11 Points on Responding to Current Events

1.) Respond not react - The social media an internet age is cultivating a culture of reaction, instead of response. Reaction is just the first thing that comes out, whereas response is very carefully mediated and well-thought out. Responding allows for actual follow-through, whereas reacting generally changes with the wind and makes you unreliable and therefore difficult to trust or have authority in the eyes of those around you. It also generates the atmosphere of the emotions it was birthed in.

2.) Choose your battles - Not everything is worth your time and energy. You do not have to have an opinion about everything, and even if you do, you don't have to say it. Decide what will be helpful and go with that.

3.) Pick the most important things - In the last few weeks I have seen people walk away from God, talked to people who found someone who committed suicide, loved on people who just buried their father from coronavirus, and talked to people who are suffering from severe anxiety, isolation, and depression. When I see these things, I understand that compared to these, many other issues everyone is fighting over are trivial.

4.) Pour into other people and personal relationships. One of the problems is that many people do not have deep relationships and they are filling that need with social networks and are somewhat out of touch with what is really happening with real people-- and are even out of touch with their own selves. In isolation, we have to fight for relationships and not fill that need with social media. 

5.) Publicly emoting causes you to lose the authority of your voice. If you want to be heard and for your voice to count, don't publicly spew out everything that is going through your heart and mind. Create a group of safe people around you that you can share those things with, and with the Lord,  then when you come say something publicly, you will be heard. There is a saying, "A wise man once said nothing." It is true. That is why people listen to wise men when they speak. 

6.) If you are struggling with anxiety, depression, fear, panic -- get off media for a while. Detox from it. Then set limits on it. You will be amazed at the difference. As with detoxing from anything -- it takes a few days to "kick the habit." Give it 3 or more days and then you will start to notice a difference. I recommend everyone to take a regular detox from media. Put it in your schedule. 

7.) Right now, we all need to help each other care for our spiritual, mental, emotional, and physical health. No one has it easy right now. Real lives and hearts are at stake. In all of our efforts to be right, let's not forget to be kind.

8.) True justice starts at the Cross of Jesus Christ and will culminate when He returns as King. The first commandment must be in first place in our lives for the second commandment to happen. Anything else is idolatry. (Matt. 22:34-40)

9.) Your view of the state of the world at the return of Jesus will affect how you respond to current events. Get your Bible open and study it.

10.) Everything high will be brought low and only the Lord will be exalted. If it's not humility, then it's not safe.

11.) I've heard so many ask, "Where are the Prophets?" The real ones are mostly on their faces weeping,  because the message hasn't changed,  "If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven, and heal their land." (1 Chron. 7:13-14) And "Rend your hearts, not your garments." (Joel 2:12-14) That message won't change until we do it. And until we do it, nothing will change. 

Know God: The Love of God & the Fear of the Lord

“My son, if you receive my words, and treasure my commands within you, so that you incline your ear to wisdom, and apply your heart to understanding; Yes, if you cry out for discernment, and lift up your voice for understanding, If you seek her as silver, and search for her as for hidden treasures; Then you will understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God.” Proverbs 2:1-5

This passage in Proverbs 2 says that if we receive God words, cry out for understanding and discerning, then we will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. The fear of the Lord is the key to the knowledge of God.

We already visited the fact that God is Love, and perfect love casts out all fear. But, this “fear of the Lord” is a different kind of fear. It is a reverence, awe, respect, trembling – that is required before a Holy God.

God does not contradict Himself, so He can be love and holy, merciful and just, high and lifted up and yet near – all at the same time. It is difficult for us to comprehend, but He is like a multi-faceted diamond that everytime the light reflects in a different way, we see a new glimpse of who He is.

I love what author and speaker Bob Sorge says, “The fear of the Lord and the love of God are like a gas pedal and brake pedal in a car. You need both. With only gas—you will die, and with only brake, you will go nowhere. We need both.”

It is so true. If we only focus on the love of God, we will only depend on His mercy and forgiveness, and forget about holiness and righteousness. If we only focus on the fear of the Lord, we will not identify ourselves before Him as His beloved sons and will be afraid to approach Him, living in condemnation and religion. We need both the Love of God and the Fear of the Lord in our lives.

