"Yes, He Does Love You"

"For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 8:38,39

Yesterday we talked about how satan is an accuser- he accuses the brethren, he accuses us to ourselves and he accuses God to us. We said that one of the accusations he brings against God is that "God is against us". Another one of his main accusations against God is that God doesn't love us.

Satan is always trying to convince us that God doesn't love us, especially when we make a mistake or yield to a temptation. He is there immediately with his accusations. The truth is that God does not and cannot stop loving you. He said so in His word. God loves us unconditionally. He loved us even while we were still sinners and enemies of His.

Satan will tell you that God has stopped loving you because you sinned. No, the sin did not separate you from God's love. It will break your fellowship with Him, it will hinder your relationship with Him, it will interfere with your ability to hear Him and it will put distance between you- therefore, you must confess your sin and repent of it- but it does not stop Him from loving you. When Adam sinned in the Garden of Eden, did God stop loving him? We can see from God's reaction of what Adam did that He did not stop loving him. Sin now put enmity against God and man but it did not destroy God's love for him. While confronting him about his sin, God told Adam that there would come a Redeemer to reconcile mankind back to Himself. Why? Because God still loved mankind. Man's sin "messed up" the relationship, it "messed up" the intimacy, it "messed up" the fellowship, but it didn't "mess up" God's love for us. Thus we read, "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever would believe in Him would not perish, but have everlasting life." (John 3:16) He is pretty plain about the fact that He loves us- always has and always will.

Satan is your enemy and he is out to steal, kill and destroy your relationship with God. He does that through his accusations. If he can get you to believe them- especially the one that God doesn't love you- then the process of pulling you away from God has started. Let me ask you a question, "Who are you going to listen to and believe? Your enemy who is out to destroy you through his lies, or are you going to listen to the Lord who is "for you" and tells you nothing but the truth?

Have a great day. Sin will interfere with your relationship with God, but it doesn't stop Him from loving you, or else He would not give you the opportunity to confess it and get the relationship back right with Him.

For further reading:
Romans 5:8; 8:35-39
John 3:16,17
1 John 1:9
2 Corinthians 5:19

"God Is For Us"

"What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?" Romans 8:31

The Bible tells us that satan is an accuser. He accuses the brethren. He accuses us to ourselves. He accuses God. The accusations that he brings against God are: God doesn't care about you, He has forsaken you, or God isn't for you, He is against you. He always comes with his accusation that God is against you and not for you when something goes wrong in your life or not according to your plan. He aims to steal, kill and destroy. And he is primarily out to destroy your relationship with God.

The best way I know of to destroy a relationship is to attack it in the area of trust. If you can't trust someone, it is very hard to have a relationship with them. Many marriages have broken up because of the trust factor.

The accusations that satan brings against God started all the way back in the Garden of Eden. "And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil." (Genesis 3:4,5)
He accused God of withholding something "good" from them, therefore, breeding mistrust in God and lack of trust in His word.

When God "withholds" something that we perceive as "good", it could be because it isn't "good" at all. It could be that it might cause more grief, pain or sorrow in the long run. It could be that it might cause you to fall. It could be that it might, in reality, be a snare to you. But it is never because He is against you or doesn't care about you. On the contrary, it is right the opposite. God warned them about eating from the tree, not because He didn't want to bless them with good things, but because He knew it would bring "death" to them. His warning was a sign of His great love and care for them. They should have trusted that He had their best interest at heart and not listened to the accusations of the enemy.

Remember today that God has your best interest at heart too. He is for you. He isn't against you. He isn't "withholding" something from you because He is being "mean" or "untrustworthy". His very reason for doing so is because He does care about you. So stop listening to satan's accusations against God. They are all lies.

Have a great day. God is not against you... He is for you.

For further reading:
Psalm 118:6; 84:11
James 1:17

"Refreshed"

"Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord." Acts 3:19

"When the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord." We all long for times of "refreshing". Sometimes we feel as if our relationship with the Lord has grown stale or cold. This is why we look forward to revival services or conferences. The phrase "times of refreshing" implies that there are special occasions when we get spiritually refreshed. Most Christians tend to wait for those special times. But we need "daily refreshing" as well.

Each day has its own set of trials and problems that drain us. Each day we spend our "spiritual resources" ministering to others, helping the needy, encouraging a brother, praying for the sick or witnessing to the lost. Each day there are mountains to climb that exhaust us spiritually. Therefore, each day we need to be refreshed.

