IT STARTS WITH LOVE

Welcome to Women of Valour which is about
YOU

experiencing your freedom in Christ, being set free,

experiencing the love of God, and opening your blinded eyes

Isaiah 61:1

 

I have watched the "God's Chisel" video a couple of times now by myself. It ministers to me every time. I believe and understand now:

• I am God's masterpiece
• I am accepted by God.
• Sometimes that I am good enough and other times not.
• Sometimes that I am worthy because of Jesus Christ other times NOT worthy because of my past mistakes.

As I thought about the lies, I have believed I asked God, “What started the chain reaction to bring about the prison doors being opened for me. What happened to allow me to start walking in my freedom in Christ?”

It started with LOVE. I had to accept the fact that God loves me. His love for me is a gift that HE had and has given to each one of us. What do you do when someone gives you a gift? You receive it, open it, and tell others, especially,if it is a REALLY good gift. This was VERY hard for me because I believed no one REALLY loved me. It was a lie. You may be struggling with the same lie or other lies. Apply God’s Word to the lie as you would ointment to a wound and redress it.

The lie I believed was Jesus died on the cross for my sins but NOT because of GOD'S LOVE for me. Jesus represented a way out of hell’s fire and brimstone. I have since learned that the foundation of the Christian walk is LOVE. God is Love. I must admit I struggled with this one because it was a foreign concept to me. I had to ask the question: “Why did You do this for me? God’s reply: “I love you unconditionally." I had to apply HIS Words over and over and over and over again.

I JOHN 4:7-10

⁷ Dear friends (Andrea), let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone (Andrea) who loves is a child of God and knows God. ⁸ But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love. ⁹ God showed how much he loved us (Andrea) by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we (Andrea) might have eternal life through him. ¹⁰ This is real love—not that we (Andrea) loved God, but that he loved us (Andrea) and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our (Andrea) sins.

1)      HE LOVES ME UNCONDITIONALLY

2)      HE GAVE ME ETERNAL LIFE

3)      HE TOOK AWAY ALL MY SINS (Past, Present, and Future sins forgiven)

Don’t get me wrong the broken Body of Jesus is the reason for God’s Love, eternal life, and sins being forgiven, as stated above. But God knows me and HE dealt with me like a child. So he gave me another picture which brings a smile to my face and allows my heart to soar every time I think about it. It was used by God and me to help battle the lie “nobody really loved me.”

TESTIMONY: The Cross with Jesus being crucified represented pain and death to me not LOVE. For a lllloooonnnnggggg time it would bring me down to a low because I knew I was continually sinning and my sins sent Jesus to the cross. The Holy Spirit explained: It was not my sins that held Jesus on the cross. It was My Father's Love for you and I that kept Jesus on the cross. God had to change my mindset where the Cross of Christ was concerned. This picture is what I see when I read or see Jesus being nailed to the cross. I now see a beautiful heart surrounding the Cross instead of the broken body of Jesus. It reminds me just how much MY FATHER and GOD LOVES ME.

REMEMBER:

God loves me because Jesus died for me and

I AM MY FATHER’S CHILD

I love the fact that God, My Father’s Love is NOT dependent on how well I act, feel, or pretend. HIS Love is only based on HIM and the gift of HIS Son. You and I don’t have to try and earn HIS Love it has been freely given to each one of us. Since HIS Love is shown for us, we can choose to show HIS love to others.  Our love without Christ is VERY selfish.

I have found that music helps to open the prison doors as well. It can allow the Holy Spirit to teach us TRUTH and open our blinded eyes.

The words in this song are VERY POWERFUL!!! Once you listen to it, the words get stuck in your mind and you can remember that Jesus Loves ME!!!

 

Prayer: Holy Spirit, make the Love of God real in my life. I choose to believe it even when I don't feel like God loves me.

Question: How have you viewed the Cross and

God’s Love for you?