Then my enemies will retreat on the day when I call. This I know: God is with me.
In God, Whose Word I praise, in the Lord, Whose Word I praise, in God I trust. I will not fear. What can man do to me? (Vs. 9-11)
Love. That is how we know that He is for us. Love. If God is for us, who can be against us? He did not even spare His own Son, but offered Him up for us all. How will He not also, with Him, grant us everything?...Who can separate us from the love of Christ. Can affliction or anguish or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? NO. In all these things we are more than conquerors through Him Who loved us. Romans 8
That is how important it is to know you are deeply loved by God. It gets you through pretty much anything this life has to throw at you. I am thinking of a couple going through such pain right now. She, dying of cancer that is ravishing her brain. He, suffering from cancer, also, just not so advanced. They choose daily...choose...to trust the love of Christ and hope in a future with Him. Their faith is stunning. Because they know they are loved.
A friend is giving up everything, home and possessions, in an effort to pay off bills and reestablish herself financially. She and her husband trust God is leading them in this walk. No fear. She knows, from years of experience with her God and trust in His Word, that she will be just fine. Because she knows she is loved.
Agape. Selfless, sacrificial, unconditional love. Think Jesus on the cross. Allowing those He created to pick up sledge hammers and affix Him to a cross made of wood He designed. Haters and defilers at the foot of the cross making jokes, spitting and gambling for His clothes. Because He loved them all....without condition. "Father, forgive them. They don't know what they are doing."
So Emmanuel, God With Us, came out of the grave to be Christ, in us, the hope of glory. I can know beyond a doubt Jesus is always with me. Loves me without condition. Is intimately acquainted with my comings and goings (not always a good thing). If He died to redeem us, He lives to be in us. I am not involved in any part of my life, successes or failures, sickness or health, riches or lack, alone. He Who loved me enough to give His own life for me, shepherds my life with great care. Knows my name. Binds up my broken heart. Guides my path. Laughs with me. Weeps with me. And guides me finally home.
Fear. There is no fear in love for perfect love casts out fear. 1 John 4. I chew on this verse quite a bit. There is much to fear. Cancer. War. Abandonment. Loss. Death. The list of things to worry about goes on ad infinitum. But if I love Him perfectly, and understand how great the love of Jesus is for me, I will not be afraid though the earth trembles and the mountains topple into the depths of the seas, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with its turmoil. Psalm 46.
Though the events of this world take a turn toward Armageddon. Though the events in my life are confusing and storm-filled.
He loves me. He loves me. A thing to travel from head to heart. Though I don't think so much of me, He does! Looks past my blemishes. Forgives my sins. Takes my hand and walks with me even through death. Where can I go to escape Your Spirit? Where can I go to flee Your Presence? If I go up to heaven, you are there. If I make my bed in hell, You are there. Psalm 139.
For I am persuaded that not even death or life, angels or rulers, things present or things to come, hostile powers, height or depth, or any created thing will have the power to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord! Romans 8
In God, Whose Word I praise, in the Lord, Whose Word I praise, in God I trust. I will not fear. What can man do to me? (Vs. 9-11)
Love. That is how we know that He is for us. Love. If God is for us, who can be against us? He did not even spare His own Son, but offered Him up for us all. How will He not also, with Him, grant us everything?...Who can separate us from the love of Christ. Can affliction or anguish or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? NO. In all these things we are more than conquerors through Him Who loved us. Romans 8
That is how important it is to know you are deeply loved by God. It gets you through pretty much anything this life has to throw at you. I am thinking of a couple going through such pain right now. She, dying of cancer that is ravishing her brain. He, suffering from cancer, also, just not so advanced. They choose daily...choose...to trust the love of Christ and hope in a future with Him. Their faith is stunning. Because they know they are loved.
A friend is giving up everything, home and possessions, in an effort to pay off bills and reestablish herself financially. She and her husband trust God is leading them in this walk. No fear. She knows, from years of experience with her God and trust in His Word, that she will be just fine. Because she knows she is loved.
Agape. Selfless, sacrificial, unconditional love. Think Jesus on the cross. Allowing those He created to pick up sledge hammers and affix Him to a cross made of wood He designed. Haters and defilers at the foot of the cross making jokes, spitting and gambling for His clothes. Because He loved them all....without condition. "Father, forgive them. They don't know what they are doing."
So Emmanuel, God With Us, came out of the grave to be Christ, in us, the hope of glory. I can know beyond a doubt Jesus is always with me. Loves me without condition. Is intimately acquainted with my comings and goings (not always a good thing). If He died to redeem us, He lives to be in us. I am not involved in any part of my life, successes or failures, sickness or health, riches or lack, alone. He Who loved me enough to give His own life for me, shepherds my life with great care. Knows my name. Binds up my broken heart. Guides my path. Laughs with me. Weeps with me. And guides me finally home.
Fear. There is no fear in love for perfect love casts out fear. 1 John 4. I chew on this verse quite a bit. There is much to fear. Cancer. War. Abandonment. Loss. Death. The list of things to worry about goes on ad infinitum. But if I love Him perfectly, and understand how great the love of Jesus is for me, I will not be afraid though the earth trembles and the mountains topple into the depths of the seas, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with its turmoil. Psalm 46.
Though the events of this world take a turn toward Armageddon. Though the events in my life are confusing and storm-filled.
He loves me. He loves me. A thing to travel from head to heart. Though I don't think so much of me, He does! Looks past my blemishes. Forgives my sins. Takes my hand and walks with me even through death. Where can I go to escape Your Spirit? Where can I go to flee Your Presence? If I go up to heaven, you are there. If I make my bed in hell, You are there. Psalm 139.
For I am persuaded that not even death or life, angels or rulers, things present or things to come, hostile powers, height or depth, or any created thing will have the power to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord! Romans 8
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