living waterfall of Jesus, today and every day!

                   Under the fountain,
                                             

Thoughts on Relationship With God

What follows are some thoughts I have had about my relationship with God and some things He showing me in the midst of going through each day together.  Some of these things I guess I was supposed to "know" as a grace-oriented person, but to be honest I need to learn things over and over!  

It is neat for me to see that God desires interaction with us so much.  He doesn't give us a bunch of principles to follow, so that if we do all those things we'll have a successful Christian life.  You don't even "need" God for such a plan (anyway, if righteousness comes by the law, Christ died in vain).  

Instead He gives His very own Self and tells us that He is the secret to the Christian life.  It's all wrapped up in Him and we interact with and trust Him, commune and communicate with Him, look to Him for all we need.  The branch is completely dependent on the Vine so that real, living, union relationship occurs and real growth and fruit come out of that union relationship. 
  

It boggles my mind that God would actually want to have a relationship, a friendship, with me.  It's almost like I can't believe He would want to talk with me about everything and never tires of helping me.  Yesterday I had this terrible, irritable day and yet it ended with Him and me together listening to worship songs and me enjoying His wonderful presence.  That's a great friend who can do that with me!  It was as if all my ranting and worrying hadn't even happened.  Our friendship just went on so perfectly.  It's almost unbelievable.  That's grace!  He is grace personified to me, the love and acceptance and strengthening life of God put within me!  He truly is my best friend, the friend one thought they could only dream of ever having.
  

There's another area where I see this wonderful interaction between Him and me taking place.  I didn't realize that in the past I was trying to fight so many of my worries myself.  I think He is showing me He wants me to look to HIM for the answer.  He wants me to lean on Him and trust Him for HIS work in the problem.  I have noticed over the last few days that when I felt troubled, I was feeling led to just stop and ask Him right then to fill me with His Spirit and to restore me to peace and clear thinking.  He just kept directing my thoughts back to Him.  Often He would give me a sense or reminder of His presence with me, and over time the problem thoughts cleared. 

Through these experiences I am understanding so much better what it means to let Christ live through me.  It has seemed kind of vague to me in the past, but now it makes more sense.  I'm not here alone having to figure things out on my own - I'm attached to Him and His life is flowing through me!  He literally lives for me!  He handles my problems in my place!  He takes care of the worries and struggles.  He actually desires that I share all my concerns with Him so that He can take deal with them for me.  We're not meant to struggle and deal with our problems on our own, we're meant to look to Christ and watch Him deal with them with His power and through His Spirit.

With Him taking care of that stuff, I am freed to just enjoy His presence!  I think He loves that so much, just enjoying being together, interacting and communing.  Why would God Almighty care to be around ME?  I don't have a clue but I am thankful for His marvelous grace that loves me and accepts me and strengthens me with His life - no matter what! That's truly a result of His grace!

Life in Christ is the best thing going, isn't it?  It just gets better and better.  And it's all a gift of His grace from beginning to end! 

                       With love to all,
                                       

I Love Your Presence

I Love Your Presence

In the glory of Your presence
I find rest for my soul
And in the depths of Your love
I find peace, makes me whole

I love, I love
I love Your presence
I love, I love
I love You Jesus

He is always with us.  Always pouring out love into our hearts.  Always looking on us with joy and delight.  Always there within our depths whether we always sense Him or not.  Yet He makes Himself known and speaks to us in our spirits in His own special way.

I love Your presence, Lord.
You are my rest
and my peace
and my joy
and my very life.
You are everything to me.
Thank You for being in me!
I am never alone.
I never face anything alone!
For You are with me..

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 Chr. 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!

                           With love,
                                         

A Note To Self

This great quote is from Cirra of One Thing Blog:

"Note to self:  If what you are thinking, feeling, speaking doesn't edify you, encourage you, increase you, build you up and cheer you on...it is NOT the voice of God.  He will never tell you what you are NOT...except to remind you that you are not under condemnation and not bound or lost in darkness anymore.  He will only tell you what you are in Him, and that is saying A LOT."
                                                               Cirra Lecour

It's a Wonderful Life - A Quote from Jamie Weeks

Jamie Weeks of Better Than We Know Blog talks about grace in a wonderfully clear way.  I love the way she explains the law of life in Christ.  It's truly a wonderful Life that keeps and holds on to us, rather than us having to worry about holding on to it! 

"We will never be good enough to deserve life.  And, in Christ, we can never be bad enough to lose it...Men are no longer held to a moral code of law.  Men are born into a law of life in Christ!  The difference?  This law keeps us; it doesn't require that we keep it.  That's why Jesus could say, "It is finished."  Because there is nothing we do that improves the deal.  We just accept it and live in it."

