DIG for Tuesday the 4th of August…..we boast of His love, not our love…..1 John 4 v 10

I put a picture up on my Facebook page recently that went like this, “The man of law boasts of his love for God, the man of grace boasts of God’s love for him” (Dave Feldman).

Reading 1 John 4 this afternoon I was reminded of this quote from that man of God.

Reading verse 10 reminded me that what God has done is far more important than what we have done or do.

Through Jesus Christ all our sins were paid for and dealt with, even before we were born (1 John 4 v 10 and 1 John 2 v 2)

This was done because God wanted to come back into covenant relationship with man.

And He wanted to do this for us, as He loved us.

He has always loved us, no matter what we have done or are doing as a group (mankind) or as individuals.

His love for us was never based on our performance, His love for use was and is based upon His character and His nature; He is love (1 John 4 v 16).

He cannot do anything but love you, and our love for Him comes form this and from a realisation of what He has done for us through Jesus Christ.

You see, even our love comes out of His love.

Our love is nothing to boast of, it is only His love that is worthy of boasting about.

Jesus and His finished work in dealing with our sin is what we should be boasting about.

His performance was amazing and perfect, so that our performance did not have to count.

Speak this out today…..”Thank you Lord that you loved us first, and thank you for the wonderful finished work of Jesus Christ”.

1 John 4 v 10…..Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins

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DIG for Wednesday the 15th of April…..this is a very important question……Psalm 139 v 14

I want to ask you a very important question this morning; then I want you to be very honest with yourself, think it over and come up with an answer.

“How do you see yourself?”

This is a fundamental question that will affect how you live your life.

The second question I want to ask you is this, “do you see yourself as God sees you?”

In order to see how God sees you, you need to look into His Word.

God says that He created you and that you are wonderful (Psalm 139 v 14).

God says that you are a new creature, that you have been reconciled to him and that you are righteous (2 Corinthians 5 v 17 to 21).

God says that He has blessed you and given you all that you need for life and godliness (Ephesians 1 v 3 and 2 Peter 1 v 3).

God says that you have been adopted into His family (Ephesians 1 v 5).

God say that He accepts you (Ephesians 1 v 6).

God says that you have unconditional and complete forgiveness for all your sin (Ephesians 1 v 7 and Colossians 1 v 14).

God says that He loves you and sent Jesus for you (1 John 4 v 10).

God says that you are holy and that you are a saint (Ephesians 4 v 24)

We will have more success in life and in our Christian walk if we believe what God says about us rather than what the world says.

The Word is full of truths about you; full of truths about what Jesus has done for you and full of truths about what God thinks of you.

Let the Word of God influence you and change the way you view yourself.

Speak this out today…..”Thank you Lord that you see me as holy, righteous, forgiven and accepted”.

Psalm 139 v 14…..I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well

DIG for Thursday the 28th of August…….the Lord’s attitude towards you will never change…..Hebrews 13 v 8

We all know that people change; the way they think about us, they things they say about us and the way they behave towards us.

Sometimes that depends upon what we do and how we perform and sometimes it is just people being fickle.

I’ve had people change their opinion of me because of my decision to vote a certain way in an upcoming referendum.

I’ve had people express support of my ministry and then speak negatively about me.

I’ve had people support me financially in my ministry and then for no apparent reason stop that support.

People change and sometimes in ways we would not expect.

But the Lord is not like that!

The Lord is consistent in what He thinks and says about me and about you.

He loves us unconditionally, no matter how good or bad we are (John 3 v 16 and John 4 v 9 and 10).

He is always thinking about us and is interested in us (Psalm 139 v 17 and 18).

If you are born again He will always see you as righteous before Him, no matter what you do (2 Corinthians 5 v 21).

If you are born again He will always accept you (Ephesians 1 v 6).

I know that can be hard sometimes (believe me as I am living through this at the moment) but it is not really important what men think about you or say about you.

What God thinks about you is what is important, and He loves you, has forgiven you, accepts you and sees you as righteous, if you have trusted in Jesus and His finished work.

Don’t listen to men and don’t be influence by men, listen to the Lord and be influenced by Him.

