Walking with Jesus from Incarnation to Ascension - Day 4 - God is Light, Life and Love!

God is Light"  (1 John 1:5),  "I am the Life"  (John 14:6),  "God is Love"  (1 John  4:8).  

Walking with Jesus, beginning before the beginning, we find that He is the Word and that He is God!  Back before time began, before creation even happened, there was God.  God IS!  He always just IS!  A Present God!  A God who is truly I AM at all times!  The Word Jesus IS God!  Jesus is the perfect expression of God to us and is God!  And who does He express Him/Himself to be?  How can we describe this wonderful God?  I look at scripture and see that God describes Himself so beautifully..."God is Light"  (1 John 1:5),  "I am the Life"  (John 14:6),  "God is Love"  (1 John  4:8). 

I love thinking of how God is defined as Light, Life and Love! There aren’t any bad words used to describe Him, only good ones, only beautiful ones..for He is ONLY beauty and goodness and grace. It just makes my heart sing to know that there is nothing evil or harsh or upsetting in Him, but only attractiveness, loveliness, tenderness, and delight..

God is Light..and that means there is no darkness in Him at all! There are no ulterior motives, no hidden self-centered agenda, no ‘using’ us for His own ends. There is no harsh side of God, no ‘dark side’ of Him; He is ONLY and EVER pure light! To me that speaks of purity of His essence, so pure love, pure goodness, pure truth, with no shadows. He is the Light that dispels all the darkness of lies and delusions of the enemy, showing that they are actually NOTHING, having no substance at all! He is so good to know and His light doesn’t expose us or shame us; rather, it enlightens us and shows us own own beauty and purity, since we are made in His image! Thus, we also are light beings, without dark shadows in us. That tells me I don’t have to worry that I am ‘bad’ or ‘evil’ at the core. At my core is His Spirit of pure light, and that describes me as well!

God is Life…and that means there is no death in Him at all! He is exuberant, joyful, fulfilling, ever-blessing and ever-refreshing life..His very life is our life, sustaining and carrying us along in Life. His Spirit of Life gave us our breath, and as Andre said, His very name ‘Yah-weh’ is the sound of human breathing!! We are truly of His breath and have His life pulsing through us, wow! In Him is no death – this tells me He is never, ever destroying me, hurting me, tearing me down, crushing me, or sucking the joy or vigor from me – NO! He is always building me up, invigorating me, filling and fulfilling me! Jesus said eternal life is knowing Him, and to be part of His very life, eternal and immutable, is to know Him with a depth of intimacy that I can’t even fathom. I feel I am only beginning to even know Him, but He tells me that it will only get better and better as I get to know Him more..I have been so afraid of Him in the past, and it is taking time to recover from years of thinking He was angry or harsh or demanding. I am finding Him so full of pure love, without a bit of harshness or meanness, and also I am finding Him so refreshing and enlivening, never taking away from my quality of life but always making it infinitely better. He is not scary at all, what a relief! Which brings me to the final word to define Him..

God is Love….that means there is nothing to fear in Him! He is perfect Love, the kind I’ve only dreamed about but always longed for, the kind that causes us to just be still in awe and wonder at such pure and beautiful love that holds us all in such tender embrace, in such a place of innocence and sweetness! He is the Perfect Love that truly loves me as I am, understands me, accepts me, never demands that I change but instead celebrates that I am perfect for Him right now! In fact, He is the Perfect Love that never takes from me but instead gives to me constant affection, affirmation, strength, joy and peace, always giving and never asking anything in return. And this love is safe – He isn’t going to hurt me, harm me, wound me, or be against me. He is going to protect me, shelter me, always hold on to me and never let me go! Finally, I have found Someone who will love me unconditionally, with a pure and satisfying love!

Thank You, dear Lord, for just being wonderful YOU and for being so different from who I thought you were. You are so much better than I ever dreamed or imagined. It is a dream come true to not feel afraid of You but instead drawn to rest in Your arms…and what a surprise to find that I have been held in those arms, embraced by You in love, since before time began! I was never lost to You, but always found and cherished in Your heart..what a wonderful Daddy and wonderful God You are..I couldn’t ask for a better God than YOU! I just want to know You more and really enjoy the intimate union fellowship that is mine even now, even in my recovery time from all the lies I had been told about you and about myself. What a relief to know that I am safe at home with You and that my enjoyment of You will only get more and more expansive and satisfying as eternity moves along!

His Gentle Heart

God is so gentle with us!  He never hurts those who are already hurting! He never wounds the wounded!  Instead, He understands us, He tenderly caresses us, He soothes us, heals the wounded places, loves us back to sanity and life!  I write this especially for those with low self-image, for I have been wounded by that and still feel its weight on me!  God is showing me lately that He truly understands and is so gentle with us, and that He is a safe place of complete love and acceptance, that His heart is truly a sheltering, healing place for those with low self-esteem!

He knows why we have felt the way we do, He sees the hurts and wounds that have brought about such thoughts, He truly understands us!  He is so gentle with us and never breaks the bruised reed!  He says and does exactly what is perfect suited for our healing and His touch is always good, uplifting and healing, never harsh or hurtful..

The Gentle Heart of God is our home, and what a safe place He is!  He is a place where all feel completely safe, never judged or shamed, always accepted and included, always made to feel better and not worse...where burdens are lifted, not put on anyone!

I have often felt that with my issues, there was something I needed to 'do' to get better, receive my healing, make things manifest, etc.  But God is, I think, telling me to just forget all that and rest.  When I woke up this morning, there was a verse on my mind from Him - "My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.”
-  (Ex. 33:14).  How wonderful that He will always go with us, no matter what, always be there for us, and that He will GIVE us rest!  It reminds me of another verse,  "The Spirit of the Lord caused them to rest" (from Is. 63:14).  He will even bring us/cause us to rest!  We don't even have to 'try' to rest!  There is truly nothing to do!  Wow, what a relief.  There is nothing we have to 'do' to recover from low self-esteem.   God is not pressuring us or requiring anything of us..we can completely relax...He is taking care of us!  We are helpless, totally dependent on our dear Father for help and relief, and oh how wonderful that is, for He is absolutely faithful and successful in all He does!  He will drive away the lies, that is HIS department, not our worry at all!  It's HIS department, because HE is the One who is Perfect Love that drives away fear!  His love will continually wash over us and heal us of all shame and low self-esteem, no matter how long it takes!  And we don't even have to worry that we're not 'getting better fast enough' for He has no expectations of us, just expectations of Himself and His love...He knows His love is powerful and stronger than anything, and He is confident and sure that He will eradicate the enemy's lies from our lives!  His love never fails us!  He will always love us, and He is going to convince us of our belovedness!

There is nothing at all wrong with us, He does not think we are 'deficient' or 'messed up,' He isn't wishing we'd just 'get it together,' He doesn't see us as messed up, side-lined, or self-absorbed either...no!  He truly sees us as innocent in the whole matter, sees us as innocent little children who have been lied to, and He is so full of wrath at those lies and will drive them away so that they cannot hurt his little babies anymore!!  He always relates to us from a place of perfect innocence, sees us as innocent and always has!   He knows our hurts, our wounds, our past struggles and confusions, He knows what is in our hearts, sees our pure little hearts that just want Him, that just want love, and that have been denied the full joy of experiencing that love because of the lies that the enemy has attacked us with, the lies we've heard growing up through media, religion, school, work, and other confused people.  His love is for us even when the whole world and even we ourselves sees against us!  He has never had any thought toward us except perfect love and acceptance!

