Hello Family!
I want you to know that you are loved and the love of God lives in you, so there is nothing that you can’t do. When I feel discouraged I tend to remind myself that, “the sky is not the limit because the same God that created the Universe lives in ME!”
Today’s message is… YOU ARE READY.
This is obviously a loaded statement that we’ll have to unpack, however I want you to sit in this for a moment with me. YOU ARE READY for the career change, the leadership role, a healthy relationship, to serve in that ministry, to be exactly who you’re called to be and to walk in the healing and forgiveness God has given you. YOU ARE READY NOW. You don’t have to wait 5 years, the next few months, or until you’re 70 years old to walk into the fulness of what God has for you; you can do it now.
The Holy Spirit led me to 1 John 4:17 which reads, “ And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So we will not be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face him with confidence because we live like Jesus here in this world.” (NLT)
I am a firm believer of providing context to the scriptures we’re reading so we’re going to delve into 1 John 4 a little more.
The top of 1 John 4, the apostle John talks through how we can discern whether someone is a false prophet and how to love one another. In 1 John 4:7-12 scriptures read,
“7 Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. 8 But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love. 9 God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. 10 This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. 11 Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other. 12 No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is brought to full expression in us.”
Have you ever thought to yourself: I’m not ready to forgive that person. I can’t love that person, but I love God with my whole heart and mind. I love Jesus so much I’d do whatever He asks me to do.
Let’s be honest. How can we love a God we can’t see, but be confident we’re incapable of loving the people we can see? Unforgiveness is SO REAL! I’m dealing with unforgiveness as I type this. How can I love someone who betrayed my trust? How can I love someone who put me in danger and caused me harm? How can I love someone who is willing to sacrifice everything I've worked for for mere gratification? (Insert the questions that apply to you here).
The truth is JESUS IS ENOUGH, and the grace and love He’s given us so freely is ENOUGH to cover the unforgiveness, bitterness, and resentment we have in our hearts towards His people. BE FREE (please know that I’m speaking to you and myself). I know that those who hurt you “don’t deserve to be forgiven”, or so we say, but in reality neither do we. If we fail to forgive those who’ve hurt us, how can we receive forgiveness for our wrong (Matthew 6:14-15)? How can the Love of Jesus be made perfect in us? How can we heal? How can we be made whole when the situations we’re wrestling with are eating at our hearts and our minds?
My prayer for you, for us, is that as we prepare for the second coming of Christ that we forgive those who’ve hurt us, learn to give ourselves and others the grace God has given us, and that we’ll allow the love of Jesus to help us get to a place of healing and wholeness.
REMEMBER: “And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect”
As we continue reading the chapter 1 John 4: 13-16 reads,
13 And God has given us his Spirit as proof that we live in him and he in us. 14 Furthermore, we have seen with our own eyes and now testify that the Father sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15 All who declare that Jesus is the Son of God have God living in them, and they live in God. 16 We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them.
Let me remind you right now, you do not have to carry these burdens on your own. The burden of guilt, pain, unforgiveness, and resentment are far too heavy for anyone to bear. Lay it down at the feet of Jesus. How? Pray about it, write it down in your journal (or iphone notes if you don’t have one), and start taking the steps towards being fully healed from the pain and trauma the situations that your past or present may have caused.
REMEMBER: “Furthermore, we have seen with our own eyes and now testify that the Father sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. ”
If we know that God sent His one and only son to be the Savior of the world for US, how much more is God willing to do whatever it takes to help you in your situation? This is so much bigger than you. The healing and miraculous work that God is doing in your life now is going to change so many lives connected to you, people that you may be close to, and even your enemies.
Continue to be diligent in praying about your situations. Don’t grow weary in well doing (Galatians 6:9). God hears your prayers, and will answer them according to His perfect will and in His perfect timing, so be patient. Most of all, remember you are worth so much more than what someone has done to you, said about you, or acted towards you. Oftentimes when people do us wrong and hurt us it has very little to do with who we are and so much more to do with who they are, so stay encouraged.
WHEEEEW! The LORD is dealing with me heavily while I’m typing this, so know you’re not alone in this journey and you’re not alone in this fight of walking into the fullness of the healing God has for you.
I LOVE YOU! JESUS LOVES YOU MOST! STAY ENCOURAGED. DON’T GIVE UP! YOU ARE READY! Stay Fruitful!
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CITATION:
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
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