You Are Radically Loved

The words in this devotional are taken from Author Mike Mooney and his book, “Look! The Finished Work Of Jesus,” except for the words addressing the Bible verses and the prayer at the end. This will really bless you!

The more time we spend beholding Jesus and allowing the Holy Spirit to teach us of His greatness and of His perfect finished work upon the cross, the more we are transformed along the way. We can rest in the truth that we don’t need to be perfect in our own strength, we just need to rest in the truth that God considers us perfectly acceptable because we believe upon His Son.

We can walk this great journey without fear or condemnation because as we walk, we rely on God’s grace and not on our perfect steps.

Jesus is a great King and it is His grace that empowers us to be able to live a life that can leave sin behind us and enable us to walk in His ways of love. The religious world may want to drag you before God for judgment, but God’s desire is to justify you by His grace. Christ is not a condemner, He is a life giver!

As disciples who have been justified by Christ’s perfect finished work upon the cross, we now share in the joy of listening to the Holy Spirit in our lives. The Holy Spirit has been given to us to live with us and to remind us that we are children of God. We only need to give ourselves permission to hear the life-giving words that the Holy Spirit is saying to us today, for the Holy Spirit is testifying to our spirit daily that we are God’s beloved children!

“But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers loved by the Lord, because from the beginning God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth. He called you to this through our gospel, that you might share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (2 Thessalonians 2:13-14 written by the Apostle Paul)

Why is it so important to see the finished work of Jesus? It’s important because when we see all that He has done for us it allows us to truly rest in the radical love of God. It is in this place of resting in His love for us that the Spirit supernaturally shines that revelation into our relationships and into the world around us.

When you rest in the truth of how much Christ loves you, you find yourself starting to love others with the same kind of love. When you understand how much patience Christ has for you, you begin to have the same kind of patience for others. When you understand how much grace God gives to you, you begin to have the same kind of grace for others.

What is the greatest blessing we as Christians can receive? It is the blessing of knowing Christ and being found in Him. He is SO wonderful, just belonging to Him is more than enough to live a peaceful and joyful life. God has so many gifts and so many blessings that He wants to give us as believers in Christ, but as great as they all are, they are incomparable with the blessing of simply knowing Christ Jesus as our Lord.

We can rest in Jesus and have hearts that proclaim: ‘Lord, you are enough for me!’ When God sees this to be the confession of our hearts it makes Him smile, and I’m sure He says to us, ‘that really is wonderful, but I’m still going to give you all the rest of My blessings as well!’

The more we look to Jesus and believe in our hearts that He is more than enough for us, the more love increases in our hearts, we receive more peace and we overflow with more joy. When we see Jesus for who He truly is and declare, ‘Lord, my eyes are fixed on You, You are more than enough for me!’ the Spirit gets so excited that He can’t wait to fill us with the fullness of all of the likeness of Christ!

We, the community of God’s people, who believe in the perfect finished work of Christ, are the church. We each individually have the privilege of beholding Jesus and seeing Him for who He truly is, the perfect one who through His perfect sacrifice has made us perfect forever in the eyes of God.

Look to Him for who He is and by the Spirit of God be transformed. Each new day, as we look to Christ, we will discover more of the treasures, the glory, the power, the beauty and the majesty of Christ. We will also find ourselves coming together with thankful and joyful hearts, knowing the truth of His love for us with an ever increasing understanding.

The Apostle Paul tells us in Colossians 2:2-3, “My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.”

You are a new creation. You are the holiness and righteousness of God. You are without blemish in God’s eyes. You are His beloved child. You are perfectly united with Him. All of this has been accomplished by the grace and power and perfect atoning sacrifice of Christ, to whom you now belong. You are so loved and are now standing in the very place where God’s abundant provision of grace flows in your life. You are ‘in’ the Son of the living God!

“Therefore, since we have been justified through faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand, and we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.” (Romans 5:1-2 Apostle Paul)

Rejoice! You are living in a covenant relationship with the Almighty God based on His divine faithfulness, His perfect finished work and His unfailing love!

This is the reality of Jesus: He is everything, and you are everything to Him. You are His treasured possession. You are His love.

The simple gospel truth is actually the most profound truth anyone could ever know. You know it and you believe it. Now enjoy it.

You are radically loved.

Dear Heavenly Father,

Thank you for showing Your love to me by sending Your Son Jesus Christ to die for my sins, guilt, shame, failures and for sending Your Holy Spirit in Jesus’ place to dwell in the hearts of all who receive Him. Give me a revelation of this radical love and help me to receive all that You have for me and to walk in the fullness of this love and grace. And help me to love others with this radical, amazing love.

In Jesus precious name I pray,

Amen

By CityPrayz  |  April 5, 2011 3:20 pm