New Life For The Nations

“Come as you are.  Leave as He is!”

One of the beautiful truths of the gospel is the unconditional acceptance God has for everyone.  Jesus revealed this about His Father, His actions and lifestyle, and in the many parables and stories He shared.  My personal favorite is the Prodigal Son.  His Father ran to embrace and kiss him before he said a word,  and even afterward, upon hearing the great, sinful lifestyle he lived, his father carried him home and threw a celebratory party for him.  The leper, who knew that the law of God forbade anyone to touch him, was touched by Jesus and healed.  The woman caught in adultery, who was about to be stoned, was set free by Jesus; He refused to condemn her.  Over and over again, we see these examples of a God whose heart is filled with mercy and compassion.  A God who loves us as we are, but He does not leave us as He found us.  His love transforms us into His image.  This is why I believe the gospel invitation is “Come as you are and leave as He is!”

“Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness on the day of judgment;  because as he is, so are we in this world” (I John 4:17).          Ed Elliot

Unconditional Love and Healing

                                                         Joseph Prince

“Great multitudes followed Him, and He healed them all.”       Matthew 12:15   

Look at today’s reading.  It didn’t matter who they were or what kind of past these people had.  As long as they sought Him for healing, Jesus healed them gladly and graciously.  He never asked them what they had done or not done, or if they had repented.  He never asked them to sign a pledge to follow Him and never told anyone that He would not heal them because they deserved to be sick.

Surely none of them were perfect in their thought life or behavior.  Surely there were some who came to Him without strong faith.  Yet, all this didn’t matter to Jesus.  All that mattered to Him was that they had been suffering and needed to be set free.

Beloved, see this compassionate Savior when you come to Him for healing.  He puts no demands and no conditions on you.  He simply wants to heal you and set you free. 

 How to Drive Fear Out of Your Life Forever

Religion will tell you that you must fear God and later condemn you when you don’t have any faith.  The apostle Paul taught that faith “works” when people trust in the unconditional love God has for them (Galatians 5:6).  The apostle John explains that those who struggle with fear don’t yet know God’s perfect love for them (I John 4:18).  Fear and guild are repelled by the knowledge of God’s love.

“There is no fear in love but perfect love casteth out fear:  because fear hath torment.  He that feareth is not made perfect in love” (I John 4:18).

The key to living free from fear is simply to submit to the perfect love God has for you.  His perfect love will drive out and away any fear you have.    Ed Elliot

Seek first Jesus’ Righteousness 

Therefore do not worry, saying, “What shall we eat?” or “What shall we drink?” or “What shall we wear?”  For after all these things the Gentiles seek.  For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.  But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.        Matthew 6:31-33

I encourage you to take some time each day to get the revelation of your righteousness in Christ deep into your spirit.  Meditate on it and declare it every day.  It will put courage in your heart and bring an unshakable peace to your soul. It will energize your faith when you pray and give you a confident expectation to receive good things from your heavenly Father.  

I  believe that’s why our heavenly Father, in knowing the things we need daily, tells us not to worry about them.  What are we supposed to do then?  We are to seek first “His (Jesus’) righteousness”–the righteousness that He has given us–and all the things that He has given us–and all the things that we need will be added to us.

Beloved, when you know that your right standing with God always puts Him on your side, every fear will melt away like butter on a hot day.  For it God is for you, Who or what can successfully prevail against you (Rom. 8:31)?

                                                      Joseph Prince

 God will never forsake you! 

When people suffer personal failures, the experience can alter how they see themselves.  God does not want people to identify with their sins and failures but place their trust in a God who is bigger than all their failures.  One who offers forgiveness and restores them to the ultimate plan and purpose He has called them to.

God didn’t cast David aside because he committed adultery and murder; neither did He cast Moses aside for murdering an Egyptian, Noal for getting drunk, Abraham for lying, and committing fraud, Rahab for being a prostitute, or Samson for getting drunk and sleeping around.  All of these people pleased God, not because they were without flaws or people of strong personal discipline and moral character but in spite of their many flaws and weaknesses.  They chose to believe in a good Cod; one who embraces those who are imperfect, weak, and sinful to accomplish His will on the earth.

Don’t let your past be a hindrance to you in experiencing God’s unconditional love and His best for you today!

“For I will be merciful toward their evil deeds, and their sins I will remember no longer”(Hebrews 8:12).

The Goodness of God                                         

Luke 12:5  “But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear:  Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him.” 

