The God Who Chose Love Over Life

He died to prove that He loves you beyond His life. And that even death would not come between Him and you.

God had a choice. He could have decided to give us up to destruction. He could have chosen to preserve His Life. But He chose not to. He took the path that would cost Him everything.

God chose LOVE over LIFE.

And was crushed beyond recognition, that you might be made whole and beautiful.

He had put upon Himself your weaknesses, wounds and sores and, carried away your diseases, that you might be well.

Jesus wore a crown of thorns, pierced His head with briars, that you might be made whole in your emotions and mind.

Though He was infinitely rich, He impoverished Himself, that you might become rich beyond measure.

He laid down His life for you, that you might be forgiven. And was raised from the dead, to justify, prove that you were “Not guilty.”

Now, “Who could separate us from the endless love of God’s Anointed One?
Absolutely no one!
For nothing in the universe has the the power to diminish His love for us. Troubles, pressures, and problems are unable to come between us and heaven’s love. What about persecutions, deprivations, dangers, and death threats?
No, for they are all impotent to hinder omnipotent love.”

We triumph over all these things.
For the One Who loves us enough to go to hell for us has made us partners of His endless triumph.
We are more than conquerors. We are larger than life. His reckless and passionate love is our sure victory over everything!

Happy Valentine’s Day!

THE NAMES OF GOD.

The God Who is present.

You may be wondering, why study the Names of God?
Jesus let us in on the relevance of knowing the Names of God.
In John 17:26, He said, in a conversation with the Father:
“And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, THAT THE LOVE WITH WHICH YOU LOVED ME MAY BE IN THEM, AND I IN THEM.”

So we are learning about the names of God, that our hearts may be established in His love, the very love with which He loved Jesus Christ, the Son of His love!

What does a name tell us? What’s in a name that gives it such power?
Do names have any more significance besides identification?

Names are revealing. Names, especially in the Eastern cultures carried far more significance than they do in the Western world.

In the ancient civilization, names were thought to reveal the essential nature and character of a person – the way he/she reasons and does things.

With this background insight, it becomes easier to understand the Names of God and how they give us a revelation of Who He is and what He does. Studying the Names of God would reveal His love nature. And you could never know of His love without falling head-over-heels in love with Him. ?

We shall start with the name JEHOVAH SHAMMAH, which means the-Lord-is-present.

“The distance all around will be 18,000 cubits. “And the name of the city from that time on will be: the Lord is there.”
~ Ezekiel 48:35

This Name speaks of the relational nature of God. We see Him in the Garden of Eden, having intimacies with man and His wife. He cherished His communion with them. Then sin comes in and destroys that beautiful relationship.
But that’s not all. Next, we see God sacrificing His very own Son, to reconcile man back to Himself and restore that precious relationship He once had with humanity.

God is a Father Who loves to have a vital relationship with His children. He wants to be present in your life. He longs to be involved with every detail of your life. He doesn’t want to be distant. No!
He is not an absentee Father. No!
He yearns to live, not just with you, but in you, in your heart… To dance with you, sing over you, cry with you, and rejoice with you… To comfort, guide, strengthen and watch over you.

He’s engraved you on the palm of His hands. Your face is ever before Him. He would never leave nor forsake you.

“…for He [God] Himself has said, I will not in any way fail you nor give you up nor leave you without support. [I will] not, [I will] not, [I will] not in any degree leave you helpless nor forsake nor let [you] down (relax My hold on you)! [Assuredly not!]”
~Hebrews 13:5, AMP

This truth should be a shield, to protect your heart from the feeling of loneliness and helplessness.
For you’re NEVER ALONE!

He is the God Who is present!

God made the birds to fly and the fishes to swim. God made you for love and intimacy. To live life unloved is like clipping the wings of a bird or the fins of a fish. It’s to be unfulfilled.

After God made man, the Bible tells us something deep about the man God created. “And God said, it is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him an help meet for him.”
(Genesis 2:18)

Did you see that?
You were made for connection, relationship, intimacy, communion. Outside of this, you malfunction.

Man’s first relationship was with his Manufacturers, God. He first spoke and shared with Him. God’s original intention wasn’t to create servants or slaves to serve Him. No! If that’s all about it, then man would not be needed, because God already had myriads of angels. However, God wanted a family of sons (males and females). He wanted sons He could share His life with.

You know, God is love. And it’s the nature of love to share. So God wanted to share His life and nature with man. He wanted to give you His peace, especially when you’re going through some storms. He wanted to share His joy with you, especially when you’re grieving or sad. He wanted you to share in His righteousness.