God is really impressing upon me lately that for those of us who struggle with low self-image, or really any struggle, that He doesn't see us as sick, still needing to 'get to a goal,' or 'not yet fixed.'  God is saying we are complete and whole and perfect right now!  That He is happy and pleased with us at this very  moment!  That even if the mess in our brains never gets straightened out, we are a-okay to Him!  He is just fine with us right now, as we are, no changes needed or required..He doesn't even see us as 'people with low self-esteem' for He sees us as WHOLE and FINE!   HE just sees us as HE always has, as we REALLY are - His beautiful, precious, beloved little children!  Perfect!  We are His darlings and the apple of His eye, the light of His world, His delight, His pride and joy!  Each of us is His favorite, and He will convince our hearts of that, and we'll enjoy His loving presence for all eternity! 

Guest Post - On God's Opinion of Us (by Dave of Pure Grace Gospel blog)

My good friend and fellow blogger Dave N. has written a wonderful note on the loving acceptance of God, and how His opinion of us sets us free to live loved..and I wanted to share it here.  These thoughts have encouraged me so much, especially the idea of God praising us and being so well-pleased with us, and the idea of leaving behind old lying voices of shame and enjoying the freedom found in God's acceptance - freedom to be ourselves, to live life with joy, to accept ourselves and others!  Hope you all enjoy this note from Dave:

On God's Opinion of Us
by Dave N.

We just need to be forgetful people.  So many believers are consumed with past mistakes but Paul specifically says:

Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, FORGETTING those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,

Paul says, "This one thing I DO....FORGETTING...."  This is a very important practice we should follow.  We are to forget what is past but never forget what manner of man/woman we are in Christ Jesus.  We are not to walk away from the Law of Liberty forgetting our glorious image we truly are (James 1:24) but we truly have died to the Mosaic Law.  The Mosaic Law will always point a finger to condemn but the Law of Liberty only speaks glorious freedom. 

When we focus on our sins is when are considered "blind" and have "forgotten" that we had been forgiven of past sins (2nd Peter 1:9).  So many believers are consumed with some sin of the past (5 minutes ago or 5 years ago).  This is why the author of Hebrews stated there is "no more conscience (remembrance) of sins" (Hebrews 10:2) because of the once for ALL (behold the Lamb of God which taketh AWAY the sin of the WORLD) sacrifice.  God remembers our sins and iniquities "no more" (Hebrews 10:17).  If God remembers no more then we are to "forget."  We are to forget what we were or what religion claimed we were and behold who we forever are as sin has no room for display in our thinking.  We are what He is and not what we do. 

"God has just been showing me this, how important it is not to pass judgment on myself (or others)"

This is where freedom truly lies. Romans 14:22:

"Hast thou faith? have it to thyself before God. Happy is he that condemneth not himself in that thing which he alloweth." 

Paul said this about himself in 1st Corinthians 4:3:

"But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged of you, or of man's judgment: yea, I JUDGE NOT mine own self."

Paul went on to share how the Lord judges in verse 4 but we know that there is no "condemnation" in Christ Jesus and that is why Paul said in verse 5 "...and then shall EVERY MAN have praise of God."

The glorious thing about the gospel of grace is that the verdict was already passed before you or I even committed a single act.  We are justified, sanctified, and washed.  The problem with behavioral modification teaching is that we are constantly looking for approval by our performance.  Every person who says, "I am a good person" is probably telling the truth but such a statement means that they are hoping that God will one day pass the same sentence upon them by their performance.  Performance oriented thinking leads that person to keep assessing themselves before God where they live in a state of condemnation (Oh God, I did that sin again). 

People live backward lives because of religion.  We do not perform to gain God's approval but we perform because of God's approval.  Even when we "think" we are huge failures is to know that we are always "accepted in the Beloved" (accepted = well pleasing).  We can be assured that when we are judged by the Lord that "we shall have praise of God."  Acceptance always precedes behavior.  Love always precedes behavior.  God loved us when we were sinners and Christ died when we were enemies.  We are that special to God.

Remember, we always sin but we are NEVER to associate them to ourselves as they can no longer define us.  People who worry over their sins or performance before God will be a slave to low self esteem.  God highly esteems us and that means that if we never do another good work for God is to know that we remain highly esteemed.  We are and always will be well pleasing to Him.  We shall have praise from God.  We are the trophies of His grace.  He is forever proud of us. 

It's sad that much of our lives are spent trying to gain approval of others.  I cannot tell you how many times I daydreamed making myself into something I was not as I would picture the world around me rolling out the red carpet.  I cannot tell you the freedom of forgetting those things which are behind (either good works or my sins) and simply living in the reality that I have all things in Christ. I no longer strive to gain the worlds approval. 

No believer has it better or worse than us as we all are complete in Christ.  I do not need the world to pat me on the back.  I do not need to esteem myself better before others more than I ought.  This is why pride goes before a self esteem fall. When we seek to live up to a certain worldly or religious standard then experiencing a emotional fall is to be expected.  This is why so many believers hate themselves and call themselves, "A good for nothing Christian."  This is why so many doubt their salvation because of the religious standards (law/bondage) they strive to follow and when they fail is when they experience an emotional fall that wears them out.  It even wears out the legalist who continually performs and seems to be doing a good job at maintaining his/her religious duties but inwardly they are burning out..

We cannot live up to religious or worldly standards or we will ultimately crash.  Depression is often due to failed expectations.  We live trying to be accepted but that acceptance is almost always based on appearance/performance.  It is when we see God's loving hands embracing us is when we can lovingly embrace ourselves and those around us.  We can embrace flaws.  We finally allow chaos to be a part of our lives as we can live without things being perfect.  We can finally relax and simply be ourselves.  We can take off the religious masks and be the very person we are.  We can live life loved. 

I am aware of my flaws but I no longer hold them against myself.  My poor self esteem was due to trying to live up to religious/worldly standards.  I now forget those things that are past and that includes my so-called righteousness as but dung for the excellency of Christ.  I now see myself robed in the excellency of Christ and am satisfied. 

The key to victory is throwing out those religious/worldly expectations and live free.. "Cast out the bondwoman and her son and live free!!!!"  Living free lies outside of religion, law, and this present world.  We cannot be bound to any of those things because they come with expectations/standards that follows with condemnation for failure.  The world, the law, and religion are critical and judgmental of themselves, people, and their environment that will affect us the same way if we follow.  We are not to be conformed to this world (world often refers to the religious system) but be transformed by the renewing of our minds.  Beholding our glorious image in Christ transforms us into that same glory (2nd Corinthians 3:18).

We are to follow Paul's advice and not care what people think of us.  Let's not judge ourselves.  The one thing that we are to do is forgetting what is past.  I like how the New Life Version translates 2nd Timothy 2:15:

"Do your best to know that God is pleased with you. Be as a workman who has nothing to be ashamed of. Teach the words of truth in the right way."

Do your best to know that God is pleased with you but performance, past behavior, or even people's assessment of you has no place in knowing whether or not God is pleased.  

Dave N.

Walking with Jesus from Incarnation to Ascension - Day 3 - The Activity of God Before Creation

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.  He was in the beginning with God."        John 1:1 

As I take this walk with Jesus from Incarnation to Ascension, I see that this story of Jesus starts before the Incarnation, even before the creation itself!  For Jesus is the Word, the original thought of God, the perfect expression of Him, existing before creation, before time itself! 

