"Love Is Not A License"

"If ye love me, keep my commandments." John 14:15

 

We have heard it taught that grace does not give us a license to sin. But love doesn't give us a license either. Just because God loves us unconditionally, and nothing separates us from His love, it doesn't mean that we can do anything we want to do and it will still be all right because He won't stop loving us. That attitude speaks volumes concerning just where your heart is in regard to God.

 

The fact that God loves us always is not in question. It is whether you love Him or not that is the question. We can say we love God but that doesn't make it so, or mean we really do. Jesus said that the true evidence that you love Him is that you keep His commandments. In other words, if you do those things that He says to do and refrain from doing those things He says not to do-- this is the sign of your love for Him. How can you love Him if you are living "against" Him. You may say, "I am not against God. I believe in Him. I know He is real. I love Him". You are against Him when you go against His commandments. You are against Him when you live the way you want to live instead of the way He desires for you to live. You are against Him when you are living after your own fleshly, selfish, self-centered desires. You are against Him when you are living by your own standards instead of His standards. 

 

You can't live in adultery and fornication, you can't get drunk, cheat, lie, steal, abuse drugs, be immoral, use profanity, covet, etc. and say you love God. The Bible says that the truth is not in you. Truly loving Him means that you have turned your life over to Him. And when you turn your life over to Him, you become a new person. You start acting like and living like Him. You start walking in love-- love toward others and love toward Him. And love toward both is expressed in action. Love toward others means you are forgiving, kind, caring, compassionate. Love toward Him means you do what He says to do-- you keep His commandments.

 

Have a great day. Because God loves you unconditionally doesn't mean that you have a license to live anyway you want to live and it will be all right.

 

For further reading:

John 15:10

2 Corinthians 5:17

1 John 2:4; 4:20; 5:2

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Coffee Break is a morning devotional written by Lorraine Ezell

and is sent to you free of charge for the asking from

About the Master's Business Ministry, Inc.

Please feel free to

call (601) 833-5278 or
Email:mastersbusiness@bellsouth.net

Visit us on the web: www.mastersbusiness.org

You are welcomed to make copies and distribute them free of charge.

You may also forward them via e-mail or post them to your website - leaving the whole message in tact unless permission is granted to do otherwise. Please remember to give credit to About the Master's Business Ministry.

"God Loves You"

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." John 3:16

 

I felt this morning that the Lord wanted me to remind you that He loves you. His love for you is unending. His love for you is unconditional. His love for you is always there. You may try to run from His love but you will never be able to. You may try to out run it, but you can't. You may try to deny it, but it still exist. You may try to turn from it, but you can't get away from it. You may even reject it, but you can't quench it. Nothing can separate you from the love that God has for you. 

 

When you examine your own self, do you wonder how He could love you? Do you feel undeserving and unworthy of His love? Well, you are. We don't deserve God's love. We have done nothing to earn it. We are not worthy of it. But He loves us anyway, not of the merits of what we have done, but on the merits of His own Divine nature.

 

Your mistakes, your sins, your rejection, your unworthiness, will never be greater than His love for you. His love is greater than our sins. It never changes toward us. When Adam sinned in the garden, God did not stop loving him. Adam's sin broke their fellowship but not God's love for him. God loved him so much that although He knew that Adam would disobey and rebel against Him before He even created him, He already had a plan in place to bring him back to Himself. It was a plan of love-- "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son." "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8-NKJV)

 

God is all about love. And He is all about loving you.

 

Have a great day. God loves you, and don't forget it.

 

For further reading:

Romans 8:31-39

 

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Coffee Break is a morning devotional written by Lorraine Ezell

and is sent to you free of charge for the asking from

About the Master's Business Ministry, Inc.

Please feel free to

call (601) 833-5278 or
Email:mastersbusiness@bellsouth.net

Visit us on the web: www.mastersbusiness.org

You are welcomed to make copies and distribute them free of charge.