Not only did God want to share His life with you, but He also wants to share in your own life with you. He wanted to be in touch with your realities. God wants to share in my life? Yes, your life! He wants to be a part of your struggles. He wants to be with you in your grief. He wants to help you out of those things you’re even ashamed to talk about. God wants to take your brokenness and piece it together into something beautiful and attractive.

Yes, that temptation that always makes your trip, God wants to help you find the strength to overcome it. You need to know that He isn’t irritated with you. God isn’t depressed by your failures. God isn’t even expecting you to walk perfectly. Because He knows that you can’t, without Him. All He wants is for you to trust Him enough to let Him help you.

Will you let Him help you today?
Life wasn’t meant to be lived alone. You were not made to go it alone. You were made for intimacy with the Father. That’s where your life, joy, peace, strength flows out from.

Kindly ask God to come and walk this path of life together with you today.

To live authentically is to live life true to who you really are; to live from the centre or core of your being; to be in touch with and completely yield to your inner deep wiring.

Our hearts were designed for COMPASSION.
When the all-wise God was making you, He carefully placed within you something called BOWEL or a HEART of COMPASSION – the capacity to be able to enter into someone else’s world and feel what they are feeling.

COMPASSION is from the Greek sumpathos; meaning to share feelings and emotions.

COMPASSION is a deep awareness of the suffering of another, coupled with the will to help them or relieve it.
This is what makes us truly human. Without compassion, we are simply heartless!

When we go against our true selves, when we refuse to yield to our inner design for compassion, we tend to experience friction within us. Our very life revolts against us. We feel dis-comfort, dis-ease, un-rest. We are dis-heartened.

Can you remember a time when you saw a need that you could meet, but rather turned the other way?
How did you feel? Fantastic?
No!
We never feel great when we refuse to help others. We feel terrible.

COMPASSION is the doorway into the innermost parts of your being. It churns the very visceral parts of you. It turns on your love nature, impacts your emotions, judgment and reason.

Our God is a God, Who is merciful and full of compassion. And we are created in His image and likeness. We are natural lovers. We are born compassionate.

Compassion is the trademark of the child of God. Compassion is like the trigger that releases your abilities and graces.

The ability to feel what others are feeling and the inner drive to reach out and relieve them is what births miracles in a minister’s life and ministry. It’s the secret of true happiness.

The feeling of compassion is God (LOVE) at work within your heart, MOVING you to reach out and alleviate someone’s pain or sorrow, with the spiritual or material resources He has given you!

To shut off your BOWELS or HEART of COMPASSION is to refuse to yield to your true self. It’s to go against your God-given heartbeat. And to limit the expression of the love of God within you.

“But if anyone has this world’s goods (resources for sustaining life) and sees his brother and fellow believer in need, yet closes his HEART of COMPASSION against him, how can the love of God live and remain in him?”
(1John 3:17, AMP)

To let loose your heart of compassion is, to let loose your real life. It is giving expression to the love of God and His abilities deep within you. It is to let loose your happiness and inner joy that never comes any other way else. It is called living authentically.

Identity a need and let your HEART of COMPASSION move you to meet it. That’s the secret to abundant overflowing joy.

We invest one more day looking at what it really means to be loved by God. And today we shall focus on His unconditional forgiveness.

Last week a brother of mine had some issues with his health. And when he got to a pharmacist, he was diagnosed of typhoid and malaria fever. He was given appropriate medication, and by the next day, the guy was on his feet again. Praise God!

However, the most interesting part of his story is that, when a certain pastor, who felt that the guy had disrespected her (even though the guy in question didn’t even know he had wronged her!) heard about his health challenge, she said that the young man was sick because he had disrespected her.

Have you ever had a challenge, and felt like that’s God getting even with you?
I used to be that way. That’s more because of the kinds of preachings I had received back then. I always interpreted problems as God trying to get back at me. But nothing could be farther from the truth!

That’s such a wrong misrepresentation of who God really is. God is intrinsically good. He is endlessly merciful; infinitely compassionate; eternally forgiving. And He never deals with us according to our wrongs. No, He doesn’t!
The Psalmist said,
“he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities.”
(Psalm 103:10, NIV)

Rather, God treats us with infinite compassion. If He keeps a grudge against us or repays us according to our sins, He will be contradicting His nature and His Word.

His Word says,
“I, even I, am He Who blots out and cancels your transgressions, for My own sake, and I will not remember your sins.”
(Isaiah 43:25, AMP)

God has forever forgiven you of your sins and He has absolved you from all your guilt, if you are in Christ. Hear what His Word says,

“As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.”
(Psalm 103:12, AMP)

Not only has God forgiven you, He has also, eternally separated you from your sins, never to be united ever again.
That’s a Hallelujah right there!