Scripture: “My son, if you receive my words, and treasure my commands within you, so that you incline your ear to wisdom, and apply your heart to understanding; Yes, if you cry out for discernment, and lift up your voice for understanding, If you seek her as silver, and search for her as for hidden treasures; Then you will understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God.” Proverbs 2:1-5

Prayer: Lord, I want to know You more. I am hungry for the knowledge of God. I am hungry for relationship with You and to know you more. I cry out for knowledge and discernment. I lift up my voice to You. Give me the fear of the Lord. Let me know Your love and my place as a son (daughter) before You, but let me tremble before Your Word. Let me have a deep respect and honor for Your Holiness and Majesty that shakes me to the core. Give me the Fear of the Lord that I may find the knowledge of God. I cry out to you for understanding and discernment.

Continuing praying in your own words.

Prayer Posture: In Jewish culture and throughout Church history, physical posture affects even our internal heart posture sometimes. In many cases in the Bible where people came into contact with the Holiness of God – they laid face down before Him, or got on their knees or extended their hands out before Him. In your quiet place, alone with God. Try one of these postures of prayer and honor and respect toward the Lord, and prayer in your own words. Pause and see if you encounter a sense of His presence or feel His holiness or fire.

Write: Write what you sensed or experience in your prayer journal. Go back and reflect and revisit it at different times when you desire more holiness or the fear of the Lord in your walk with God.

For more resources on praying Scripture or going deeper in the knowledge of God, check out the “knowledge of God” blog series.

Jesus: Tempted in all points, Yet without Sin

Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry. 3 Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” 4 But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’ ” (Matt. 3:1-4)

Some sentences in the Bible, we become so accustomed to, that they stop amazing us. But, when you take a moment to look at this first sentence again, “Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil…” It is amazing. No wonder, in the following passages in Matthew 6, Jesus taught us to pray “lead me not into temptation, but deliver me from the evil one…”

If you find yourself alone, during these unusual quarantines of 2020, and being unusually tempted by sin – go to these passages to help you fight.

“Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. (Hebrews 4:14-16)

Jesus was tempted in all ways as we are. And being alone and in isolation—it is even more difficult to withstand sin, because of lack of accountability, no one sees you, and also, maybe you have much more idle time on your hands and you are trying to understand what to do with it. Also, maybe you are fighting depression, loneliness, fear, isolation. Here in this story of Jesus, he was tempted by Satan in the most vulnerable areas when He was hungry, tired, and alone.

And yet, He was without sin. He fought, and He used Scripture. If you find yourself being hit with certain temptations – find the Scriptures that contradict those temptations and memorize them, say them, and fight with them. Also, even when we are in quarantine, we are not at this time alone in a desert as Jesus was in this story – so pick up the phone, call a friend, call a pastor, call a Jesus-loving family member.

In Hebrews 12:4, the author corrected that readers by saying, “You have not yet resisted sin to the point of bloodshed…” And pointed to Jesus in verses 1-3, that He did resist sin to the point of bloodshed, by tgoing to the Cross. And this is a reference to His struggle to submit His will to God in the Garden of Gethsemane on the night before He died, where He said, “Not my will, but Yours be done…” He actually prayed and sweat to the point of sweating blood, as He struggled to say yes, and did it. This is the example He gave to us.

So, if you are struggling, alone, and tempted – look to Jesus, the author and finisher of Your faith, who was tempted in all points as we are, and was still without sin.

And in Luke, it says that Jesus came up from this time of testing and temptation that, “Then Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, and news of Him went out through all the surrounding region. And He taught in their synagogues, being glorified by all” (Luke 4:14-15). Jesus came through that time of testing and was then powerfully used by God. Many times, the devil tries to lie to us in the midst of our temptation and struggle and say that now God can no longer use us, but if we resist, fight and come out on the other side – we actually will be moving in power and authority, because of the temptation and testing that we have overcome.

