1 John 4:19

We love Him because He first loved us

This week I listened to and read two devotionals on God's unmatched love for us. One talked about how His desire to love us and His desire for us to know the depth of this love is a goal He intends to complete. The other devotional talked about the pleasure of experiencing God's love and how nothing in life can measure up to the personal experience of His touch of love on the soul.

Now I am sure that each one who reads this is similar to myself in that we know the love of God and we seek to encourage others in the love walk. However maybe that love, that agape love, is something we uncover in layers and as we get closer to the center of this love we look back and ask "how did I miss this?"

So let me dig deeper with you and suggest that this love is still beyond our present understanding. For I have no doubt that when we are thoroughly drenched and filled with His love it spills over within and flows from us like a river. Nothing present, past or anything we can experience in the future will ever match the pleasure of His touch. Every addiction, low self-esteem, heartache, bad habits, wrong thoughts, actions or words will be abandoned, for His love heals, fills and completes us. Not to mention the pleasure and joy that comes when we release this love out to others...a love, by the way, He supplies.

I have no doubt that nothing in this life can compare to His love for us and that the only reason we love is because He first loved us and allows us to experience this love.

No Secrets

I Corinthians 4:3-5


I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself. My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me. Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in the darkness and will expose the motives of men's heart's. At that time each will receive his praise from God.

It is a waste of time to judge ourselves or to judge someone else.
Everything we have ever done will be judged, the motives.
Nothing escapes the eyes of the Lord.
Every thought, action and motive will be exposed to all.
None of us are perfect or innocent

Sobers things up a bit, right? Note the positive ending. It does not say judged and sentenced. For there is no condemnation for us His children (Rom. 8:1). It says at that time each will receive his praise from God. The junk in us will be reveled but God's focus is on the good we did. By the way, the only good we actually do is the good He motivates and preforms in and through us as we trusts our lives to Him (phil 2:13). All the rest is lost.

The Temple

I Corthians 3:16-17,19

Do you not know you are God's Temple and that God's Spirit lives in you?

When I sit and meditate on that thought, I realize what a treasure it is to be allowed to have the Living God, live in me. His mind, His spirit, His life, His gifts, the Fruit of His Spirit, His wisdom, HIM.... living His life within. My hands, my feet, my heart, my will, my mind occupied by His presence. Think how different our lives would be on a daily basis, if we thought of this each morning.

He comes on invitation, we surrender heart and mind to Him and He lives through us on invitation. Just as we received Him, we live... through grace, by faith.

He amazes me. What a great idea. What a great plan. What a great love He must have for us that we would be allowed to be HIS TEMPLE.

Caught Up

We have been studying Revelation in bible study this year and I wanted to share with you some of the points she brought up about the rapture. We do not see the word rapture. We see the word,caught up in the air, like being snatched up quickly.

There are several points of view on this, which I will list for you in a moment. The reason I write is because I have now been convinced through the scriptures revealed in this bible study that Pre-tribulation is accurate.

For those of you who have never looked into the Book of Revelation, let me simply say this. It is a book about the wrath of God poured out onto the earth because of mans sins, namely the sin of rejecting God and His effort to save us from those sins. Revelation is a time called the Great Tribulation (a book on the subject is the ever popular left behind series).

Varies views on the Tribulation years:

Pre-Tribulation: Believers in Christ are snatched out of the world before the tribulation begins.
Mid-Tribulation: Believers in Christ remain until the first 3 1/2 years are over.
Post-Tribulation: Everyone, Believers included, will remain and endure the entire 7 years of wrath.

My reason to believe in Pre-Tribulation.

Revelation 3: 10-8 - Kept from the hour of testing
Rev 4:1 - The open door to heaven where believers live during the tribulation.
Rev 19:1-4 - Worshipers in heaven during the tribulation
Rev19:11-14 - Jesus comes from heaven with his believers.(White Robes)
Rev14:7 - Tribulation is referred to as the hour of testing which we escape.
Rev 3: 10 - Look at the Greek word terroek... means kept out of (Matt 2:5)
1Thess 1:9-10 - He rescues us from
1 Thess 5:1-9 - We are described as not being from the dark side (people who will experiences the day of the Lord...tribulation)
1 Thess 4:13-18 - A description of the Rapture caught up, terroek (ek)
Romans 8:1 - There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus(believers).