This refreshing doesn't come from watching Christian programs. It doesn't come from going out and doing more "works". It doesn't come from a prayer line. It doesn't come from counseling. Although there is nothing wrong with these things, but true refreshing can only come from one source and place-- the presence of the Lord. In His presence are pleasures evermore, joy unspeakable, peace that passes understanding, strength, grace and refreshing.

His presence is where the cares of this life, the worry, the stress and the fatigue are all washed away. Confusion can't stay in His presence. Fear can't stay there. His presence brings healing and restores our soul.

If you are in need of some spiritual refreshing this morning, don't run to the television, to your prayer partner, to a chair to set down and relax, instead run to your prayer closet, shut the door and wait until the presence of the Lord invades those weary places and the refreshing comes.

Have a great day. The refreshing we desperately need and long for comes from getting alone in God's presence.

For further reading:
Psalm 23:3; 16:11
James 4:8

"Peace and Love"

"Peace be to the brethren, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ." Ephesians 6:23

Peace and love are the two greatest longings of us human beings-- what we wouldn't do in order to have either one. Wars have been waged in the pursuit of peace. Pharmaceutical companies have made a fortune on the sell of medicines that promise to make you feel at peace. Many have compromised their values in order to keep peace. So many others "sell themselves" for love. Young girls have given themselves away having believed the words, "I love you". Children have engaged in acts of rebellion hoping that they might get some attention which to them would symbolize love. There are people of great means that would give it all away just to find someone who truly loves them and not what they have. Relationships have suffered and families have been destroyed because of lack of love.

We work so hard, pay great prices, compromise our values and morals just to have peace and love while all along peace and love are free gifts that we all can have. Peace and love are not feelings. They are not some emotion. They are not ideals. They are not abstract ideas. Both are embodied in a person- God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Love is a person- "He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love." (1 John 4:8) Peace is a person- "And his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace." (Isaiah 9:6b) "But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace." (Ephesians 2:13,14)

This wonderful God doesn't just possess peace and love, He IS peace and love. And He has freely made both available to us, because He makes Himself available to us. We can have peace and love in our lives through having Him in our lives. And we can have Him in our lives because of the greatest act of love and peace that has ever been shown- Jesus' death on the cross. At the cross God's love was demonstrated and His peace was being poured out. No longer do we have to remain enemies of God because of our sins, we can come into a relationship of peace and love with Him.

Are you looking for peace and love in your life? You will never find it if you are looking in the wrong places. It is only found by looking in the right place, and that place is God Himself.

Have a great day. Peace and love are attainable, because they are found in a person-- His name is Jesus.

For further reading:
John 3:16; 14:27
2 Corinthians 5:19
Colossians 1:20

"Travel The Road"

"Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat." Matthew 7:13

When we are born, we are born as travelers traveling through this life. We are all traveling on the same road- a road that leads to death and eternal damnation. Because of Adam's sin, sin was passed upon all mankind and death- eternal separation from God- as a result of sin. So as "travelers" through this life, we are all traveling on a broad wide "road" that leads us to death.

Because of God's great love and mercy, and His desire that none perish, He stepped into this world through His Son Jesus and provided a way for us to be able to get off that "road/way" and get on another that would lead in the opposite direction- to eternal life. Jesus is that way that leads to eternal life. But while we were born, without a choice, on the broad way that leads to eternal death, we have been given the choice as to whether we will stay on it or take the way which the Lord has so graciously provided so that we can have everlasting life.

Once we have made the choice to get on the road that God has provided that leads to life, we then have to travel it. The Bible refers to the way that leads to eternal life as a road, a path, a way, a highway. Roads were made to be traveled. That is their whole purpose. Roads are not resting places. They are not places where you "pull up a chair" and sit down. They are not camp sites. They are not places where you homestead. They are places where you travel. The point I am trying to make is- once we get on the way that leads to eternal life, we then have to travel it. We have to press toward the mark. We have to run the race that is set before us. We have to keep walking and not grow faint or weary. You don't get on it and then just stop.

There is another thing about roads- they lead to somewhere. If you continue to travel them, they will come to an end at a particular place. This road I am talking about will come to an end when we leave this earth, but it will take us to our destination-- right into heaven into the presence of the Lord forever. So don't sit down on the road, keep walking on it, it is taking you somewhere.

Have a great day. Which road are you on? If it is the road that leads to eternal life, are you traveling it or sitting down?

For further reading:
Matthew 7:13,14
Romans 5:12; 3:10
Hebrews 11:13,14; 12:1
Philippians 3:14
Genesis 5:24