#1 You Are Loved

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16

The “world” that is spoken of here is the world of all of mankind…unbelievers, those who do not know God and are against God. That would be everyone. We are all unbelievers and against God until He seeks us and opens our spiritual eyes to Salvation.

God does not want anyone to perish, but to come to belief in Jesus so they can have eternal life. He loved all of us long before we loved Him. While we were neck deep in our own sin, muck and prideful living.

“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8 (NIV)

While you were still a sinner God demonstrate His love for you by giving His Son Jesus to die for you. His ONLY SON.

“Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” John 15:13 (NIV) These are words straight from Jesus. He gave His life for you while you were still a sinner. Is there any greater love than for someone to give their life for you?

Who would you give your life for? I would dare to guess you would give your life for your children, grandchildren or another loved one, but how about an enemy?

No? Me either… I am not sure I would give my life for an enemy. BUT Jesus did!

“But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions-it is by grace you have been saved.” Ephesians 2:4-5 NIV

What does it mean to be dead in our transgressions?

Transgressions are sins, the wrong things we do against God and His laws. We were dead” in our sins.  Look at Romans 6:23.

“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” Romans 6:23

The first section of this verse begins by saying believers “were dead” in their sins. These immoral actions were part of their life, following the lead of Satan, instead of God. The wages or pay that we get from sin is death. Why death?

This spiritual death began as the result of sin in the garden of Eden.

“But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” Genesis 2:17 (NKJV).

I don’t want to earn death!

Wait! Look at the second part of Romans 6:23, “but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Because Jesus, God’s only Son, took your place and my place on the cross and died for all the wrong things we have done and will ever do…we have the FREE GIFT of ETERNAL LIFE!

When we choose to believe in Jesus as our Savior, God makes a covenant with us. Because you and I are loved by our Creator.

“Though the mountains be shaken, and the hills be removed, yet My unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor My covenant of peace be removed,” says the Lord, who has compassion on you”. Isaiah 54:10 NIV

God’s unfailing love will not be shaken. Can you imagine a world where the mountains and the hills are shaken and not just moved but removed from the earth?! Yet all the while, God remains steadfast.

I wondered, what is a covenant? It is not a word we hear too often. Covenants are not just contracts, and a very serious commitment to God. With God it is a binding promise of far-reaching importance in the relations between Him and His children.

In Isaiah 54:10, we see the covenant of God’s peace will not be removed from us. The Hebrew word Shalom means peace, harmony, wholeness, completeness, and tranquility. Philippians 4:7 says, “and the peace of God, which passes all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” When troubles on earth make us anxious, seem to overwhelm us and make us want to give up, we can ask Jesus to give us His peace… a peace that is far beyond any earthly comfort.

Also, God’s unfailing love will not be shaken.  No matter what is happening in this world around us (and it is pretty shaky right now) or what is happening within our lives, God’s love will not fail or be shaken. He loves us. He has our best interest at heart always.

If that is not enough, God keeps adding! God will continue to have compassion and mercy on us. Mercy is God’s withholding of the judgement we deserve for our sin, but instead He grants us the forgiveness we don’t deserve and we could never earn (We are saved by grace, Ephesians 2:5) because of what Jesus accomplished on the cross.

What an Awesome God! What a Wonderful Creator! What a Wonderful Savior! We will talk more about grace and becoming a new creation next time. Until then, may God bless you as you seek Him.

Find me on YouTube.com Tami Bemis Cole

Guidance

Have you ever come to a place in your life where you did not know what to do, what action to take, or what direction to follow? Voices demanding a response from many directions. Perhaps you are there today? Caught in the grip of fear, sadness, disillusionment or maybe even anger. Our emotions are so complicated.

Oh, if we could just have some true guidance from Someone who has our best interest at heart.

I have Good News! You and I have a Father in Heaven. If you and I profess Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior…you and I are a child of The God Most High!

This is what God promises in Psalm 32:8 (NASB)

“I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go; I will counsel you with My eye upon you.”

God, your Father, will instruct you, guide you, teach in the way you should go and as He instructs, guides, and teaches…He is watching with the loving eyes of a father. To get us back on track when we fall or when we fail or even when we are tripped up by another. No condemnation from God, just a lift back onto the RIGHT path, the BEST path for each of us. The path to LIFE.

How encouraging! I pray for you right now…Dear Lord…that whatever you are facing, that you, His precious child will feel Your Father’s love.

Open His Word and bask in the beauty of His Glorious Presence and drink in His love. He will give you direction on what to do next!

You can find me on YouTube Tami Bemis Cole

 

You Are Loved

“In a far-off land the LORD will manifest himself to them. He will say to them, ‘I have loved you with an everlasting love. That is why I have continued to be faithful to you.” Jeremiah 31:3 (NET) 

A little lopsided but my mind sees a heart 🙂

In my travels near & far over many years, I have often found things in nature shaped like a heart. Each time I am reminded of how much God loves me & you and is always making Himself known to us.

I am also reminded that He does not give up on us. He is faithful to help us when we call out to Him.

Even when I am off in a dozen different directions, scarcely giving Him a thought. He is thinking about me. So I take a minute to focus on His heart. Our amazing God & Creator loves His creation, you and I, made in His Image…and I pause, take a deep breath…the very breath He gives me…and I praise Him! He is worthy to be praised!

YOU ARE LOVED!

HE FIRST LOVED US…

No matter what is going on in your life…if you just broke up with someone, didn’t get what you expected on this Valentine Day, don’t have someone who loves you, lost a loved one or are just not having a good day…DON’T DESPAIR…Things have a way of looking a whole lot different tomorrow.

PLEASE REMEMBER…YOU ARE LOVED!

WE ALL have a Father in Heaven who LOVES YOU & ME. LOVES us NO matter where we are and what we have done.

I hope that on this Valentine’s Day that you feel HIS love…that it totally encompasses you and lifts you. That you feel HIS HUG wrap around you as only a DADDY can give…

May the Lord SMILE on YOU.

“May the Lord Bless you and keep you. May the Lord show you His kindness and have mercy on you. May the Lord watch over you and give you PEACE.” Numbers 6:24-26

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