UNDERSTANDING AND EXPERIENCING GOD’S LOVE

               UNDERSTANDING AND EXPERIENCING GOD’S LOVE

Have you ever wondered why you were created?  I believe the number one reason that we were created is because God loves us.  That’s right, you were created by God to love and to be loved. His love for us is probably the greatest thing in the entire universe.  The very essence of God’s being, His personality, His very nature---is love.  The motivation for God sending Jesus into this world was love.  One of the most popular verses in all the Bible is, “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son.”  (John 3:16)

The truth is that even though many people today have heard that God loves them, they simply don’t believe it.  They just cannot understand or comprehend the reality of God’s love in their lives.  They can’t grasp something they cannot see.  They haven’t learned how to recognize it and experience it and therefore they don’t know how to embrace it, nurture it, grow in it, or truly enjoy it.  And without knowing or realizing that God loves us, we cannot possibly have hope in our lives.  We will not be aware of the purpose or the meaning that God wants us to have concerning our lives.  God wants us to know a lot about Him, but the most important thing that He wants us to know about Him is the tremendous and awesome love that He has for each and every one of us.  That is why the apostle John could write in I John 4:8, “The one who does not love, does not know God, for God is love.”

Prayer:

Heavenly Father, who taught us by Your Son not to be over-anxious about tomorrow, because You care for us and know our needs: relieve us of the burden of the future, and enable us to trust You as Your children, help us not to cling to life, but to lose it; for the sake of Him whose yoke is easy and burden light, Jesus Christ our Lord.

 

 What are some of the attributes and characteristics of God? 

God’s love is absolutely unconditional. 

There are no “strings attached.”  His love is given freely.  He loved us so much that He gave His only Son to atone for our sins on the cross.  Unconditional love is the purist form of love.  There is no price tag, i.e.  If you do this I will do this.  God does not reject us when we sin and fail Him.  He is waiting with open arms to forgive us.  He does not remember our sins.  Isaiah 43:25 I, yes I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake and remembers your sins no more.

God’s love is perfect and eternal.

Since God is perfect, His love is perfect.  His love is eternal.  God is synonymous with love---God is love.  There is nothing you can do that will cause God to love you less.  God sees you as you are and will be.  David was a shepherd boy but God saw the King in him.  God saw a mighty man of God in a humble servant named Gideon.  Peter was a fisherman, but God saw a leader who would bring the Gospel to the Gentiles.  God saw a lowly maiden named Mary, who bore the Savior of the world in her womb.  Love sees the masterpiece in the lump of clay.

God’s love is personal.

God’s love is personal.  Each and every one of us is special.  Just like each one of our children is special.  God sent Jesus, His Son, to the earth to become like us so we could become more like Him.  He was sent for the atonement of sins.  When Jesus died on the cross, He died for the forgiveness of all sin but it was for each person’s salvation.  That is why it is so important that we have a personal relationship with God through Jesus His Son.  

Without relationship, there is no communication.  Without communication, there is no reciprocity.  How can you love someone if you know them? 

 God’s love is beyond our human understanding.

Trying to understand the love of God through your own understanding is futile.  The world identifies love in so many ways.  In fact, we have brought love down to the level of, “I love ice cream.”  “I love my brand new car!!”  “I love that program on TV.”  It goes on and on.  We have a tendency to cheapen the word love to just a feeling rather than an absolute.  Yes love can be an emotion but when someone you love hurts you, do you fall out of love with them?  1 Cor. Chapter 13 says in essence that you can have spiritual gifts that can do amazing things but do not have love you are nothing.  Love is patient and kind.  It is not envious or haughty.  It does not insist on its own way.  It says that faith, hope, and love abide “but the greatest of these is love. 

God’s love is beyond our human understanding because we look at love through the eyes of our flesh.  God looks at us and He only sees His love for us!!

He is forgiving.

He is always ready to forgive us when we come to Him.  He does not hold our past sins against us.  The only one who does is the enemy, the devil who likes to bring up our past.  Those who think they sit in judgment of others, whether it be the media, politicians, or even some of our so called friends may want to bring up our past but it has already been covered by the blood of Jesus.  So whenever the devil  brings up your past, remind him of his future!!

He answers our prayers.

God answers our prayers.  He may not answer them quickly or the way we want Him to but He answers them.  Sometimes He may say no.  Sometimes He may say yes but it is not the right time.  If we are truly close to the Lord and listen to the Holy Spirit within us then He will give us the desires of our heart because we are in sync with Him.

He heals us.

God is the healer.  It is through Him that we receive healing.  It is not only physical healing but it could be emotional and psychological healing that we are in need of.  Psalm 147:3 says, He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds (curing their pains and their sorrows).  In Exodus 15 it says, “I am the Lord Who heals you.”

We had a miracle in our own family where our granddaughter, Anastasia, was diagnosed with a cancerous tumor on one of her kidneys before she was born.  Our family and friends stood on the Word of God and had faith that she would be healed.  When she was born the doctors had to remove a kidney where the tumor was wrapped around and when they did a biopsy of the tumor, they said that it was benign!!  By the way, Anastasia in Greek means resurrection!!