The time of testing, the day of the Lord, the great tribulation, God's wrath poured out, all referr to the great tribulation found in revelation. A time that will last 7 years. It is one last effort of God to cause people to acknowledge Him and His ways.

It is world wide
It is a judgment
It is to cause men to repent
It is to eliminate the world system that is against God
It is to bring the Jew to Christ
It will kill and eliminate most people who receive Christ, those who become believers during this great tribulation. They will receive Him at the cost of their own lives in most cases.

Think about receiving God's grace and love on this side of the tribulation. Decide for Him now and be one who is caught up.

Never Alone

Phil 2:6-11; Heb.4:14-16; Rom 8:38-39

Today, as I came before the Lord in prayer, I had a little conversation with Him. You see, I felt overwhelmed that we, as finite humans, creations who are limited by our very existence, are asked to be like Him. Of course, I am aware that He lives His life through us and we simply trust but do you find even that a bit difficult at times? That things in this life seem to knock us down?

"God," I said, "We are not as unfathomable as you. We are like one grain of sand on a beach filled with sand. We are so insignificant and lack the supernatural power that exists in just a slight move of your finger. You speak and the world exists. Who are we, that we should be like you?"

Then my mind was filled with how He has provided. He lives inside us. He knows our every thought. He knows our prayers, our needs and has the date for that supply appointed before we even ask. He counts the hairs on our head and has us on His mind every second of every day. But best of all is this. He came to earth, lived in human flesh, submitted to the trials and pains we experience and lives forever to intercede as one who sympathizes with our weakness.

We are not alone.

That means when we experience trouble, hardship, persecution, famine, nakedness, danger, or sword, He has been there. There is nothing in life we experience alone; neither death nor life, angles or demons, the present or the future, no power, no height, no depth, nor anything else in all creation is beyond His personal touch, experience, presence or love. He is with us through it all and always shall be.

We will never be alone.

This We Have

Proverbs 8:11-36; 11:3

Wisdom seems to be the theme of Proverbs. This books tells us how to deal with people. It teaches us how to act, what to say and how to think. What a great guide.

Wisdom is referred to as the most valuable asset we can acquire. It brings prudence, discretion, knowledge. The result? We avoid pride, arrogance, perverted twisted speech (which is speech that lacks faith) and all decisions based on the flesh (lust of the eyes, lust of the flesh and the pride of life).

Now get this. Wisdom is a free gift given to us. Yes! You see, as a child of God, it is not a matter of not having wisdom. We have wisdom living in us. God tell us to draw from His wisdom... Ask, He says... And I will give it to you freely and abundantly. That makes wisdom a matter of choice. Do I want to walk in integrity, not, what is integrity.

Prov 11: 3 says... the integrity of the upright guides them. Integrity alone, a result of wisdom, guides us? ( A great book.. Integrity by Henry Cloud).

Wisdom is ours. It is a choice. It is a gift given to us, His children. May we all use the gift daily for this gift of wisdom is something we already we have.

False Pride

Proverbs 27

My thoughts today come from sections of Prov. 27. Things that relate to pride, boasting, self-praise. Pride, what a mess. Pride fools us all. Just the time we think we have it behind us we get proud of the fact that we think we have it behind us.

My mom use to say, "that person has false pride." It was her way of saying that they had nothing to be proud of but acted as if they were something great. Pride is never something to be proud of because it places us on the throne of our lives. Which to me means that all pride is false pride. We are nothing without Christ. He deserves all the praise, glory and honor. Without Him there is nothing. In Him we have everything. It takes a while to get the message, but the message is this: life is found in Christ, our lives are in Christ, He is life.

Some pointed thoughts from Prov 27:

• Do not boast for you do not know what a day will bring.
• Do not praise yourself, let another one do that.
• As water reflects a man's face so his heart reflects the man.
• A test: notice how a person responds to praise. Then you will see what is really there.

Watch out, my friends, for false pride.