What About God? Psalm 103

What about God?

This morning when you woke up what thoughts did you have running through your mind? Throughout most of the day what kind of thinking patterns did you have?  Did any of these thoughts cross your mind today; a need, want, anger, a sense of un-worthiness, shameful, never the best, guilt for thinking evil, angry at others, sense of being lost, temptation, sense of insecurity, despair, nervousness, loneliness, or a feeling of being un-happy of who you are? You are in the midst of a dark and perverted world, surrounded by un-belief and smothered with negatives. It is designed and controlled to keep you second guessing yourself, designed to make God seem like he is miles away. It’s the world and we are living in it, and as long as we are alive on earth and until the gathering, these are the influences that surround us daily, moment by moment. Our God knows this, our beautiful, tender, and loving God knows what each one of us face and the thoughts we battle. We are in a war called “the battle field of the mind”.  Regardless of all the junk we have to face, our God has made us victorious. He has made us more than conquerors, he is God Almighty who has an endless supply to provide, protect, support and defend each one of us. God stands behind his Word, he means what he says, it doesn’t matter how you feel, it doesn’t matter what you think, his Word is his Word and he means every bit of it. You have to think something today, you have to think something this moment, why not think about the love he has for you. Below is a beautiful psalm showing God’s heart and what he has done specifically for you.

Psalm 103

 ¹Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name.

 ²Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits:

God wants to be loved, not used for emergencies. He knows we can’t remember all his benefits, like; being protected, prayers being answered, being comforted, getting things we love, the list is endless, but yet we start to forget what he has done and focus on new needs. During the day, try to remind yourself what God has done for you, that’s all he asks.  God remembers what man forgets, and man remembers what God forgets.

 ³Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases;

He forgives ALL your sins and shortcomings, ALL of them. This is what man continues to remember and this is what God forgets! If God forgives you then you forgive yourself and you forgive others. If you don’t you are walking on dangerous grounds, this is the battle field of your mind. People are constantly talking bad about others behind their backs and the world loves revenge. Time to stop it, and it starts with you. Religion will remind you of your sins, it loves condemnation and pride. God is NOT religious, people are. You have been forgiven, that’s grace, that is God’s love. Who healeth all thy diseases, God wrote it he means it and He does it, think that thought.

 ⁴Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies;   You know what this destruction is talking about? It’s the destruction that surrounds us daily, to wear us down, pressures that the world hurls at you, God redeemed you, means he bought you on sale, no, Jesus Christ was our redeemer, it cost God his only son’s life for you. A life was given for you, you might not think much of this, but you need to remind yourself once in a while what Jesus had to go through for you. People are being destroyed left and right from the pressures of this world, we don’t have to! God crowns us with loving kindness and tender mercies. We don’t deserve that, but how sweet our God is to us. He loves you so much.

 ⁵Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle's.

Some things that come out of a person’s mouth are so ugly and hurtful, God gives us his sweet Words, words we can speak to bless and encourage others with. Words that have life and meaning, we are here to love and bless others, God forgave and blessed you with tender mercies, you need to honestly think; what is coming out of your mouth to yourself and to others. Youth being renewed like the eagles. This is an eastern eagle, when the wings get old and dirty, it flies extremely high in the sky then takes a nose dive straight into the water at such a high speed that when it hits the water, the impact of that rips off all of its feathers, it then swims to shore and hobbles up to the bank and then the process of growing new, clean feathers. With our changing our thinking patterns to line up with the Word of God, we can get rid of all the dirty negatives we have been thinking, get rid of all the pressures, fears and shame that we have been carrying and in return, we have a life that is youthful, vigorating, vibrant like a youth has. We are not burdened down like people our own age are. That is the greatness of this verse. I have seen so many young people in their 30’s acting bogged down and miserable like someone in their 70’s. What a life we have. No matter how old we get we have youth, our miseries are out the door. When you start to have a negative thought about yourself, that is when you need to stop and replace it with being loved and embraced by God.

 ⁶The LORD executeth righteousness and judgment for all that are oppressed.  How many times has someone did something wrong and for some reason you feel the need to kick them while they are down. Or just the opposite, your down and other want to shove it in your face.  God executeth righteousness and those that are feeling oppressed and depressed he is there to love and pick them up; he is the one who forgives. God does it! Is there is any reason you cannot do it? This is what the world does to us and it hurts. Let us love others in a way the world has never seen, you make yourself love those who are your enemies, don’t confuse that with friendship, you can love others without having to being their friend. if God can execute righteousness then we can to. You must believe in your heart God does not condem.

