This is one of those songs, that really shows you how amazing our God is. That no matter what your going through, no matter the shame you carry, he is waiting for you with arms wide open, ready to hold you, ready to wash your sins clean to make you brand new. and all you have to do is come to him just as you are.
He’s not mad at you And He’s not disappointed His grace is greater still Than all of your wrong choices
He is full of mercy And He is ever kind Hear His invitation His arms are open wide
You can come as you are With all your broken pieces And all your shameful scars The pain you hold in your heart Bring it all to Jesus You can come as you are
Louder than the voice That whispers you’re unworthy Hear the sound of love That tells a different story
Shattering your darkness And pushing through the lies How tenderly He calls you His arms are open wide
So, what do you think? With God on our side like this, how can we lose? If God didn't hesitate to put everything on the line for us, embracing our condition and exposing himself to the worst by sending his own Son, is there anything else he wouldn't gladly and freely do for us? And who would dare tangle with God by messing with one of God's chosen? Who would dare even to point a finger? The One who died for us—who was raised to life for us!—is in the presence of God at this very moment sticking up for us. Do you think anyone is going to be able to drive a wedge between us and Christ's love for us? There is no way! Not trouble, not hard times, not hatred, not hunger, not homelessness, not bullying threats, not backstabbing, not even the worst sins listed in Scripture:
They kill us in cold blood because they hate you. We're sitting ducks; they pick us off one by one. None of this fazes us because Jesus loves us. I'm absolutely convinced that nothing—nothing living or dead, angelic or demonic, today or tomorrow, high or low, thinkable or unthinkable—absolutely nothing can get between us and God's love because of the way that Jesus our Master has embraced us.
So many times I read this scripture growing up,and knew that God is LOVE and that he would always love me no matter what, but that was until I messed up... and Satan had me believing that there was no way that God could love me now...
John 10:10 (NIV) The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy
I’ve learned a huge lesson the past year and a half and it was a hard, and when I say hard I mean HARD lesson that I learned, I was broken and thought that God couldn’t use me, that the thing I had done was unforgivable, and I couldn’t even forgive myself and that there was NO WAY anyone even God could ever love me. Because when you hurt someone you love its hard to even conceive the thought of forgiveness and just being hated even by God. The past year I went though a time where I came to a place where I finally understand GRACE. And I understand that the enemy used everything he had to bring me down and to even, end it all… he knew the right things to say, he knew what to say to just break me to pieces.
"My mistakes are running through my mind and I’ll relive my days, in the middle of the night When I struggle with my pain, wrestle with my pride Sometimes I feel alone, and I cry"
Here I was, believing a lie of God doesn't love me, that no one does, and I didn't even love myself, and that if I couldn't forgive myself that God couldn't either. I went through months of going to church, and trying to break through this but I couldn't. As I tried to worship I'd sit there and beg God for forgiveness, but it was like all I could hear was you really think God could forgive you? that he loves you? after what you did?.
It was a dark time where I was tormented with this day in and day out. During this time I'd believe every single lie that Satan would tell me. On days when things seem to get better, all of a sudden I felt like I was being hit from every direction and could find shelter.
"Well the past is playing with my head & failure knocks me down again I’m reminded of the wrong That I have said and done & that devil just wont let me forget"
In late June, I just had a bad day at work and wrote a email to someone and said "UGH!!" on my way home I seen I had a new email on my blackberry, so I opened it and it said " bad thing just follow you". In that moment while I was driving home I yelled at God and said "See God!.. Everyone hates me everyone thinks bad of me!" and it was like Satan was just laughing at me...
When I arrived home, my mom was asleep and I wrote her a note that said "I love you, Going off". I got in the car and begun to drive to Starbucks and while I was driving all I could hear was, "don't you see you'll never be anything that not a person loves you and bad things are always going to follow you around.. you should just end it now you have a gun.. just pull it out, because no one is even going to care your gone" I went through Starbucks ordered my drink and pulled in the parking lot and sat there.
