1. God desires that I live in His unconditional love and affection everyday!
I was created to enjoy friendship with God.
God loves me as I am, not as I think I should be. He is very fond of me!
God desires an ongoing honest dialog with me.
The more I know that God loves me unconditionally the more I will trust Him.
I struggle with shame and destructive behavior when I live unaware of God’s love.
The cross (not my circumstances) proves how much God loves me.
Jesus said, "Know the Father himself loves you." (John 16:27)
Jesus said, "Father you have loved my followers just as much as you have loved me." (John 17:23)
Jesus said, "As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love." (John 15:9)
God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)
For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38-39)
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. (Ephesians 1:3)
Because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in sin—it is by grace you have been saved. (Ephesians 2:4-5)
God is love. God showed his love among us by sending his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. (1 John 4:8-9)
We know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God lives in them. (1 John 4:16)
The Lord appeared to us in the past, saying: “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness." (Jeremiah 31:3)
The Lord your God is with you. He takes great delight in you. He will calm you with his love. In his love he will no longer rebuke you. He rejoices over you with singing. (Zephaniah 3:17)
2. My biggest obstacle to experiencing God’s love is my flawed thinking.
Much of what I think and believe is not true.
Believing a lie leads to bondage; believing the truth sets me free.
The truth of Jesus the bible exposes me to benefits me in countless ways.
God transforms me by renewing my mind.
Setting my thoughts on the God produces life and peace.
As a man thinks within himself so he is. (Proverbs 23:7)
To the Jews who had trusted him, Jesus said, “If you continue following me you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:31-32)
We all, who contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. (2 Corinthians 3:18)
Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace. (Romans 8:5-6)
Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. (Romans 12:2)
3. Christ gave His life for me so He could give His life to me.
The cross is God’s cure for sin and shame.
Jesus died for me to make relationship with God available to me.
All my sins (past, present and future) have been forgiven.
Sin was defeated at the cross and it can never separate me from God again.
Eternal Life is Jesus living in me now!
Salvation is not about me getting into heaven, but getting God into me.
Because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in sin—it is by grace you have been saved. (Ephesians 2:4-5)
God is love. God showed his love among us by sending his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. (1 John 4:8-9)
Jesus said, "Father, I have given my followers the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— I in them and you in me." (John 17:22-23)
4. I must know and believe who I am, in Christ, to change what I do.
I am no longer a sinner who is merely saved by grace.
God has made me a new person on the inside.
I don’t have two natures. My old self died with Christ.
I am now dead to sin and alive to God.
God gave me a new heart and spirit and put His Spirit within me.
Because I have a new nature, I have a new identity: God’s child.
His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through his glory and goodness he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. (2 Peter 1:3-4)
We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin. (Romans 6:6)
Consider yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.(Romans 6:11)
If anyone is in Christ, that person is a new creation. The old has gone, the new is here! (2 Corinthians 5:17)
Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God. (Romans 15:7)
God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:21)
Because you are his children, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir. (Galatians 4:6-7)
Put on the new self, it has been created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. (Ephesians 4:24)
5. Father God is much better than I could ever imagine!
God the Father is just like Jesus; the kind of Papa I’ve always wanted.
Father loves me the same as He loves His Son, Jesus.
I can do nothing to cause Papa (Abba) to love me more or less than He does.
Only Father can meet all my needs and satisfy my heart.
I can only trust God to the degree that I trust He loves me
The more I know and relate to Father, the more I become like Him
Jesus prayed to the Father, "This is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent." (John 17:3)
Jesus said, "I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me. The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. Trust me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me." (John 14:10-11)
“I will be a Father to you, and you will be my sons and daughters," says the Lord Almighty. (2 Corinthians 6:18)
See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! (1 John 3:1)
God loves us perfectly. There is nothing to fear from Him. His perfect love removes fear. Fear involves punishment. He will not punish us. If we fear punishment from God we do not know how perfectly He truly loves us. We love because he first loved us. (1 John 4:18-19)
Because you are his children, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” So you are no longer a slave, but God’s child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir. (Galatians 4:6-7)
6. Christ placed His Spirit in me so He could live through me.
Living the Christian life is not just difficult; it is impossible.