 ⁷He made known his ways unto Moses, his acts unto the children of Israel.  Children of Israel never sat down and chatted with God, never sat down and had a cup of coffee and shared their hearts with God, because their hearts were hardened, they love the law, they loved worshipping sexual objects, backbiting, murmuring, gossip, they loved religion, looking holier than thou, and all that other junk, but Moses loved God and because of that God and him had a great working relationship. God was able to tell Moses what needed to be done, Moses believed, and the children of Israel only got to see the actions. God will make his ways known unto you; he will show you things to come before they happen. God wants to be your best friend besides being your father. Start your morning off with a cup of coffee and chat with him, after a long day of work, take your shoes off and chat with God, tell him how your day went, tell him what’s on your heart. Tell him how he blessed you today. We got to get out of a mechanical relationship with God. He doesn’t expect you to get into a formal mode of prayer; you don’t have to change when you’re talking to God. Do you do that when you are with your best friend? No you don’t. Your friend comes into your house and all of a sudden you act calm and holy, that is mechanical. Start getting honest with God, ok? He just wants your heart and no fake stuff.

 ⁸The LORD is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy. Repeat that one to yourself over and over. People are the ones quick to anger and show no mercy. You did something wrong, well let me tell you just how bad you are and I will tell others while I am at it. Getting mad quickly, people have that one perfected. I have been really good at it myself; especially when someone says something that offends me I get mad really quick! I am learning not to and it takes a lot of practice. I love our God. Mercy means, withholding of merited judgment, which means you should be punished severely for what you did, but God withholds it. That is mercy, he doesn’t fly off the handle and degrade you. My dad would scare me so bad when I was little, he would get mad quickly and hurt us verbally or physcialy, God heals our wounded hearts, he gives us courage to face life. He tell us we can do all things while the world tells us we are useless. Our God is a powerful loving father and you mean more to him than anything else in this world. If God be for us, who can be against us?

 ⁹He will not always chide: neither will he keep his anger for ever.

 ¹⁰He hath not dealt with us after our sins; nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.

 ¹¹For as the heaven is high above the earth, so great is his mercy toward them that fear him. ¹²As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us.

Again, this is where man remembers and God forgets. Don’t beat yourself up when you do something wrong, and don’t beat others up when they do something wrong. What grace and love we have from God. He continues to love, forgive and forget.  It is towards them that fear him; this is a very terrible word that was inserted. The world causes us great fear, this is not from God. The word means respect, to be in awe for God. God wants your love and respect, that is all he asks of you, is to be loved by you. Then do it, love him, by doing that, look at all the benefits we get, it is amazing. How quick are we to forget, how quick are we to look at ourselves and the world for answers, how quick are we to get angry and judge others. Changes are necessary, and change starts within, try to remember some of his benefits. The East never meets the West, your sins are gone, destroyed, lost! God no longer remembers them, why do you want to? Learning to love God takes time, we are so accustomed to being hurt, lied to, cheated on, that we carry these thoughts over into God. He knows that, he knows what you have been through. People blame their miserable lives on God because religion has instilled so much fear they think God is mad at them and is out for revenge. It’s a lie straight from the pit of hell. People hurt you, not God. You cannot go beyond what you have been taught, the more you learn about Gods Word the more you can believe.

 ¹³Like as a father pitieth his children, so the LORD pitieth them that fear him.

 ¹⁴For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust.

 ¹⁵As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth.

 ¹⁶For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone; and the place thereof shall know it no more.   ¹⁷But the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children's children;

We are dust, we are fragile, weak, and our days here on earth are not that long. We honestly need to learn to love our life, to embrace the love life God gave us. We had nothing in this world before God called us. We were without hope, confused, messed up, we were a wreck. If anyone as a believer is still living like that that then it is a shame. I am not saying to this to shame you, but it should alarm you, we have a life that is almost a miracle. Forgiveness, health, all needs met, a God who swift to help in time of need. I could make pages full of what God has done and will do. But I don’t need to; he wrote a book full of them for us. We are not beggars, we are not in need, and we are not desperate and confused people. We are royalty, we are in Gods household. Your life of wealth is not to be confused with money and clothes. That is a deception from the devil; the devil deceives people into thinking that they never have enough, that you have need after need, and to live in fear. Today is the day to embrace your life, live today to the fullest you can and with that, start off with being thankful, remembering some of Gods benefits, accepting what God made you to be, he says you are lovely and beautiful and if you think otherwise, then change it, change your thinking patterns. The battle field of the mind, you think the Word or you think the world. When you are dead and asleep waiting for the gathering, you cannot do anything for anyone. Now is the time to rise above, now, today is the day to live and act like a child of God, not tomorrow when you get a paycheck and then act like your rich for a day. We are rich every day. Embrace your love life with God and for others. And keep in mind these blessings are handed on down to our children’s children, God continues to bless our families, generation after generation.

 ¹⁸To such as keep his covenant, and to those that remember his commandments to do them.

His commandments are to love him and love others; do you see the word “remember”? How quick are those thoughts out the door, you must remember and think upon Gods Word

 ¹⁹The LORD hath prepared his throne in the heavens; and his kingdom ruleth over all.