I didn't think I could take much more. So, as I drank my coffee, I opened up my console and pulled out my gun. I sat the coffee down, and placed the gun to my head. I yelled to God and said I guess this is it I have someone who hates me and most of all I know you have to. So in that moment I pulled the trigger.... and the gun clicked.. and all of a sudden a song began to play from my cell phone
" Please lay down your arrows 'Cause they're sure to pierce the skin and water from a broken well will make you thirst again When all things you've acquired are tested by the flames and you can see them melting then will you call His name?..Did you know that you are dearly loved?"
In that moment God said how many times have I told you I loved you?.. and the memories came of when a lady at a conference came up to me and hugged me and said "God said to tell you he loves you".. than again a month later when I was at church a usher walked up to me and hugged me and said "God told me to tell you He loves you".. and I remember shaking my head saying how??? how can you love me??.. and he said I love you no matter what you have done I love you,that it doesn't matter if anyone else in the world loves me or not that he loves me, that he loves me so much he wouldn't let me hurt myself, he reminded me that he wouldn't have sent his son to be beaten beyond recognition for someone he didn't treasure that he didn't think was valuable?.. He showed me that I was worth something that he loved me that much that he did send Jesus to pay for that mistake that mess up.
No matter how much you or I've messed up, no matter the sin, he loves us. Just like the lady who was brought before Jesus, who had committed adultry and all the people were trying to see what he would say since the rule was to stone the person. Instead of condeming her for her sin, he reached down and started drawing in the sand, it was almost like he was saying I'm not afraid to get dirty to save you, i'll reached down and clean your mess how ever many times it takes to show you that I love you, and that I want you in eternity with me, and I love the part where he says the first among you with no sin cast the first stone, and one by one they left. You see no matter what he will to forgive and love you. because he WANTS you. people may not forgive you or love you, but the GOD who created the universe cares for you and loves you more than me or you will ever deserve. and all you have to do is ask for forgivness and he gives it freely.
"Spread wide in the arms of Christ there's a love that covers sin No greater love have I ever known; You considered me a friend Capture my heart again"
Even though the "trail" wasn't over yet for me, That moment changed me, it changed me from being the person I was to being someone who finally understood who there God was, and that he cared for me, and that I don’t have to carry the weight of who I’ve been because I was forgiven. even though it hasn't been a easy road, I know who's hand I'm holding walking down this road.
Haven't you been listening? God doesn't come and go. God lasts. He's Creator of all you can see or imagine. He doesn't get tired out, doesn't pause to catch his breath. And he knows everything, inside and out. He energizes those who get tired, gives fresh strength to dropouts.
For even young people tire and drop out, young folk in their prime stumble and fall. But those who wait upon God get fresh strength. They spread their wings and soar like eagles
We dont serve a God who is sitting in heaven just looking down at a sea of humanity We serve a God who looks down and see's individulas and he see's you and he knows ur name!. So turn your attention to the one who can give you FRESH strength The one who will pick you up and who will hold up ur arms and will enable you to fly.. turn your eyes upon Jesus he is holding your life, he is holding your heart, he is holding your marriage, he is holding your family, he is holding your problems and He is the soulution and he is holding you in the palms of his hands..
Grace – Grace is God's unmerited favor. It is kindness from God we don't deserve. There is nothing we have done, nor we can ever do to earn this favor. It is a gift from God. Grace is divine assistance given to humans for their regeneration (rebirth) or sanctification; a virtue coming from God; a state of sanctification enjoyed through divine favor
If there was anyone in the bible that understood grace, it would be the apostle Paul, he started out as the chief of sinners, and he ended up the chief of the apostles. The way he made the transition from the chief of sinners to the chief of the apostles was because of GRACE. Someone once said that if you ever seen a turtle on a fence post he didn’t get there by himself,. So if you ever seen a saint of God seating in church with there bible and there life straighten out there addictions broken and there name written in the lambs book of LIFE.. You know this that they did not get there by themselves or if you have ever seen someone praising God in freedom you know this they didn’t get there by themselves. You can know that God and his grace lifted them up to where they are at. You see Grace is a gift that gets us to the place that we could not get on our own. The estimate of any object is determined by what a person is willing to pay for that object. When God looked at us, silver and Gold wasn’t enough to pay the price for us. That our worth was more than silver and gold that it was worth his only son’s blood being shed, and if you ever wondered if God loved you, Calvary is God’s answer. You have great worth to him.