You may also forward them via e-mail or post them to your website - leaving the whole message in tact unless permission is granted to do otherwise. Please remember to give credit to About the Master's Business Ministry.

"Hallelujah, Any How"

"Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice." Philippians 4:4

 

As most of your know I don't write the devotional ahead of time. I write it each morning then mail it out. This morning I did as I usually do, I wrote it, proofed it and was getting ready to make another copy for my own files and my computer decided to have a "mind of its own". Everything started freezing up and not responding-- no matter what. It finally let me "close the program". But when I was finally able to reopen everything, guess what? You guessed it-- my devotional was "GONE!!!". I really don't have time for this, I have an appointment this morning. I don't have time to try to write it again and do what I need to do before I have to leave. Do you ever have days like that?

 

We all have them. Days when what ever can go wrong will go wrong and especially when it is the worst time in the world for it to go wrong. I have learned though, when that happens--- don't get upset, frustrated or anxious (although sometimes that is easier said than done). Instead I do what I am doing right now-- praise God anyway and give it to Him! 

 

Yes, it happened. It is too late to do anything about it. But there is one thing that I can do something about-- I can decide what I am going to let this do to me. I choose to NOT let it upset me. I choose to rejoice and praise God anyway! No matter what is going on, He is still God and He is still worthy of praise. I choose to NOT let it steal my peace or my joy or my praise. There is a song that says, "Hallelujah, any how!" When these times come, that is the attitude you have to determine to have in your heart and on your lips. So... "Hallelujah, any how! Never, never let your troubles get you down. When life's troubles come your way, hold your head up high and say, 'Hallelujah, any how'!"

 

Have a great day. Hallelujah, any how!

 

<>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <><

Coffee Break is a morning devotional written by Lorraine Ezell

and is sent to you free of charge for the asking from

About the Master's Business Ministry, Inc.

Please feel free to

call (601) 833-5278 or
Email:mastersbusiness@bellsouth.net

Visit us on the web: www.mastersbusiness.org

You are welcomed to make copies and distribute them free of charge.

You may also forward them via e-mail or post them to your website - leaving the whole message in tact unless permission is granted to do otherwise. Please remember to give credit to About the Master's Business Ministry.

"Trial And Testimony"

"Thou art good, and doest good; teach me thy statutes." Psalm 119:68

 

I would like to share a testimony with you. I will try to make it as brief as possible.

About a week and a half ago, I started feeling a soreness in my back- don't remember doing anything to it. That Friday I had to lift something at the shop that was heavier than I thought. When I did, I could tell it was too heavy and felt it in my whole body. I began to do what I had been taught-- pray, stand upon the word, quote the scriptures and promises. The pain left the next day. I was fine for almost a week until the morning it was time for me to go back to the shop- Thursday morning. I started to lift something (carefully and it wasn't heavy at all) and when I did, a pain caught me-- felt like someone hit me in the back with a sledge hammer! The pain was awful! I started praying, standing on the promises, etc. (fighting the fight of faith). I went on to the shop but that whole day the pain was so bad, I could hardly stand being in my own body. By the time I got home it was so bad that I took one of my husband's pain pills and a prescription pill for inflammation. Got up the next morning and the pain was still just as bad. I laid on an ice pack while having my prayer time. I keep praying and standing on God's healing promises, but it wasn't getting any better. I started getting dressed to go to the shop-- which was very difficult, I could barely bend over and straightening up again was almost impossible. I keep praying and talking to the Lord about it. Then all of a sudden the Holy Spirit gave me one of those "faith nudges" and I had a moment very similar to the one the prodigal son had while he was in the pigpen. It was the moment when he came to his senses and decided, "Why am I here? The servants in my father's house are better off than I am!" For me it was one of those moments when I thought-- what?! Why am I sitting here in this pain when Jesus provided healing for me- I am an heir of God? I stood up and said, "No! I do not receive this! I refuse to give into this in Jesus' Name." At that point I went back to getting dressed, determined not to allow the enemy to do this to me, and in an instant my back stopped hurting, I had free mobility, the pain left, I had full range of motion again and could easily bend and move! (I give God all the glory and honor and praise for what He has done for me!! Thank You, Jesus!)

