Loved by God Part I
For a long time, I was a “captive of God and Church.” Let me explain. As a child, I was told about Jesus and how He died for my sins, but I was also told how if I didn’t “accept His love”, I would be doomed to an everlasting, burning, eternity in the lake of fire. Being a fairly intelligent child, I knew that was not something that just didn’t sound “fun”, so I accepted Christ. That was a no-brainer to me. I was supposed to go to church, and pray and read my bible cause that’s what God wanted me to do so I would not go to hell. As I started getting older, the fear of hell was there, but there were desires to do things I was told I shouldn’t do. I felt like I was in a constant war with my desires and what I knew was the “right” thing.
It wasn’t until I reached my late teens that God revealed to me His love that freed me from the fear of hell and propelled me into the loving arms of my savior! I not only understood that He didn’t want me to go to hell, but that He wanted to have a relationship with me! This was the beginning of a relationship that will continue till my last breath and into eternity! However, I was still finding that the tight-rope changed from doing the right things so I wouldn’t go to hell, to doing the right things so I could be loved by God. As I made mistakes (which we are going to do because we sinful creatures, prone to sin) I felt less loved by Him, not realizing at the time I was buying into a non-truth that the enemy was speaking into my brain. The burden of “maintaining my salvation” was overwhelming for me, cause I so wanted to please Him and be loved by Him, but I always felt like my faults and shortcomings were keeping me from Him. I was falling into despair in my walk with God and I had no hope.
But God had other plans……
Stay tuned,
Kevin
After His Heart
I have heard a lot of messages over the past several months, on how God is after our hearts. I know this is true in my own life cause He has dealt with me on a lot of things that He wants to change in me. He is aggressively after the hearts of those He has chosen to call His children. His grace is irresistable and is love knows no boundry! He is not interested in your participation in religion, your “good” deeds, or how many scriptures you have memorized. He is after a heart that is fully His. He will attack every idol in our lives, everything that you hold higher in importance than Him.
Knowing that our Lord is in pursuit of our hearts, my question is are you pursuing after His heart?
Deuteronomy 4:29 (English Standard Version)
29) But from there you will seek the LORD your God and you will find him, if you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul.
2 Kings 23:25
25) Before him there was no king like him, who turned to the LORD with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his might, according to all the Law of Moses, nor did any like him arise after him.
God wants to be pursued. God wants to be sought after. He wants us to seek His face and not just His hand (yeah, I know it’s an overused phrase, but it’s true). He wants us to have relationship with Him! I wonder how much sooner those things we struggle with in our lives would be a thing of the past if we would run to Him as He is pursuing us? I wonder if we struggle with things for such a long time is because we are trying to “hide” those things from Him, just like Adam and Eve tried to hide from God in the garden. At some point, everything must bow it’s knee in submission to Jesus Christ.
Isaiah 45:23
23) By myself I have sworn;
from my mouth has gone out in righteousness
a word that shall not return:
’To me every knee shall bow,
every tongue shall swear allegiance.’
This scripture is not just talking about judgement day. Everything that has a place in our lives greater than Christ must be submitted to Him. There is no other god before Him. What an act of love to actively lay down those things that stand between us and Him!
I know that some things are easier than others. There are some things that we can’t do in our strength. We need Him. It is His power that gives us the power to change!
Philippians 2:12-13
12Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, 13for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure
Let’s not just be pursued by God, but let us pursue Him with the same passion that He is pursuing us until all things are subjected to Him. He truly is all and holds, everything we need.
Kevin
That I May Decrease….
I was reading this passage from a book called “The Inner life” by Francois Fenelon (1651-1715) and it really ministered to me this morning. I thought about how we try so hard to “protect” ourselves from God. We have such a difficult time embracing the change that God wants to do in our hearts. We are afraid of correction, accountability, and exposure. It’s almost like we are afraid that if we cooperate with these things, we will lose our own identity, our individuality,and our own life. This could not be closer to the truth! This is why Christ died, so we can have His life! The scriptures say that anyone who tries to save their life will lose it, but anyone who loses their life for my name sake will find it! (Matt(16:25) Check out what Fenelon had to say:
Let us compare our lives with that of Jesus Christ, reflecting that he was the Master and that we are the servants; that He was all-powerful, and that we are but weakness; that he was abased and that we are exalted. Let us so constantly bear our wretchedness in mind, that we may have nothing but contempt for ourselves. With what face can we despise others, and dwell upon their faults, when we ourselves are filled with nothing else? Let us begin to walk in the path which our Saviour has marked out, for it is the only one that can lead us to Him.
And how can we expect to find Jesus if we do not seek Him in the states of his earthly life, in loneliness and silence, in poverty and suffering, in persecution and contempt, in annihilation and the cross? The saints find him in heaven, in the splendors of glory and in unspeakable pleasures; but it is only after having dwelt with Him on earth in reproaches, in pain and in humiliation. To be a Christian is to be an imitator of Jesus Christ. In what can we imitate Him if not in his humiliation? Nothing else can bring us near to Him. We may adore him as Omnipotent, fear him as just, love him with all our heart as good and merciful,—but we can only imitate him as humble, submissive, poor and despised.
Let us not imagine that we can do this by our own efforts; everything that is within is opposed to it; but we may rejoice in the presence of God. Jesus has chosen to be made partaker of all our weaknesses; He is a compassionate high-priest who has voluntarily submitted to be tempted in all points like as we are; let us, then, have all our strength in Him who became weak that he might strengthen us; let us enrich ourselves out of his poverty, confidently exclaiming, I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me. (Philip. iv. 13.)
Let me follow in thy footsteps, O Jesus! I would imitate Thee, but cannot without the aid of thy grace! O humble and lowly Saviour, grant me the knowledge of the true Christian, and that I may willingly despise myself; let me learn the lesson, so incomprehensible to the mind of man, that I must die to myself by an abandonment that shall produce true humility.
May I decrease so you can increase in me God.
Kevin