Scripture: Prayerfully read the story of Jesus’ temptation in the wilderness in Matthew 3, and Luke 4.

 

Interaction: Write down some temptations that you are been facing lately. Confess them to God, and ask Him to deliver you from temptation and deliver you from the evil one.

Write: Write a list of those temptations, and then go find Scriptures that speak against those sins or temptations. Find Scriptures that speak about your identity in Christ, walking in the Spirit, resisting temptations, abiding in the Spirit, etc.

Memorize: Pick 2-3 Scriptures to memorize as your go-to scriptures in the time of temptation or struggle. If it helps to memorize them by putting them to a song melody or drawing a picture or writing them out, then do those things to help you remember them.

Share: Ask 2 or 3 trusted friends or family members to help hold you accountable in these temptations and struggles. Share the Scriptures with them that you have picked, and ask them to check on you and ask you about these temptations that you are struggling with.

Ask: Ask Jesus to reveal Himself to you as the High Priest who was tempted in everyway as we are, and yet without sin. Go in boldness to His throne of grace in confidence that He will strengthen you to overcome. Ask Him to give you a picture of yourself free from that sin, so that you have a goal set before you.

For more tools on praying Scripture and exploring the knowledge of God, check out the “knowledge of God” blog series.

Know God: Father to Be Honored & Revered

“A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If then I am the Father, where is My honor? And if I am a Master, where is My reverence?” Says the Lord of hosts to you priests who despise My name. Yet you say, ‘In what way have we despised Your name?’” (Malachi 1:6)

Interesting passage. We always think of the Love of the Father, but we do not always think of the honor and reverence toward the Father. In this passage of the book of Malachi, the Lord rebukes His priests for not showing honor and reverence toward Him as a Father and Master.

There were several areas that He addressed throughout the book of Malachi.

1.  Heart position lacking honor and reverence.
2. Offering the leftover and unwanted portions as tithes and offerings
3. Fully withholding tithes
4.  Forsaking their wives and children, divorce, unfaithfulness in the family.

And there were several promises and consequences if those things changed or did not change.

And the prayers of the priests were not accepted, because these heart positions and actions were not changed. God even said basically in a paraphrase, “I see your tears, but I will pay no attention to them…” because the actions were not reflecting the right heart posture of honor and reverence toward God.

Now, this may seem heavy for many reading it, and it is. But as we looked in the previous session at Hebrews 4 – the loving Father who corrects – this is all the one and same Person, who is doing this. He loves us, but part of His love toward us is pruning and refining us. And if we are submissive and humble ourselves before Him, we will be changed and we will become more like Him – holy as He is holy.

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of understanding the knowledge of God (Proverbs 2:1-6). If we want to know God, then we must have a healthy fear of Him. This is not the ungodly fear spoken of in I John 4, but the holy, godly, fear of the Lord that shows honor and reverence to Him and is aware that He is much higher and bigger than us.

Scripture: “A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If then I am the Father, where is My honor? And if I am a Master, where is My reverence?” Says the Lord of hosts to you priests who despise My name. Yet you say, ‘In what way have we despised Your name?’” (Malachi 1:6)

Prayer: Turn this passage into a dialogue with God. Ask Him in your own words if there is any place in your life where you have “despised His name” or have not showed honor and reverence to His name.

Listen: Pause and see if anything comes to your mind. Maybe there is something even from one of the things that God had rebuked the priests for.

Repent (Confess/Turn): If there is anything that comes up in your heart that you feel you have done wrong or that you have not honored the Lord in, then confess that to Him by telling Him and asking Him for forgiveness. Ask Him if there is anything you can do to make it right (for example: paying tithes, restoring relationships with family), etc.

Repentance means to stop going in the direction you are going and completely turn in the opposite direction. So, if you have confessed and repented in an area, then ask the Lord how you can replace that action or heart position with a new one that shows Him honor and reverence.

Write: Write these things down, and keep a record of them. Make concrete goals and action steps and set certain times that you will go back and visit them and realign yourself to them.