Second Timothy 1:7 says, “God has  not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”  First John 4:18 says, “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casteth out fear; because fear hath torment.  He that feareth is not made perfect in love.”  These scriptures may look like they are contradictions to Jesus’ statement here; however, they are not.  

There are two kinds of fear.  The American Heritage Dictionary defines fear as ‘a feeling of alarm or disquiet caused by the expectation of danger, pain, disaster, or the like;  terror; dread; apprehension.’  It also defines fear as extreme reverence or awe, as toward a supreme power.’ 

It is this reverence or awe that God’s Word teaches saints to have towards God.  Hebrews 12:28 says that there is a godly fear with which we are supposed to serve God and thereby implies that there is an ungodly fear that is not acceptable in serving God.

Satan has always used this ungodly dread or terror to torment godly people.  Those who have been born again should have no dread or terror of God unless they are planning to renounce their faith in Jesus as their Savior. We have a covenant that guarantees us acceptance with God (Eph. 1:6), as long as we hold fast to our profession of faith in the atoning blood of our Saviour, Jesus Christ.

For an unbeliever, the fear of the Lord is a great deterrent from sin.  However, for those of us who have received the grace of God, it is His goodness that causes us to fear him and depart from sin.  His goodness is awesome!                Andrew Wommack

  The Past Tense of God’s Forgiveness                    
“God has removed our sins as far as the east is from the west”(Psalm 103:12).”

He remembers our sins no more (Hebrews 8:12), 10:17). This is why throughout the New Testament, we see our forgiveness expressed in the past tense:

“Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you”(Ephesians 4:32).

“When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together in Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions” (Colssians 2:13).

“Bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone;  just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you”  Colossians 3:13).  

“I am writing to you, little children, because your sins have been forgiven for His name’s sake” (I John 2:12).
                                                              Ed Elliot

God makes everything come out right!  

Psalm 103:13-18   Message Bible

GOD makes everything come out right;  He puts victims back on their feet.  He showed Moses how He went about His work, and opened up His plans to all Israel.  GOD is sheer mercy and grace, not easily angered. He’s rich in love.  He doesn’t endlessly nag and scold, nor hold grudges forever.  He doesn’t treat us as our sins deserve, nor pay us back in full for our wrongs.  As high as heaven is over the earth, so strong is His love to those who fear Him.  And as far as sunrise is from sunset, He has separated us from our sins.  As parents feel for their children, GOD feels for those who fear Him.  He knows us inside and out;  keeps in mind that we’re made of mud.  Men and women don’t live very long;  like wildflowers they spring up and blossom, But a storm snuffs them out just as quickly, leaving nothing to show they were here.  GOD’S love, though, is ever and always, eternally present to all who fear Him.  Making everything right for them and their children as they follow His Covenant ways and remember to do whatever He said.

 Abiding in LOVE, how do I know?

One of the ways you know you are abiding and existing in God’s love–Is your heart is always seeing and expecting God’s mercy.  People who lose sight of God’s mercy are people who don’t abide in God’s love.

“Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.”  Jude 21     Ed Eliott

       You were created in the image of LOVE.

The Bible tells us mankind was created in God’s image.  This means that we are designed to function and exist in His identity.  Since God is love, our life is directly connected to knowing and believing in the love He has for us.  If you read I John 4:19, your existence will make perfect sense.

“We love Him because He loved us FIRST!”            I John 4:19                                   Ed Eliott

HOW DO MIRACLES HAPPEN?

Many people prevent the miraculous from happening in their lives because they believe a miracle is earned or a reward for godly behavior.  Paul answered this question in his letter to the Galatioans.

“Was it because of their self-effort and obeying the law?  Or did they happen because of what they heard that gave them faith?”  (Galatians 3:5)

“Judaizers” came to town and convinced the followers of Jesus that trusting in Him wasn’t enough if they wanted to stay saved and be blessed by God.  So these new believers took their eyes off Jesus and started keeping the old covenant law.  As a result, the miraculous they had been experiencing went away, and so did the peace of God that comforted them…They had convinced the Galatians to mix law with grace, which produces a false gospel.  Legalism always nullifies the power of God’s grace.

“O foolish Galatians!  Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified?  This only I want to learn from you:  Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?  Are you so foolish?  Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh?”  Galatians 3:1-3

The miracle of the new birth was by faith, and every miracle we will ever get again from God will be received the same way.  Miracles don’t come as rewards for good behavior.  They come because Jesus bought and paid for them in His death, burial, and resurrection.

Don’t lose your focus; keep your eyes on Him.  He is the source of all we will ever need.

                                            Ed & Laura Elliot