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Grace, Mercy, and Love We often get caught up in the lesser things of God and miss the more important things. Lately I have been reflecting on the grace, mercy, and love of God. As I have prayed for His direction for LCMI, I have wrestled over these things. How do these issues relate to me personally? There are ministries whose central theme is the grace of God. There are others who focus on His mercy. In what way does He intend to flow through this ministry? Recently the Lord brought me to Revelation chapter 2 where He addresses the church at Ephesus: "I know all about what you are doing, and you have a lot of good stuff in place. But there is one thing you have been missing: you have lost your first love." We often think that the first love Jesus is talking about is our love for Him. As a result, we feel pressed to be sure we love God enough; and if we fall short, we work hard to whip up the expected amount of love for Him. However, our assumptions often get us into trouble when we do not seek His mind on things. Scripture must always define scripture, and God has clearly told us in His word that "We love because HE first loved us" (I John 4:19). The first love we have lost is NOT our love for Him, but His overwhelming love for us. How can we ever have a true understanding of His grace or His mercy without true awareness of His love for us? My challenge is this: Ask the Lord to give you a small glimpse of His love. Only then will you begin to truly understand His grace, mercy, and so much more. As you ask Him to reveal His love for you, be prepared. God clearly demonstrates through His word that whenever anyone has caught a glimpse of Him, it has been almost unbearable. "It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God" (Hebrews 10:31), not because He is so "horrible," but because His love is so all consuming that you feel you will fall to pieces or explode. Growing in the experience of His love is an awesome thing, and it is worth it!!!! May Christ through your faith actually dwell, abide, settle down, and make
His permanent home in your hearts! May you be rooted deep in love and founded
securely on love, that you may have the power and be strong to grasp with all
the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth of the experience
of that love; that you may come to know practically, through experience for
yourselves the love of Christ, which far surpasses mere knowledge without
experience; that you may be filled through all your being unto all the fullness
of God…that you may have the richest measure of the Divine Presence, and
become a body wholly filled and flooded with God Himself! Ephesians 3:17-19 The
Amplified Bible |
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