 ²⁰Bless the LORD, ye his angels, that excel in strength, that do his commandments, hearkening unto the voice of his word.  It is not angels here, it should be messengers, and it is talking about us. We are the ones who excel in strength. That strength comes from us putting off those dirty old feathers and having our youth renewed, changing our thinking, taking off the old dirty thoughts and putting on the new thoughts. You cannot excel in strength by carrying around old baggage, get rid of it.

 ²¹Bless ye the LORD, all ye his hosts; ye ministers of his, that do his pleasure.

 ²²Bless the LORD, all his works in all places of his dominion: bless the LORD, O my soul.

How thankful are our hearts are unto God, embrace your life now, all your sins are forgiven, your past is dead, today is a new day. Have a cup of coffee with God and let him know you’re thinking about him and that you remember some of the good things he has done for you. And another thing, if you do not know God that much or know very little of the Word, ask him to teach you, ask him to give you a bigger heart, to give you wisdom, ask him to show you why you are here on earth and what is your purpose.  He loves that, he craves for you to want to know him. We also have fellowship every Sunday, held in a home with a handful of sweet people just wanting to learn.  Anyone desiring to know is invited. I am also including my home number if you have something heavy or trying on your heart call me. God put us in his family, we were never meant to face challenges alone. God Bless, Mary 262-9808

Ask Seek Knock

October 24, 2010

ASK SEEK KNOCK

Matthew 7; 7-8 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:

 ⁸For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.

We know that Matthew is written for our learning. Tremendous truths that we can apply in our lives. God says, Ask, the word ask is the Greek word aiteo, translated, desire, crave, or beg. God is our father who wants to give us the desires of our heart.  Jesus Christ came so that we could have life and have it more abundantly. What are you being faced with today, what is on your heart that you need or desire? Could medical, emotional, financial, and personal or anything else be in your heart that you would like? God is interested in you and your heart. The scripture doesn’t tell us that we have to be good, to pray all day, to burn ourselves out on giving, it says Ask. What do you need right now that would help enhance your life to love others better? Spiritually or physically, there are no limitations with God, we limit ourselves. So many times we do not turn to God because we are feeling guilty or foolish for what we are asking for. What do you need, what would you really like to have? Is there anything to hard for God? If the answer is yes then you’re wrong, chapter and verse please, show me where that’s written. Verse 8 says, for everyone that asketh receiveth; you will receive, believe it, confess it, and hold it fast inside your heart. God does the giving and he will do it his way and when the time is right. You will receive, God backs up his Word, and people fail at their words but not God.

Then the next words are seek.  Seek is the Greek word, Zeteo, it means to strive after. You are to do the asking, and you are to do the seeking. One without the other won’t work. If you need a job and refuse to get up off your rear-end, you are not seeking. So many times people will pray and thank God for such and such a need then give up, stop looking, and stop searching. Don’t give up; you do everything in your power to seek. Verse 8 says, he that seeketh findeth. No one can stand before God and say I have done everything I could and it just won’t happen. That is a lie, it says, you ask, you seek and you will find. It is really easy for situations or people to talk you out of seeking. People can tell you, oh it’s not possible, or you will tell yourself, well it must not be God’s will. What a cop out. If you do not have it, it is because you stopped seeking. I had cancer and a couple of other people in fellowship had some pretty difficult medical situations and we had to see many many doctors. Doctors are not God, there is only one and true God, you’re worshiping a doctor, you are worshipping another God. I needed answers for a few medical issues I was facing, so one Doctor was able to give me just enough information, and then I needed to see another one for more information that the other Doctor could not provide. If it took going to 4 doctors then I would go to four doctors. I was seeking, I didn’t stop at one. We get so easily talked out of seeking and we give up, and then guess what? You don’t receive. Our God is not a liar, people are, but not our God, if he says it, then that settles it. You need to make your mind believe and trust in God.

It goes on to say, knock. In the east and even now to this day. When someone comes to your door knocking, they do not open it. They ask several questions before they open up their doors. As with us, someone comes to my house at night knocking on my door, I better know them or they are not coming in. Well, God opens the door without questioning you. Verse 8, to him that knocketh it shall be opened. The word shall, means absolutely without a shadow of a doubt. Shall means shall! You ask, you seek and our wonderful God will open doors for you to walk through. God will do it, you do not have to pry it open, you do not have to sneak into a window, God will open the doors without question. Like I said so many people give up seeking, don’t give up. If God makes a promise, he will back it up, what he says, he means. He will never fail you, he will never forsake you. You can have a beautiful walk of confidence knowing that God will do anything for you. He loves you as is where is.

The next scripture carries a tremendous amount of weight, I hope you memorize this and keep it close to your heart at all times.

^{Mark 10;27} And Jesus looking upon them saith, with men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible.