                                                                   Jamie Weeks

My Experience of HS Filling/Baptism

 I shared some of my story of emotional healing from anxiety, sadness and fear a few months back, but I wanted to take a little time to share again in some more detail and just take time to thank God for His love and healing power.  I hope this testimony is an encouragement to any and all...

Several years ago, our little daughter was born with a complex heart defect, and my life went into a tailspin.  Our little one is doing great now, praise God!  Yet the trauma of having my 6-day old baby undergo major heart surgery, and then another surgery later, then another, just took its toll and I became a very fearful and anxious person.  I couldn't get out of that bleak place in my life.  I couldn't overcome or be a strong and victorious Christian, no matter what I tried.  I felt like I was supposed to be victorious, and I wasn't, so I suffered great condemnation and sadness at being stuck like that.  The truths I had learned about grace were all that helped me survive that time, and yet the pain of not being able to overcome all my problems made me have this gnawing condemnation inside.

Then through a friend, I was introduced more to the Holy Spirit.  I guess growing up I had not been taught much about Him or His work in us.  I longed to just be soaked in the One who IS Grace, the Person - the Spirit of Grace!  So I prayed and asked God for this gift of being immersed or baptized in His Spirit.  I remember telling God very honestly that I didn't have much faith, and how He basically gave me the faith I needed.  He showed me that I was basically asking for Him, and that was definitely a prayer He would answer with a "yes."  A couple of days after I prayed, I was standing in my bedroom, and I just felt God's presence and realized that all the pain, sadness, worry and fear was just GONE.  It had been lifted off!  It was like it was just me and God, and everything else just faded away.  I realized He had never rejected me all through that time that I was condemning myself for being a failed, un-victorious Christian. 

I had become a fearful and sad person and had condemned myself.  I had felt very un-victorious as a Christian because I couldn't get out of that fear and worry.  And the way God dealt with that wasn't to expose my faulty thinking; in fact He skipped over all my issues and went straight to my heart and filled it full of His Spirit, His Presence.  I felt like it was just me and Jesus standing there, and like no one and nothing else existed. I felt His acceptance.  I felt closeness with Him, He was so PRESENT.  And all my issues and problems were suddenly just a tiny speck, like He could just flick them away with His fingertip.  They weren't a big deal to Him at all!  And lastly, I remember that He was light-hearted!  It was a wonderful experience, kind of like being saved all over again.  And I believe that  is the birthright of every Christian, to know the love and closeness of God by His Spirit!

That whole time He had been accepting me.  And now He had poured out His Spirit in me and delivered me of all that heaviness.  I didn't even ask for Him to do that, I just wanted to have His Spirit in fullness saturating my being.  But with the Spirit came this healing and freedom, as if He just came in and cleared out all the junk that was there inside me weighing me down.  He made me see that all my troubles were just like nothing to Him, that He could handle them all.  My mind  - which had always been racing with thoughts - was now calm.  I felt peaceful, like praising God, joyful like a child again.  I felt like myself again.  I was freed!  "Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom!"  

And over the next few weeks He started making me aware of how much He loved me, and I started falling in love with Him.  I felt His presence inside me, closer than my own thoughts, and felt His joy and strength within.  I felt Him delighting in me, constantly reminding me that everything is FINE between me and Him.  So many times when the dark feelings would threaten to return, He would rise up from within me to fight them off. 

I love the fact that I don't feel vulnerable anymore.  I used to always be afraid of what terrible thing might happen next.  I always felt like I could be crushed at any moment.  But now I know I am never alone, and He is right there to handle anything life might throw at me, not just there to say He loves me, but also there to do something and get me through the situation with His power and victory.  That gives me hope, not just for my daughter's life, but for my own.  It makes me happy again after so many years of being sad.  I really never thought I would be happy again, and now I am!  It is truly a miracle, and all because of both grace and the Holy Spirit.  They really are one thing, for the Holy Spirit ministers grace and love to our hearts.   Grace is a Person, and His name is Holy Spirit.  

He is a good God and a God who brings hope and healing through His presence, which is 100% pure and powerful LOVE!

Can't Hold My Love Back From You

To me, this song by Jesus Culture shows so well the difference between living under law and living under grace.  It's the difference between being "trying" to love someone and being "swept up" in love so much you just can't help yourself, you can't hold back, you just pour out with love for your Beloved!  He looks at us with love and we are just never the same....ruined by unconditional love, swept away by free grace, overwhelmed by the constant acceptance and delight He pours out upon us!  We don't try to love, we fall in love!  We aren't forced to love, we are drawn to love.  His love causes us to fall for Him...it's relationship He wants - interaction, intimacy, communion, warm embrace, closeness, friendship, conversation and fellowship.  It's a love affair He wants - WITH US!