He always has you best interest at heart and He will always love you.

Speak this out today…..”Thank you Lord that you love me and I can be assured of that love forever more”.

Hebrews 13 v 8…..Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and for ever

DIG for Tuesday the 22nd of April…..do not let your mind be corrupted from the simplicity of Christ…..2 Corinthians 11 v 2 and 3

I have been fascinated this evening looking at these verses that Paul wrote to the Corinthians and had a bit of a revelation around what the enemy is up to.

He is not trying to persuade you to become an atheist; he is not trying to get you to renounce your faith.

What Paul is warning us against in this passage is something far more subtle and far more dangerous.

He is warning us against believing something other than the simplicity that is in Christ (2 Corinthians 11 v 3).

The Gospel is a very simple message you see.

The Gospel is all about Jesus Christ and what He has already done.

It is about our reconciliation and forgiveness through the blood of Jesus Christ (Ephesians 1 v 7 and Colossians 1 v 14).

It is about how we can be made as righteous as God as a gift of grace through faith in Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 5 v 21).

It is about how God only wants the best for us, indeed above all things He wants us to live in health and abundance (3 John v 2).

He loves us (1 John 4 v 9 and 10); the message of Jesus Christ is very simple.

The enemy is very good at getting us to argue and debate about aspects of doctrine and theology, making things more complicated, taking our mind away from Christ.

He is great at getting us to discuss and debate even the stupid things (e.g. how long should our hair be and should we wear hats or not).

The truth about Jesus and His finished work is simple and easy to understand, religion attempts to make it more difficult, even elitist.

The truth about Jesus is for everyone, not just for intellectuals.

Do not let the enemy corrupt your mind away from the simple truth that is Jesus Christ and His finished work.

Keep it simple and stick with Jesus.

Speak this out today…..”Thank you Lord for the Gospel, for the simple truths about Jesus and His finished work”.

2 Corinthians 11 v 2 and 3…..For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity of Christ.

DIG for Monday the 17th of September…..He loved us first, thank you Lord…..1 John 4 v 10

There has been a recurring theme coming to me over the recent weeks.

In times of quiet, during praise and worship, while reading the Word, in sermons I’ve heard and in meetings I’ve attended I have been hearing the same thing from God over and over again.

He is saying “I love you”; He is saying this to all of us if we listen.

It is very clear from the Word that God loves us; He created us, has a purpose for us and loves us.

In the sermon at MGF this week Nunsy told us that we must not exempt ourselves from the love of God; I tell you the same right now.

God loves you; you may not feel it but this does not alter the truth. His love is a fact and you need to believe this.

1 John 4 speaks a lot about love and this verse shows the flow of love; it comes from God to you and then you return it to Him. He loved you first!

God does not love you depending on your love for Him; His love is unconditional and absolute, having nothing to do with what you do or do not do.

He loves you and sent Jesus to pay for your sins; He was the propitiation or payment for the sins of the whole world (1 John 2 v 2) and you are part of the whole world.

Speak this out today….. “God loves me”

1 John 4 v 10…..Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins

DIG for Saturday the 8th of September…..what an awesome God we serve…..1 John 4 v 10

I’m just back from a bike ride in a local forest on the coast; it was wonderful with the sun and the warmth.

Cycling back I could see across the firth to the mountains and, as I often do, I marvelled at the wonder of creation.

Or rather I marvelled at the wonder of the Creator.

God really is an awesome God; the universe and the earth are amazing and designed to perfection. As a chemist and mathematician I can see how amazing God is the more I learn about science.

However I believe that the truly amazing thing about God is something completely different.

As Awesome Creator, King of Kings, and Lord of Lords He loves you and He loves me.

God has time to love you and me; can you ponder on this for a moment and really take this in.

We often say God loves us but do we truly know and believe this.

The God of all creation knows you, is interested in you, has a plan for you and loves you.

I know creation is awesome, but I find His love for me even more wonderful and even more amazing.

He loves us so much that Jesus was sent in payment to reconcile us to God and bring us back into relationship with Him; that is truly something to marvel over!

1 John 4 v 10…..Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.