In 2Corinthians 12:8-9 Paul is talking about sufficient grace three times he asked God, get me out of this trial, and three times God said my grace is sufficient for you, I will not remove it, because I am teaching you something I am allowing you to go through the darkness there is treasures out of this darkness, Jesus says what I teach you in the darkness you will proclaim in the light ! (Matthew 10:27). Your going through something and you don’t understand and it’s so dark and you almost want to give up and your on the brink of surrender and walking away from everything. But you have to understand Jesus said that I will talk to you in the darkness about things that you will proclaim in the light. You see the law came by Moses but the grace by Jesus Christ. In John 8:3-11 there is this woman caught in the act of adultery, meaning since she was caught in the act she was probably barely clothed and dragged in humiliation and thrown down at the feet of Jesus, and the Pharisees said Moses and the law says stone her. Well you see one problem with judgmental people is they don’t know when to shut up. They hear something and They will text and talk on there cell phone about it until the phone is dead and than go home and get on the house phone and talk and talk, cause they don’t know when to shut up and they talk to much. You see if the Pharisees would have just stopped talking and said Moses and the law says stone her. They could have picked up rocks and been in line with the law. And Jesus may have watched it happen. But they talked to much, and they turned to Jesus and said what do you say Jesus?.. But at that moment Jesus made a transition out of the law that came by Moses, but grace and truth came by JESUS, he stepped in Grace stepped in and looked at the woman and listened to her accuser and than.. he stooped down and began touching dirt, maybe the reason he started touching the dirt was a sign to the woman who felt so dirty that he didn’t mind getting his hands dirty to rescue her, that when you cant get to him he will stoop down and touch dirty messed up shameful filthy lives with his nail scared hands that he isn’t so high and holy that he cant get his hands dirty. That’s enough but than he stood up and said if any of you with out sin throw the first stone, they all dropped the stones and walked away, and Jesus stood and he said where are your accusers now? And she said there none. The only one who could have accused her because he was the only sinless one didn’t have any rocks in his pocket. The bible said as though Jesus thought she still didn’t get it. John 8:8 says he stooped down again, put his hands in the dirt as to say to her that I don’t care how many times I have to stoop, I don’t care how many times I have to get my hands dirty , or how many times you do this over and over I’m going to stoop down and I’m not afraid to get my hands dirty Im not afraid to touch the dirt in your life because I love you so much I’ll keep stooping down and getting my hands dirty until I get you saved. Sometimes we think God, I’ve messed up to bad you cant use me, but you see he stooped down and through his basin of mercy he has poured his grace on you to clean you up. He doesn’t care about your past the messes you have made. He is offering his grace, he paid a price for you and he will turn the bad in to good for his glory.
You see there is NOTHING that you can do to separate you from the love of God. And its not what you have done but its about what Jesus has done he has stepped in and he gave his life, so you may live. Don’t let your past hold you back from where God wants to take you, because by his grace we are saved. And by his Grace my sins are washed away. God can and will move in any circumstance, just give it to him and let his grace set you free..
Going thorough the book of James notes for James 1:1-8..
James 1:1 James names himself as a servant of God & of Jesus. Let's not whiz past this. James know his place& who he is.
Before any other title or name we or the world could give us, we are servants of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ. This defines us.
1:1 "2 the 12 tribes in the dispersion." 40-50 AD. This is a Jewish house church. These are children & family of persecuted church in acts.
Dispersion means: he's writing to the Jews who scattered during the persecution of the early church. This makes verse 2 more amazing
Jm.1:1 makes vs2 much more awesome. He's writing to people who are persecuted £ed on for their faith. So he meets them where they are.
some versions say in James 1:1 "bondservant" Bondservants were servants by choice, surrendering their rights to their master Slaves were often marked by an earring. When the slave became a bondservant, the earring was nailed to the master's door.
1:2 see that many of us take our "ministry" to the world when God shows us to just love people where they are. He comforts the hurting first
If we are not careful, we will think more of our ministry than the people we minister to.James didn't rush in w/agenda but loved the hurting
Vs.2 have you ever watched a suspense movie 4 the second time and still been worried for the Hero? NO! You already know how it ends!
V.2 James is showing us that as children of God we must remember that God is @ the end of our storms looking back on them and He's @ work.
