Encouraging Notes

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GO TO THE SOURCE!

There are some things that you can get from the grocery store that you cannot get at the tire store and vice versa. If you want to get pure water, it’s best to go straight to the source where the pure water comes from! This is how it is with God. Many times we tried to get what we need from this world and end up finding it’s not there. In light of this idea, have you ever found things in the Bible that are hard to read or listen to! I’ve read many things that I realize are impossible for me to achieve without the help of God. Here’s one of those – check it out. 

Luke 6:32-36 32“If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. 33And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. 34And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full. 35But love your enemies, do good to them and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. 36Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

Wow! This is a tall order! Living this kind of life is possible without the help of God! The ability to love those who hate you is supernatural – this kind of love can only come from God! If you and I are indeed going to live in this type of love, then we will have to go to the source! So how do you do that? 

1 John 4:7-87 Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love.

The kind of love that we’re talking about comes from God! We must go to the source! Jesus explained how to do this by using the following analogy. 

John 15 4-5 4Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. 5“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me, you can do nothing.

Remaining in Christ is living with your heart and mind fully resting upon what he has declared to be true about you. So what has he claimed to be true about you? The proclamation of the Scriptures is that he is so in love with you that he sent his only son to pay for all of your failures and mistakes! Because of the sacrifice of Jesus, he sees you as absolutely perfect! He is so passionately in love with you that he sees you as his dream come true! You are his heart’s greatest desire! 

My dearest friend, you have more worth and value than you have ever dreamed! If there was ever a day to step into the life that can display the love of God, it is today! Remember, you can only give away what you possess. When your life is consumed with the love, kindness, and goodness of God, it will become your standard mode of operation to love those who others would reject – those who seem unlovable. 

The first Scripture we read declared that God is kind to the ungrateful and even the wicked. You and I are his sons and daughters! It is time for us to step into the glorious power that comes from intimately knowing that we are forever loved by our eternal heavenly Father! Oh yes! It’s time to… 

GO TO THE SOURCE!

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