The gift of God is eternal life...

"The gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord." Romans 6:23

   If you have ever memorized a verse of Scripture, most likely it is John 3:16: "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." It is the verse most often heard in the simplicity and beauty of a little child's voice proudly reciting it from memory. And it is the verse most often whispered by aged saints as they breathe their last breaths. It is the entire gospel in a nutshell.

   John 3:16 speaks of the cause of this great salvation. "For God so loved..." The single motivating factor behind God's redemptive plan is His love for you and me. This beloved verse also speaks of the cost of this salvation: "He gave His only Son." Jesus paid a high price to redeem us to Himself-death on a Roman cross outside the city gates of Jerusalem. And salvation's condition? "Whosoever believes in Him..." That speaks of me. It speaks of you. And any and all may come, placing their faith in Him alone. Finally,, this verse speaks of salvation's consequence: we "should not perish but have everlasting life." Those without Christ are perishing...a little more each day.

   Let God love you today as you meditate on this old and oft-repeated promise.

CODE WORD: GIFT

What do you do to get a gift: You don't earn it or deserve it. Someone who loves you very much gives it freely to you, and all you have to do is receive it. God's gift of eternal life, although purchased at great expense, is a free gift. Your part? Receive it by faith.

Lord, thank You for loving me even when I am so unloving. Your love has no boundaries. I receive Your unconditional love right now by faith. In Jesus' name, amen.

Hawkins, O.S. The Passion Code: 100 Days with Jesus. Nashville: Thomas Nelson. 2019. pgs 104-105.

Free gift-------eternal life in Jesus Christ our LORD!!!

 

   If you have ever memorized a verse of Scripture, most likely it is John 3:16: "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." It is the verse most often heard in the simplicity and beauty of a little child's voice proudly reciting it from memory. And it is the verse most often whispered by aged saints as they breath their last breaths. It is the entire gospel in a nutshell.

   John 3:16 speaks of the cause of this great salvation: "For God so loved. . ." The single motivating factor behind God's entire redemptive plan is His love for you and me. This beloved verse also speaks of the cost of this salvation: "He gave His only Son." Jesus paid a high price to redeem us to Himself-death on a Roman cross outside the city gates of Jerusalem. And salvation's condition? "Whosoever believes in Him. . ." That speaks of me. It speaks of you. And any and all may come, placing their faith in Him alone. Finally, this verse speaks of salvation's consequence: We "shall not perish but have everlasting life." Those without Christ are perishing. . . a little more each day.

  Let God love you today as you meditate on this old and oft-repeated promise.

The gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord. Romans 6:23

Hawkins, O.S. THE Easter CODE, A 40-DAY JOURNEY TO THE CROSS, Nelson Publishing, 2019, page 60.

Psalm 23 A psalm of David.

The Lord is my shepherd; I have all that I need.

He lets me rest in green meadows; He leads me beside peaceful streams.

He renews my strength. He guides me along right paths, bringing honor to His name.

Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid, for You are close beside me. Your rod and your staff protect and comfort me.

You prepare a feast for me in the presence of my enemies. You honor me by anointing my head with oil. My cup overflows with blessings.

Surely goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will live in the house of the LORD forever.

Psalm 23 NLT - Psalm 23 - A psalm of David. The LORD - Bible Gateway

A Loving God and Eternity

Matthew 25:31-46 31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. 34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ 37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ 40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ 41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’ 44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’ 45 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’ 46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.” New International Version (NIV) https://www.biblegateway.com The scriptures speak clearly of existence after death-people will spend eternity in either heaven or hell. Yet many individuals consider this truth inconsistent with other facts about the Lord. While their objections are understandable, the Bible provides the answers:    HOW CAN THE LORD BE GOOD IF HE LETS SOME PEOPLE SPEND ETERNITY IN HELL? God is love (1 John 4:8), and He doesn't want anyone to live without Him (1 Timothy 2:4). According to HIs plan, every person can turn from sin and receive the Savior, enjoying His presence both now and throughout eternity. Some, however, reject Jesus Christ and live apart from Him all their days. Unless they change that tragic decision, their separation from divine love will continue eternally.    WHY WOULD GOD CREATE CERTAIN INDIVIDUALS, KNOWING THEY'D NEVER TURN TO HIM? To some, this seems unloving. Yet God so values our free will that He won't force anyone to go to heaven against his or her will. Doing so would amount to creating robots who are unable to truly respond, love and worship.    AN ENDLESS PENALTY SEEMS UNFAIR, ESPECIALLY IF A NON-CHRISTIAN NEVER HEARD THE GOSPEL. As long as unbelievers are alive, the heavenly Father goes to great lengths to keep them from eternal punishment-except He won't violate their free will. He gives enough time and evidence so that nobody has a valid excuse for rejecting the one path to salvation (Romans 1:20).    Jesus wants you to spend eternity with Him. So do you know Him as your Lord and Savior? Stanley, Charles F. "A Loving God and Eternity." In Touch: Daily reading for devoted living. Atlanta: InTouch.org. September 2019, page18.