 

In this time of trial and testimony I see a collection of the things I have shared through the devotional over the past few weeks. There are times when the word will try us as it did Joseph. We are in a time of heavy spiritual warfare. The enemy's tactic is fear. What are we going to do about it? Are we going to listen to his voice; the voice of fear; the voice of the world; the voice of our own flesh; or the voice of the Lord? Are we going to reason away God's promises and talk ourselves out of it? Are we going to pray about it only or take authority over it? 

 

I recognized it was an attack of the enemy. He was trying to make me fearful of what might be going on in my back. I listened to the voice of the Lord and knew it was a lie. But I had to activate my faith and authority against him. When I did, I received the manifested victory. 

 

Whatever you are going through remember that you are more than a conqueror through Christ Jesus. No weapon formed against you shall prosper. All things work together for your good. Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world. Trust God. Stand upon His promises. Use His authority. Hold fast the profession of your faith. Listen to and obey the voice of the Holy Spirit.

 

Have a great day. There are times when we will be tried by the Word, but if we hold fast to our profession and trust God's promises, we will come forth victorious.

 

For further reading:

Luke 10:19

Galatians 4:7

Psalm 105:19

 

<>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <><

Coffee Break is a morning devotional written by Lorraine Ezell

and is sent to you free of charge for the asking from

About the Master's Business Ministry, Inc.

Please feel free to

call (601) 833-5278 or
Email:mastersbusiness@bellsouth.net

Visit us on the web: www.mastersbusiness.org

You are welcomed to make copies and distribute them free of charge.

You may also forward them via e-mail or post them to your website - leaving the whole message in tact unless permission is granted to do otherwise. Please remember to give credit to About the Master's Business Ministry.

"Where Are You Dwelling?"

"He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty." Psalm 91:1

 

Where are you dwelling/living? Where is your place of abode? I am not talking about your physical address, I am talking about your spiritual dwelling place. Are you dwelling in the place of bitterness? Bitter because of something that happened to you in the past. Are you dwelling in the place of unforgiveness because someone mistreated you? Are you dwelling in anger? Are you dwelling in fear? Where we dwell spiritually is a choice- no one can force us into a place of residence- we choose to move there.

 

The dwelling place for a Christian is under the shadow of the Almighty God. It is a dwelling place of peace and joy and faith and love and righteousness. No one can evict you from that place. If you "move out" of that dwelling, you do it by choice also.

 

"Where do you choose to dwell/live?". I choose to dwell in the Presence of the Lord. I choose to dwell in peace. I choose to dwell in truth. I choose to dwell in joy. I choose to dwell in His everlasting care. I choose not to dwell-- and will not dwell-- in anger, bitterness, fear, discouragement, etc. Those are not the dwelling places He has prepared for us. Jesus said that He was going to prepare a place for us and then return for us and take us there. Well, He has also prepared a place for us to dwell in here until He returns for us. That place is the dwelling place of abundant life. Is that the dwelling place you choose to live in? Or will you choose to live/dwell in the place of defeat and despair?

 

Have a great day. The place where you dwell spiritually is by choice-- you choose to dwell there. 

 

For further reading:

Psalm 90:1

John 14:1; 10:10

 

<>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <>< <><

Coffee Break is a morning devotional written by Lorraine Ezell

and is sent to you free of charge for the asking from

About the Master's Business Ministry, Inc.

Please feel free to

call (601) 833-5278 or
Email:mastersbusiness@bellsouth.net

Visit us on the web: www.mastersbusiness.org

You are welcomed to make copies and distribute them free of charge.

You may also forward them via e-mail or post them to your website - leaving the whole message in tact unless permission is granted to do otherwise. Please remember to give credit to About the Master's Business Ministry.