Does God Really Love Me?

My Pastor and friend Tim York and I were sitting
at a restaurant yesterday.

He was buying as a birthday present to me. Nice.

We were talking about Abraham and Isaac and the parallels
to Jesus.

One of us said, "If our people could see how much
Jesus loves them, it would radically change our church."

Later in the day, I came across a verse that will radically change my life. It will change yours.

And if you share it, it will change every life it touches.

The verse is written in red.
It comes straight out of the mouth of Jesus.

23 I am in them and you are in me. May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me and that you love them as much as you love me. John 17:23 NLT

Do you see that my friend?
The Father loves you as much as He loves Jesus!

Whoa. Wait. Really?
Yep. It's true.

And we know how much He loves Jesus.

When Jesus was baptized in the Jordan,
the Spirit descended as a dove.

Listen to what the Father said about the son.

"You are my Son, whom I love, and I am very pleased with you."

He says the same thing about you.
Not because of what you do, but because of what Jesus did.

When you accept His son, He adopts you into His family
and is very pleased with you.

He's pleased that you accepted His grace.
You are in. You are part of the family.

And what a family it is!

Read this very carefully.

After the Father said this about Jesus,
Jesus went into the desert to be tempted.

The first temptation from the accuser, that's what Satan means,
was, "If you are the son of God..."

Notice he left out 'Beloved'.

The Father didn't.
And the Father doesn't.

Satan distorts the truth and he attacks our identity.

He knows if we knew our true identity,
he would have no power over us.

The Father does know who you are.
He knows you by name.

When you accept His Son's grace and sacrifice,
He writes your name down and now YOU are 'Beloved'.

Get it?

He writes your name down.
And He doesn't forget it. Ever.

He loves you just as much as He loves Jesus.
Do you think He ever forgot Jesus or His name?

Do you think He will cast you aside when you fail?
That wouldn't be love now, would it?

Yes, my friend He loves you.

His love for you is not based on you.
It's based on Him.

Remember.
While we still sinners, Christ died for us.

He loved us first.
And He demonstrates His love for us through Christ.

Brothers and sisters. Please listen.

The veil was ripped from top to bottom
and God's Holy Throne was made wide open to us.

The table is ready and He longs to dine with us.
Not snack. Dine.

A great big gazillion course meal with ALL the trimmings.

Why would we not want to sit and dine with Him?

Because of His great love for us, He's done all the cooking.
All we need to do is accept the invitation and walk into the party.

Read the words of Jesus.
Open your heart to God's love for you.
Don't resist.

Life will be rich beyond measure, in every possible way,
when we believe and accept His love.

Love that is as deep, and wide, and long, and high
as His love for Jesus.

He loved us first, so now we get to relish in that love
like a puppy playing with a little boy.

RP

Grace and Food Stamps

I was at a convenience store yesterday to

fill up with fuel and buy some gum.

I stood in line behind a couple of young men.

The oldest, I'd say 13 and the youngest around 5.

I noticed on the counter what they were buying.

4- 2 litres of soda.

2- 32oz powerades.

3- cans of Pepsi.

1- bag of candy.

Then came the clincher.

It was paid for with food stamps.

Really?

Food stamps?

I was immediately aggravated and

called my wife to rant.

Through the course of conversation it dawned

on me. There is a parallel here.

A parallel to grace.

The food stamp program was intended

to help those in need put food on their table.

It was not intended for pop and candy.

We've all seen the abuses and we all are rightly

agitated by those abuses.

But they were not breaking the law.

The program was intended to help

but like all things given to people, some abuse.

Ok. Many abuse.

It's kinda like grace.

Grace was given to all of us, but not without risk.

God knew there would be those who would abuse it

and not receive it as it was intended.

It was a risk He was and is willing to take.

Grace intended to bring us and keep us in fellowship

with the Father, through Christ.

Even when we sin.

He knew we would sin and grace is given to us

ahead of time so we can stay in constant fellowship with Him.

Of course there will be those who abuse this grace.

Of course there will be those who dishonor it.

God does not base grace on our behavior.

It is based on His goodness.

If God did not extend abundant grace to every believer,

none of us could stay in constant fellowship with Him.

We honor God's grace when we stay in fellowship with Him.

Even when we fail.

And we do fail.

All of us.

Walk in the assurance of God's faithful, abundant grace.

Allow it to transform your life as you seek

to be more and more like Christ.

When we fail, He still loves, forgives and walks with us.

It is the reward of His risk.

RP

The Purpose of the Bible

The Sadducees and Pharisees knew scripture.

They could recite entire chapters.

They knew Hebrew and the precise pronunciation of every word.

To even be a Sadducee or Pharisee,

one would have to be exceptionally bright and studious.

Very few of the children who studied the law

would make it to such a high level of achievement.

Only the 'best of the best' made it to this status.

These 'Teachers of the Law' took great pride

in their knowledge of the law, understanding

of the scripture, and the coming Messiah.

Is that ironic?

When the very one whom they studied their entire lives

to find was standing right in front of them, they missed Him.

They were looking for something else.

Someone that would fit their agenda.

When He wouldn't conform, they hated Him.

Please don't miss this.

The Bible, from cover to cover, was written for one purpose

and one purpose alone.

