Loved and Accepted!!!!!

What a joy to simply rest in Christ!

• No fear of law!
• No fear of wrath!
• No fear of condemnation!
• No fear of punishment!

· Absolutely no uncertainties!!!

People who struggle with works would do best to imagine God standing before them with His finger pointing at them saying, "If you try to do one good work in order to find Me, or to have assurance of salvation, gaining of my favor and love, then you will be eternally lost." My question would be to that person, "How many works will you now try to do in order to find acceptance before a thrice holy God?” The answer is NONE!!

We are accepted 100% in Christ. We do not have to fear that our works will alter that acceptance. We must realize that our acceptance is in Another (Jesus Christ). Therefore, how could anything we ever do affect that acceptance? God requires no works from us in order to be loved or accepted. Jesus said that there was only one work that God requires and that was to believe on Him whom He sent.

I hear so many believers push away the love of God because they feel unworthy or they cannot get their minds off of some past sin. They view God's love and acceptance as based on their performance. They see a pattern of sin in their life and question how a God can love and accept them. They must accept that God is no longer dealing with us in the sins that we commit, but only in the righteousness that He has imputed to us.

Here is the beauty of being in Christ. God, the Father, loves us as much as He loves His Son since we are in Him (John 17:23). God does not see the filth you see, but His only begotten Son doth He behold. This is why Christians tend to fail because they are very sin oriented and not Christ oriented. They still look at the law and see their reflection when they should have realized that the mirror (law) has already accomplished its purpose in leading them to Christ.

We are now to look at who we are in Christ. It is His glory in that reflection. That is what we will be transformed into (2nd Cor. 3:18). If we look at our filth, then we will experience its effects and that is depression, guilt feelings and frustration. If we look to who we are in Christ, then we will be affected with feelings of love and acceptance, forgiveness and the desire to live a holy life.

Love begets love and this is something that most believers struggle with. God wants to reveal His love to us because love is the best motivator to holiness. It is far better than fear of punishment could or would ever do. God's love caused Christ to come and die for you! Only we push away that love because we feel that we must do something in order to earn that love. If more people could only discover the freedom of realizing the infinite love of God, then such a realization would cause one to break forth in joy and will have a life that will seek to please Him. This glimpse of His love is what causes me to feel my absolute unworthiness. Yet, it never leads me to attempt to do works so that I can feel worthy of that love. Instead, I work to show my utter gratitude to a God that could love someone like me. What an awesome thought to know that the God of the Universe loves me and is jealous of me. He saved me and now I am a trophy of His grace.

Why push this love away when it is available to every person alive? You will never be worthy of such love so why try as your efforts are not only useless. They will be rejected. There is nothing in us that God will accept, so what do you think you would be able to offer to God that nobody else possesses on this earth? Do you think your goodness is better than the neighbor next door and that God would reject his works, but receive yours? Your works cannot make God love you more and your lack of works cannot make God love you less. You must realize that we experience such love, apart from works, as it is found in Jesus Christ.

Just remember, if you are not saved, then God will reject any works or efforts on your part to receive His love and acceptance. God loves you infinitely now and has done everything required for your salvation and bids you now to come to Christ and be saved. COME AS YOU ARE. God does not want you to first clean up your life to be saved nor does He require you to clean up your life afterward to stay saved. God does all the saving and you do all the believing. You, too, can experience the joy of no condemnation. You, too, can enjoy walking in His love every day. This is available to you right now!. Jesus has paid your sin debt in full and God simply wants you to believe His testimony concerning His Son. Jesus died for your forgiveness as all your sins were laid upon Him. He was raised bodily for your justification, as you have no part in this matter. You can now be saved by His life. God made Jesus who knew no sin, and to be sin for us that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him! The moment you believe that message is when your sins are all taken out of the way. His life and righteousness become yours. You can put your head upon your pillow tonight with full assurance that you are fully loved and accepted by a thrice holy God that had never known sin and you will never have to fear judgment again!

"Father, we thank you that we are sheltered under the umbrella of your protective love. We wake up in it, we walk in it and we go to bed with it. We stand upon Jesus Christ the eternal rock that never moves. We can stand firm upon your promises as the foundation never shakes. It is your love that never ceases, it never fails, it endureth all things and nothing shall separate us from it. Our relationship to you is based on this love. It is this love that produces a life of fruit. It is this love that helps us face even the most difficult circumstances. It is to permeate our very being and our every thought. We are commanded to walk in it and this love is to overflow to others. This is the love that can melt the hardest of hearts.

Our prayer is that of Paul who said ‘to know the love of Christ passeth all knowledge’. To know this love that would move your heart, Father, to send Your Son here to save us. To know this love that caused our Savior to lay down His life for us. To know this love that would allow our Savior to have His hair pulled, crown of thorns placed upon His head, to be spat upon, to be punched, to have His back torn apart from the beatings revealing His bone, to have the very God of Heaven mocked, to be stripped naked before all, to have His hands and feet nailed for us.

· To know this love that gives and expects nothing in return.

· To know this love that we can never work for or earn.

· To know this love that we will experience for all eternity.

Father, we often stray from your love by looking away from you and onto ourselves and what we are doing or not doing. We pray that we never lose sight of that love. Reveal again this love afresh that passeth knowledge, so that we will be filled with your fullness.

In Jesus name, Amen!"