Truth for today~God is for you (Rom 8:31) and His love for you is inseparable (Rom 8:38-39).
For a very long time I did not understand this truth. Though it was something I've heard and said for much of my life, it was only head knowledge. Honestly, it takes a lot of faith to believe (trust) that our Heavenly Father loves us as we are and He is pleased with us. But because of Jesus, it is the truth. Sure when we think we're doing good and not messing up too much it's easy peasy. But when we mess up? Epic fails and the guilt feelings well up in us. We question how can He love me in my mess? The world operates on the do good get good, do bad get bad and work really hard to make it up system. We hold grudges, look down on ourselves and others in our mess ups. We make up these levels of wrongs and categorize some as forgivable and others unforgivable because it gone way too far or too many times and we say no. But God! My God, He's not like that. Praise Him, He.IS.NOT.LIKE.THAT. He doesn't change based on what we do or don't do. His love, grace and mercy are based on His nature, not on our behavior. We’ve got to get that into our Spirit. Our God is the same yesterday, today and forever. (Heb 13:8)
For a very long time I did not understand this truth. Though it was something I've heard and said for much of my life, it was only head knowledge. Honestly, it takes a lot of faith to believe (trust) that our Heavenly Father loves us as we are and He is pleased with us. But because of Jesus, it is the truth. Sure when we think we're doing good and not messing up too much it's easy peasy. But when we mess up? Epic fails and the guilt feelings well up in us. We question how can He love me in my mess? The world operates on the do good get good, do bad get bad and work really hard to make it up system. We hold grudges, look down on ourselves and others in our mess ups. We make up these levels of wrongs and categorize some as forgivable and others unforgivable because it gone way too far or too many times and we say no. But God! My God, He's not like that. Praise Him, He.IS.NOT.LIKE.THAT. He doesn't change based on what we do or don't do. His love, grace and mercy are based on His nature, not on our behavior. We’ve got to get that into our Spirit. Our God is the same yesterday, today and forever. (Heb 13:8)
For me, the shift came when I fixed my eyes on Him. I stopped focusing on what I was doing and simply on who He is. And I use the past tense of the words lightly because it’s not a one-time decision. The enemy comes accusing every day so I fix my eyes. I focus on Him. In Paul’s words, I die every day. When I came to realize that consumed thoughts about what I was or wasn’t doing, and that being my mark was pride. Because anytime we put more thought into ourselves, whether good or bad is prideful. So I fix my heart and eyes on Him--His character—who He is. And this? This is a game changer. Knowing who He is changes everything.
In our language, we understand ‘to know’ something is “to have knowledge of something, to “know something” means “to understand it, to be aware of it, to be able to explain it to someone else, etc.” In other words, to “know something” means “to have intellectual understanding of something.” But the Hebrew word to 'know' is 'yada'. One of the meanings (based on context) is not to know something but to “know someone", to have a relationship with that person, and very often, to have a covenant relationship with that person.
Today, my Spirit is stirring and this needs this to be said. Thinking of yourself in any way; good or bad and basing your right standing with God on that is a lie. And I say this a lot but I will say it again, I know I am not saying anything you haven’t heard or said before. But I’m asking God for a shift in our thinking today. That it get into you. Into the deep parts of you. Those inner most parts. That you would know/yada the truth. Jesus. And the truth? He sets you free. He is for you, He is for you, He is for you. It is the thief that comes to steal, kill and destroy (John 10:10).
Thank Him and praise Him that He is for you--that He doesn’t change and knowing that will change you.
Love you all. Praying for you. Pray for me.
Today, my Spirit is stirring and this needs this to be said. Thinking of yourself in any way; good or bad and basing your right standing with God on that is a lie. And I say this a lot but I will say it again, I know I am not saying anything you haven’t heard or said before. But I’m asking God for a shift in our thinking today. That it get into you. Into the deep parts of you. Those inner most parts. That you would know/yada the truth. Jesus. And the truth? He sets you free. He is for you, He is for you, He is for you. It is the thief that comes to steal, kill and destroy (John 10:10).
Thank Him and praise Him that He is for you--that He doesn’t change and knowing that will change you.
Love you all. Praying for you. Pray for me.