I have looked all my life for someone to love me as I am, to support me no matter what, to never turn away from me, to listen to all my boring ramblings, to delight in me, to share with me all that they are and care about all that I am.  Someone to be a bosom friend.  Someone to love me, and someone I could love  - without fear, without regret, without hiding any part of myself.  Someone who would be with me every waking moment, someone who would walk through life with me.  It's HIM!  It's really Him!  He's so real - not a God up in the sky but a Person who lives within.  I want to experience Him and His love more and more!

Just can't hold back my love from You, Jesus...

                       With love to all,
                                           

"Shall Not"

The law is a list of things to do and also things not to do.  I guess in the past my view has been that it is mainly things NOT to do - for example, 7 of the 10 commandments have a "shall not" in them.  The law itself isn't negative - it's good and holy for its purpose, which is to minister condemnation and death!  That sounds harsh, yet the law in all its beauty and perfection is meant to highlight sin and pronounce all under guilt from sin.  That way, all the world's sin could be put onto Christ and He could get rid of the guilt, condemnation, and punishment due because of it.  So the law wasn't given so we could keep it; it was given to show us we couldn't keep it and needed a Savior.

Jesus has done a wonderful thing.  He has made us to die to the Old Covenant law.  Now we have been raised with Him into a new creation world where we live under a different law, the law of the Spirit.  This law is something I sometimes can't quite explain, but I think it basically means that we are buoyed up in life by the very Spirit of Christ being within us.  The Spirit of Christ within us causes us to soar and fly over all condemnation and guilt.  The law can no longer accuse us, and sin can no longer cause us spiritual death.  We can thank God for the victory Christ brought us by taking our sin and our old selves down into the grave, that we might be raised up as new creations to walk in newness of life, the very life of Christ Himself!

We live in a new way in this new creation world.  We serve God not in the oldness of the letter but in the newness of the Spirit.  The old way was one of bondage that led to fear, but the new way is one of sonship leading to security!  We don't serve out of obligation or to earn rewards or acceptance.  We are carried along by the Spirit and serve out of love, because we are motivated to do so from within, from our new nature, which is just the Spirit of Christ at the center of our being!  His Spirit pours out the love of God in our hearts and we find ourselves compelled by that love to worship, to adore, to love, to minister, to rejoice!  We do it not because we have to but because we want to.  We are totally free yet at the same time drawn irresistibly by His love.  The strongest, greatest love in the universe is coming to us at every moment.  We are never out from under His loving and gentle gaze.  He is delighting in us at every second and so happy with us, His little children!  His heart turns flips as He thinks about us, which happens continuously.  He has made His home in us, never to leave, and has brought us home to Him, never to be put out.  We shall not ever be separated from Him or His love!

The old covenant law contained many "shall nots" which had a purpose that is now fulfilled.  We are not under that old legislation anymore.  Now we are under the new covenant where God provides all for us as a gift and we are free in Him.  This covenant also contains some "shall nots" - yet they are so different from the old "shall nots" - rather than making me feel depressed and guilty, they make me feel safe and warm and joyful in Him!  They are focused on our secure relationship with God rather than our erratic behavior, for the New Covenant has a relationship focus and not a works focus.  These are the "shall nots" I have found in the new covenant.  I only used Jesus' words in John.  I'm sure if I looked through the rest of the New Testament, I could find many more!  Anyway, here are those "shall nots" that I found:

His promises to all who believe in Him:

1 - You SHALL NOT hunger, but shall be fully satisfied with Him (John 6:35).

2 - You SHALL NOT thirst, but shall have within His very Spirit as an ever-flowing fountain of eternal life (John 4:14).

3 - You SHALL NOT walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life (John 8:12).

4 - You SHALL NOT be a slave to sin or the devil's lies, but shall be free indeed (John 8:32-36).

5 - You SHALL NOT perish, but shall have everlasting life (John 3:16).

6 - You SHALL NOT be snatched from His hand, but shall be safe (John 10:27-8).

7 - You SHALL NOT come into judgment, but have already passed from death to life (John 5:24).

8 - You SHALL NOT follow a stranger, but shall know and follow your Shepherd (John 10:4-5).

9 - You SHALL NOT have your joy stolen, but shall rejoice with great joy (John 16:22).

10 - SHALL NOT be left desolate, but shall have the His Spirit with you always to comfort you (John 14:16-18)!

With His very Spirit inside us as our best friend and LIFE, how can we go wrong?  If God is for us, who can be against us?  We shall not be put to shame but will always be led in triumph, love and grace!  All as a gift through Jesus' work for us and His wonderful grace, not ever through our efforts!  What a wonderful covenant the New Covenant is!