James 1:4- I'm often left "incomplete" because I'm busy trying to pray my way out of God's life shaping storms in my life.
James 1:5-8: vs.5 is one of the most known yet mist ignored verses in James. We can truly pray to God for wisdom. And He gives it freely.
Yet, how many times have I asked for deliverance from my storms instead of wisdom to walk thru it, letting steadfastness finish it's work?
James 1:5-8 God is offering wisdom freely to all who ask. How many times a week do you pray for wisdom: in friendships, marriage, decisions
Wisdom is Life Knowledge. There are plenty of smart people in the world. But there is a shortage today of Wisdom.
Vs.6-8 Doubleminded: is our faith compartmentalized? We trust God w/our job but not w/our health. Our time but not our wealth. Doubleminded
The "waves" of everyday life have their way with us until we truly understand that we can trust Him. He says He gives wisdom. So believe Him
Stop dwelling on past events and brooding over times gone by; I am doing something new; it's springing up - cant' you see it? I am making a road in the desert, rivers in the wasteland.
- Isaiah 43:18-19
Reading this Scripture I knew that God wanted me to understand that He was indeed doing something new in my life. In fact I had heard those verses before and really liked the idea of His doing something new that He would make a way for me where it looked dry and wasted. But this time I knew He wanted me to see verse 18 and that the two verses really did go together. That got me to thinking.
I didn't need to ask if I really was dwelling on past events. I was the queen of brooding over times gone by. When the God brought this to my attention there were a few things that I found interesting. First of all, whenever I would start dwelling on past events, on wrongs done to me or on wrongs that I had done to others, I would start to relive the feelings of the past and get angry, depressed, you name it. If I had either forgiven or asked for forgiveness, then I was purposely going back to the filth of those sins and wallowing in them probably not such a good thing to do. Then there's the word "brooding." Now, some folks use that word to mean fuss or fume over something, but this is the same word that the God uses in Genesis when He says that the Spirit of the Lord was brooding over the face of the deep during creation. There is a sense of care and nurturing attached with this word. Was I really caring for and nurturing my feelings of pain and frustration that are attached with those times gone by? You bet I was! Lastly, if I really was dwelling on past events and brooding over times gone by, if my attention was focused there, could I really see the newness that the Lord was bringing to my life? Very simply, it was extremely difficult to do so because my attention was not on the Lord.
God is indeed doing new things in our lives. He wants to bring us to new places of intimacy with Him. He wants to heal us emotionally, physically, and spiritually. But we have to cooperate, let go of what lies in the past, focus our attention on the Lord, and be amazed at what He does for us!
“Tell…[your children]…the mighty things I have done.”
Ex 10:2 NKJV
It’s not enough to escape your past, its power over you must be broken; otherwise it’ll chase you the rest of your life. When you break away from something that keeps trying to recapture you, it’s crucial to get victory over it; otherwise you can’t move forward and enjoy the blessing God has in mind for you. It’s jarring to think something’s over only to find it isn’t. But remember, it was God who permitted Pharaoh to pursue Israel all the way to the Red Sea. Why? For two reasons: (1) “That I may show [you] these signs of Mine” (Ex 10:1 NKJV). God wants you to see that when you put your trust in Him, obstacles and opposition mean nothing. He wants this experience to be a ‘“landmark memory” you draw faith from when you face your next problem. (2) “That you may tell…[your children]…the mighty things I have done.” You don’t have to live under Pharaoh (Satan’s rule) any more. Like the Passover, when the blood of Jesus was applied by faith to the doorposts of your heart, your status changed. You’re no longer a slave but a child of God. The generational curse is broken. Your children can now grow up under God’s blessing. Abuse, alcoholism, anger and abandonment may have been the story of your past, but it’s no longer the truth about your future.
God can solve your problem in different ways, but sometimes He takes you through the Red Sea so that when you get to the other side you can look back and see Pharaoh and his armies “dead on the seashore” (See Ex 14:30) and know the battle is over!