The Unconditional Love of God

1 John 4:7-10

God’s Love and Ours

⁷ Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. ⁸ Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. ⁹ This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. ¹⁰ This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.  NIV Bible Gateway.com

   One of the biggest struggles many people face is a feeling that the Lord couldn't possibly love them. Yet, today's reading clearly tells us He does. Far from just saying so with words, God has also given us ample proof. Creation itself is an expression of the awesome way he cares for us. He designed this earth as the perfect habitation for humanity and provides us with the necessities of life. But the highest expression of His love is manifested in His provision for our eternal needs. He sent His Son to redeem us from sin so that we could be forgiven and reconciled to God - and then live with Him in heaven forever.
   Why, then, with all this evidence, do so many of us still doubt His love? Perhaps the reason is that we are looking at it form our own limited perspective: Since human beings cannot love others unconditionally, we doubt that the Lord can. After all, worldly logic considers it reasonable to be loving towards people who measure up to our standards but to hold ourselves aloof from those who don't.
   Or maybe we just feel unworthy of His love. Well, I have news for you: No one is worthy. God's love is based not on whether we are deserving but on His character - we need to understand that love isn't simply something God does; it's who He is (1 John 4:8).
   Divine love is a demonstration of God's commitment to our greatest good. It's like the ocean's tide. You can stand on the shore and say, "I don't believe in waves," but that doesn't stop them from coming. Likewise, nothing you do or feel will stop the Father's love from washing over you.
Stanley, Charles F. "The Unconditional Love of God." In Touch: Daily Readings For Devoted Living September 2016. Atlanta: In Touch Ministries. page 6.

How We Get Into Bondage and Why We Don't Get Out

Freedom in Christ Ministry books by Neil Anderson and Mike & Julia Quarles

 How We Get Into Bondage and Why We Don't Get Out

1.  Our greatest needs are to be accepted (loved) and have worth (value).  This is what drives us to do what we do.  It is the motivation behind all behavior.  God made us that way and His design is that He will meet all our needs when we look to Him.

2.  As we grow up, have problems and go through life we get messages about who we are.   At first they are only feelings about ourselves, but they quickly turn into what we believe about ourselves.  It is the way we see ourselves and who we believe we are.

3.  As a result we all develop a false identity about who we are.  This false identity comes from the world (family, environment, hurts, trauma), our flesh (ways we try to live life in our own resources) and the devil, who constantly accuses us and tells us lies about ourself, God and what we need in life.  It shapes all of our life and everything we do.

4.  We begin to try to meet our needs for acceptance and worth the best way that we can -- in our own resources (flesh).  As a result we develop ways of living as we attempt to cope, escape, defend ourselves, succeed (or avoid failure). These are flesh patterns or ways that we learn to live life independent of God.  We develop these patterns based on how we perceive ourselves, what we believe about God and how we think life works.

5.  A flesh pattern is simply a way that we have learned to meet our needs independent of God.  All of us have them because none of us were born Christians and none of us look to God to meet all our needs all the time.  We wrongly think it is just the way we are. One of Satan's biggest lies is that what we do determines who we are.

6.  Some of these ways (flesh patterns) are unacceptable such as irresponsibility.   Some of them are very bad such as drug and alcohol addiction.  But some of them are acceptable such as perfectionism and driven to succeed. We need to know that anything that we do to meet our needs apart from God is flesh.  It could be good, right, noble and even spiritual, but if we are trying to meet our needs instead of looking God, it is flesh.

7.  Some of these ways develop into strongholds such as drug addiction which causes a lot of problems in our lives.  As we seek help, more than likely the counsel is to focus on the wrong behavior and try to change it.  This is the reason we don't get free.   The root problem is not the behavior.   The root problem is the misbelief behind the behavior.  As long as a person believes lies about himself he will never get free, no matter what he does.

8.  Alcoholism, addiction, eating disorders, etc., are not the problem.  The problem is the lies we believe about who we are that causes us to try to meet our needs in our own resources. The reason we don't easily give them up is that the way we meet our needs for acceptance and worth is the way we find life and identity.  It is deeply ingrained in us.

9.  When a person learns that they are not a failure, an addict, unloved, insecure, inferior and guilty -- BUT are forgiven, accepted, competent, complete, righteous and secure in Christ, they will begin to change and experience freedom. A person who understands who they are in Christ will not engage in self-destructive, addictive behavior as a life style.

10.  The reason few are finding freedom is that they are trying to change their behavior. They may be trying to change it through spiritual disciplines, but that is nothing but Christian behavior modification (legalism). A person will always act in accordance with how they perceive themselves. 

www.freedomfromaddiction.org/Truths