                     With love to all,
                                       

Random Grace Thoughts

Some random grace thoughts I've had come to me lately:

The secret to the Christian life seems to be enjoying a love affair with Him and reveling in His unconditional love.

Don't try to keep the law.  Depend on His Spirit of life, who will keep you!

The Father never sees us as anything but His beloved children.  The Son never sees us as anything but His beautiful Bride!

We have been given a Spirit of sonship, not slavery!

The presence of Christ in a situation makes all the difference!  In His presence, darkness flees, lies dissipate, fears evaporate, love flows, strength rises up, truth wins out!  And He is ALWAYS present!  A very PRESENT help in trouble!

I'm never alone in facing any problem again.  He will face my problems for me.  He will really take care of every problem I face today.

He really wants us to forget our problems and struggles and just look into His eyes of love.

My troubles are so tiny to Him they are non-existent!  They don't affect our relationship one bit.

Grace isn't a teaching but a Person.  God will always act in grace and love toward us.

I don't have to hold on to Him - He's holding on to me!

We are loved, we are accepted, and our sins are gone!

It's not all about behavior modification; it is all about HIS LIFE!

                  Grace to all,
                                  

Blessed NOW Under the New Covenant

The Lord bless you and keep you;
The Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.      
                                              Num. 6:24-6

I think this blessing was completely fulfilled in the New Covenant!

The Lord bless you - He has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in Christ Jesus.  (Eph. 1:3)

And keep you - We have now returned to the Shepherd and Guardian (Keeper) of our souls. (1 Pet. 2:25)

The Lord make His face shine upon you - God has shone in our hearts and given us the knowledge of His glory in the face of Jesus Christ.  (2 Co. 4:6)

And be gracious to you - He has brought us by faith into this grace in which we stand.  (Rom. 5:2)

The Lord lift His countenance upon you - With unveiled faces we are beholding the glory of the Lord.  (2 Co. 3:18)

And give you peace - We now have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.  (Rom. 5:1)

How wonderful is the New Covenant of grace..

                  With love,
                                    

Introducing My Best Friend

I'd like to introduce you to my best friend.  He is the most wonderful friend I've ever had and seems too good to be true!  I definitely don't deserve my dear best friend at all!  We've been friends for a while, and this friendship has been the most enriching friendship of my life.  Let me describe him for you..

He is always there for me.  He never lets me down.  He's such a true and loyal friend.  He's always ready to help or encourage.  He's there for me, even if I fall flat on my face.  Even if I lash out at him or seem to ignore him for a time.  He never holds a grudge when I act like that.  He never gets angry with me; I don't have to worry that my annoying habits may drive him up the wall or something.  He is consistently kind to me and loyal to me.  I know he'll always be my friend.  Always.

He's gentle.  He always lifts me up.  He never puts me down.  He speaks truth to me, but it's good truth that makes me feel better as a person, not cutting jabs to expose all my weaknesses.  He focuses on my strengths and seems to not even notice the weaknesses.  And yet I can talk freely with him about my weaknesses and never feel judged, only helped and encouraged.  He tells me that he sees in my depths a beautiful true self below the turbulent surface, and he keeps reminding me that person is the real me.  He never lets my mistakes come between us or affect our relationship.  He goes right on with our relationship as if nothing happened that was amiss.

He knows all about me like noone else, and yet still likes to be around me!  He actually enjoys my company, laughs at my jokes, thinks I'm worth knowing.  He truly accepts me as I am, yet he has this way of inspiring me to live well and with dignity and love.  I know I could tell him anything and it wouldn't shock him or drive him away, no matter what.  There is no way he will ever reject me, and just knowing that gives me such security.

He watches my back.  He won't let others accuse me.  He is always there to stick up for me and defend me.  So many times when I feel weak or confused about something, He steps in and explains things to me and just handles situations that I can't handle.  If I'm in a jam, He is never too busy to help.  I know he'll always make time for me whenever I need him.  He's there for me when I just need to collapse in his arms and get a hug.  He's there for me when I need a shoulder to cry on.  He's all I could ever ask for in a friend.

He's always willing to listen.  Really listen.  He doesn't put a lot of burdensome advice on me.  He truly cares about me and I feel like when I talk to him, he truly understands my perspective.  I never feel like he's going to get bored with me.  I never feel like he is only tolerating me.  He is genuinely interested in me and seems to find me a delightful person!  He knows me so well that he knows what hurts me and he's ready to step in and comfort me when I get hurt.  Even if it's my fault I got hurt in the first place!

I know it's obvious I'm talking about the Spirit of God here.  It's been wonderful to realize just how good a friend He is.  He is our friend that will be with us forever and never let us down! 