Sometimes the things we ask may seem impossible to get, so we don’t take action on it and then we never receive. And at times, the things we are asking for are impossible. When people tell you it’s impossible, they are right, but dead wrong when it comes to God. Our God specializes in miracles, that’s his thing! With men it is impossible, but not with God, for with God all things are possible. Who do you want to trust? Are you relying on a doctor for all your medical needs? Are you relying on your job for money? Where are you putting your trust, into what or into whom? Ask yourself these questions when you are faced with life and desires. Put your trust into God, if there is no way, he will make a way. As long as you believe man you will always live way below par next to God. Memorize this; confess it with your mouth and heart. For with God all things are possible. You do the asking, you do the seeking, God supplies. Wow what a life we can live, how exciting that when the world is all gloomy and nothing around you seems to work, we have God the Almighty! Everything you can see with your eyes is falling apart and decaying. God’s Word is alive and its life. It becomes living when you live, it becomes loving when you love. The Word of God is always a now, not later on when you feel better. You say it, you believe it, God brings it to pass and he loves the impossible. Geeze, give God something to do, he gets bored with people who don’t believe.  When it comes to seeking, like I said, don’t give up, God has his perfect timing, it’s his job to give it to you and it is up to him to figure out how and when. I think he is pretty smart at figuring things out for us. Here are a few scriptures I want to share; they all have the word ask with the same meaning.

John 11;22 But I know, that even now, whatsoever thou will ask of God, God will give it thee.

John 14;13 And whatsoever ye shall ask in  my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son, V14 If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it. Always ask in the name of Jesus Christ, for there is power in his name.

John 15; 7 If ye abide in me and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you

John 16;23 And in that day ye shall ask me nothing, verily verily I say unto you, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it you. V.24 Hitherto have ye asked nothing in my name (meaning you never could ask anything in my name, but now do it) ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.

I couldn’t say it any plainer or simpler than God.  God wants your joy full. Our God is sweet and caring and wants you to have the best.

God bless all of you, and remember!!!! With God all things are possible!!

Grow up (grow in grace)

October 10,210

Grow Up

2 Peter 3:18  ¹⁸But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever. Amen.

If God wants us to grow in grace then we need to understand what grace is and how to apply in our lives so we can grow. God doesn’t want us to stay ignorant; we are to grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior.  I can have a ton of research material, concordances, variety of bibles, all that stuff but without growing and living in grace, I would become an intellectual idiot.  A lot of people like to pat themselves on the back for how much knowledge they have of the scriptures, but that’s not God’s will. It doesn’t matter to God how much you know, but how much do you love. The only way God can reach into a person’s heart is through love, and that is grace in action.  God literally loved us so much, he saw past our shortcomings, our failures and our lack of love for him. It can be hard for our minds to grasp that kind of love.  Boy my parents didn’t like me very much when I made mistakes, and I felt shamed for a long time. I never did anything good for God, yet he loved me and continues to love me regardless. That is grace. We can stand before our beautiful, tender, and loving God without any sense of sin, guilt or condemnation. Not so with people, but it is with God, and that’s what he wants us to grow in.  We need to learn how to love with the love wherewith he loved us, how to forgive with the forgiveness wherewith he forgives and how to keep your tongue under control so you don’t’ go blabbing all the time.  It truly is sad that some people do have knowledge of the scriptures but they like to brag in order to make you feel bad.  If you really know what this means, wouldn’t you want to endeavor to build the grace of God in your minds? The importance is not in having knowledge of the scriptures but a knowing how to love with that knowledge. Growing takes time, like a child, and in stages.  We have these beautiful little kids at fellowship, Sammy has a newborn little boy, and two little girls, Taylor Rose and Clara and then we have Macie and Chloe and you wouldn’t think twice to be critical to any of them if they fell down and made mistakes. Would you criticize a newborn baby for spitting up his milk, or condemning a 2yr old for accidently breaking something? No you wouldn’t, then why do you think that when a person starts to become an adult it’s ok to criticize. Criticism never changes a person, only love.  Some people really think that the harder you press on someone the better chances you have to change them. Love is the only motivation that ever changes a person from within.  People will never see the love of God if they don’t’ see it in you. They will never see forgiveness if they don’t’ see it in you. They will not go home and read their bibles, they will read you.  People don’t care how much you know until they know you care. We are to be open books for people, we are to be their hands and feet until they are able to walk on their own. We love people into loving and it has to be by grace wherewith the grace that has been given to us.  I am so thankful that our God is so good to us, and it’s really sad to see so many religions controlling their people by guilt and sins. Teaching that God kills, that God puts you in bad situations to test you. Would you throw your baby in front of an oncoming car to see if it’s mature enough to run out of the way? How stupid, yet people are being taught that all over the world about God. I can tell you one thing for sure, their God is not my God, because my God doesn’t tempt us, or kill a loved one, or put me in disastrous situations to test me.  My suggestion to anyone who gets taught like that is to run and run fast.