God did not design us to rely on our own human abilities.
I was created to contain and live by the life of another.
Through my spirit union with Christ, I am now complete and acceptable.
There is a battle between the flesh and my spirit. I am not the flesh.
Dependence on Holy Spirit empowers me with supernatural life.
Only as I trust in Christ, can His life and love flow from me to others.
Jesus says, "The Father gives you another one just like me, a comforter, to help you and be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. You know him, for he lives with you and is in you. You are not left as orphans; I come to you as the life giving Spirit of truth." (John 14:16-18)
Jesus said, "The Comforter, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father sends in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you." (John 14:26)
The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. (John 6:63)
Just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the trust as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. (Colossians 2:6-7)
Walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. (Galatians 5:16-18)
Reside in me, as I also reside in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must reside in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you reside in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If you reside in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. (John 15:4-5)
They said, "We want to perform God's works, too. What should we do?" Jesus told them, "This is the only work God wants from you: Trust in the one he has sent." (John 6:28-29)
7. I can overcome sin by understanding the battle within.
Satan counterfeits the Holy Spirit with an entity called sin.
Sin still lives in my body but it is not me.
Sin seeks to deceive and control me through my thoughts.
It impersonates my old self using 1st person singular pronouns (I, me).
Setting my thoughts on the truth leads to life and peace.
Temptations are opportunities to exercise trust in Christ (as life).
Jesus was saying to those Jews who had trusted Him, “ If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” (John 8:31-32)
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. (John 10:10)
I am the vine, you are the branches; he who resides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. (John 15:5)
Consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. (Romans 6:11)
If I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me is doing it. (Romans 7:20)
The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. (Romans 8:2)
You are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him. If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you. (Romans 8:9-11)
Don't judge by outward appearances. All who are in Christ are equally in Him. (2 Corinthians 10:7)
Be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints (Ephesians 6:10-18)
I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me. (Galatians 2:20)
Walk by the spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. For the flesh sets its desire against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please. But if you are led by the spirit, you are not under the Law. (Galatians 5:16-18)
Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. (Galatians 5:24)
May it never be that I would boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. For neither is circumcision anything, nor uncircumcision, but all that matters is the new creation. (Galatians 6:14-15)
We put no confidence in the flesh (Philippians 3:3)
I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but dung so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death (Philippians 3:8-10)
Let no one say when he is tempted, “ I am being tempted by God”; for God cannot be tempted by evil, and He Himself does not tempt anyone. But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death. (James 1:13-15)
8. I can’t believe everything I feel. I was designed to live by trust in God.
My emotions reveal what is taking place in my soul.
My beliefs produce perceptions and perceptions fuel my emotions.
The Holy Spirit wants to change how I think about God, not just how I feel.
I need to acknowledge my feelings and express them to God.
Joy and peace result from relating to God and trusting what He says.
We live by trusting not by seeing. (2 Corinthians 5:7)
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. (Romans 15:13)
I am deeply discouraged. My heart is so sad. But each day the Lord pours his unfailing love and kindness upon me (Psalm 42:5,8)
Even if we feel guilty, God is greater than our feelings, and he knows everything. (1 John 3:20)
Our hearts are at rest and assured in God's presence because even if our heart condemn us, even if we feel guilty, God is greater than our heart, He is greater than our feelings and knows He all things. (1 John 3:19-20)
9. Living by rules and “shoulds” is the surest way to live defeated.
Knowledge of right and wrong does not empower me to do right.
Legalism is trying to make spiritual progress based on what I do.
Trusting, not trying, leads to abundant life.
God’s commands are His invitation to depend on Christ.
Living in God’s love, not fear and guilt, transforms me to be obey God.
My weaknesses and failures remind me to rely on Christ’s life within.
The more I believe and trust God’s love for me, the less I will be unloving towards others.