What was God doing before creation and time? I imagine what that was like, that ‘time’ outside time and that ‘space’ outside space, where all just IS, where God is and is I AM, present tense…the God who IS! And I think of how God is Love, love defines Him, He is the definition of love..pure love, infinite love, love with no shadows or dark sides…love with no harsh element..love with nothing withheld, a love that is completely transparent, self-giving, open…And I think of how God is there before creation in a circle of fellowship and love, all the members of the Trinity loving and sharing with each other. And I imagine God thinking of creating beings to share in this love circle, this happy fellowship, and I realize that I am on His mind! When He was in fellowship in that loving Tri-union, I was on His mind..When He was thinking of beings to share love with, I was on His mind..When He was thinking of creating the universe and tangible realm as a gift to them, an environment where His love could be shared and between those beings – us! – and Himself, I was on His mind…When He went ahead and chose and loved us, I was on His mind…When He called us by His own family name, called us His children, I was on His mind…When He knew He would do anything for us, these children of His, even to the point of Jesus’ giving up all for us to rescue us from the trap and ruin of living in a false identity, I was on His mind…When He planned for us to rule with Him, I was on His mind..on His mind, in His heart, and actually existing in Him in that eternal, Spirit realm! Already there in loving union with Him in the eternal heavenly realms! Wow!

Back in the time before time, the space outside space, where everything just IS, where God is I AM, I was there, hidden in Christ, snuggled into my Daddy’s arms! This place is a place of total innocence, where I have never seen what right or wrong is, where I have never been hurt and never will be, where I have never had an evil thought and never will, where there is no battle, no striving, and of course no separation from this Father who is Love..in this place all needs are satisfied and I am full, whole, complete, safe, warm, enjoyed, celebrated, adored, loved by my Daddy! That is the real me, my spirit identity that has existed even from before time and creation, wow! And through all the years on this earth, through all the turmoil and confusion, through all the feelings of aloneness, I have been there in His arms! And that is where I will always be, forever and ever!

God is a unity of Love, and He loved us before there ever was a world! Back before He planned time and creation, He had us in His mind and in His heart, and that’s where we always always ARE, yesterday, today and forever!

Walking with Jesus from Incarnation to Ascension - Day 2 - Understanding the Bible

"....He has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the universe.  The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word."   Heb. 1:2-3

Walking with Jesus through His finished work, I will be looking at different scriptures and know I need to see them in a proper perspective. So what is that perspective?  There is something deeper to understand than just words on a page.  The Word isn't a book, really, is it?  The Bible itself tells us that Jesus is the Word!  What does that mean?  What does it mean to see the scriptures through the lens of Jesus BEING the Word?  I think it means He reveals Himself through the Bible, that He is the ultimate and original Word or thought of God!  Jesus is the perfect expression of God and God's thoughts, "the exact representation of His being!"  We can read the words of scripture and encounter THE Word of God, Jesus, there!

I feel like there is so much about the scriptures I don’t understand. I seem to have interpreted so much of the scriptures through ‘performance’ lenses for so long, that some parts I just have to set aside for now and realize that eventually God will make all clear and show me how to see those passages through His ‘grace’ lenses, which really means seeing all of scripture through Jesus and His finished work! Wow, that gets me excited! Just thinking of how we began, not in our mother’s womb, but in God, in His thoughts, in His mind, in the Word or logic of God, in Christ Himself! We are of Him, and so we are like Him! These truths are so new to me that I can barely grasp them…but how wonderful to rest in His knowledge about me..

A couple of days ago I shared the quote from Francois du Toit with a friend, that it’s all about Jesus, and Jesus is all about us. My friend replied, ‘But that makes us God!’ I didn’t know how to answer at the time, but the more I think about it, the more I realize the powerful truth behind my friend’s reaction, for the statement shows, not that we are God Himself, but at least God-like, for we are in the image of the very God of the universe, and Christ is like a mirror showing us how very God-like we are! It makes my heart sing to think of it!

All my life I have struggled with low self-esteem, feeling unworthy as a person, dealing with lots of shame. But now, I find that the deepest part of me is not bad and sinful as I had learned all my life, but instead in God’s image, like Christ, and thus very good and beautiful, pleasing to God and of infinite worth! Who can put a value on Christ? And yet, the scriptures are all pointing to Him, and to the fact that not only is He IN us but that He is an example OF us! So we, too, are of infinite value…We too are lovely and whole and good…We too are a delight to the Father…We too are wrapped in beauty eternal, wrapped in love, wrapped in God Himself, intertwined with Him in union down in the depths of our being, for that is how we were actually existing long ‘before’ time began, existing as love dreams in the Father’s heart!

That’s my true home, that’s my true essence, and even though I don’t fully understand many scripture passages, He is showing me that the written words point to a much greater reality than I ever imagined: Christ in me, representing me, mirroring my true, good, perfect, in-union-with God identity! It is such a relief to see myself and everyone else as basically good people, children of God who have simply believed a lie about themselves for far too long! The scriptures address that, too, for they not only point to Christ and our beginning in Him, but also to the wonderful way He freed us from the lies of the enemy that have confused us for too long and kept us trapped in a belief that we were inferior, shameful, sinful, ugly and far from God.
I am so glad to wake up in the morning and know that I am complete in Him, I am His very good girl, I am loved and close to Him and don’t need to ‘do’ a thing to make all that so, for it is already so. It has always been so, and Christ came to free my mind to see and believe and live in that reality. (Just writing those words almost seems heretical, because it seems too good to be true, and yet I am finding my heart leaping forth and believing these new ideas!)

So that is my understanding of how to read the scriptures – not as a book of ‘how to’ get to perfection before God but as a book revealing Christ, the perfection of God, who shows me who I am and where I come from and makes me able to live in that reality – that I am His perfect child already, originating in His thoughts of love, ready to share this love with the world so they too can awaken to the truth!

Thank You, Dear Friends..

I just wanted to say a big thank you to you, my dear friends who read my blog..the fact that you are willing to read my humble musings means so much to me..I have had this blog a long time and have never really had a big audience, but that is just fine with me as I am sort of the quiet type anyways, and crowds can intimidate me a little, lol!   Sometimes I have thought of shutting down the blog, because of hard times I went through with depression and such, or not being able to post as much at times, but somehow Under the Waterfall of Grace kept on going and I'm glad for that. 

I have always wanted this to be a place were people could come and read something about God's love and acceptance and grace and be uplifted, a place where people would be safe from any shaming or blaming or demanding messages..and I hope that nothing I write would ever make anyone feel condemned or pressured but instead loved and accepted!  

I just wanted to thank each of you that read my blog and tell you how much I love you, even if we don't know each other face to face, and even if you have never commented or anything.  I am so glad we are all family here.  I am so glad we can all celebrate and bask in the grace of God together. I am so glad we can feel safe and be ourselves and relax together in the gentle acceptance of God.  I feel like we have a cozy little place here on the web where we can chat, a quiet place off the beaten path to just rest and enjoy talking about His love together..

