Love: God Loves Us

You made it back :) yay!!! This week we are going to be focusing on love. We are constantly praying that our words about  love speak very loudly and stir something in your heart. We feel that love holds us together and, today we will start our study by focusing specifically on God's unfailing love :) !!

First of all God is love & He loves us SO much, in Jeremiah 1:5 we find, "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart" how powerful and amazing is that ?! He already knew you before He decided to place you in this world, and that is an indicator that you are absolutely precious and very important to Him.

Life is tough and I (Jessica) can personally say that my past has not been picture perfect by any means, and I have dealt with a lot of heartache, guilt from mistakes, and problems that seemed unconquerable in my eyes. I did not feel that I was worthy of God's love because of my past, and I felt as if I was stuck deep down in a hole of darkness. Here is the good news, I learned that God is not out to condemn instead he is ready to embrace you along with every single mistake, problem, and every piercing cut in your heart. I know this because, "God didn't go through all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger; telling the world how bad it was" John 3:18 The Message. He will hold onto you like NO OTHER, and when you are ready you can start letting go of all the "junk" that you have been clinging onto for so long and surrendering it to Him. 

How do we know he loves us ? 

"This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son (can you imagine doing that!?), his one and ONLY Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, ANYONE can have a whole and lasting life." John 3:16-17 The Message. WOW just take that in for a minute. God gave us his Son to die for our "junk" because He did not want sin to keep us from living our lives without Him! He wants us to be a part of His family, and love on us all the time. THAT IS PURE LOVE !!! 

The Woman at the Well

Jesus had many encounters with people while he was living out his life here on Earth. One story that really shows God's love pouring through Him is the story of the woman at the well, which is found in John 4.

Jesus decided to return to Galilee, and He led his disciples through Samaria,  keep in mind that the Jews did not like the Samaritans. Jesus was bold and he did not conform to the ways of this world, and he took his disciples right through the town because he knew that GOD LOVES EVERYONE of EVERY NATION. Jesus along with the disciples stopped at a well to rest, and the disciples left to go into the town to get food. Not much later, a woman from Sychar comes walking up to the well in the heat of the day probably to avoid seeing anyone there, little did she know she was about to meet the Son of God !! 

Jesus said to the woman, "Give me a drink" she responded "Since you are a Jew, why do you ask a Samaritan woman for a drink? You know the Jews have nothing to do with the Samaritans." Jesus replied, "If you knew who asks you for a drink, you would ask him to give you living water." Immediately the woman was intrigued and interested by the statement that Jesus had made. Jesus told the woman things about herself that she thought no one knew. He also told her about the wrongs that she had done. Jesus did not argue with the woman, instead he explained that God planned to bring salvation through the Jews, and he said "God is not found in only one place for God is Spirit". The woman proceed to tell Jesus that she thought he was prophet and the Samaritians worship and that she knows that the Messiah, the Christ, is coming from God. 

Jesus replied, "I AM HE" 
:) 

Move Forward

God may be unhappy with where you are and choices that you have made, but he is not going to attack you with judgement or turn away from you. He did not turn away or cast judgement upon the woman at the well, instead he spent time talking to her about her past and expressed to her how she could be saved. (WHY DID HE SHOW COMPASSION TO THIS WOMAN ?  BECAUSE: GOD LOVES US, I CANNOT SAY IT ENOUGH!!)

Yes, it was probably awkward and stirred unwanted feeling in her heart that she had been keeping locked inside; however, without being pushed to acknowledge her sin then how would she have ever been saved? The truth of your past may be hard to admit to yourself much less to God. Do not let your unsure feelings hold you back because He is a a great and wise Father, and he will acknowledge what you did wrong and push you forward by pouring His unfailing love into you. God will help you to be able to leave whatever it is behind because He is everything that you need. He is bigger and greater than you can even fathom, which means your "junk" is nothing to him. Quit worrying about what is behind you, it does not matter how nasty and awful it may be, LET IT GO & GO TO THE LIVING WELL to be restored. 

My Challenge 

1. Take yourself along with every single piece of baggage straight to God, and do not worry for one second that he is going to think that it is just too much to deal with. (He is going to give you the biggest hug you have ever felt !!!)

2. Proclaim that you have sinned against God. Ask for forgiveness from Him and forgive yourself.

3. Believe and trust in your surrender. GOD WILL POUR HIS MERCY UPON YOU, & YOU WILL GET GRACE. You don't earn it because as Louie Giglio would say "grace is God at work" !!

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"God wants you to know that He is here. You aren't having to work on this thing alone. 

I'm working with you

I'm your Father.

Your Daddy"
God's Blogs

Verses

John 3:16-18 

Jeremiah 1:5

Romans 8:38

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With smiles and love,

Jess :)