You were made to die to the Law through the body of Christ, so that you might be joined to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God. For while we were in the flesh, the sinful passions, which were aroused by the Law, were at work in the members of our body to bear fruit for death. But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the spirit and not in oldness of the letter. (Romans 7:4-6)
Sin, taking opportunity through the commandment, deceived me & produced in me coveting of every kind; for apart from the Law sin is dead. (Romans 7:8,11)
Through the Law I died to the Law, so that I might live to God. I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me. I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly.” (Galatians 2:19-21)
If a law had been given which was able to impart life, then righteousness would indeed have been based on law. (Galatians 3:21)
It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery of the law. (Galatians 5:1)
If you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law. (Galatians 5:18)
We are the true circumcision, who worship in the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh, although I myself might have confidence even in the flesh. If anyone else has a mind to put confidence in the flesh, I far more: circumcised the eighth day, of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the Law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the assembly; as to the righteousness which is in the Law, found blameless. But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but dung so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death (Philippians 3:3-10)
See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ. For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, and in Him you have been made complete, and He is the head over all rule and authority; and in Him you were also circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, in the removal of the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ; having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. When you were dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our sins, having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. When He had disarmed the rulers and authorities, He made a public display of them, having triumphed over them through Him. Therefore no one is to act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day— things which are a mere shadow of what is to come; but the substance belongs to Christ. (Colossians 2:8-17)
10. Jesus empowers me to respond to wrongs done with love and forgiveness.
Jesus desires to displace unforgiveness and bitterness in my life.
Bitterness is like drinking rat poison and waiting for the rat to die.
Holding on to anger and bitterness hurts me more than others.
Living in the awareness of God’s forgiveness frees me to forgive others.
Forgiveness is letting go of my "right" to judge and punish.
Offenses are my opportunity to experience Christ living through me.
This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you. (John 15:12)
Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you. (Ephesians 4:32)
So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you forgive one another. Beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity. (Colossians 3:12-14)
Let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love. By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. (1 John 4:7-11)
11. God uses my problems, failures and trials to set me free!
God doesn’t cause suffering, He redeems it!
Problems can be used to bring me to the end of my self-sufficiency.
God uses adversity to free me from dependence on external things.
God brings incredible good out of unspeakable tragedies.
Rejoicing in my trials reveals my trust in God’s love and goodness.
I reveal myself to you so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have troubles, but take courage; I have overcome the world. (John 16:33)
Who or what will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? No, because in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:35-39)
Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your trust produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. (James 1:2-5)
We are protected by the power of God through trust. In this we greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while we have been distressed by various trials. (1 Peter 1:5-6)
Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you; but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of His glory in this circumstance you may rejoice with exultation. (1 Peter 4:12-13)
We do not want you to be unaware, brethren, of our affliction which came to us in Asia, that we were burdened excessively, beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of life; indeed, we had the sentence of death within ourselves so that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead; who delivered us from so great a peril of death, and will deliver us, He on whom we have set our hope. And He will yet deliver us. (2 Corinthians 1:8-10)
Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me—to keep me from exalting myself! Concerning this I implored the Lord three times that it might leave me. And He has said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong. (2 Corinthians 12:7-10)
12. Life is a journey of learning to trust God, live in His love, live by His life, and loving others out of His love!
Father desires the free affection of sons and daughters living in the celebration of His love and life.
Community is sharing our journey with God
honestly as we encourage one another to live in His love and affection.
God’s desire is that I love those whom He places in my path.
Christ is setting me free to live graciously and generously in this world.
Living in Father’s love and affection is the most exciting and satisfying way to live!
Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. (1 Corinthians 10:31)
To us God has willed to make known the riches of glory, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. (Colossians 1:27)
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight. (Proverbs 3:5-6)
Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has seen God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us. By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. (1 John 4:11-13)
Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails. (Proverbs 19:21)
Jesus Christ is the truth about
God. He is the way to have a relationship with God. He is the life of
God, within us (John 14:6). To truly know God is our ultimate
purpose (John 17:3). The more we perceive God as He truly is, the more
we will be transformed into His image (2 Cor. 3:18). Destructive
actions and attitudes are the result of not personally knowing and
trusting the One who is perfect love. As you renew your mind with these
foundational truths, you will begin to recognize and reject the lies
you have believed about God, yourself, and life. As you trust and rely on God, you will
know the truth and it will set you free; free to be and live as God
intended! (John 8:31-32)
This was Edited to fit my experience and understanding of God. Originally Posted Here: Grace...Grace...Grace...: Truth That Sets Us Free!