I am sure many of you have had stories of miracles in your own lives. Some might say why doesn’t God heal everyone?  The answer is we don’t know.  I don’t think anyone can say for sure but we do know that this tent, this body that our spirit lives in is not meant to live forever and there is appointed a time for each person to die.  We just have to live each day to the fullest glorifying Him each day and doing what He has asked us to do which is the great commission to spread the Gospel, heal the sick and cast out demons and live the life that God intended for us on whatever path He leads us.

He is our loving Father.

He is our loving Father.  He knows us better than anyone.  He is always there because He is omnipresent.  We cannot escape the love of the Father.  For some the concept of a loving father is foreign because some have been abused by their own fathers, or they have been abandoned by their own fathers so sometimes it is hard to come into a relationship with a loving father but God’s love is unconditional. 

We have talked about the attributes and the love that God has for us and let’s not forget that His greatest love letter to us is the Holy Bible which declares His love for us by sending His only begotten Son, Jesus to die for us.  We know that God’s love is unconditional, perfect, eternal, personal, beyond our understanding, measureless and limitless.

We can find God’s will for us through scripture; surrendering our will to His; seeking godly counsel; knowing God has a specific plan for our lives; listen to God’s voice; and looking at circumstances.

When God doesn’t make sense we can know that He is always present in our lives even when He seems absent.  We know that God’s timing is perfect even when He appears to be very late.  For inexplicable reasons we know that we are precious to God.  We cannot put God in a box.  Nothing we can ever do will change His love for us and He is always there to welcome us and forgive us because He loves us so much.

Can any of us truly understand Almighty God’s love for us?  I think from eternity to eternity, not one of us will ever fully understand God’s love for us but we can start experiencing God’s love in our everyday lives by getting to know Him better through prayer, and reading and meditating on God’s Word. 

Through knowing Him and His Word we can seek His will for our lives and when God doesn’t make sense, maybe just by our simple surrender to His will, knowing that He has a perfect plan and that through trials and tribulations He is always there.  (song—Always I Am Here)

If you would like to have a personal relationship with God, say this prayer with me:

Dear God,

I come to You in the name of Jesus

I know that I am a sinner

I ask you to forgive me of all my sins

I believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross

To take away my sins

I believe that He was raised from the dead

I ask you Jesus, to come into my heart

Take over my life and make me whole

I surrender to you Jesus now and forever.  Amen

"Carry My Tears To The Lord"

 ANGELS CARRY OUR TEARS TO THE LORD!!

Psalm 56:8

https://www.dropbox.com/…/Carry%20My%20Tears%20to%20the%20L…
God loves us so much that every tear drop is saved in a special bottle in Heaven!! We hope this song will touch your heart.

Shared with Dropbox

dropbox.com

Carry My Tears to the Lord.mp4

Shared with Dropbox

Shared with Dropbox

LIGHT IN THE DARKNESS

LIGHT IN THE DARKNESS

Darkness cannot exist in the light.  When we walk into a dark room and switch on the light, darkness has to disappear.  Light is essential for life.  In a world where there is no light, life cannot exist. 

Plants cannot grow without the light from the sun.  Light is essential for our own body.  Sunlight can improve our mental health.  There are studies that show that, “Sunlight actually increase levels of a natural antidepressant in the brain.  On sunny days, the brain produces more of the mood-lifting chemical serotonin than on darker days.” Dr. Michael Murray (www.care2.com/greenliving/7-little-known-benefits-of-sunlight.html)

Natural light can also give us stronger bones because of vitamin D that we get from the sun.  This vitamin helps in the absorption of calcium.  It can help with faster healing.  There is research that shows that it can play a role in faster healing after injury or illness.  “People recovering from spinal surgery experienced less pain and stress and took fewer pain medications when they were exposed to natural light.  An older study showed that the view out the window (trees vs. a brick wall) helped recovery in the hospital,” reports the Harvard Health Letter (http://www.health.harvardedu/newsletters/Harvard_Health_Letter/2010/July/a-prescripton-for-better-health-go-alfresco?utm_source=mental&utm-medium=pressrelease&utm-campaign=health0710). These are a few of the benefits to our body and mind and emotions.  Ultra-violet light purifies by either killing or inactivating microorganisms.

Where did light originate?  God, the Creator of all is the light.  In Genesis 1:3, “And God said, Let there be light; and there was light.”   Let there be light is a translation of the Hebrew phrase “yehi ‘or”, which was translated in Latin as “flat lux”.  A literal translation would actually mean, “Light, exist.”   It is more of a command spoken by God.  (www.gotquestions.org/let-there-be-light.html)

There are many, many scriptures that speak about light. 

John 1:4 “In Him was Life, and the Life was the Light of men.”

John 1:5, “And the Light shines on in the darkness, for the darkness has never overpowered it (put it out or absorbed it or appropriated it, and is unreceptive to it.)”

I Thess. 5:5, “For you are all sons of light and sons of the day; we do not belong either to the night or to the darkness.”

