Covered in His love

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“I love the story that describes Peter when he stepped out of the boat onto the water. As he was walking toward the Lord on the stormy sea (what an incredible experience), he suddenly looked around and was seized with fear. Scripture says ‘Beginning to sink, he cried…‘ Did you get that? ‘Beginning to sink, he cried out.’ That provides a perfect reminder for what we must do when we find ourselves sinking. Don’t wait to cry out. Are you ready for some super encouraging news? When we openly acknowledge our condition before our God, He won’t reject us. Nor will He put us on probation and watch us squirm. On the contrary, we’ll find the Lord to be explicitly interested and compassionate, quick to forgive, I find that wonderfully inviting.” ~ Charles Swindoll ([1])

Jesus willingly went to the cross for us, taking our sins and cleansing us with His forgiveness. His love paid the price we could never pay. His love catches us by the hand and saves us. His love pours down and covers us with His grace-filled, unfailing love.

“Why did Jesus do that? There is only one answer. And that answer has one word. Love. And the love of Christ ‘bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things’ 1 Corinthians 13:7. Think about that for a moment. Drink from that for a moment. Drink deeply. Don’t just sip or nip. It’s time to gulp. It’s time to let his love cover all things in your life. All secrets. All hurts. All hours of evil, minutes of worry. The mornings you awoke in the bed of a stranger? His love will cover that. The years you peddled prejudice and pride? His love will cover that. Every promise broken, drug taken, penny stolen. Every cross word, cuss word, and harsh word. His love covers all things. Let it. Discover along with the psalmist ‘He… loads me with love and mercy.’ Psalm 103:4 “Picture a giant dump truck full of love. There you are behind it. God lifts the bed until the love starts to slide. Slowly at first, then down, down, down until you are hidden, buried, covered in his love. ‘Hey, where are you?’ someone asks. ‘In here, covered in love.’ Let his love cover all things. Do it for His sake. To the glory of His name. Do it for your sake. For the peace of your heart. And do it for their sake. For the people in your life. Let his love fall on you so yours can fall on them.” Max Lucado ([2])

“God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son so that whoever believes in him may not be lost, but have eternal life. God did not send his Son into the world to judge the world guilty, but to save the world through him.” (John 3:16-17, NCV)

“God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)

“In your unfailing love you will lead the people you have redeemed. In your strength you will guide them to your holy dwelling.” (Exodus 15:13)

 

[1]   Charles Swindoll, Living Above The Level of Mediocrity, Guideposts, Carmel, NY, 247
[2]   Max Lucado, Experiencing the Heart of Jesus, Thomas Nelson, Nashville, TN, pg 136

https://lisabuffaloe.com

A Love like no other

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Have you ever sat outside and looked at the stars? Thousands and thousands, millions and millions of dots shining in the sky. The Bible tells us that in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth, and He counts the stars and names them. The heavens declare the glory of God, day after day their stars shine to proclaim the God of love.

God made the world and everything in it. Since He is Lord of heaven and earth, He doesn’t live in man-made temples, and human hands can’t serve His needs—for He has no needs. He Himself gives life and breath to everything, and He satisfies every need. From one man (Adam) God created all the nations throughout the whole earth. He decided beforehand when they should rise and fall, and He determined their boundaries. His purpose was for the nations to seek after God and perhaps feel their way toward Him and find Him—though He is not far from any one of us. For in Him we live and move and exist.

So, draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Seek God and you will find Him. For this life given by God to each of us, a life given by a loving God, is for relationship with Him.

Unfortunately, the world is tainted by sin — the bad things we’ve done, the bad thoughts we have made. Sin separates us from a Holy God, and there is no way to earn our way to heaven. Fortunately, God in His great love, before we even knew we needed Him, made a way for each of us to come into His presence. For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, Jesus Christ.

Jesus willingly came to this earth, the God-man Himself, and laid down His life in place of all our sins. He was sinless, yet took on our sins, my sins, your sins, upon His shoulders. He went to the cross as a sacrifice. Jesus died, was buried, and then rose again to give us a life that doesn’t end in death. Jesus Christ gave Himself up for those who will believe in Him so that they could have a restored relationship with God and have eternal life. Jesus is the way, the only way, to God the Father.

There is no greater love, no love like this, that would create heaven and earth, then come from heaven to earth to save His own creation. God’s love is a love like no other. God’s love calls to you, beckons you, to come to His love. Oh, come to the love of your heavenly Father, come to His Son, Jesus Christ. Open your heart to receive His love, and in return His love will come into your heart to free you forever in His love.

If you want to receive Jesus Christ as Your Savior, would you be willing to pray this prayer?

Heavenly Father, I can never be good enough for heaven, good enough to stand in front of a Holy God. God, I am a sinner, I’ve messed up, I’ve failed in many ways. God, I ask for your forgiveness for my sins. I believe that Your Son, Jesus Christ, died on the cross for my sins and that You raised Him back to life. I want to trust Jesus as Savior of my life. Guide me and help me to follow You. I believe, God. I believe. I pray these things in the name of Jesus Christ who is now my Savior. Amen.