"I will talk to the Father, and he'll provide you another Friend so that you will always have someone with you. This Friend is the Spirit of Truth. The godless world can't take him in because it doesn't have eyes to see him, doesn't know what to look for. But you know him already because he has been staying with you, and will even be in you!"                                                                           John 14:14-6

                 With love,
                               

I Have Found

"I Have Found"

I have found a peace that ploughs on through the storm.
I have found a joy that jumps over sadness. 
I have found a love that lights up every room.
I have found, I've found You!


I have found a trust that teaches how to rest.
I have found a grace that guides me by the hand.
I have found a strength that stands like a mountain.
And I have found, I've found You!

You are all I want, You are all I need,
Everything my heart could hope for.
We are longing for, the Glory of the Lord,
Cause we know there's so much more!

Only You, fill my soul!
                                                           Kim Walker 

(One little note:  She sings "we are longing for the glory of the Lord, because we know there's so much more."  I take that to mean that we have everything in Christ, and we have found Him to be all to us.  We are complete in Him and He is surely in us, yet we do not experience everything of Him yet.  So we wish to experience all that He is, see that manifested in our lives.  I don't think it's saying we are incomplete or lacking.  Just that we wish to experience more and more all the adequacy we already have in Him!)

On Friendly Terms With God

Now that we are set right with God by means of this sacrificial death, the consummate blood sacrifice, there is no longer a question of being at odds with God in any way.

If, when we were at our worst, we were put on friendly terms with God by the sacrificial death of his Son, now that we're at our best, just think of how our lives will expand and deepen by means of his resurrection life!

Now that we have actually received this amazing friendship with God, we are no longer content to simply say it in plodding prose. We sing and shout our praises to God through Jesus, the Messiah!

                                                                       Rom. 5:9-11

I love these verses because they spell out so vividly what we have through the finished work of Christ:  an amazing friendship with God!  We have been put on friendly terms with God.  He's our Friend and everything is okay between us and Him.  There is no longer a question of being at odds with God in any way.  The sins that so often dragged us down and left us feeling too ashamed to approach Him are just plain GONE, taken away by Christ and nailed to the cross.  We're completely and positively reconciled to God.  We're in His favor.  There is nothing between us!  And since He's done this wonderful work to give us this amazing Friendship with God, just think how life will only expand and deepen as a result of this fact!

Let's revel in the amazing love of God today!  He calls us His friends and calls Himself our Friend!

                  With love,
                                 

Rob Rufus on Our Right Standing With God

Here are some wonderful quotes from Rob Rufus which go along with and actually inspired my post from two days ago:

"What does the gift of righteousness mean?  It means 'right standing with God!'  The gift of righteousness gives you permanent, unconditional, irreversible, from first to last right standing with God.  Now what does right standing with God mean?  It means that there is nothing between you and the Father.

"Right standing - nothing separating us!  Does the Father have any problems with the Son?  Is there any conflict between the Father and the Son?  Does the Father point out the Son's faults?  No, you are in Christ and through what happened at the Cross you are ONE with the Father!  So actually friends - every second of every moment of every day you are actually as close to the Father as Jesus is."

                                                                            Rob Rufus

For Julie

My friend Julie and her family are RVing across the west seeking to minister God's love to people they meet along the way.  (Check out their blog at http://adventurebound8.blogspot.com/.)  They shot this beautiful picture of the Grand Tetons.  I just had to put it on my blog because it was just so lovely!  Julie is one of those friends who has helped me to understand God's grace more just by the way she treats me.  Julie, you are a wonderful friend and I am so thankful to God for the gift of your friendship!  Thank you for accepting me as I am, warts and all.  You really know me and yet you love me still - you impart GRACE to me!  Thanks for being you...

Nothing Can Ever Come Between Us and God!

"Nothing between us and God, our faces shining with the brightness of his face" (from 2 Co. 3, The Message Bible).

Rob Rufus makes a statement that "right standing with God" means that there's nothing between us and God.  Nothing in the way of our relationship with Him.  And since we have right standing with God as a permanent possession, as a grace gift, then nothing can ever come between us and God forever!

What could ever come between us?  NOTHING!  Not sin, not doubt, not confusion, not fear, not circumstances, not struggle - these things are nothing to Him!  Nothing shall separate us from His love, and we have been placed in His presence, before His face, forever!  Two verses say these very things:

"For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Rom. 8:38-9).

"You have preserved my life because I am innocent; You have brought me into your presence forever." (Ps. 41:12)

We're always in His love, always in His presence.  That is all I've ever wanted - to be right with Him, with nothing between us, in union, in that love relationship, ONE - forever!  And that is exactly what Jesus died to give us and He accomplished His goal!  We simply receive the gift of His life and find ourselves in union with God!  There is never any separation - we are face to face in perfect and unhindered fellowship forever!