God is Love: Loving Father Who Corrects

Hebrews 12:3-13 – “Consider Him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. 4 In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. 5 And have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son? It says, “My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, 6 because the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens (corrects) everyone he accepts as his son.” 7 Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father? 8 If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline—then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all. 9 Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live! 10 They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. 11 No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. 12 Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. 13 “Make level paths for your feet,” so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed.” (NIV)

Sometimes, our concept of love is limited to “what feels good,” but love is so much more than that. Here it is written that “God disciplines us (corrects us) for our good” – but that does not always feel good. Actually, it says that it never seems pleasant, but painful. However, it brings forth good fruit.

God is a loving Father. He loves us, and His correction is always for our good. Look at these different reasons given for why God corrects us…

• “So that you will not grow weary and lose heart”
• This word of encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son”
• “The Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens (corrects) everyone he accepts as his son.”
•  “God is treating you as his children.”
•  “Submit…and live!”
• "God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness."
• It produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.
• “So that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed…”

These are all good things, even if it may not feel like it at the time. The correction of the Lord IS LOVE.

So let us look at our part in this passage and use those things as prayer tools to make changes in our lives.

What is our part?

• “Consider Him” (focus on the sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross, how He laid down His life for us.)
•  “You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood…” (which means we need to resist sin to the point of shedding blood…
•  “Have you completely forgotten the word of encouragement that addresses you as a son?” (which means, that we need to remember, and constantly remind ourselves of it.)
•  “Do not make light of the Lord’s discipline”
• “Do not lose heart when He rebukes you”
• “Endure hardship as discipline.”
•  “Submit to the Father of spirits and live!”
• “...for those who have been trained by it” (God, help me be trained by Your discipline. Help me be changed by it).
• “Strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees” (Do not lose heart. Be encouraged.)

Prayer Time: Take this passage and these thoughts and talk to God about them in your own words. Turn this into a conversation with Your Loving Heavenly Father and ask Him what needs to be corrected in Your life. Ask Him to strengthen you and help you to make changes. Ask Him to encourage your heart and strengthen you and bring forth fruit in this time.

Thank Him: Thank Him for being your Father and helping you and correcting you. Let thankfulness flow from your heart that He has not left you as an orphan and He is teaching you during this time.

Write: Write your thoughts and impressions in a journal. Write down the things He is asking you to correct and prayerfully write down action steps of how you can take little practical steps in your daily life to change those things.

For more practical prayer tools on praying Scriptures, see the previous posts on the “Knowledge of God Series.”

God is Love: Love Is...

“Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails…” (I Corinthians 13:4-8)

Interesting, this is one of the most quoted and most familiar passages in the Bible, but I almost always hear it taught from a specific perspective – the perspective of our love towards others. This is used as the main passage at weddings and the main passage for teaching children --how to be nice, and the main standard for how we treat each other in church. And all of that is good, of course, but I think we might be starting from the wrong foundation.

If God is Love, then this passage is about God. And this passage is about His Love – His Love that He has toward us. As we studied in the last session, we see that “We love God, because He first loved us” (I John 4:19). Therefore our love for Him starts with Him. Furthermore, our love for others should also start with Him.

The First Commandment is “love God with all your heart soul, mind, and strength,” and the second is “love your neighbor as yourself” (Matt. 22). But how can we love our neighbor as ourself if we hate ourselves, or cannot receive God’s love for us personally? So, the key to loving God and loving others is first receiving His love toward us.

So now, let’s look at this passage a little differently – “Love is patient and kind, does not envy, does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, etc…” If God is Love, then you could actually substitute the word "God" here in place of "love." “God is patient and kind, does not envy, does not parade Himself, is not proud (puffed up), is not rude, does not seek His own…”

This is actually a description of Who God is in His very nature. Which means, that we can look at this passage as the way God relates toward us. You can say, “He is patient with me. He is kind to me. He does not envy, He is not prideful, He doesn’t show off to put others down, etc…”

When you begin to think about this passage as the way God relates to you, then you will start to feel a thankfulness, and tenderness about His love toward you, and you will be able to receive His love and His thoughts and His affections toward you. When that happens, you will also be able to love others – not from your own striving or attempt to love them, but from an overflow of the Love of God that you have already received in your heart.