I love to read the comments that some of you share, they uplift me so much..you all teach me new things about Him and His love, just by being yourselves and sharing your beautiful and grace-full thoughts!  So I thank you Alexander, Patrick (Woolly!), Dorothy, Mathew, Dave, Alan, Luke, my Anonymous friend, and anyone else that comments (I hope I am not leaving anyone out!  You are each so important!), for all that you share, and if anyone else who reads would like to introduce yourself, please leave a comment - I'd love to 'meet' you! 

So I want to thank each of you, my dear friends, for being YOU and for sharing of yourselves, for reading my humble thoughts and encouraging me so many times when I have been down or discouraged, and for always pointing us to Him who IS grace and love!  He has made life worth living again for me, and I pray for each of you, for His blessings of grace and love and peace and joy and gifts and everything else to just overflow to you at all times!

Walking with Jesus from Incarnation to Ascension - Day 1 - Meditation on the Truth

I am so excited about this study!  Learning from Jesus all about His finished work of grace for us, all the way from the Incarnation to the Ascension!  I have wanted to understand more about grace, and I am looking forward to all He will teach about this wonderful topic!  There seems so much more I want to know and understand...I really want to have my mind opened to explore new vistas of truth, grace and love with Him!  (I am going to be writing this in first person as I share my personal journey with Jesus...I will just be sharing what He is teaching me as we go along...I hope that type of format is okay!)

Seeking to understand the finished work of Jesus, from the Incarnation to the Ascension, seems like an overwhelming thing..how can I understand something so deep that theologians have studied and pondered and thought about for hundreds of years? 

"But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth. I do not write to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it and because no lie comes from the truth."    1 John 2:20-21

These verses in 1 John truly touch my heart, as I feel I have been ‘trying’ to understand some of the new ideas about my original identity and God’s grace for the past 6 months, and at times it has been such a struggle. I think the struggle came partly from resisting new ideas and also from the feeling that I was lacking understanding and had to somehow ‘get it’ by my own effort. I have struggled so much with legalism and living by ‘Christian performance’ in the past, and I’ve often thought it was all up to me and my effort to make growth or understanding ‘happen.’

Yet these verses reassure me so much. We are reassured that we already know all things and already have the riches of understanding within us. The Spirit has anointed us, for God has poured out His Spirit on all flesh to touch our deepest parts and remind us of what it true, of what we inherently know deep within. So I do not have to struggle to ‘get’ some understanding or knowledge – it already resides within me! I do not have to feel lacking in any way – I am full of Him and His wisdom!

So how do I draw this knowledge out? Perhaps that isn’t meant to be an ‘effort’ either. I think of the definition of grace as ‘the influence of God’s love on our hearts and its reflection in our lives.’ I know that I am under grace, not law. So this reassures me that it isn’t up to me to ‘pull’ knowledge out of myself somehow by my struggle. God in His grace, by the Spirit, will draw that knowledge out, and it will be seen in my life, a reflection of His grace. It is not a struggle to pull up one’s reflection in a mirror – it is automatic, as soon as you gaze into the mirror itself, the image of the person, their real self that they truly are, is reflected back immediately and perfectly, without the person having to ‘do’ anything to make it happen! So this helps me relax. All I need to ‘do’ is look to the mirror, the Word, and He will automatically show me the truth of who I am. He is working within me to draw that knowledge out, and it will reflect in my life naturally as I gaze at Him.

I can relax and cease all my ‘trying.’ I do not have to figure everything out. I can be reassured that deep down, I already have an inner knowing. I don’t even have to stress about how to access that inner knowing. I need only look to the One who knows all and rest assured that He will show me what I already know deep down to be true – about God, about my identity in Christ, about the worth of all mankind before God. “By the waters of reflection my soul remembers who I am.” (Mirror Bible) That sounds restful, not stressful!

I like the idea of this study being restful!  I love the fact that it is an easy and light journey, that it is not up to me..that He will draw the truth that is already inside me up to the surface where I can see and understand and experience it!  Wow!  Thank You Jesus!  

"I Believe" by Lewis Smedes

I love this powerful set of statements by Lewis Smedes...from his book "Shame and Grace" - just thought I would share them here, because they touched me so much!  God loves and accepts us more deeply, totally, and unconditionally than we could ever fathom - it's truly a grace beyond our wildest dreams!!

"I believe that I am accepted by the grace of God without regard to my deserving.

"I believe that I am accepted with my shadows [struggles, issues] and the mix of good and bad I breed in them.

"I believe that I am worthy to be accepted.  (!)

"I believe that grace has set me free to accept myself totally, and without conditions.

"I believe that nothing I [am] asahmed of [any past failure or any weakness I perceive in me] will make me unacceptable to God.

"I believe that I can forgive anyone who has ever infected me with shame I do not deserve.

"I believe that I may forgive myself for anything that I have ever done to shame myself or another person.

"I am gratefully proud of being who I am and what I shall [be revealed] to be.

"I believe that grace is the best thing in the world."

Thank You, Papa, for Your grace that accepts us so fully, so completely, so compassionately, so unconditionally, so permanently!  There is nothing we could do that would 'mess up' this grace upon us or make it be withdrawn!   Thank You that we are forever accepted, forever taken into Your arms and held there forever, no matter what!  Thank You for accepted the whole of us, with our mistakes, our struggles, and our 'real life' issues!  Thank You that through Jesus' finished work You banished all the shame the enemy has tried to place upon us!  Thank You that there is no shame on us in being who we are, that we are never shameful or unacceptable to You!  Thank You that we never have to be ashamed in Your presence - we can be honest and naked and real and KNOW that You accept and love us no matter what, and that nothing we do could change Your stance toward us!  You have taken us into Your heart and will never let us go, never be disappointed with us, never have anything but songs of joy to sing over us!!  Thank You that You want us, You see no fault in us, You find us absolutely beautiful and perfect!  Thank You that You love having us near, You wouldn't want to exist without us!  Thank You that we are Your dear little children in whom is all Your delight forever!

Grace Always Comes To Us

God has no expectations on us..
God has no requirements of us..
God has no stipulations for us..

God loves us for free, blesses us for free, sticks with us for free!

There is nothing we need to do, think or even believe in order to 'get' this unconditional companionship, love and help..

It's ALREADY and ALWAYS ours, freely given! That's grace!

Grace is uncaused by us...

 

We don't have to do anything to make it come..

We don't get it going or keep it going..

And we can't 'turn it off' either...

 

That is the whole definition of grace, isn't it? It's freely given, not matter what! 

 

Grace ALWAYS comes to us, the waterfall of His grace ALWAYS pours over us!!

A New Series of Posts Coming Soon...

I recently completed a course given through Andre Rabe's ministry, all about the Person of Jesus, and I am going to post some of the things I learned in the course here on my blog...sort of as a study of Jesus' Person and Work...I thought I'd call it "Walking with Jesus from the Incarnation to the Ascension" -  how does that sound?  It is wonderful to think of how everything He went through, He took us with Him, and how His work really is finished and done and we have the benefits right now!  I love that!  It brings such relief and rest to my heart!  So I think it will be wonderful to walk through this study here on the blog.  Coming soon!!

Who You Are Is Wonderful and Special...

You matter...You are special...You are God's voice in this world, and what you say is important!

You are special...You are a unique light of Christ in this world...nobody shines just like you do!

You are important...you have a special something to share that noone else can...and you share it just by being you!

Who you are is wonderful!

Please never put down what God calls 'His masterpiece' - you!

"For we are God's masterpiece..."  Eph. 2:10a

Grace for the Pharisee

There is grace for all of us, even the Pharisees..