This union relationship and fellowship is what the new birth gives us and what all Christians have.  The Holy Spirit assures us of this, of our adoption, of that Parent - child relationship we have with God, of the veil of the law which once separated us being gone so that there is nothing between us).  The Holy Spirit has brought us into this union through regenerating us into this union of our spirit with His and He maintains this union in us.

The birthright and privilege of every child of God is open, intimate communion with Him.  We are the righteousness of Christ, in right relationship with Him forever.  Our relationship with Him is as perfect and close as the relationship Jesus has with the Father is!

                 With love to all,
                                    

Oh, How He Loves Us!

My friend Caroline encouraged me to watch this video, and it was powerful and uplifting, so I wanted to share it here.

"May your roots go down deep into the soil of God's marvelous love; and may you be able to feel and understand, as all God's children should, how long, how wide, how deep, and how high His love really is; and to experience this love for yourselves, though it is so great that you will never see the end of it or fully know or understand it...." (From Eph. 3, The Living Bible).

I definitely desire a revelation of His love.  I want to know and experience it more fully, understand, grasp and enjoy it more deeply.  I pray He'll break away every lie and confusion in my heart and others' hearts so we can all grasp how deep His love for us really is!

Oh, how He loves us!

Grits and Grace

My dear neighbor Linda told me the following story that she'd heard from her pastor recently:

A man who was not from the South was traveling through a Southern state and stopped in a diner to order breakfast.  He ordered bacon and eggs, but when his meal arrived, he saw the plate had bacon, eggs and also a hot, white goop on it.  The man quickly asked the waitress about this extra item on his plate, and she explained he'd been served something called "grits" with his meal.

The man protested that he hadn't ordered grits, and the waitress said, "You don't have to order them."  The man insisted that he would not pay for these grits that he hadn't even ordered, and the waitress said, "You don't have to pay for them."  The man was very confused, but the waitress explained, "Sir, you don't have to order them and you don't have to pay for them.  They just come."

That is grace.  We don't have to ask or beg for God's grace to be upon us.  We don't have to pay for or earn that grace in any way.  We don't have to do anything to get it and there is nothing we need to do to deserve it.  It just comes.

Grace always comes to us, like hot and steamy grits with your southern breakfast.  Freely given with no payment needed or required.  No matter what, grace always comes to us!
            
                With love,
                           

                       

Photos From Our Trip to the Mountains

Here are some pictures from our recent vacation in the mountains.  The weather was perfect and the mountains were beautiful.  We had a wonderful time, and I wanted to share some photos!

My daughter actually held one of these butterflies (above) on her finger!

The kids enjoyed wading in this beautiful river.  The water was freezing cold, but they didn't mind.

We hiked to a really cool waterfall.  It came over a ledge and you could actually walk behind it.  The water volume for this waterfall is not very great, so it's hard to see in the picture. 

Pretty mountain scenery.  Only a few leaves were beginning to get a hint of color.  The mornings were cool, though, and fall was in the air.  We had a great trip!

When We're Tired of Trying to Measure Up

I get tired of trying to measure up.  Trying to measure up to what I've felt are God's expectations, trying to measure up to what others seem to expect of me, trying to measure up to my own demands for myself, even.

It's great to remember, when I get tired of trying to meet those impossible standards, that God says I can rest.  I can rest, because between Him and me, things are okay.  Christ has already "measured up" for me, so I don't have to!  I measure up just fine in Jesus, whose work is perfect.  God isn't placing any expectations on me.  He's perfectly satisfied with the work of the Son on my behalf, and since I'm in the Son, He's perfectly satisfied with me!  Those words sound almost brash to write.  But it's true according to the Bible - we are justified (made right in God's sight) FREELY as a gift by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus (Rom. 3:24), for by ONE offering He has perfected forever (made perfect before God) those who are sanctified (Heb. 10:14)!  We're made right and perfected by the work of Jesus.  To me, that means I have been lifted up in Christ outside the realm of "expectations" and "needing to measure up."

When I get tired of trying to measure up to the expectations put out for me in this world, it's nice to know that before God I am completely acceptable!  I have the good opinion of the One who matters most.  His good opinion of me puts me in a place that is above and separate from the opinions of others.  I tend to care too much what other people think.  But the increasing awareness that God approves of me frees me from caring so much about other people's approval.  It also frees me to be able to minister to them.  The answer always seems to come back to Him and how He sees me.  He says I've measured up in Christ and am forever acceptable to Him!

Jeff VanVonderen has a book called "Tired of Trying to Measure Up."  It's like a counselor in a book, and there are many wonderful gems in this book to give us relief from feeling the need to "measure up" before God.  I want to share a few of my favorite quotes from this book:

"It is God's grace, not our striving, that makes us accepted and acceptable.  It is His performance in Christ, not our trying hard to perform, that eradicates our shame.