The beauty of this scripture is to grow in grace. Grace is un-deserved favor from God.  More accurately it is unmerited divine favor.  Grace is God’s love in action towards us. You didn’t earn it and you can’t work for it.

Ephesians 2;4-9 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,      ⁵Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)     ⁶And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:

 ⁷That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.

 ⁸For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:  ⁹Not of works, lest any man should boast.

God who is rich in mercy! Mercy is withholding merited judgment, we should have our butts kicked for some of the things we do, but God withholds that judgment. Then it says for his GREAT love wherewith he loved us even when we were dead spiritually. And hath raised us up together, it’s a figure of speech, we are seated in the heavenlies and when Christ returns he’s coming back for us, we have our home in heaven being built and prepared for us. Look at Verse 7; he is not only going to show us the riches of his grace, but the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness towards us through Christ Jesus. That’s our God, that’s our father! He is kind and loving. For it is by grace ye are saved through faith (believing) and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God. It’s God’s gift to us, to be saved, to be born again, to have our home in the heavenlies when Christ returns and it’s all because he loves us. Not of works, lest any man should boast. God knew the hearts of man, he knows that man loves to brag, man or woman, there is no difference to God. No man or woman can ever say God called them because they were so good and they worked harder than anyone else. Do you see the beauty in grace? This is what God wants us to grow in.  If this is all the Word you will ever learn, these two scriptures, then you can live a life more than abundantly, you can love the un-lovable, you can forgive, and you can be kind and tenderhearted. That is God’s love in action. You are what God says you are and you can do what God says you can do. Like I said, growing takes time and what an exciting life to grow in grace, to extend God’s heart to others. We need to remind ourselves over and over that God loves us. The adversary will remind you of your faults and sins, people will criticize you, they did to Jesus, and so they will so to you, so arm yourselves. Regardless of how people have treated you and will treat you, you rise up and love, you be the one to forgive.  Let them cast the stones, you be the one to love. It takes a real man or woman to love; it takes boldness and putting your trust in God. Please look at this next scripture.

Philippians 2;13  For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

 To know what God’s good pleasure is you must know God’s Word. And one of the things that is God’s pleasure is to love with the love wherewith he loved, the tenderness wherewith he was tender, the thanksgiving, forgiveness with which He is. It is God at work within us to will and to do His good pleasure. Can your mind grasp that? Colossians 1;27, To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

Just think, when you go to work, its God in Christ in you, when you go dancing, its God in Christ in all of you, his hands behind your hands, his feet behind your feet, his eyes behind your eyes. He is in you! God can direct and lead your every step, and he does it with love, grace in action.

In the Old Testament, Joshua 24, it was getting close to his time of death, he had to take over Moses’ leadership, which was a very difficult role to take. Moses for 40 years, leading over 2 ½ million people, who complained, murmured, complained some more and then some more. 40 years Moses had to lead them, he was leading them to the promise land; a land God had waiting for them. A land rich in resources and in abundance. Do you know they didn’t walk longer than 3 miles for those forty years? Pretty incredible, some time you should read it. Any way God had to remind Joshua over and over again not to be afraid, as he was with Moses he would be to him. So many years have passed and Joshua is calling in all the bigwigs, all the leadership, judges, you name it, he wanted them to all meet with him for the last time. He basically said for them to put all other Gods away from you and to love and trust the one and only true God. Even in our day and time, we may not be worshipping idols or strange Gods like they did back then, but we put our trust into our bank accounts, our houses or cars. We believe what a banker tells us more than what God tells us. There is self worship, or people worship the stocks or bonds, drugs, alcohol. There are things we need to put away, things that stop us from being our best for God and moving forward in life.  Anyway, the beginning of this chapter God is having Joshua speak for him, Joshua is doing the speaking but they are the words of God. God is reminding them of many miracles he performed for them.

Joshua 24; ¹And Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem, and called for the elders of Israel, and for their heads, and for their judges, and for their officers; and they presented themselves before God.

 ²And Joshua said unto all the people, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Your fathers dwelt on the other side of the flood in old time, even Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nachor: and they served other gods.

 ³And I took your father Abraham from the other side of the flood, and led him throughout all the land of Canaan, and multiplied his seed, and gave him Isaac.

 ⁴And I gave unto Isaac Jacob and Esau: and I gave unto Esau mount Seir, to possess it; but Jacob and his children went down into Egypt.

 ⁵I sent Moses also and Aaron, and I plagued Egypt, according to that which I did among them: and afterward I brought you out.

 ⁶And I brought your fathers out of Egypt: and ye came unto the sea; and the Egyptians pursued after your fathers with chariots and horsemen unto the Red sea.

 ⁷And when they cried unto the LORD, he put darkness between you and the Egyptians, and brought the sea upon them, and covered them; and your eyes have seen what I have done in Egypt: and ye dwelt in the wilderness a long season.