I know because I've been a Pharisee and judged others, and I can still be critical and judgmental at times..So I want to say thank You, Papa, that You've got grace and love in Your heart even for religious and legalistic people, for I've been one and You loved me and saw behind the condemning attitude to a hurting person who felt she must live up to some high standard and felt she never would, felt You were disgusted with her..

Maybe all critical attitudes simply come from this lack of seeing that one is beloved, that there is no standard to have to measure up to..that one is loved without any conditions and accepted even with all the failures..

I know this Pharisee was healed by love and grace, and I pray that all that struggle with condemning and critical attitudes can also be just washed and overwhelmed and healed by His love and grace, too! And that if there are any hurts or wounds from the past, that they would all be healed in every way by His grace washing over, like a fountain of love and tenderness! That every lie making anyone feel unworthy, unlovable, 'not good enough,' alienated, alone, uncared for, or shameful would be silenced and melted into nothing by the love shining from His face, the tender delight in His eyes for all of us!

Grace and peace to all the Pharisees and hurting people out there, you are loved as you are, you are accepted whether you ever change or not, you are His dear and precious children and are totally embraced right now, wherever you are at, no need to measure up, no standard to keep, no requirements put upon you...you are perfect to Him just as you are and always have been! 

So please don't call yourself a Pharisee, that's not who you truly are, it's a lie and false identity you may sometimes take as your own, but it isn't really you!...You are His dear little innocent child, loved without regard to right or wrong, good or bad, what you do or don't do, just plain loved because you are His very own and daddies love their little ones... Don't even worry about changing all your attitudes, seeing the truth more clearly or anything at all...Everything is going to be okay, He won't reject you, He won't hurt you, He won't leave you - Papa loves you, He's got you, and He won't let you go!

It's Not Really About Me and My Faith, It's All About God and His Grace!

In the past I have worried that I didn't have enough faith, or that my faith wasn't complete, or that I would lose faith..and all this focus on my faith made me unsure of my standing before God, unsure of where I was with Him on a day to day basis and also unsure of my eternal destiny.  If it was so important and all about my faith, what if I lost faith or didn't have enough at any one time?  Would that meant that I would lose blessings, help, His favor, or..worst of all, my salvation and place in heaven?  It scared me so much.  I used to cling to verses like Phil. 1:6 because they gave me some hope that somehow God would get me through to heaven, since I felt my faith wasn't so hot!  I instinctively knew that if it was 'all up to me and my faith' to get to heaven, be blessed, have healing or get God's favor and work in my life, then I was in trouble because I was not capable on my own of having perfect faith!  I couldn't handle the responsibility, and it made me feel insecure and troubled and afraid.

Then God began to open my eyes to something wonderful, something I had never really been taught before...He opened my eyes to grace!  He showed me that it wasn't all about me and my faith to make things happen, it was all about HIM and HIS GRACE and He had already made things happen and would bring them all about!  Since it was all about Him and His responsibility to come through for me, my favor and acceptance with God, His work in my life, and my eternal destiny were thus absolutely certain and secure - for HE never fails, HE never wavers, HIS plan is always carried out, HIS work is always finished!  I was able to stop worrying and start resting.  I was able to start enjoying my life with God and looking forward to an eternal heavenly future that was for sure!  The Holy Spirit testified deep within me that this was so.  Oh what joy filled me up!

Now God is showing me something even more beautiful, helping me understand it all even better - He is showing me that in the eternal realm, salvation is already DONE!  That means I am not waiting to get to heaven, I am ALREADY there!  I've died with Christ, been raised with Christ, ascended with Christ, and have been seated with Christ at the right hand of God the Father in heaven - already!  This happened 2000 years ago in our time, but really in God's time it happened before creation!  For God said that the Lamb Jesus was slain before the foundation of the world - and I was there in Him, it happened to me, too, way back then!  Before we even had a problem, God solved it.  Before I even initiated anything, He initiated redemption and made everything okay for me.  Before I even sinned, He took away my sin at the cross.  Before I was lost, I was found by Him!  Before I took one step out of line, He put me back together!  Before I withdrew from relationship with Him, He connected me with Him eternally!  Before I lost faith, HE had faith on my behalf.  Before I even needed rescue, He saved me!  Wow!  My salvation has been secure since before time began - now THAT'S eternal security!

But what about faith?  I know it is great to have faith, and faith is a natural response when we hear this good news that God has saved us.  Yet I realize now I was putting so much emphasis in the past on "my faith" that I wasn't realizing that I was making faith into a work.  Faith isn't a 'thing I do' to make something happen, like blessing or salvation.  Faith isn't something I must do to 'get' God to be favorable toward me or do something for me.  Faith is trust.  It is what happens when you discover someone is trustworthy.  You discover someone is trustworthy by seeing what they've already done for you to prove their love and loyalty to you.  When you see that someone has made a big sacrifice for you to help you, you see they really love you and you're able to trust them to take care of you.  And when you see that someone loves you even when they know the worst about you, even when you reject and mistreat them, then you are able to open up and trust them to accept and not reject you.  And that's just what Jesus did at the cross - He proved His love for us by giving up His own life to free us from sin's hold.  And He loved and did this for us when we were at our worst - in fact, we humans killed Him, and He asked His Father to forgive us and even came out of the grave with His arms stretched out in love and forgiveness for all, taking no revenge, just going on as if we hadn't killed Him at all, loving us and being open and friendly towards us just the same!!  THAT is a God we can trust!

Faith doesn't make something happen.  Faith is what naturally occurs when we see what has already happened to us through God's love and Jesus' finished work.  So faith doesn't bring salvation.  Faith sees that salvation already happened!  Faith is simply seeing reality!  All these years we may have thought God was angry or distant, thought we had to earn our way with Him, thought salvation was all up to us, thought we were being graded by our performance...and now we discover that wasn't reality, that was all a lie!  We discover the truth, we see reality - that God is pure love and ONLY love, that He always loved and accepted and embraced us, no matter what wrong things we did, that we never had to earn our place with Him, that salvation was all up to Him and He already succeeded in doing it - for Jesus freed us from sins through bringing us with Him through death and brought us into life and fellowship in the Trinity by bringing us with Him out of the grave and up into heaven and plopping us right into Papa's lap! - that we are SAFE and SECURE and LOVED and ACCEPTED forever no matter what, we are HIS children, always were, always will be!  God awakens us out of the nightmare of Satan's lies, and we SEE reality, His reality, the eternal and only REAL reality!  That is all faith is to me now, not making something happen but seeing what already happened, what already IS!

We can rest, because salvation in the end is all about God and His grace, not all about us and our faith!  What a relief to know that we are in the arms of the God of grace and that He will never let us go!

Silent Night...

Merry Christmas to all!!!