To reveal Jesus.

Our need for Him, His sacrifice for us,

and the return for His people.

Since this is true, read the Bible in it's context.

God's revealed plan through Christ.

It's not a book to condemn you and make you feel sinful.

It's a book to reveal salvation and the love God has for you.

For us.

For all of us.

Read the scripture to find Jesus and

the grace He has made known to us

through His finished work on the cross.

RP

Lift Up Jesus

"And when I am lifted up from the earth,

I will draw everyone to myself.” John 12:32 NLT

Jesus was referring of the way He would provide

atonement for our sins.

But the truth still holds.

When Jesus is lifted up,

He still draws people to Him.

I think that is really the mission of the church.

And the mission of His people.

TO LIFT UP JESUS!

No special programs.

No magic formula.

Jesus.

It's how stronghold are destroyed.

It's how lives are redeemed.

Remember.

He has no condemnation toward you.

He wants to lavish His grace on you.

He has no judgement toward you.

He wants you to find forgiveness in His sacrifice.

And for ALL people everywhere who trust and believe.

The answer is Jesus, and Him lifted up.

Paul said it best "For I decided that while I was with you I would forget everything except Jesus Christ, the one who was crucified." I Corinthians 2:2

RP

Seeking His Righteousness

"But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." Matthew 6:33 NIV

Have you ever stopped and really looked at this verse.

I've often notice seeking 'his kingdom'

and 'all these things'...

But I really never noticed the heart of the verse.

'His righteousness'.

Jesus doesn't ask us to seek our righteousness.

He knows we don't have any.

The rewards of seeking God comes when we

understand we need His righteousness.

Not ours. God's.

And God declared His Son righteous and

He bestows His righteousness to us when we believe.

Kingdom living is a result of kingdom thinking.

Kingdom believing.

A life pursuing our own righteousness will only

lead to frustration, failure and sin.

A life seeking God's righteousness will lead

straight to the cross.

Put your faith in what Jesus has accomplished

on the cross.

RP

I Am the 'Everyone'

“For God loved the world so much

that he gave his one and only Son,

so that everyone who believes in him

will not perish but have eternal life."

John 3:16

Probably the most known verse in the New Testament.

Maybe the whole Bible.

I believe, so I am part of the everyone.

And so are you, if you believe.

Satan, his name means 'accuser', will tell

you lies. Half truths.

He'll tell you that you aren't good enough.

He'll tell you Jesus really can't use you

because you're too dirty.

You've done too much wrong.

You're excluded by the things you've done.

The 'accuser' constantly points an accusing finger at us

telling us we're not worthy.

It's not a total lie...but just enough of one to keep us

from being secure about our relationship with the Father

through Christ.

Jesus tells the truth in the very next verse.

John 3:17.

"God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world,

but to save the world through him."

The law was given to show us Jesus.

Under the law, every accountable Jew was required to

bring a lamb before the priest.

Not just any lamb...a perfect lamb.

A lamb without spot, wrinkle, or blemish.

The sinner placed his hands on the lamb

and his sin was transferred to the lamb.

The lamb's righteousness was then transferred

to the sinner.

Then the lamb was to be sacrificed.

Repeated year after year.

Joseph Prince in his book 'Destined to Reign' points

out something I'd never thought of before.

It's awesome.

The priest inspected the lamb for perfection

...not the sinner.

Do you see how that represents Jesus for us?

God does not inspect us to see if we are worthy.

He inspects the lamb. And our lamb is more than worthy.

His sacrifice was perfect...forever!

Once for all time.

In Christ, we have every promise of God.

Not because we are worthy...because Jesus is worthy.

We are made worthy by Christ and Christ alone.

Rest fully in His sacrifice.

Don't let the 'accuser' tell you otherwise.

Seek Jesus knowing He accepts you fully

because of His work...not ours.

RP

Jesus Knows Where the Goodies Are.

In Matthew 17:24 Peter was confronted

by the temple-tax collectors.

The tax was 2 drachma.

The collectors said to Peter.

"How about your Teacher?

Does He pay the temple-tax?"

Peter just blurts out "Yep, He sure does!"

Peter hadn't consulted the Lord before he volunteered

His money.

But Jesus in gracious fashion talks to Peter about the subject,

gives Peter an illustration and then does something

really unusual. Even for Jesus.

He tells Peter to go to the lake, cast out a line and the first fish

he catches, open its mouth and look inside.

There will be 4 drachma in it's mouth.

Peter is to pay Jesus tax and his.

I LOVE THIS STORY!

Jesus, as always, was filled with grace toward others.

He could have rebuked Peter for speaking out of turn

and really scolded him for not consulting Him first.

But instead he offers him grace and pays his debt.

Sound familiar?

Secondly.

Something else I love about this account.

Jesus knows where all the goodies are.

Nothing is hidden from Him.

He knows what we need.

And when we ask, He knows right where to find it.

When we think of "nothing hidden from Him"

we usually talk about sin. That's true.

But since we have been made right (righteous)

by his finished work on the cross, we get to enjoy

the grace side of "nothing hidden".

It's ok to ask.

He delights in us.

And when you ask, have the confidence that

Jesus knows exactly where to find what you are asking for.

RP