If you have further questions about Jesus, please link here

God’s Timeless Truth

“This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn’t go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again. Anyone who trusts in him is acquitted” (John 3:16-17, MSG).

Jesus said, “I am the Door; anyone who enters through Me will be saved [and will live forever], and will go in and out [freely], and find pasture (spiritual security). The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance [to the full, till it overflows]” (John 10:9-10, AMP).

“If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved” (Romans 10:9-10, NLT).

For those who come to Christ and make Him Lord of their lives, we have assurance that “anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him” (2 Corinthians 5:17-18, NLT).

“What a God we have! And how fortunate we are to have him, this Father of our Master Jesus! Because Jesus was raised from the dead, we’ve been given a brand-new life and have everything to live for, including a future in heaven—and the future starts now! God is keeping careful watch over us and the future. The Day is coming when you’ll have it all—life healed and whole” (1 Peter 1:3-5, MSG).

So now, dear friend… “May the God of your hope so fill you with all joy and peace in believing [through the experience of your faith] that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound and be overflowing (bubbling over) with hope” (Romans 15:13, AMPC).

(Emphasis added on scripture).

From Time with The Timeless One by Lisa Buffaloe, https://amzn.to/2WRjJ6D

Anxious and worried?

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Anxious and worried? Quotes and verses for you –>

“Both in the secular environment and in church work, we are anxious about things that are better left in God’s hands. Worry always nips at the heels of faith and tries to drag it down.” ~  Jim Cymbala

“Do not be anxious about anything (Philippians 4:6). This is because we have a Father in heaven who is almighty, who loves His children as He loves His ‘one and only Son’ (John 3:16), and whose complete joy and delight is to continually assist them under all circumstances.” ~ George Mueller

“The presence of anxiety is unavoidable, but the prison of anxiety is optional.” ~ Max Lucado

“Worry is sin; a black, murderous, God-defying, Christ-rejecting sin; worry about anything, at any time whatever. We will never know victory over worry and anxiety until we begin to treat it as sin. For such it is, it is a deep-seated distrust of the Father, who assures us again and again that even the falling sparrow is in His tender care.” ~ Holocaust survivor Corrie Ten Boom

“Abram showed that when you have faith in God, you know God will take care of you no matter what someone else chooses. Faith lets other people do their thing without getting anxious and worried. It leaves its case in God’s hands.” ~ Jim Cymbala

“Faith deals with the invisible things of God. It refuses to be ruled by the physical senses. Faith is able to say, ‘You can do what you like, because I know God is going to take care of me. He has promised to bless me wherever he leads me.” ~ Jim Cymbala

“Fussing always ends in sin. We imagine that a little anxiety and worry are an indication of how really wise we are; it is much more an indication of how really wicked we are. Fretting springs from a determination to get our own way. Our Lord never worried and He was never anxious, because He was not ‘out’ to realize His own ideas; He was ‘out’ to realize God’s ideas. Fretting is wicked if you are a child of God. ‘Have you been bolstering up that stupid soul of yours with the idea that your circumstances are too much for God? Put all ‘supposing’ on one side and dwell in the shadow of the Almighty. Deliberately tell God that you will not fret about that thing. All our fret and worry is caused by calculating without God.” ~ Oswald Chambers

“Worry is a cycle of inefficient thoughts whirling around a center of fear.” ~ Corrie Ten Boom

“When the King rules your world, you cease to rule or worry. All worry dethrones God. All worrying makes you King and God incompetent. There is a King born in Bethlehem and on the throne. You can breathe.” ~ Ann Voskamp

“Worry is belief gone wrong. Because you don’t believe that God will get it right. Peace is belief that exhales.” ~ Ann Voskamp

“The one thing that keeps us from the possibility of worrying is bringing God in as the greatest factor in all our calculations.” ~ Oswald Chambers

“If we are obsessed by God, nothing else can get into our lives–not concerns, nor tribulations, nor worries. And now we understand why our Lord so emphasized the sin of worrying. How can we dare to be so absolutely unbelieving when God totally surrounds us? To be obsessed by God is to have an effective barricade against all the assaults of the enemy.” ~ Oswald Chambers

Which of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life’s span? Do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Do not be anxious or worried about anything, but in everything [every circumstance and situation] by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, continue to make your [specific] requests known to God. And the peace of God [that peace which reassures the heart, that peace] which transcends all understanding, [that peace which] stands guard over your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus [is yours]. Casting all your cares [all your anxieties, all your worries, and all your concerns, once and for all] on Him, for He cares about you [with deepest affection, and watches over you very carefully].” ~ Luke 12:25, Matthew 6:34, Philippians 4:6-7 (AMP), 1 Peter 5:7 (AMP)

https://lisabuffaloe.com