God is in love with Us

God is Love (1 John 4:8 & 16) and there is nothing we can do for God to love us anymore our less. He is one constant Love, never changing. His love is not based on our earthly merits, works or rituals. Nothing can separate you from the love of God. We may experience a period(s) of broken fellowship due to not accepting salvation, of operating in fear but during that time Gods love is still there. The Cross has a purpose and that purpose is salvation(Romans 5:8). Salvation is nothing missing; nothing broken; saving from harm; destruction; difficulty; failure; loosen from bondage of sin through Jesus, to name a few. Many things are embedded in this one act of love and we may live our entire lives without using many of the benefits of the cross.  

 I am guilty of allowing my experience with others and the way I handle my relationships to dictate my expectation from God. God is not like man and when I confine my expectation from God to the reasoning of my mind and past experiences then I am limiting my level of manifestation of God’s love in my life. I believe that part of the reason the body of Christ has not seen the level of signs and wonders in operation is due to our lack of understanding of God’s love for us. The bible says that if we, evil man (natural parents) knows how to give good gifts to our children, how much more does my heavenly father knows how to give good gifts to His children (Matt 7:11). Many people may take this as an insult when the bible refers to us as evil (born again) and heathen (unsaved) but God says the heart is deceitful (Jeremiah 17:9) meaning we are not perfect and He is the only person good. When I think of my children and the things I want to provide for them, things I want to protect them from and the lifestyle and want to live before them then I compare that to my limited understanding of God’s love and find there is no comparison. God’s love cannot be fully understood by the natural mind and should not be compared to our natural love for each other because at some point we all have disappointed each other even thought it may not be intentional but God’s love never fails.

No man can boost about salvation because it is free and available for ALL. If you have been saved a day after your first birthday or when you were in your forties, God loves you the same. I struggle at times to remember how much God really loves me. Things he has done is for His sake and not mind (Psalm 103 8:17) Sin cannot stand before God and it does hurt Him to see His creation go astray because of sin and the ignorance of His grace, love and forgiveness. When we get more and more revelation of God’s love we will start shedding scales of sin and when we understand that been saved is God’s plan to make us who we really are before Adam sinned: to rule and have dominion over all things, then our words and expectations will experience change.

God loves us and he wants and deserve our best love. He is the only one who should get our worship, praise and devotion. If you have not allowed Jesus to be Lord of your life it is not too late. His return is not known and based on His character He operates suddenly so your time is now. Get to know God more intimately and allow His love to manifest in your life. Read Romans 8:35-39, Ephesians 2:4-5 & 3:16-21

By Dean Brown

Live11 Radio

Church Clicks?

In a conversation with someone the term church click came up. I do believe that this is part of many church groups but I don’t believe that this is as surface driven as clicks in the world. Note, I am not saying that there may not be clicks as we know it but for the majority this is not true.

Many people in church groups will be drawn to others with similar likenesses to theirs and this is true in any group, culture and society. Often we use this term in a negative context when in all essence it is really not. The fact of the matter is that there will always be a person or a small number of people that any person will hold close. I think it is unfair to expect a Christian to be very close to every member that attends the same church as him/her. There has to be a balance if we are going to walk this life successfully and wiser than the devil. Jesus did not need anyone to help Him perform any miracles; He did not need anyone to walk with Him as He ministered. He had a multitude of followers, 12 that He chose and 3 that He let into His inner court. If we are to live like Christ then we have to follow His examples. The point is that we need others to pour into us and for us to pour into; this is why we have this common phrase “Iron sharpens Iron” Proverbs 27:17.

Ask yourself this question, “Am I sharpening or am I been sharpened”? There is nothing wrong with having a group of saints in your corner and you in theirs. Once you’re not bringing down the lives of others saints, gossip, back bite etc. Doing things to make hell stand at attention by encouraging others to grow; declaring Gods word in each other’s lives; working together to unload hell, then I believe you are in good shape.  Don’t allow others to discourage you form having a small group. The enemy is cleaver in how he tries to create discord and I guarantee it will come in the form of a person. This person can be an unbeliever or another saint but again if your small group is Christ centered you have nothing to worry about.

By: Dean Brown