Grown Up Christmas List

Grown Up Christmas List

(by Linda Thompson and David Foster, sung here by Amy Grant)

Do you remember me?
I sat upon your knee
I wrote to you
With childhood fantasies

Well, I'm all grown-up now
And still need help somehow.
I'm not a child
But my heart still can dream

So here's my lifelong wish
My grown-up Christmas list
Not for myself
But for a world in need

No more lives torn apart
That wars would never start,
And time would heal all hearts
And everyone would have a friend
And right would always win
And love would never end
This is my grown-up Christmas list

As children we believed
The grandest sight to see
Was something lovely
Wrapped beneath our tree
Well heaven surely knows
That packages and bows
Can never heal
A hurting human soul

No more lives torn apart
That wars would never start
And time would heal all hearts
And everyone would have a friend
And right would always win
And love would never end
This is my grown-up Christmas list

What is this illusion called the innocence of youth?
Maybe only in our blind belief can we ever find the truth

No more lives torn apart
That wars would never start
And time would heal all hearts
And everyone would have a friend
And right would always win
And love would never end, oh

This is my grown-up Christmas list
This is my only life long wish
This is my grown-up Christmas list

Our Good Shepherd Always Finds Us - A Wonderful Quote by Simon Tugwell

This is one of my favorite quotes, and I wanted to share it here.  It is from 'Prayer' by Simon Tugwell.  My favorite part is where he says, "Our hope is in His determination to save us, and He will not give in."  That is such a comfort to me!

Jesus the Good Shepherd Who Looks For Us And Finds Us               (Simon Tugwell)

"Another picture that our Lord loves to use is that of the shepherd who goes out to look for the sheep that is lost (Matthew 18:12).  So long as we imagine that it is we who have to look for God, then we must often lose heart.  But it is the other way about: he is looking for us.  And so we can afford to recognize that very often we are not looking for God; far from it, we are in full flight from him, in high rebellion against him.  And he knows that and has taken it into account.  He has followed us into our own darkness; there where we thought finally to escape him, we run straight into his arms.

"So we do not have to erect a false piety for ourselves, to give us hope of salvation.  Our hope is in his determination to save us.  And he will not give in!

"...we can let ourselves off that desperate question, “Am I in the right place?”  ”Have I done the right thing?”  Of course, we must sometimes acknowledge sins and mistakes and we must try to learn from them; but we should not foster the kind of worry that leads to despair, God’s providence means that wherever we have got to, whatever we have done, that is precisely where the road to Heaven begins.  However many cues we have missed, however many wrong turnings we have taken, however unnecessarily we may have complicated our journey, the road still beckons, and the Lord still “waits to be gracious” to us (Isaiah 30:18)."
                                                                                                                  Simon Tugwell

I love this quote!  It really reminds me of our security in Him and how He has got this whole salvation thing wrapped up in His perfect work and faithfulness!  His is the initiative, His is the work, His is the responsibility, and His is the resolve...so we are safe, we are secure, we are assured that we'll forever be snug and cozily at home with Him!   He will not fail us!  We may think we've just fallen too far to ever come up again, yet right in the deepest pit of all we find that God is there with us!  We suddenly find that by His grace, the pathway that seemed to be going down is actually going up, and the hellhole turns into heaven!  Because HE is there!  HE is with us, no matter where we end up, and HE keeps us!  He makes the dark places light and the crooked places straight, flattens mountains into plains and turns the storm into calm!  No matter what, He makes it all come out for good!  Thus, we cannot get lost, because anywhere we go or even run from Him, there He is, holding us, saving us, blessing us, keeping us, carrying us to heaven!!  It's like Rob Rufus says, grace is an UP escalator, and no matter how many times we fall on this escalator, it just keeps going UP! 

So we can fail and still be safe and secure, for it's all by His grace that we are fine and well and safe, not by our own doing or keeping!  We are free to be ourselves, admit our weaknesses, have problems and issues.  We are free to take risks, free to try new things and sometimes not succeed, free to be fallible and free to be wrong, free to not understand everything, free to even have erroneous beliefs or doctrines about some things!  And free to be human, to be weak, to be emotional, to be real, to be genuine!  For no matter what we do, where our thoughts and acts take us, what lies or traps we fall in, what confusion we have, or what lies we believe, He is determined to save us, He is able and willing to save us, He DOES save us, He HAS saved us!  And therefore we ARE safe, forevermore!

"Don't Forget Where You Belong" by One Direction

(This is post is going out in honor of my wonderful daughter, Sara!) Here is a great song that is new to me...My daughter loves this group, and this is a song she played for me from their new album...I love it and think it is such a song of God's grace and love!  No matter where we've gone, we've always belonged with Him, He's always been our home, and we've never been alone, for He has been there with us all along! 

Are We Undeserving or Unworthy of His Love?

I have heard many times the definition of grace as 'undeserved favor' ..that even though we don't deserve it, God loves us.  That grace is God's love for the undeserving, His favor given to those that don't deserve such treatment. 

Yet I recently read a post on facebook that said something different and intriguing.  The person said that really, in God's eyes, we actually DESERVE love and favor because we are His dearly loved creations and any good father would say that his children deserved love and blessings! 

That was new to me and such a joy to think about, that HE thinks I deserve to be loved, accepted, helped, blessed, etc.! I think it goes along with the idea of worthiness, too - that we are worthy, we have His very worth in and upon us as His very own offspring!  In fact, because Jesus gave His own life for us, God giving up His own Son for us all, that shows we are worth just as much to God as Jesus is - talk about being worth a lot, being worthy!

We are worthy, and we are deserving, just by being His children, His dearly loved creations!

We are worth loving, worth saving, worth redeeming, and we deserve all the love, help, affection, care and good things a Perfect Father would give!

Scary Judge or Loving Papa?

I feel that the question is coming up in my mind recently, am I going to keep on seeing Him as Scary Judge as I'd been taught or am I really going to see Him as Loving Father!?!  Without realizing it, in the past I'd seen Him as a Scary Judge, whose bottom line was grading me on my performance, and thus I never could feel totally safe and secure around Him, because I wondered if He really approved of me, wondered if He was going to be disappointed with me or reject me because of some failure on my part to act, think or believe right...Yet now I am learning more and more that He is really a Loving Father!  He is not all about performance but is all about relationship!  His way is not law but grace!  His language isn't demands, pressure, rewards and punishment; it is actually acceptance, delight, freedom and gifts!  He is a loving Daddy who loves to dote on His kids, in whose eyes they can do no wrong, who would never think of disowning them, who wouldn't want to even exist in a universe where they did not exist, who would gladly give up His own life to save them from harm, who would protect them from anything, who always thinks they deserve the very best, who thinks they are the greatest and most wonderful beings ever!  He always sees past the wrongs they do to the hurts that may have caused them to act that way, always sees not the wrongs they might do but the needy, vulnerable little son/daughter dependent on Him for everything, needing so much to be loved.  He will never turn His back on us, never stop loving us, never reject us based on some poor performance or mistake, never see us as anything but His dearly loved, precious children!

So I feel myself coming to a point where I am asking myself, am I ready to just let go of the old ideas and go forth bravely with the new?  Do so can feel a little scary, because one is dropping old traditional beliefs that have been there for so long.  And yet, a wonderful new vista opens up before me, full of a God who is truly LOVE, who is ALL LOVE, who is nothing BUT LOVE! A God who has no wrath!  A God who does not judge!  A God who isn't punishing but instead restoring!  A God who is safe to be with, not scary!  A Father, not a Judge!

It's freeing to let go of the old ideas about Him, thrilling and also vulnerable and new, like stepping into the unknown but feeling deep down that it's going to be a great ride! I feel Him saying that whatever He shows me about Himself, whatever new things He reveals, that all of it will only be better and more wonderful than what I believed before!

YES!!  It's time to follow my heart and see Him as my loving, doting Papa who would never harm me, cast me out, punish me, or forget me! I am so safe with Him! I may not understand some of the passages in the Bible about Him, but I know what my heart tells me, and I think the Spirit in me witnesses in agreement!