God never calls your sins to remembrance. No, He never does!
As powerful and as all-knowing as God is, He has chosen to forget all our wrongs once forgiven. He never keeps a record of what His mercy has forgiven. If you’re in Christ, this is your reality. Fear no more!

This is the truth about God. Study along these lines. Fill up your minds with these truth until they supplant every lie of the devil in your subconscious mind.

When God says I love you, He means that He has forever forgiven you, and will never keep a grudge against you.

When God says “I love you,” He meant that He has ACCEPTED YOU. So go right on ahead and accept yourself for who you are, irrespective of whether someone else accepts you or not.

We are all driven by the need for acceptance. It’s a God-given need built deep into everyone of us.

The world is more starved of unconditional love and acceptance than it is of food and safe drinking water. This famine isn’t only in the ghettoes of the world, but also in the palaces. It’s a plaque of both the rich and the poor; the young and the old; the weak and the strong alike; the civilized and the primitive.

God designed your soul to thrive and flourish in love and acceptance. Without these, the soul is diseased and infirmed. And can’t function effectively. We can see the effects of rejection in the soul in our relationships, marriages, careers, ministries, etc

When we don’t have meaningful acceptance, we feel rejection. This could come from our own parents, friends, colleagues, teachers or any other authority figure in our lives.

For instance, a child who is born into a family at a time it’s not wanted, for whatever reasons, may feel rejected. Or may be the child isn’t the sex the parents were expecting. Their disappointment communicates rejection to the child’s mind.

Rejection can result to all kinds of disorders, such as poor self-image, low self-worth, self-rejection, depression, lesbianism, etc

There are varying degrees of rejection. And this depends on the level of closeness or intimacy with the person that rejected you.

You may have been carrying rejection in your soul all your life, but there’s a good news. The good news is this: God have accepted you, and unconditionally too!

God’s love has no rejection. His love is patient with your weaknesses. His love is eternally bent on doing you the highest good. God’s love for you isn’t dependent on your goodness. Hence, your failures can never turn Him away.

God’s love never keeps a record of your wrongs. He had already forgiven them in Christ Jesus. And if you will only yield to His immeasurable love for you, you will lead such a triumphant life.

Live life loved of God and watch your soul prosper. Because your entire life is tied to the well-being of your soul.

“Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in every way and [that your body] may keep well, even as [I know] your soul keeps well and prospers.”
(3John 2, AMP)

You’re only as prosperous as your soul. Nothing less. Nothing more. Your success at relationships, marriage, career, business depends a lot on whether or not your soul feels secure. Accepting Father God’s unconditional love, drives out rejection and the fear of it from our minds.

Receive the Father’s unconditional acceptance today and prosper in your soul!
Let His incredibly lavish love wash over your soul, cleansing and healing it from the wounds of rejection.

When Daddy God declares over you, “This is my Son, chosen and marked by my love, delight of my life,”
He is saying, “I CHERISH you, My Child.”

To cherish is to treat with tenderness and affection; to nurture with care; to protect and aid. God regards you with such tender affection. He cares about you deeply. His everlasting arms are always stretched over you, to keep you safe from harm. He is so deeply moved at the thought of you. For you’re the Son of His love, the offspring of the sacred sacrifice of God’s only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ.

When God sees you, He remembers all that went into the redemption of your soul. The excruciating pain that His Son endured. The shame. The mockery. The sweat-turned blood. The indescribable agony in Gethsemane.

Father God holds you very dear to His heart. You’re His most precious treasure, the trophy of His Son’s obedience, and triumph over Satan, sin and death.

You may be thinking, “how could God love someone like me, who isn’t doing everything right?”
His incredible love is greater than your failures. God loves you in spite of your slips and falls. He loves you because of Christ’s sacrifice for your soul. And if you will rest in His boundless love for you, sin will loosen its grip on your soul.
The truth of His love will make you free. When you know Him, that He is love and He loves you with all that He is, you will invariably love Him in return.

Daddy God yearns for you with such deep cravings. He yearns to hear your voice. He longs for your fellowship. He desires for you to, not lose sight of Him, while you go through the activities of the day. He loves to hear your heart think about Him, and your voice offer up worship. He adores every moment with you. All because of what Christ has done for you.
You’re forever CHERISHED!

The Lord shouts over you:

“The Lord your God is in the midst of you, a Mighty One, a Savior [Who saves]! He will rejoice over you with joy; He will rest [in silent satisfaction] and in His love He will be silent and make no mention [of past sins, or even recall them]; He will exult over you with singing.”