So let’s pray this now.

Scripture: “Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails…” (I Corinthians 13:4-8)

Prayer: “Jesus, Your love is patient and kind. It does no wrong. You do not envy and are not prideful. You humbled Yourself and gave Your life freely on the Cross. Thank you, Father. Fill me with your love, today. Let Your love fill my heart, and help me to love others from Your love.”

In your own words: Talk to Jesus about this passage. Focus on the area that you struggle in the most. Let Him talk to you about it.

Listen: Pause and listen for what He might say to you about His love for you. Maybe there is an area where you are not patient with yourself or kind to yourself. Talk to Him about that, and let Him show you His patience and His kindness toward you.

Write: Write in a journal or notes about what you are feeling and experiencing with the Lord in this passage. Write out certain scriptures or phrases that touch you. Go back and read this when you are feeling unloved or unwanted.

For further ideas and tools, look at the earlier sessions in this “Knowledge of God Blog Series; Part 1 – God is Love.”

God is Love: No Fear in Love

“Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. We love Him because He first loved us.” (I John 4:17-19)

We are going to be filled with something. But in order to get rid of darkness, the answer is not to try to cast out the darkness, but to turn on the light. What is the antidote to fear? Love. Perfect love casts out all Fear. God is Love and He is perfect, and His love toward us is perfect. How can we be filled with more of His Love and be free of fear? We need to “behold” (look, think deeply, meditate, chew on in thought) His Love for us.

I John 3: 1-3 says, “Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.”

In this passage, John actually says, “Behold” or look, gaze, meditate on, chew on, think deeply about -- God’s love. And specifically, in this passage, it says to think deeply about His love as a Father, and our position or identity as His children. In the last lesson, we looked at God’s love through the sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross, and in this lesson, we are looking at the Love of God as a Father to His children.

When we want to get the Love of God deep into us, or know an attribrute or characteristic of God more, we need to study those passages of Scripture about Him, but also, we need to look at various ways those Scriptures can get deep into our hearts, minds, souls, and spirits, so that we can love God with all of our being (Matt. 22:33-40).

And right now, we are focusing on God’s love as a Father that fills us and casts out fear. Romans 8:15-16 further develops this thought, “For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God…”

Again, here we see that our identity as children of God frees us from every fear. But how can we be filled with God’s love and be freed from fear? The key to this is in I John 4:19, “We love Him because He first loved us” – which means that the love that we have for God, and God’s love that we can feel does not originate with us, but it originates with God. But does that mean that we are helpless to do anything about receiving the Love of God? The answer is no, of course not.

God is Love, which means that His love is ALWAYS there, whether we feel it or not, whether we experience or see it manifesting as a reality in our lives. It is there and exists and is moving constantly. But we need to receive it, and how we do it goes back to this idea of “Beholding” (look, meditate, think deeply, chew on, etc). 

2 Corinthians 3:18 says that, “But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.

This means that in order to transform (change) our thoughts, emotions, and will (choices, decisions, desires) that we need to behold (look, meditate, chew on, etc) the Glory of God – or His attributes, characteristics. This is why growing in the knowledge of God is so important – not only in head knowledge, but heart knowledge, and relational experience with Him. And we do that through praying, singing, and interacting with Scripture until it becomes a part of us and changes us.

So, let’s try that today with beholding the Love of God. Try these interactive methods of praying Scripture, and adapt them to how you see fit. You can even try this as a family with your kids, or your spouse, or with a group of friends, as well as alone in your quiet time with Jesus.

Scripture:

“Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. We love Him because He first loved us.” (I John 4:17-19)

Prayer Points:

• Jesus, I just declare who You are. You are Love. I worship You, and behold You as Love today. I want to behold and ponder Your Love as a Father toward me and How great Your Love is toward me!

• Your love is GREAT toward me, Lord! I thank You and Praise You for it.

• Show me how much You love me today, and let me feel Your Love and know it personally deep inside.