I John 1:7, “This man came to witness, that he might testify of the Light, that all men might believe in it (adhere to it, trust it, and rely upon it) through him.”

I John 1:5-7, “And this is the message (the message of promise) which we have heard from Him and now reporting to you: God is Light, and there is no darkness in Him at all (no, not in any Way.)  (So) if we say we are partakers together and enjoy fellowship with Him when we live and move and are walking about in darkness, we are (both) speaking falsely and do not live and practice the Truth (which the Gospel presents).  But if we (really) are living and walking in the Light, as He (Himself) is in the Light, we have (true, unbroken) fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses (removes) us from all sin and guilt (keeps us cleansed from sin in all its forms and manifestations).”

Matthew 5:14-16, “You are the light of the world.  A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.  Nor do men light a lamp and put it under a peck measure, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all in the house.  Let your light so shine before men that they may see your moral excellence and your praiseworthy, noble, and good deeds and recognize and honor and praise and glorify your Father Who is in heaven.”

God is light.  We are created in His image.  If He is light, then we are light.  We are a portion of Who He is.  Jesus is the manifestation of God on earth.  When one is lost in the darkness he reaches for a light to show the way.  Jesus shows us the way to the Father. 

Just like some insects are attracted to the light, so should we be attracted to the light of God.  We should not be ashamed to reflect His light within us.  God commanded the light to cover the earth.  He has covered the earth with His glory but the enemy works in darkness.  We need to dispel the darkness by our actions and through who we are in Christ.  When there is darkness, you cannot see, you stumble and fall, but when the light comes into a space, all that has been hiding comes into view.  Darkness cannot overcome light.  

Light existed before darkness because God existed before anything ever existed.  Light is essential to our very life and the life of the planet.  Everything is given life through light.  Let’s be the light that God has called us to be.  Let’s be a reflection of Who He is and others will be attracted to us and then we can truly bring the Kingdom of God to the earth just as Jesus did when He came to live among us and show us how to live!

RISE AND SHINE!

 

                                                          RISE AND SHINE!

Do you remember the expression, “Rise and shine!”    I remember, even as a child hearing that expression which meant to wake up in the morning.  

The Lord tells us in His Word through the prophet Isaiah in Isaiah 60:1-3, “Arise my people!  Let your light shine for all the nations to see!  For the glory of the Lord is streaming from you.  Darkness as black as night shall cover all the peoples of the earth, but the glory of the Lord will shine from you.  All nations will come to your light; mighty kings will come to see the glory of the Lord upon you.”  (The Living Bible)

The Lord gave me these words recently, “It’s time to shine!”  It is time to shine.  We, as Christians, need to be the light in the darkness.  When Jesus came to the earth, there was great darkness.  People were enveloped in the darkness of poverty, fear, disease because of the oppression of the day.  He was a light in the darkness and He delivered them from it and gave them hope.  He healed their broken hearts and healed their bodies.  

Now in these times of great peril and death, we need to reach others and give them hope that God loves them and that no matter what is happening in the world, we can be confident that God sees and His very heart is breaking to see that which has come upon the world.  Sometimes it is only in suffering that we turn to the Lord and cry out to Him.  When things are going well, we don’t think about God because some have made riches and wealth our idols.  

God is reaching out at this time to draw people to Himself and show them His love and compassion just as Jesus did.  When everything is taken away, we are left to face God on our own.  We don’t rely on the government or the Church anymore but we are left face to face in essence with our own mortality.  Do we choose God or the world?  What has the world given us so far---only strife, greed and turmoil and fear. 

 We, as the Body of Christ, need to rise and be the light in the darkness.  This could be the greatest moment in time where the love of God is made manifest for all the world to see because when Jesus left this world physically to be at the right hand of the Father, He left us His inheritance which was for us to be His emissaries here on earth to continue His works so that others could see how much God loves them.

So Church, rise and shine!!  Wake up!!  We may not be occupying the pews of a church right now but because of this we are being forced to reach others in other ways.  This is what Jesus did.  He reached out to the people so we should too.  Whether it be by phone, Facebook, other social media, just do it in whatever way God has directed you to do.  There is a minister of the Gospel who recently said that God gave him a vision that there would be a billion souls won because of this scourge that we are now experiencing.

RISE AND SHINE!

Easter Gift 2020 Video

my Easter Gift to you. Music from a special choir and group of people from Our Mother of Sorrows choir I was a part of and directed. Where Marcella and I met and married and been making music to Our Father above for over 45 years. I hope you enjoy.

https://youtu.be/vj7vjumIcr4

or

  

https://youtu.be/c6Of9mydig0

both links are the same file on different pages

My Easter Gift for you

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/akpq772uhge5gtz/AAD8InhJ6fM396BFN4qPlPiSa?dl=0

Please visit the above link. It's my Easter Gift to you. Music from a special choir and group of people from Our Mother of Sorrows choir I was a part of and directed. Where Marcella and I met and married and been making music to Our Father above for over 45 years. I hope you enjoy.