What a Wonderful Salvation - Believing Doesn't Make It So, It Just Helps Us Enjoy It!

Since everyone was included in Adam's sin, everyone was included in Christ's righteousness!
Since in Adam all died, in Christ all are made alive!

Believing this good news that He saved us from sin and death allows us to relax and enjoy the journey home that we are guaranteed to complete! Our spirits are already there, seated with Him in the heavenly realms, and our bodies are sure to catch up - the Holy Spirit within us testifies to this very fact and guarantees the redemption of our bodies, guarantees that we'll be resurrected with glorified bodies!

Believing doesn't make any of this true or make it happen...believing allows us to relax, rest and enjoy the reality we've been brought into already, the relationship we've been included into already - Jesus has picked us up out of the gutter of sin and death and put us on the Father's lap in heaven, in union and life! We can be at peace and have joy, enjoying wonderful and unhindered fellowship with God as we walk through life together..

We are saved from the heartache of thinking He is far away or angry or punishing, saved from fearfully withdrawing from Him and trying to navigate life alone, saved from the emptiness of thinking we are unwanted and unloved, saved from trying to fill the need for unconditional love with unsatisfying and hurtful things, saved from feeling we must earn approval and saved from fear that something we do will bring rejection, saved from bondage to the LIE that says we are inferior and alienated - because we have been shown the truth - we are loved, we are approved, we are accepted, we are embraced, we are SAVED!

We have found out who He is and who we are.. We don't have a punishing God, we have a forgiving and restoring God.. We aren't unlovable rejects, we are beloved children.. We aren't trapped and hopeless, we are rescued and free!

Now we don't have to go through this life afraid of death, afraid of God, afraid of punishment, afraid of rejection, afraid of anything! His perfect love casts out all the fear of torment or punishment, because we find that He is LOVE that saves, not HATRED that retaliates! "With God on our side like this, how can we lose? He who did not spare His own Son, but freely gave Him up for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things! Nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord!" (from Rom.

What a wonderful God, and what a wonderful salvation!

LOVE Is How He Always Acts Toward Us!

Not only is God loving, but actually God IS Love...Love is who He is, Love defines Him, Love is His nature, He is Love in a Personal Being!  It is such a relief to me that God is Love!  God being Love means that God is ALWAYS Love and He is ONLY Love - He just doesn't ever act any other way than Love!

I started thinking about the different verses on love in the Bible, and it helped me so much to think about them in relation to how God treats us:

Love keeps no record of wrongs, so God, being Love, is never keeping track of the wrongs we do!  Our sin never enters His mind, for He promised to remember our sins NO MORE!  His thoughts concerning us are never about sin but always and only about how good and perfect and righteous and beloved we are.

Love is patient, so God, being Love, will never lose patience with us but will instead endlessly and untiringly teach, help and encourage us, no matter how many times we mess up, and He will consistently support and accept us, even if we never improve, change, get the victory, or 'overcome.'

Love does no harm, so God, being Love, will never harm us!  He will never hurt us, and He will never send anything our way that would be damaging, hurtful or painful to us..He will never send sickness, depression, pain or suffering on us!

Love thinks no evil, so God, being Love, never has a bad thought about us, never plans anything negative for us!  God's plans for us are only good, and His thoughts about us are only positive! 

Love gives up one's life for his friends, and God, being Love, was willing to become a man and die for us even while we were yet sinners!  Love reconciles the world to himself.  We were calling ourselves God's enemies, but He was calling us His friends and dying for us!  He didn't demand that we change, straighten up, or believe right first, He just went ahead and gave up His life for us before we ever made a move in His direction!  In fact, we were running from God in many ways, and He chased after us and caught us up in His loving embrace! 

Love believes all things, and God, being Love, will never give up on you, never stop supporting you, never stop believing in you!  He is your biggest supporter and encourager and will always stick up for you, believe in you, and be proud of you!

Love endures all things, and God, being Love, will endure everything in relationship with you.  You can't make Him leave, He will never reject you.  You can't drive Him away by anything you do or don't do. You can't fail, doubt or rebel your way out of His arms.  He is in this relationship for keeps. He's got you and He's never letting go!

Love never fails, and God, being Love, will never fail you.  He will carry you through anything and everything, whether you always trust right, think right or act right OR NOT!  His love will hold you. His love will sustain you.  His love will be there for you, no matter what, and He will be faithful to carry you all the way home to heaven.  You are so safe and secure in this unconditional love.  For truly, you can't extinguish or ever get to the end of this infinite Love that is God Himself!  He has intertwined Himself with you forever!

Thank You, Papa, for being such Perfect Love!

You Are My God by Jesus Culture Music (Emerging Voices)

"You Are My God"

CHORUS
You are my God, You are my King
To You alone my heart does sing

You are all I ever wanted
You are all I ever needed
You are my God, and You're my King

VERSE
And You are always faithful and true
And You have given me life and placed by Your side forever

BRIDGE
All my days I will live
To seek Your face
To know Your heart

Grace Is For Us Even When We're At Our Worst...

Grace means you don't have to have it all together to be loved, accepted, included and safe in His family circle..you can fail mightily, and still be IN..you can even struggle, rant and rave, doubt and get confused, and He will still hold onto you..you can get distracted, lose hope, get stuck in addictions, and still have blessings come pouring over your life..you can be at the lowest point you can go and be as 'far' from Him as you could imagine, and find Him right there beside you, hugging you, loving you, understanding you, helping you..because grace is love that is FREE, given with no strings attached, therefore everyone - no matter what their lives may look like, no matter what their track record may be - 'qualifies' for grace because you don't have to be 'qualified' to receive it! It just comes freely, with no stipulations, no requirements, no obligations..what wonderful grace!

Even after our very worst sin, when we've sunk lower than we ever thought possible, even then, ESPECIALLY then, He is telling us: NOTHING has changed in our relationship! We are just as close as ever, and I am just as committed to you - and to us - as ever! Our sins and failures don't sway God's opinion, resolve, commitment or stance toward us - how can they, when Christ already took them AWAY and God has promised NEVER to remember them!?!

His forever stance toward us, no matter what, is the stance of the Perfect Father, the stance of the Perfect Husband, the stance of the Perfect Friend! Through Jesus He showed us just how strong and committed He is to us, sending His Son to die for us at our very WORST moment, so lost in sin! He came down, tied Himself to us, reaching down and picking us up from the gutter, and pulled us up to the heavenly places where He reigns! If He went through all that to get us back when we were at our WORST, do you think He is ever going to give up on us now that He has transformed us into His BEST, into a complete and beautiful Bride for His Son? No way! His love, His loyalty to be there for us, in relationship with us, is here to stay, and nothing we do could change that! For Love never gives up on you, no matter what..

It is as if God were saying through Jesus: "I will NEVER leave you or forsake you! You can't change that! You can't change My love for you, My faithful commitment to you! You can't drive me away with your inconsistencies - they don't even EXIST in My mind! I have committed Myself to stick with you forever, to love you forevermore!"

We just can't get away from this Wonderful Love, this Wonderful Lover, that will not ever let us go!

Grace - the unconditional love and acceptance of God that pours over you at all times and that has given you everything through Christ, without you having to do a thing! Before we could do a thing, He loved us...He loved us as we were, in the midst of our sinfulness, and He plucked us out of our sinfulness into His marvelous light through Jesus' finished work! Oh, what wonderful grace! 

