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V of Week pic page 001I John 4:19:  "We love Him because He first loved us."

Easter is just around the corner, but without this verse, Easter would not be possible.

Imagine if we had to prove to Jesus that we were His worth love in the first place?  God cannot look at sin, and we have all sinned (Romans 3:23) and fallen short of the Glory of God. If not for this verse, we would all be lost forever.

This verse tells us that before we chose anything, good or bad, Jesus said He loved us.  Loved is in the past tense.  This means Jesus made a decision about us that He will not take back.  That is why He died on the cross.  Not because we did anything to earn or deserve the right to go to heaven.  He died on the cross because He decided to love us no matter what, and he offered us the chance to be forgiven, no matter what we had done, because He loved us FIRST!

This is the ultimate message of Jesus to everyone.  He loves you!  If you want forgiveness, it is yours, and He wants you to take it.  Why?  It's because He simply loves you, just because!

Isn’t that what we all want, for people to just simply love us with no strings or conditions.

Remember Jesus really does love you, and by the way I do too, and you are awesome!

 
Mercy Triumphs over judgment page 001There is an epidemic in our country of anxiety and depression.
 
The root cause is that people are afraid of what others think of them and their choices. It causes them to pull away from others because they assume that they will receive negative feedback, and unfortunately, our secular society has proved this to be true.
 
The antidote is not drugs or going to counseling. The true antidote for anxiety and depression is for people to show a spirit of mercy. James 2:13 says that mercy triumphs over judgement.
 
Everyone will need mercy one day because we all do things wrong. No one is immune. Without mercy people quickly jump on others. Why did you do that, or I cannot believe you did that. They may not even have done anything wrong. Sometimes we just mess up or get confused. Because this is the prevailing mindset, no wonder why so many people are anxious and depressed. Or worse, they look to get revenge and cause that person pain.
 
If we choose to start with mercy, we show them, even when they are wrong or mess up, that we love them and consider them important in our life. Now with mercy, there can and should be correction, but when done in a spirit of mercy, the person will want to do better because they care that they hurt us or messed up. They will change because they want to do it for us, not because we forced them. This will bring the long-term results we are looking for.
 
Something everyone needs to remember is that no one decides on purpose that they want to destroy a relationship with someone else. We want relationships more than anything else. When that is threatened or taken away, the result is anxiety and depression. When we foster a spirit of mercy, we allow those anxious and depressing thoughts of what if or what could happen to go away.
 
Do you want the world, or at least “your world” to be a better place? Then practice mercy with those in your life. Yes, some may take advantage of you because of it, but Jesus says that He will defend you because Jesus always practices a spirit of mercy.
 
Also remember one day you will mess up and will need someone to show mercy on you. Give them a reason to do that for you!
 
Remember Jesus loves you; I love you, and you are awesome!

Real or fake page 001Revival is amazing, but there are counterfeits out there because the devil hates revival.  So how do you know what is from the Lord and what is not?

There are two pretty simple litmus tests, and these work, not just for revival, but for any ministry you are wondering about. 

Litmus test #1 – Does the event bring Glory to Jesus?  Is Jesus mentioned or is the event people focused?  Examples: Come and see what God has for you.  Come and get your healing.  Come and get a word for you.  These sound good, but this focuses on you.  You may say, "But I want God to bless me".  That is OK, but ask yourself why would God bless you?  He blesses you so that you can go out and share the Gospel message of Jesus with others.  Why else would God bless you?  You are saved.  You are going to heaven, and life is short.  God wants to bless you, so that you will share Jesus with others. Too many times, it is all about you, instead of all about Jesus.

Litmus test #2 – Does the event look like an event that Jesus would attend?  Jesus is all about love, mercy, and forgiveness.  Many times, the speakers will get the crowd riled up to go out and attack, instead of going out to rescue the lost from the devil.  Remember, the devil is the enemy, not humans.  An evil person is just a person who needs rescued from the devil.  Remember, God made everyone and loves everyone.  This is why God uses the word lost when referring to those not saved.  God does not call them the enemy.  So, make sure that the tone of the event is also something that Jesus would approve of.

Remember the devil can masquerade as an angel of light.  The devil will try his best to get our focus off of Jesus and the true mission, the Great Commission. The devil is very sly about it.  

Use these two litmus tests so that you are not deceived and so that you can receive what you need to show Jesus to others, which makes Jesus happy.  When we keep Jesus as our focus, of course great things will come through you, because He wants to bless you so that you can bless others.

Remember Jesus loves you, I love you, and you are awesome!

Don t knock it till you try it page 001We are seeing some amazing acts of God at New Beginnings Church. Last weekend we had 9 testimonies, including one person being healed completely of terminal cancer. God is so good. Then a few weeks ago we had our amazing Deeper night of worship, and God moved in a mighty way, with several people getting slain in the Spirit. We are also seeing many people get closer to God by experiencing their personal prayer language from the Lord.
 
Today, most Christians in America want to see God move. They want to hear Him. They want to feel His power, but did you know that 90% of all American churches practice what is called cessationism. This is a fancy word that says that the gifts of the Holy Spirit died out with the apostles or when the Bible was finished because we did not need them anymore.
There are many problems with this view. I think the biggest problem is that this allows Christians to be “woe is me” Christians, just waiting to go to Heaven, instead of being more than conquerors as Jesus asked us to be.
 
Second, the cessationism view allows for Christians to have an excuse as to why evil seems to win. Jesus gave us the gifts of the Holy Spirit so that we can win, and not just win a close battle, but to defeat the devil in ways that are unmistakable, where people go "Wow, God is awesome"! The gifts allow us to prove that God is moving.
Third, we believe that the devil is still working and doing evil, so why then would God ever stop giving His people and His church gifts and power that are greater than the devil? The answer is, He would not.
 
Many people point to I Corinthains 13:8-10 and say that this is the reason why the gifts are not valid for today. However, it says that when the Perfect One comes, these will cease. Jesus is the Perfect One, and when He comes back, we won’t need any gifts of the Holy Spirit, because He will have won, and we will be with Him.
However, until then, God gave us these gifts to counteract the devil and evil in powerful ways, and we should want to use all the spiritual weapons in our arsenal.
Too many people try and use these gifts to defeat the devil or the evil around us. The devil is already defeated, and if you are a Christian, no evil on this planet has power over you (I John 4:4). We are to use these gifts to rescue people who are on their way to hell, by letting them see what they need to see, proof that God is real, and that God loves them.
To use these gifts, we have to be willing to allow God to use us in His way to do what is best, and that is scary to many, and why many say that the gifts are not for today. The thing is, God will not do anything to harm you, only to better you.
 
I use this phrase in church all the time, "Don’t Knock It Till You Tried It”. Go ahead and say, "God I want to be used. I want to feel you, and I want to do something amazing for you." Reach out and give God a chance.
 
One last thing. This is not just for others. When God moves through you, you will get an experience that is absolutely amazing. It will be something that you will want to feel again and again, a high that will never go away. (2 Timothy 2:6).
 
Do you want more out of your Christian Walk? Guess what, God wants to give you more, and then never stop. So, ask Him for more, for the gifts of the Holy Spirit to be active in your life, and Don’t Knock It Till You Try It!
 
Remember Jesus loves you, I love you, and you are awesome!