Tag Archives: teach

Lover of Your Soul

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((I am SO sorry I have been neglecting this blog lately. Some of the reasons are that I have been thinking of making a different SEPARATE blog that details stuff I have decided not to put for here on this one and also I have been insecure and thinking I won’t be able to post good stuff. I am sorry again))

Have you ever thought of God’s love for you? I know that this post is being written in time for Valentine’s Day (yeah, but I am not that sappy!) but have you ever thought of how vast and wide God’s love is for you?

If you measured its vastness to how much the Lord loves the world (the people in it I mean by “world”) could you be able to measure it?

One of my favorite hymns is called “The Love of God.” Strangely, the song doesn’t use much scripture in it (in fact the third part, my favorite verse, contains absolutely no quotes from God’s Word at all!) but what the hymn is though is a great image of what God’s love is which is for all of us in this world whether we love Him or want to ignore and reject Him. In the verse it reflects how enormous God’s love is. Can it be measured? Let’s read and find out:

Could we with ink the ocean fill /And were the skies of parchment made /Were ev’ry stalk on earth a quill / And ev’ry man a scribe by trade / To write the love of God above /Would drain the ocean dry /Nor could the scroll contain the whole /Tho stretched from sky to sky.

That I feel is such a great way to explain the love of God. It says in God’s word “I have loved you with an everlasting love.” (Jeremiah 31:3). God’s grace has no exceptions! There is no “Anyone here on earth can be saved, except….” because Jesus died for anyone and all of us in this world. When we all sinned we broke the perfect fellowship we had with our father. Because of the fall of man we fell further and further away from God’s love because we only would seek our own selfishness and pleasure. That was what caused God to wonder if He could ever deem us worthy to be His creation anymore. By that I mean that we were so sinful He wondered if He should wipe us all out in death so that we would never be on this earth again!

But after what God had done that was the Great Flood He still spared a few of us. He still wanted us to know Him again and He even had a small handful of people that He told to spread forth and multiply. But us as fallen humans what happened after that? The small some who were spared wanted to glorify themselves and live only in one place. The ones decided to show off how great they were by building a gigantic tower (the Tower of Babel) and show the world how great the ones are as a people. So God punished sin again and divided our speech, creating multiple languages. (Genesis Chapters 7-11).

Now I know there were a LOT more details to those sections of scripture but think about them for a moment to reflect of God’s love and mercy. To see how many chances God gave His people that He created is such a wonderful way to see His grace. We do not deserve at all what He gives us because God chooses to keep loving us and giving us time to know and get to know Him.

Jesus loves us!

I know that is a simple sentence but we have got to remember the one savior that is Jesus and the choice He made so that we may live. In that history God finally sent His son into the world so that He would be crucified as the sacrifice for our sins. That means that He took our place and died on the cross that was our punishment so that He would take it and die so we would not go to hell. Jesus died and rose again because He wanted us all to know Him.

Jesus knew the father wanted Him to die on the cross and He did so willingly. God the father loves our soul. He wants us to one day be with Him because He loves us so much.

Do you realize how much Jesus loves you? Do you realize the impact of how much His father gave by sending His son who was also God to die on the cross?

He did it because He loves you so much.

This final thing I want to tell you touched my heart when I realized I could tell people this and felt it was (another) way to tell people the huge vastness of God’s love.

Probably many know this verse. John 3:16. It is such a popular verse it is sometimes satirized and people may say it to the point they have lost the meaning of the words.

“For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.”

Jesus the son of God died so that you would live. God loved you in the world so much that He gave His ONLY son that you would not die and go to a place called hell but have eternal life.

Now look at this. What is your name? Take the words “the world” and replace it with your name. Repeat the verse with the two words with your name in it. Now see God’s love for you.

Hope you have a great week and meditate on God’s love this week and onwards.

God answered a question I hadn’t known for years!