• I give you all of my fears. You said those who are in fear have not been made perfect in love. So, I give you my fear today – my fear of …….. and I ask that You would make me perfect in Love. And you would cast all fear out of my mind, will, and emotions.

• Holy Spirit, you said that those led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God, and we have not been given a bondage of fear, but a spirit of adoption. And so I cry out to you, “Abba! Father!” Come and touch me. Come and hold me. Come and give me peace. Fill me with Your love today.

• Give me boldness. Give me boldness to speak your Word to my friends and neighbors. Give me boldness to live without fear in an unstable environment.

• Make me perfect in love, Father.

• I just set my eyes on Your love today. I behold it. I receive it. It is wonderful and it is perfect. I love You, because You first loved me. You are the beginning of love and your love is eternal. Thank you, Father. I love you!

Sing: You can do this a Capello or turn on a little instrumental music or grab an instrument, and sing these phrases and prayers, and allow them to go even deeper into your heart. Allow your own words and thoughts to come out of your spirit. Allow yourself to take more or less time as you need it, and open your heart to God.

Listen: Ask Jesus to talk to You about His love for you, and just take a few minutes to pause in silence and see if He shows You anything. You might feel certain fears come up inside of you. Tell Jesus about them and ask Him to take those fears out of your life. Declare His Love and truth over yourself. Pause to see if you feel or sense anything that He might be saying to you. See if He brings anyone to your mind to pray for and pray for Him to show His love to them.

Write: Write down your thoughts or impressions in a journal, and write the different Scriptures that touched you the most, and maybe some of the reasons why they impacted you so much in this season. In times when you need encouragement, go back and read them and speak them over yourself again.

Draw or color: This is especially great for kids, or creative types. Close your eyes, and ask Jesus to give you a picture of His love for you, or have your kids do this. And then have them draw or color what they saw.

Know God: God is Love

“And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.” (I John 4:14-16)

God is Love. It is the very nature of who He is. Even if he punishes, corrects, or carries out justice – It is done in Love, because that is His very nature. He is like a loving father who corrects his children so that they become good adults (Hebrews 12).

Romans 5:8 says that “God demonstrates His own love for us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for the ungodly.” It means that love is not based on a feeling. It is not based on a circumstance or what is happening around us. It is not based on whether we have money this month or we lost it. It is not based on whether the healing came or did not come. The Love of God is based on this: That Jesus Christ came into the world to die for us while we were yet sinners, and He gave His own life for us.

“Greater Love has no man than this, that a man would lay down His life for His friends.” (John 15:13).

God already showed His love to us by His completed work on the Cross and that should be our anchor in the midst of chaos when we feel that God does not love us. It is at exactly that time when we need to believe.

Here are some prayer points to pray this Scripture into you, so that it becomes not just head knowledge, but heart knowledge. Pray these out loud to yourself, adding things as you feel in your heart.

Scripture: “And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.” (I John 4:14-16)

Prayer Points:

• Jesus, help Your Word come alive in my thoughts and in my heart.

• Jesus, I testify and believe that You are the Savior of the world.

• I confess that You are the Son of God.

• Help me to abide (live, dwell) in You, and in Your Presence. Help me to live in Your Love. Help me to receive Your Love.

• I know Your Love, and I believe in Your Love, but help me know Your Love more and believe Your Love more. Help me to feel it and experience it, even when outside circumstances are telling me differently.

• God, You are Love. Jesus, You are Love. Help me to know you more as Love. Unconditional. Pure. Help me know True Love that has no end. Help me to know You and experience You as Love in Person.

• I love you, Jesus. Help me to love You more. Help me to live in Your love today and show Your love to others.

Sing: Also, feel free to turn on a little instrumental music or grab your instrument, and sing these phrases and prayers, and allow them to go even deeper into your heart. Allow your own words and thoughts to come out of your spirit.

Listen: Ask Jesus to talk to You about His love for you, and just take a few minutes to pause and see if He shows You anything. Ask Him to talk to you about His love for others. And pause to see if you feel or sense anything.

Write: Write down your thoughts, or impressions in a journal, and write different Scriptures that touch you. In times when you need encouragement, go back and read them.