"What's so wonderful is that we can be loved, accepted, capable and worthwhile for free - because , in love, god purchased our eternal state of "acceptedness" with the blood of His own Son, Jesus Christ...That's the REAL Good News of the Gospel!

"The solution to the self-effort treadmill is resting in what God has already done through Jesus Christ.

"Develop the picture of your worth and value from God, not from the false reflections that come out of your past.

"If my acceptance is based on HIS performance, it's totally secure!  Unchangeable!

"Our heavenly Father is not just putting up with us.  He likes it when we come around.  We aren't bothering Him with our problems.  He isn't going to shame us for not having it all together...God's response toward those in pain is comfort..not shame for being so human that we have problems.

"In God's scheme of things, in the true Christian life there is no performance on our part.

"The behavior fight is the wrong fight.

"Many Christians live their whole lives trying to earn, with their own behavior, what was already purchased for them by the blood of Jesus:  life, value, and God's approval.

"Jesus came to make you acceptable to God, and He has!..."Earning" value and acceptance isn't possible.  Thankfully, it's already been given to us by God's grace, through Christ's performance."

                                                          Jeff VanVonderen

Your Love Never Fails!

Great song!  I love it and it describes what has happened to me!


Here are the words:

Nothing can separate
Even if I ran away
Your love never fails
I know I still make mistakes
But You have new mercies for me everyday
Your love never fails
 
The wind is strong and the water's deep
But I'm not alone in these open seas
Cause Your love never fails
The chasm is far too wide
I never thought I'd reach the other side
But Your love never fails 

You stay the same through the ages
Your love never changes
There maybe pain in the night 
But joy comes in the morning
And when the oceans rage
I don't have to be afraid
Because I know that You love me
Your love never fails

You make all things work together for my good
You make all things work together for my good
                                                                Chris McClarney
                                                                                                             

The Way He Treats Us

We are blessed to have the very life of Christ within us, His Spirit dwelling within.  There is an intimate union of spirit with Spirit that is our permanent reality now.  We are never alone, for we always have Him joined with us in perfect fellowship.  We are never "at odds" with each other; this friendship is solid, secure and unchangeably right.  And having such a Friend so close and united with us, it is a blessing that He treats us right every single time.

He will lead us into all truth - that means He'll never lie or bring confusion.  We can trust every word He says to us.  He defeats the power of all the lies we've believed over the years.  He frees us from their grip on us by telling us the truth of our belovedness and freedom, of our rightness with God as a gift through Jesus.

He is the Comforter - that means He will never make us feel worse, only better.  He will never bruise our wounded souls or be harsh.  He restores a sense of wholeness to us and wipes our tears.  He holds us till we can function again.  He promises to never leave or forsake us but instead to always be there for us with His comforting presence. 

He is the minister of the New Covenant, which is of grace and not law.  To me that means that He isn't "law-ing" me to death, but instead "gracing" my dead places to life again!  He isn't bossing me around but freeing my heart to worship and love life and others again.  He continually pours onto me the acceptance and favor I so crave.

He is the power that raised Christ from the dead.  That means we're sure to be raised bodily one day as well, and that even now on this earth we are sustained moment by moment by His very presence within us!  No matter what our sin or struggle, His life triumphs over all and continues to carry us along.  He truly lives in and through us!  His power fights against every attack of the evil one, every temptation, every lie that is whispered to us.  We are never alone and vulnerable.  Someone is fighting for us with resurrection power!

He ministers righteousness, peace and joy to us in this new kingdom.  That means I never need worry that He will condemn me, for He is the One proclaiming that I am righteous with the righteousness of Christ Himself!  His presence fills me with joy and peace.  He brings security and a feeling of elation.  He is here and all is well.  His life has triumphed over all that was killing us and delivered us from the death realm to the life realm.  We're free from all that bound us.  That brings joy!

He pours God's love into our hearts.  He isn't there to put us down or make us feel like sorry failures.  He is there to give us back our dignity, to tell us we have worth and value, to tell us that Someone cares that we exist.  We're precious in His sight and delighted in by God Himself.  We are loved.

What a wonderful Friend, Christ Himself in His very Spirit, is living within us, joined to us as our forever companion! 

                            With love,

The Descending Escalator (Law) vs. The Ascending Escalator (Grace)

I loved this short video of Rob Rufus illustrating the difference between grace and law.   The quality on this clip is not that great, but the message sure is!  Just what I needed to hear today..