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You know, I really learned something in bible class today at church! I was pondering something I wanted to do for the Lord for a long time (count it- about seven years!) but was torn between the good and bad things about it. For a long while I wanted to make a specific movie project. I hoped to make an original film and specifically wanted it to be a PG-13 movie (I did not want it to be the “corny” modern G or PG rated film here in America. . . I wanted it to target a certain audience). I should have noticed the red flag right there that while it would be a movie for the Lord I purposely wanted it to have inappropriate scenes. There is one scene that comes to mind but I do not want to veer this blog away from “pleasant” material which is what I want this blog to have. So let’s just say it was a remark that was crude and made fun of the human body. While funny as it would have been (and it would have been perfect for the idea I was trying to satirize) I realize that, satire or not, it would not be good for God.

When one makes a film for the Lord they have to look out for a lot of factors if they want it to be fit for people who need the Lord. . . and one thing that should not be in it should be visual or gratuitous (meaning pointless) references to sexual immorality.

For years I have fought mentally with whether or not this would be a great film idea and weighed the pros and cons about the project (the cons at one point made me abandon the whole idea at that time back in 2005) and eventually I wanted to make it again. I wanted to get this story together. . . but I felt that I should look closely to what God wants me to do concerning this.

Who knew besides God that I would have gotten the answer today?

In Ephesians chapter 5 of the Holy Bible (especially in verses 3 to 4) Paul was speaking to the church of Ephesus about ways to completely honor God. He spoke to the faithful and people who wanted to follow what God wanted for their lives. The problem was there were people in the church who were preaching the news of Jesus Christ but living immoral lives. There is a word for that and in most cases this is possible to avoid; it is called being a hypocrite.

Paul was encouraged by God to tell ones who wanted to serve God how terrible it was to have sexual impurities while telling people how to live a godly life.

It says in parts of verse 2 (then to verse 3) to “walk in love, as Christ also has loved us. . . (be) an offering for God a sweet-smelling aroma. But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as it fitting for saints; (Verse 4) neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks.

One version that was read this morning spoke to me. . . it said “Let there not be a hint of sexual immorality in you” and let there not be basically crude talking.

My thoughts that this movie which would have purposely made fun of sinful nature but in a sometimes vulgar way would not be good for a work for the Lord. As funny as that humor may seem it there would be no real reason that it should be there.

This week I feel my eyes are opened to what the Lord has in store for me. I feel that as long as I honor God I will be able to see fruit in my life and see what He wants in my life.

Do you “smell sweet?” Do you have a pleasant aroma that God can easily use for His will so people can enter His kingdom and be saved?

If you do not have a godly lifestyle pray about it and especially if you do not know Christ you must know that you need Jesus. Following Jesus is so awesome! I have never regretted living for Him.

But you must ask Jesus to be your savior if you want a relationship with Him. For example praying that you are a sinner and can do nothing to be saved or to go to Heaven you need Jesus. You must believe what Jesus did on the cross and then choose to follow His ways and trust in Him. If you prayed that prayer (or will tonight) the moment you do the angels in Heaven are rejoicing because now there is a new person who truly is one of God’s children and will be in Heaven one day.

Living for God has been an enlightening experience.

I have seen amazing things happen in my life and I know that so much of it came after I looked to God’s wisdom. He gets credit to all the wonderful things and results that have happened in my life!

Jesus who took the cross and died for my sin and rose again lives in my heart and I see some of the things that He does every day.

And today was no exception. I wanted to be answered this question for years. . . which was: “Is this movie project appropriate for the Lord?” 

And I got burdened by God’s Word to realize the answer is “No.” Though that is the answer I don’t feel sad that I have to say goodbye to this idea. God needs to be heard and when that word of the Lord is nicely “peppered” with big bits of humor, who’s attention does the listener become turned toward in this case? The speaker maybe? Not God.

God should be heard not I. I know that living this life for Jesus He must increase (be more like Jesus) and I must decrease every day. The word of God and the message of His son has shown me the place that is good that I must follow.

Thank you Jesus for showing me where to look.