 ⁸And I brought you into the land of the Amorites, which dwelt on the other side Jordan; and they fought with you: and I gave them into your hand, that ye might possess their land; and I destroyed them from before you.

I am going to skip a few verses in order to save some space. Please go back and read the entirety when you have a chance.

 ¹²And I sent the hornet before you, which drave them out from before you, even the two kings of the Amorites; but not with thy sword, nor with thy bow.  God is reminding them that these great feats was not with their sword or bow, other words, not for them to take credit because they were so smart and strong. It was Gods power and might.

 ¹³And I have given you a land for which ye did not labor, and cities which ye built not, and ye dwell in them; of the vineyards and oliveyards which ye planted not do ye eat.

Look at the beauty of this scripture. I, God, I have given you land which you did not labor for, cities you did not build, and olivyards you did not plant. God’s desire is always to supply our every need, to give us more than what we could ask for think. Its Gods desire to give. And this is grace. They did not deserve all this abundance; they screwed around and worshipped other Gods. God is grace, Gods love in action is grace. We didn’t’ deserve to be loved and called by him. He has given us a life we did not earn or work for. Boy isn’t our God magnificent.

 ¹⁴Now therefore fear the LORD, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the LORD.

Remember, we are to grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and savior. We are to serve our God in sincerity and in truth. This was written in the Old Testament, but this is the same God in our day and time, and this God dwells in us.  

 ¹⁵And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.

But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD!

You choose this day whom you will serve; to serve God is to serve his bread of life to those who are hungry, to love people into loving themselves, to set people free who have been incased with fears and criticized all their lives.  If God be for us, who can be against us?  If you want to grow, the only way is to take a stand for God, if you don’t’ stand for God then you fall for anything, make up your mind who want to serve. If you don’t do it, who will?  God bless all of you; grow in grace and in the knowledge of our lord and savior.

The love of God in demonstration

The love of God in demonstration

To gain a better understanding on how to love others with the love of God we need to go to the Word and see how Jesus Christ demonstrated love.  My prayer is that this will open up our hearts to gain a better understanding of the meaning of love and how to love others.

I am going to start this teaching in John 13; I want to give you an understanding on what is going on right now in Jesus’ life.  He knew that his hour is coming, the hour meaning he was going to be betrayed by Judas and dragged away  to be beaten.  Earlier God revealed to Jesus what he was going to have to go through for you and I to be delivered, he had asked God if there was any other way. The extreme torture and abuse he would have to endure caused him to sweat as of tears of blood. You and I will never know the depth of what he had to experience for us. The false religious paintings of Jesus hanging on a wooden cross with a trickle of blood running down his face is a lie straight from the pit of hell. He was beaten to a bloody pulp, hour after hour.  Knowing this would happen, he asked God if there was any other way and there wasn’t.  Jesus loved his disciples; he loved Judas, right down to the very last minute. I will show you how he demonstrated his love.  It was a hands-on experience. I know if I had a couple of hours left before I was going to be tortured  I wouldn’t be out loving people I would be in so much mental anguish that I wouldn’t know what to do. But this man, Jesus did it, he loved to the end, he put his feelings aside and exalted his love for others.

John 13;1  ¹Now before the feast of the passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end.

 ²And supper being ended, the devil having now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray him;     ³Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he was come from God, and went to God;

 ⁴He riseth from supper, and laid aside his garments; and took a towel, and girded himself. ⁵After that he poureth water into a bason, and began to wash the disciples' feet, and to wipe them with the towel wherewith he was girded.

 ⁶Then cometh he to Simon Peter: and Peter saith unto him, Lord, dost thou wash my feet?  ⁷Jesus answered and said unto him, What I do thou knowest not now; but thou shalt know hereafter.

 ⁸Peter saith unto him, Thou shalt never wash my feet. Jesus answered him, If I wash thee not, thou hast no part with me.   ⁹Simon Peter saith unto him, Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head.

This is so awesome! Before I go any further I want to explain the Eastern culture on washing feet. With that understanding the Word will have so much more meaning.  First of all in the East there were three different ranks of servants. One was usually a poor family member, but one you could trust and you knew well. That person had a bigger more prestigious job. The second level of servant was one that was purchased as a slave or one who was hired. The third was the lowest; this person was born from one of the servants. This servant had to perform the dirtiest and the most menial tasks. One of these tasks was to stand in the foyer and when guests would arrive, they would throw their sandals at them to be cleaned, while the other servant would wash their feet. They needed to have their feet and sandals washed because bacteria and germs would collect while walking in the dust. If the owners or guests came in and out of the house fifty times a day, then they would wash their feet fifty times a day. However, if a very important guest came, someone who meant more than anyone else to them, then by bestowing their greatest respect and honor upon that guest, the master of the house would wash their feet. But only if they were highly respected people. The Eastern people knew the importance of this and they knew that only the lowest form of servants would wash their feet. When it came to Peter, he told Jesus, no! You’re not going to wash my feet, basically that is disgraceful. Then Jesus said fine, you have no part with me, and then Peter says, ok wash my hands and head! Pretty funny. Jesus by washing their feet was demonstrating his love for them, the master, washing their feet.