Here is a quote from the video:

"The kingdom of heaven is an ascending escalator. It's on a foundation of grace that the Holy Spirit moves, not on human performance or effort. And the amazing thing about this ascending escalator, even if you fail or make a mistake or, can I say, even sin, as you fall down on an ascending escalator, when you are down confessing your sin, when you get up, to your amazement the escalator hasn't stopped! It's still going, and you look around and you're still going up!"

The kingdom of heaven is an ascending escalator!  Even when we fail He is still bringing us up, up, up!  His Life trumps all our sin, self-effort, struggle and falling.  All those things are just shadows of the old creation, which is death.  But we've been placed into the new creation, which is Life.  And Life trumps death every time!  We are carried up and away by His LIFE!   We are sustained and uplifted by the power of an indestructible life, by the power of the resurrection life of Christ Himself put within us.  So up we go!  Grace is just such good news, isn't it?

For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.                                   Rom. 8:2

May you enjoy the ride in Him today!

                      With love,

Christ Our Home

Grace says Christ is our Home where we are sheltered safely in His arms of love, cradled tenderly as a little child in His care and keeping.

Home is "that place we somehow haven't to deserve" (Robert Frost).

He is our Home that we don't have to deserve.

We are safe in Him, and He is holding us tightly.

Jesus holds us and cradles us in His arms until the crying stops, until the striving stops, until we relax, until at last we know that we are secure in His arms and always will be.

We have a place where we belong, where we are always welcomed and embraced, where we are always understood and celebrated.  We have an Eternal Home named Jesus.

Thank You, Lord, for being Home to us!

"The God of your fathers is your safe resting-place, and under you are his eternal arms."                                   Deut. 33:27

                     With love to all,

The Spirit of Grace

I'm learning lately about the ministry of the Holy Spirit in our lives, and I've come to see that I have had so many misconceptions about Him.  I think most of them have come from a faulty view of God as harsh, not kind, and of a faulty view of our relationship with Him as based on our behavior, not His grace.  In the past I was taught that part of the Holy Spirit's work was to point out my faults, but God is showing me that the Holy Spirit's work is actually to point out that I'm right with Him as a gift through Jesus' work!  That He isn't mad at me but instead rejoicing in me, the new creation He's made in Christ!  The Spirit isn't there to point out my faults but to point out the beautiful things Jesus has done in and for us. 

I think the most exhilarating thing God has been teaching me is that the Holy Spirit will never, ever harm me but will always be loving toward me.  He builds up rather than tearing down.  He won't crush a bruised person but will instead bring healing to the heart.  He ministers affirmation, not condemnation! 

I've been collecting some great thoughts about the Holy Spirit and thought I'd share them:

"'Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in His sight:  for by the law is the knowledge of sin.'  If the knowledge of sin is by the law, why does the 'church' keep blaming it on the Holy Spirit?  Stop it.  His ministry is one of life, not death and condemnation."
                                                                       Cornel Marais

"The Holy Spirit never tries to manipulate or control you with guilt.  Where He is - there is liberty."                          Rob Rufus

"The Holy Spirit is never convicting you of sin!  The Bible says He will lead you into all truth.  What is the truth?  That at the Cross God forgave all your sins - past tense...The Holy Spirit isn't telling you that you are a sinner - He is telling you that your sins are gone and that you are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus."    Rob Rufus

"The Spirit has to do with Christ (grace) and the letter has to do with flesh (law).  The Spirit ministers grace (His finished work on our behalf)!
                                                                        Bertie Brits

And now some wonderful verses that point out these truths to me:

I will talk to the Father, and he'll provide you another Friend so that you will always have someone with you. This Friend is the Spirit of Truth.
                                                                                   John 14:15b

When the Friend I plan to send you from the Father comes—the Spirit of Truth issuing from the Father—he will confirm everything about me.
                                                                             John 15:26

...when the Friend comes, the Spirit of the Truth, he will take you by the hand and guide you into all the truth there is.   John 16:12b

And we have received God’s Spirit (not the world’s spirit), so we can know the wonderful things God has freely given us.    1 Co. 2:12

For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.               Rom. 5:5b

So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children.  Now we call him, “Abba, Father.”  For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children.             Rom. 8:15-6


Some things I see in these verses:  The Holy Spirit is our Friend and Comforter.  He's always with us, so that we need never feel alone or abandoned.  He's always confirming and testifying of Jesus and His finished work, guiding us into all truth (such as the fact that we are the righteousness of God in Christ and of the fact that we are under grace and not law).  He shows us all that we've been freely given through grace.  He fills our hearts with God's love and the assurance that we're His children.  He is the minister of the New Covenant of grace - of God's free gift of a right relationship with God through Jesus!

Thank You, Holy Spirit, for ministering grace, love and affirmation - and never condemnation and shame - to our hearts!

                               With love,