Tag: heart

The Perfect Gift

presentI want to give the perfect gift to you, but I only know of one source! The benefits are immeasurable, though. I know you’ll think so too if you accept the package. The gift Provides Truth; Gives Patience; Believes in you; Hopes; Endures through Every Situation; Accepts Everyone; Never Fails; Is Fearless; Unifies; Imparts Peace; Is Unending; Brings Joy; Is Compassionate; Is Self-sacrificing; Nurtures; Is Inseparable; Gives Strength; Is Pure & Purifies; Provides Freedom; Restores Trust; and Comforts.

The gift is Perfect Love, the source is Jesus Christ.

Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love. 1 John 4:18

Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong.  And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God. Ephesians 3:17-19

1 Corinthians 13

Made Right

For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by confessing with your mouth that you are saved. Romans 10:10

righteous – one who has a moral character and is honest right – being conformed to what is good & proper; to be restored to an upright position that which had fallen 

A recent question asked of me was “Are we still sinners if we have been saved?” If you want to live in the sin nature and under the law, then the bigger question to me is… are you really saved if you have those desires? Have you really committed your life to walk with Jesus and have him as your best friend? Is the Holy Spirit in charge of your life, the small decisions as well as the big? 

My answer is: I don’t consider myself a sinner anymore because I have confessed and believe in my heart that Jesus redeemed me from my old sinful nature and has made me right with God. What does it mean to be ‘right’ with God? It is re-establishing ourselves into his original purpose for our lives, which is to be in relationship with him. It is accepting the gift he gave us to redeem us from spiritual death. It is by having faith in Jesus Christ. It is by replacing who we once were, to the person we were meant to be. 

And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!”  For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ. 2 Corinthians 5:18-21

It IS His Grace that saved me, but the sinner I once was has been replaced with the Spirit of the one who carries the keys to the Kingdom.

And I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven. Whatever you forbid on earth will be forbidden in heaven, and whatever you permit on earth will be permitted in heaven.” – Matthew 16:19

We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are. For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. Yet God, with undeserved kindness, declares that we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. – Romans 3:22-24 NLT

Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from him, throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy. Ephesians 4:21-24 NLT

Jesus loved me when I was a sinner (Luke 5:31-32) and he loves me now as a Child of his Father and as a joint heir with him. I don’t look at who I used to be, but I rejoice in who I am now. If I still call myself a sinner, then I am rejecting what has already been gifted to me. I don’t say that to exalt myself, but to give glory to God for bringing me back to him through Jesus Christ who lives inside of me. I am a child of God and an heir to His Kingdom and I have been made righteous.

After supper he took another cup of wine and said, “This cup is the new covenant between God and his people—an agreement confirmed with my blood, which is poured out as a sacrifice for you. Luke 22:20

But you are not controlled by your sinful nature. You are controlled by the Spirit if you have the Spirit of God living in you. (And remember that those who do not have the Spirit of Christ living in them do not belong to him at all.) And Christ lives within you, so even though your body will die because of sin, the Spirit gives you life because you have been made right with God. – Romans 8:9-10

Rather, I am a sinner if I rebuild the old system of law I already tore down. For when I tried to keep the law, it condemned me. So I died to the law—I stopped trying to meet all its requirements—so that I might live for God. My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not treat the grace of God as meaningless. For if keeping the law could make us right with God, then there was no need for Christ to die.I do not walk under the condemnation of the law but under the new covenant which has replaced the law. Galatians 2:18-21

Prayer: Father, Thank you for restoring me to you. Thank you for the relationship you desire from me. Thank you for making me right with you by my acceptance and faith in Jesus.  

(My emphases on scripture by underlining, italicizing, or bold.)

Banished for Our Good…

God banished Eve from the garden of Eden so that she would learn to Trust Him again and be obedient. She tried to learn things in her own time and in her own way when she followed the serpent. She decided God did not know what was best for her when she listened to the serpent. She Allowed the serpent to convince her that God was withholding something from her. How often do we think we know better than God? How often do we seek out the advice of others before we seek out God’s advice? God instructs us through His Word to ask him for wisdom in James 1:5-8.

Anything we put before God, we risk losing. For some it is their career, their family, or something they value more than their time with God. Whatever we devote more time to and give our heart to is our treasure. Matthew 6:21

All He asks for is our Trust in Him and our obedience, it still comes down to that after All these years: Obedience to His word and Trust in God.

If ye be willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land: Isaiah 1:19 (KJV)

This verse in Isaiah is simple. In the Hebrew, the word willing means to rest content, the word obedient means to hear attentively. We (as Christians) make it so difficult. When we rest in His will for our lives, when we Trust Him and are obedient to His Word, we are blessed (eat the good of the land)! When we Trust with our Whole Heart (spirit, soul, and body) He provides for us Anything we Need.

Even when we fall away, He promises to be there for us, when we seek him with All our heart and soul:

“But from there you will search again for the Lord your God. And if you search for him with all your heart and soul, you will find him.” Deuteronomy 4:29 (NLT)

But that is no excuse to fall away, it is not a safety net to fall back on. We are called to live by His Spirit which makes us holy and not return to our former ways.

God the Father knew you and chose you long ago, and his Spirit has made you holy. As a result, you have obeyed him and have been cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ. May God give you more and more grace and peace… So you must live as God’s obedient children. Don’t slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. You didn’t know any better then. But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy. For the Scriptures say, “You must be holy because I am holy.” 1 Peter 1:2, 14-16 

But let’s not think that solely through our obedience we will be blessed by God. Following God is not through rote. (definitions of rote: routine; a fixed, habitual, or mechanical procedure; without thought of the meaning, done in a mechanical way.) We must have Faith (which is Trust) in God!

“Clearly, God’s promise to give the whole earth to Abraham and his descendants was based not on his obedience to God’s law, but on a right relationship with God that comes by faith. If God’s promise is only for those who obey the law, then faith is not necessary and the promise is pointless.” Romans 4:13-14 

Prayer: Father, help me to Trust in your ways and be obedient to your will for my life. Thank you for loving me. Help me to know when I don’t hear your answer that I have not asked correctly or I’ve allowed my own thoughts to take precedence. I know you have my best interest in mind, help me to walk in your timing and not my own. In Jesus’ Precious name, Amen.