¹²So after he had washed their feet, and had taken his garments, and was set down again, he said unto them, Know ye what I have done to you?     ¹³Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am.

 ¹⁴If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another's feet.  ¹⁵For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you.    ¹⁶Verily, verily, I say unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord; neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him.    ¹⁷If ye know these things, blessed are ye if ye do them.

You know, the world has this all screwed up and backwards. The servant is not greater than his lord, and he that is sent not greater than he who sent him. Jesus claims to be their friend, in our administration he is our brother. The greater the leader, the greater the servant. You know what you see in our culture? If you have a title your better than anyone else.  A manager will tell you what to do but they themselves would never do that. They expect better treatment, and they get it. What about at a school district for example. Does the superintendent get treated better than the janitor? Yes, I don’t’ think the janitor is allowed to have their breaks in the same room. In a large corporation, your nothing if newly hired or do not have the same level of authority. In Gods eyes there is no respect of persons. In James, it talks about, if a person comes into the room that is dressed all up and looks good, are you not going to treat that person better than one who is dressed less and has no title. It’s wrong! That is not the love of God; you do not favor a rich person and treat them better than you would a poor person. When it comes to love there is no age difference or title, or persons title with God, he doesn’t go for that crap. Yet we are surrounded by it day after day. Jesus Christ was their master, their lord, and before he was to be taken away and beaten for hours, he got on his knees and washed his disciple’s feet. Not only was he showing humility, but he was exalting them with respect, he was showing the most respect and love a master could. Judas was one of them! He knew Judas would betray him yet he loved him. The words says to love your enemies, if Jesus could do it then we can do it. It’s a lot easier to love those who love you; I enjoy loving those who love me. But at times I have a problem with loving them who are cruel and mean to me. My pride gets hurt and all kinds of ugly feelings come out in me. I have to put on the word of God in my mind. I am suppose to love my enemies, doesn’t say make them your best friend.   He said to them, this is an example that you should follow. If you do these things you will be blessed. If you don’t’ do these things you are deceiving yourself because whatsoever you sow you shall reap. There is no one better than you and you are no better than no one. Jesus had to put his thoughts about what he was going to have to endure aside and concentrated on one thing, to teach them how to love. If you only had a few hours left of your life what would you teach your children or close friends to do? The only thing that matters in our life is that we love. I Corinthians 13;2 says and though I have prophecy and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge and though I have all the believing so that I could remove mountains, and have not the love of God, I am nothing! It doesn’t matter how smart you are, how many college degrees you have, it doesn’t matter that your believing is so great that you could remove mountains, and guarantee you would be a very powerful person to do that, if you do not have the love of God, you are nothing! Then Verse 3 says, and thought I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, which means you’re burning yourself out to serve, and have not the love of God, it profiteth me nothing! You can pray until your blue in the face, you can run a hundred charity groups; you can work all day long serving the poor until you are exhausted, but if you do not have the love of God it profits you nothing. God wrote this not me. Without loving others with the love of God, I am nothing and the things I do profit me nothing. If you want profit in your life, then go love. If you want to be something, then go love. Do something for someone. If you have the means to give then give it. The quality of your life is based on how much you love. Starting with God first, you love God, and then you are to love others. Love is not having to make them your friends. I can love anyone and I don’t’ have to like them, love is giving, it’s not feeling gushy or happy, it’s giving. If I am giving someone the Word and they don’t want it, then fine, that’s their business. I am not out to make anyone happy, I am out to give the words of life so they can believe and reap rewards and an endless bounty of God’s blessings. The best way you can love, is no matter what you’re doing, do it for God. People will forget the nice things you’ve done for them, some may even hurt you after you have blessed them, whatever you do, do it for God. He doesn’t forget, and he will without a shadow of a doubt reward you. We are to do all things for God, and not to be men pleasers. There is no reward and no profit if you’re trying to please men. We love and that is in giving. You see a need don’t turn your head the other way. You don’t’ treat someone better because they are rich. One more thing, having millions of dollars doesn’t make anyone rich in life. You can have all that money and be absolutely poor because of your heart. Money has nothing to do with you prospering and being something. Without love, your nothing and all the actions you take in life will have no profit. But with the love of God, you are a one of a kind. God made you lovely and acceptable. You know, I am not worthy to have Jesus wash my feet, none of us are worthy for that, but he did it because he loved. None of us are worthy to be called by God and to be his sons and daughters, but Jesus made a way for us to be loved by God. It’s all by grace and not of works. He called you by name, God will do anything for you, all your sins have been forgiven, and we can live a life without any sense of sin, guilt or condemnation. We can stand approved before God Almighty!  Condemnation and guilt comes from not knowing you are forgiven, and it comes from people reminding you over and over again how un-perfect you are. Do not do that to yourself and do not let others do that to you. If God forgets and then you choose to remember then you are usurping the authority of God. You are loved by God. Being loved by God has nothing to do with whether you feel like it; his love is not based on feelings. Feelings come and go, just like our emotions. We have to line up our thoughts with the Word. I was never taught to love, I was taught to do good to others if they did something good for you. I was taught that I was un-worthy to be loved because of the things I did. Regardless of all the wrong teachings we have all been taught in our life, we have the power to change. We have the power and the means to change our lives. God strengthens each one of us; he leads us through life by our hand, one step at a time, one thought at a time. We will blow it, time and time again, and we have to remind ourselves that Jesus took every one of our insecurities, our guilt and shame, all our crap and nailed it to the cross. That’s the cross he bore! Not a stupid wooden one, he bore our sins, he took whippings over and over again for our health, he did it all and he completed it for us. What a man he was, he put people first and himself last. We are able to do that.