Christ's Work of Grace Defines Your Life!

God gave us grace before time began, and Christ the Lamb was slain from the foundation of the world...so what does that tell us? 

It tells us some wonderful news:

Before we ever fell, God had already picked us up! 

Before we ever committed sin and became guilty, Christ already cleansed us and made us righteous! 

Before we ever got lost, He had already found us! 

That is His eternal reference to us - what Christ did and the grace He poured out on us through that act of love!!

Christ's finished work is the true center of our lives around which everything revolves. 

Everything that has happened to us in this time and space arena called mortal life is subordinate to what Christ did for us, for that stands before, beyond, and outside of time itself!

God's final word about you is Jesus and everything He did for you, everything He is for you!

God's final word about you is:

innocent, 

clean, 

pure, 

lovable, 

righteous, 

included, 

accepted, 

chosen, 

held! 

God's ultimate reference about you is His beloved child, and the cross proves it is so, for through it He showed we are so loved, so valuable to Him, that we are worth dying for....And through it He came and rescued His own from the clutches of the enemy and brought us home, all before time even began!

The Good News Is That It Is Already Done!

The good news, the gospel of grace, is that we are loved, accepted, home-free, righteous, and safe - forever - all by God's doing through Jesus' finished work, without us having to do a thing...
His work really is finished and done!  The work is really over, it has really all been done for you by Jesus.  So there is no 'try' or 'must' or 'you should do this' or 'you need to become more that' - there is only the wonderful message that all you've wanted to be, you already ARE, and the place you've wanted to be at, you already ARE at - you are His beloved and precious child, safely tucked into His arms, and He will never let you go.

Since you are already in His arms, you don't have to do anything or become anything to get in His arms!! You don't have to fear anything...You don't have to worry about anything...You don't have to 'do' anything!  Hallelujah, what a Savior!

The message of Grace, of Christ's complete and finished work on our behalf, is the only thing that truly brings relief to our weary hearts...We find in Him true REST for our souls!  

Unlosable Grace..

You cannot run so far as to get away from His grace...
You cannot slip so far as to slip out of His grace..
You cannot doubt so much as to lose His grace..
You cannot fail so much as to forfeit His grace..

You are IN grace and you are never going to be OUT!
He is always going to be there for you, always going to love you, always going to keep you, always going to hold you!
Grace has brought us safe thus far and grace will bring us home..
Safe forever with Him, hallelujah!

Grace is for the broken, the messed up, the unqualified, the ruined, the confused, the doubtful, the failure - grace is for me and for you!
Grace is for those who are running from God, not seeking God, rebelling against God, confused, blind, and hurting - grace is for me and for you!
Grace runs after the least, the last and the lost, runs after the rebel, the selfish, the proud, and grace overtakes us all and wraps us in His arms!
Grace goes into every ditch and hole and pit we have dug for ourselves and grace lifts us up into His embrace forever!

We don't have to qualify for grace or do anything to get it..our failures qualify us for it, and it comes to us constantly through no effort of our own!

We are upheld by an indestructible life, an unconditional love, an unlosable grace - Jesus Himself, Mr. Grace, upholds us in His loving arms always, for He is the same yesterday, today and forever!! We are safe forever in His arms!

No matter what we do, or don't do, His grace upholds and keeps us and is FOR us! For grace doesn't depend on us in any way, therefore nothing we do, or don't do, could cause that grace to stop being there for us!

He will never fail us..
And He will never let us totally fail!
We are safe in His arms, upheld by unlosable GRACE!
We cannot fall out of those arms, we cannot be lost from His love!

Law/Religion is unwinnable...
Grace/Love is unlosable!     

Christ IS Our Life! A Wonderful Post by Gregg Gibbons

This is a wonderful post by my friend, Gregg Gibbons, of Journey in Christ..He has a weekly grace devotional called Gregg's RestStop..check it out sometime, I think you would love his thoughts on God's grace and love!  This post is part of one of his recent devotionals, on how Christ is our life!  So beautiful that our joy, peace, life, hope, etc. is a Person, Jesus Christ!

"Below are Scriptures that attest to our union and intimate relationship with Christ.  I don't claim to understand how to most practically walk out these truths.  However, there are two truths that I am most confident:

 

(1) These Scriptures are God's Word, and God's Word is precise, precious, and true, and

 

(2) I no longer walk alone separately from Christ, even when it feels that way.

 

Hear these Scriptures through your relationship with Christ.

 

CHRIST IS YOUR HOPE

 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ,

by the commandment of God our Savior

and the Lord Jesus Christ our hope...

(1 Timothy 1:1)

 

Christ in you,

THE hope of glory.

(Colossians 1:27)

 

CHRIST IS YOUR LOVE

For the love of Christ compels us.

(2 Corinthians 5:14) 

 

For the love of God

has been poured out in our hearts

by the Holy Spirit

who was given to us.

(Romans 5:5)

 

And the fruit of the Spirit is love...

(Galatians 5:22)

 

CHRIST IS YOUR JOY

Jesus prayed,

"that they might have My joy

fulfilled in them."

(John 17:13) 

 

And the fruit of the Spirit is...

...joy.

(Galatians 5:22)

 

CHRIST IS YOUR PEACE 

Jesus said,

"MY peace I give to you."

(John 14:27)

 

For He Himself

IS our peace.

(Ephesians 2:14) 

 

CHRIST IS YOUR WISDOM

But of Him you are in Christ Jesus,

WHO became for us wisdom from God.

(1 Corinthians 1:30)

 

CHRIST IS YOUR STRENGTH

I can do all things THROUGH Christ

WHO strengthens me.

(Philippians 4:13)

  

CHRIST IS YOUR WAY

Jesus said, "I am THE way..."

(John 14:6) 

 

Jesus said, "I am the good Shepherd...

...My sheep hear My voice,

and I know them,

and they follow Me."

(John 10:11, 27)

 

CHRIST IS YOUR TRUTH

Jesus said, "I am...THE truth..."

(John 14:6)

 

Jesus said, "And you shall know the truth,

and the truth shall set you free.

And if the Son sets you free,

you shall be free indeed."

(John 8:32, 36)

 

CHRIST IS YOUR REST

Jesus said, "Come to Me,

all you who labor and are heavy laden,

and I will give you rest."

(Matthew 11:28)

 

There remains therefore a rest

for the people of God.

For he who has entered His (Christ's) rest

has himself also ceased from his work

as God did from His.

(Hebrews 4:9-10)

 

CHRIST IS YOUR NAMESAKE

For to you it has been granted

on behalf of Christ,

not only to believe in Him,

but to suffer for His sake.

(Philippians 1:29)

 

Beloved, you do faithfully whatever you do

for the brethren and for strangers.

Send them forward on their journey...

...for His name's sake.

(3 John 5-7)

 

CHRIST IS YOUR LIFE

Jesus said, "I am...THE life..."

(John 14:6)

 

When Christ who is our life appears,

you also will appear with Him in glory.

(Colossians 3:4)

 

Jesus said, "I am (the life) of the vine,

you are the branches,

he who abides in me and I in him

bears much fruit,

for apart from Me you can do nothing.

(John 15:5)

 

 

  CHRIST IS YOUR FULFILLMENT

And of His fullness

we have all received,

and grace for grace.

(John 1:16) 

 

Amen and amen!"                    

Gregg Gibbons