Good News is what we need more of. I was visiting family this past week and they had the local news on. I do not watch much news anymore. I keep up with current events but only the facts. I have changed my diet from the normal sensational negative fear based agenda driven media news to just the facts in small doses. This has been a very positive change in my life. I worry less, and have a lot more hope and optimism. So I wanted to share the powerful Good News today......
1.) God is Love and God Loves and has a plan for everyone's life. This plan is for their good and it transform their life into something they could not even imagine. All we need to do is changed the way we think about God, ourselves and others.
A.) God loves and accepts you as you are. God has already forgiven you every mistake and failure you will ever commit. God is about love and forgiveness not judgment. Fear, shame,judgment and guilt is not of God. Religion has used these to manipulate and control people for thousands of years. However God destroyed there power on the cross.
B.) Sin is not a list of don't s that keep us out of heaven. Sin is living a life separated from God and Love. Sin is believing a lie. The lie that God is against you or desires your harm. Sin is allowing fear or guilt to keep you from knowing and loving God. In fact the definition of hell is being separated from God. God is love, joy, peace. These come form God and outside of God they cannot be found. To live a life without love, peace or joy is truly living in Hell. What makes Heaven heaven is not streets of God, pearl gates or even eternal life, but the fact that it is a place or state of eternal relationship and connection with God.
C.) God is not shocked, disappointed, or even concerned that you are not perfect. However God has made provision for our weakness. God has given us the Holy Spirit to help lead us in life. Where is the Holy Spirit leading us you may ask......The Holy Spirit always leads us to God and Love. following God will always lead us to a better place.....greener pastures and calm refreshing waters...Psalms 23.
D.) God loves even those we have a hard time tolerating. God also loves those we can't stand being around. God has a plan for that person you love and for that person who always makes your life difficult. God loves that stranger you do not know, and God loves that person who does not seem to deserve it. God loves the most loving person and the most hate filled person. God has a plan for both. A plan that will redeem and changed both of their life.
E.) God is concerned about the huge crisis in your life as well as the small proverbial "hang-nails" in life. In fact I have discovered that God works on a grand scale and not only will work for you good in the hard things but will use these times to transform our relationships, perspectives and lives in ways that will surprise us. God also delights is using people and situations we never would.
Yes God delights in us and in our lives. God is looking for opportunities to reveal his Love to us and through us. Not because God has a need to be needed but simply because God is Love and cannot be anything else. God cannot help himself! If you make room for God your life will be transformed by the Love and generosity of God. All we need do is choose to connect with him. Even we we don't God still takes every opportunity to love us, but many of these expressions go without our notice.
This Good news is not new, in fact it is the message of Christ....the Church however has lost touch with the Good News and has instead replaced it with a counterfeit that is called religion. Religion is man's feeble attempt to package God, the Gospel on the other hand is God's own message of Love and acceptance for all of mankind.The Gospel is a message of hope, freedom and transformation. Religion can only bring fear, guilt, shame and failure.
Religion is the human-made system and attempt to find favor and approval with God. If you do these things (Church attendance, pay tithes, pray or read your Bible enough, fast, Commit no sins etc...) God will allow you to possibly be forgiven and go to heaven.
The Ironic fact is humankind is already favored and loved by God. God 's desire is for all to live in His Love and acceptance and be released from all guilt, shame and fear. This is the true meaning of salvation. Humankind was created by God to be the object of his love. Heaven is simply the realization of God's ultimate desire. How can we "the Church" gotten so far from this message of Good News. True spirituality and Faith is accepting the message of God's Love and living in its reality.
Note: God is not male nor female but I am aware that I use the male pronoun when referring to God. I hope you will forgive me this small familiar habit.My intention is not to offend or violate inclusiveness but simply to refer to God in a way that is familiar to me in my writing. God is much bigger than my understanding and I am limited in so many ways to express in mere human words the thoughts and inspiration of who God is..this is one such example and I promise to work on it.
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