^{I John 2;4}  He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.

 ⁵But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him. (keeping his word means to believe it and do it)

 ⁶He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked. (Jesus never thought he was better than anyone else, a person with pride never sees that)

 ⁷Brethren, I write no new commandment unto you, but an old commandment which ye had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which ye have heard from the beginning.

 ⁸Again, a new commandment I write unto you, which thing is true in him and in you: because the darkness is past, and the true light now shineth.    ⁹He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now.    ¹⁰He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him.

 ¹¹But he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes.     ¹²I write unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for his name's sake.

 His commandments are not the Ten Commandments, those were under the law, his commandment is to love God with all of your heart and to love your neighbor. That is his commandment. It says we are to walk as he walked, Jesus always put others first. He didn’t fall for the religious guys and those who were only concerned with their appearance. He called them hypocrites, they only want to be seen and heard by people. Still true today. If we don’t’ walk in love it says we are in darkness and that darkness has blinded our eyes. When you are in a pitch black dark room, you stumble around, you don’t’ know where you’re going. That’s what your life is like if you do not love. Your stumbling around in this world, getting tossed to and from with every wind of doctrine. If you say you love God and do not love your neighbor you’re a liar. Anyone can memorize scriptures; any fool can speak about the bible, big deal! It means nothing unless you live it. James says believing without works is dead; I will show you my believing by my works. Jesus said to do it, God says to do it. Don’t’ question or argue about it, you just love. Our sins have been forgiven because God forgave them; it’s a life between you and your father. I didn’t’ have a loving father growing up and it has taken me some time to re-new my mind to believing that I am truly loved.

 John 3;16  Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.

 ¹⁷But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?

 ¹⁸My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.    ¹⁹And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him.

 ²⁰For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things.    ²¹Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God.

 ²²And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.

There is no condemnation in God’s love; he is so much greater than our hearts. If God isn’t condemning you then you shouldn’t’ be either. God’s desire is to give you whatsoever you ask, that is Gods heart and request for us.

^I John 4;16 and we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.

 ¹⁷Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.

 ¹⁸There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.

 ¹⁹We love him, because he first loved us. (We can love because God loved us first)

 ²⁰If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?      ²¹And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also.

The love of God casts out fear, if you want to live a life without fear and condemnation, then the only way out is to love. I can’t say it any better, here is the Word, fear has torment, and we all know how horrible that is. It is better to be in a prison of bars and steel than to be in a mental prison of fear and torment along side of self condemnation. The only way out is through Jesus Christ, believing that he is the son of God and that God raised him from the dead, it says if you do that then you are saved. Saved from hell. Romans 10;9&10.  The world is in desperate need of your love, people are living in constant fear and turmoil, they are living in guilt and sadness, God cannot reach into their hearts without someone reaching in for him. He needs us to love for him, how else can he? You have to be his heart and mouthpiece so others can be let free. You start loving and your life will start changing, I guarantee, actually God guarantee’s because he backs up his Word. The greatest of all things a person can perform in this life is to love with the love of God. There is no force that is more powerful than love. The power of love is stronger than evil. The only way to get rid of such great power would have to be to kill that person. That’s how powerful love is. We underestimate the power of love because the world has thrashed the meaning. We have been so deceived by thinking people loved us, only to be hurt by them. People tell you they love you over and over again, yet their actions don’t line up it. It has caused more confusion than anything else. Saying you love someone has no meaning at all unless you show it. It doesn’t matter how many times you go to church, it doesn’t matter if you’re a manager of a huge corporation, and nothing matters at all if you don’t love. Our God will teach you how to love.  There is nothing he wouldn’t do for you. What an honor that God asks us to love for him, what a privilege. You should be thrilled. Jesus demonstrated how to love, so now go love and be loved.