Do you hear me crying out to You? Do you hear me I'm doing all I know to do
I can choose to ask why. I can choose to be angry. I can wrestle when life is not what I thought it would be I can wish that all the pain would simply go away And at the same time I can choose Lord to trust You
Do you see me I can’t do this on my own Are you near me just let me know I’m not alone
To trust Your ways are not my ways To know there’s purpose in this pain To trust that you will bring my joy again But I’m still asking why…
-Melissa Greene "To Trust you" -lyrics altered**
’Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus, Just to take Him at His word; Just to rest upon His promise, Just to know “Thus saith the Lord!”
Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him! How I’ve proved Him o’er and o’er Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus! O for grace to trust Him more
All of us face "giants" from time to time. These "giants" try to do the same thing to us that Goliath did to the army of Israel to intimidate and bring fear. When the giants come we have to make a choice are we going to let them make us afraid or stand up to them through the power of the God?. David made the choice to not look at the size of the giant, but at the size of His God.So instead of running away in fear, he went out to meet his enemy.
You can't run from your giants, you have to face them. If you keep running from them, they will keep taunting you, and you will not have any peace.They will be out there every morning waiting for you, just like Goliath was there every morning. "in their face". If your knees are weak because of the giant that keeps oppressing you, if you are feeling the urge to run, if you are wanting to go and hide somewhere from it, the word to you this morning is the same one that David spoke to Saul, "Let no man's heart fail because of him.". Actually, it's your word from God. Don't let your heart fail because of it. Because the GOD is with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you. You aren't facing it alone, "Lo, I am with you always." God will fight your battle for you just like He did for David if you will put your trust and confidence in Him instead of fleeing in fear. The Lord hasn't given you a spirit of fear, but power, love and a sound mind. Do what David did, look at the size of your God instead of the size of your giant. When you do, you'll discover that your God is bigger. If the earth is His footstool, then in proportion, how big is that giant now? Besides, if God was big enough and powerful enough to bring down David's giant, He's still big enough and powerful enough to bring down yours today. He hasn't changed!!!!. So, be strong in the Lord and the power of His might, because God in you is greater than any giant.
"And David said to Saul, 'Let no man's heart fail because of him: thy servant will go and fight with this Philistine.'"1 Samuel 17:32
We all have times when people or circumstances come against us. Times when we feel cheated, mistreated, wronged, or taken advantage of. Maybe you're facing a difficulty today and you're not exactly sure how to handle it. If we look to the Word, we see that Jesus set a powerful example for us to follow. Here He was the King of kings and the Lord of lords in human form. He carried all the power in Heaven and earth inside of Him. Yet, when He was about to go to the cross, when the people were mocking Him, ridiculing Him, persecuting Him, and lying about Him, He didn't try to defend Himself. He didn't try to set the record straight. Do you know what He did? He just rested in the place of peace. He rested in who He was. He stood strong knowing that God, His Father, would deliver Him and He would have victory in the end.
When things aren't going right or you feel like you're being treated unfairly, you can do what Jesus did and stand strong in the place of peace. You can find security knowing that you are a child of the Most High God and He promises to deliver you. Remember this: Jesus said, "Peace be with you." He said, "My peace I leave with you." Hold on to that peace because nothing can take it from you unless you give it away. Don't let offense creep in. Offense is a liar. It will steal from you and drag you down. It will erode your self esteem and rob you of everything that Jesus has already done for you. Instead, find confidence in knowing who you are in Jesus Christ. Because He died, you can live in power. Because of what He bore, you get all the rewards–you get the peace, the power, the strength, and the anointing to overcome every obstacle you will ever face.
So, how do you put on love? It's interesting that with the principles of God, we always have to do something. Wouldn't it be nice if God would just come and put love on us? You know, in the middle of a heated discussion or when someone cuts us off in traffic, if He would just come and drop love right on us, then we would always do and say the right thing. But that's not how it works. We have to choose love. We have to choose to be patient, kind, humble, and giving. We have to choose His Word. We have to decide between what our mind is screaming and what our heart is whispering.
I encourage you today, read what First Corinthians 13 says about love. When you choose to read and meditate on God’s Word, you are "putting on love" and empowering yourself to make the right choices. And, even if you've made some mistakes in the past, today is a new day. Receive God's love and forgiveness. Put on His royal robe of righteousness today and don't forget to put on love!
Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let you heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful (John 14:27, NASB).