You’re CHERISHED!

In the next couple of days we shall be considering what God really means when He says to you, “I love you.”

Matthew gave us the account of Jesus’ baptism in the Jordan river, how that He was baptised by John the Baptist. And how there came a voice out of heaven, declaring:
“… This is My Son, My Beloved, in Whom I delight!”
(Matthew 3:17,AMP)

I can imagine the holy reverence and awe that filled the hearts of those who heard those sacred and blessed words.
Those words came straight from the Father’s heart, declaring His never-endind love for the Son of His love. The Son in whom His soul delighted. And the good news is this, those words didn’t stop with Christ.

“And behold, a voice from heaven said, This is My Son, My Beloved, in Whom I delight!”
Those same sacred Words were said about you, the moment you submitted to the lordship of Christ. They were declared from heaven, and heard on earth and beneath the earth, in the spirit realm.

God says you are His Beloved Child, in whom He delights.
When God says, “I love you,” He means that He DELIGHTS in you. I take a peculiar delight in you.

See how the Message translation renders this verse:
“This is my Son, chosen and marked by my love, delight of my life.”

God says you’re His Child, chosen and marked by His love, and the delight of His heart. He is saying, “I like you!” God likes you down to your toes.

Isn’t it amazing to know that God likes, delights, and finds pleasure in you?
Oh, how He loves you! There ain’t limit to how He cherishes you. God takes pride in you. As a matter of fact, He wants to flaunt His beauty and magnificence to the whole creation, through you. Apostle Peter attests to this, when he said:

“But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a dedicated nation, [God’s] own purchased, special people, that you may set forth the wonderful deeds and display the virtues and perfections of Him Who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.”
(1Peter 2:9, AMP)

Imagine waking up and going to bed with the thought that God delights in you; that He isn’t displeased with you.

God is greatly pleased with you.
He isn’t angry with you. You are not disgusting to Him. No! Rather, God derives great pleasure in you, because of Christ’s sacrifice for you.
When God sees you, He sees the offspring of His Son’s death on the cross. And that gives Him great pleasure.

Start each day with this truth, and watch everything change.

Have you ever felt like you can take it no more with some persons in your life?
Or maybe you have to put up with a nagging parent or an “impossible” employer, and you’re beginning to feel you have endured for so long and can’t go any further?
Or maybe you outrightly feel like you don’t have the energy to love.

Relationships demand and take alot from us – emotionally, mentally and physically. And for difficult ones, it can be really exhausting, taking every ounce of your emotional strength.

I have had to put up with some persons at certain times in my life, who were hellbent on ruining my reputation and discrediting the work of God in my life. They said all kinds of things against me. But I was not permitted (by God) to hit them back. ?

Rather, I was commanded to respond to them with love. With love? Yes, with love. This was a very difficult time in my life. The natural inclination was to hit back, good measure running over. But I had a strong restraint from within. That’s when I realized that it takes more energy loving than hating. Because hating comes natural, but loving takes such determination. Such energy.

What I needed was the energy to love those “undeserving” persons. The strength to bless those who were cursing me. The energy to pray FOR, and NOT AGAINST my persecutors. The ability to accommodate the “irritating.”

I saw something really powerful, that blesses me so much. It’s found in Colossians 1:11
Here was apostle Paul praying for the Colossians during a tough time in their lives. He prayed for them that they might “be INVIGORATED and STRENGTHENED with all power according to the might of his glory, [to exercise] every kind of ENDURANCE and PATIENCE (perseverance and forbearance) with JOY.” (MSG)

Wow, what a prayer!
Always remember this: there is energy for any difficult relationship. Your relationship can never become so difficult, that the ability of God will not be sufficient for you to handle it.

God wants to give you the ability to hang in there, without quitting or withdrawing your love. He wants to lift you above depression or gloom, and cause you to go through that ordeal with patience and exuberant joy. He wants to make your heart so strong, that you won’t be exhausted any longer, but be full of such JOY.
He wants to reinforce your heart with His ability, to keep loving that deviant child, that absentee father, that uncaring person, with all your heart while God works on their minds, to save them.

When faced with difficult people, never sink into depression nor give up. Rather, turn to God for the spiritual energy to love such people. Love ain’t weak; it’s invigorated by God Himself, to stand up to challenges, with joy!

When you feel weak or you don’t seem to have the energy to continue, turn to God for a recharge. Ask to be invigorated and strengthened, to exercise endurance and patience. But more, to be full of JOY!

We were wired for love. Yes, love. That’s why nothing gives you a sense of well-being as loving and being loved.

Oftentimes, we don’t live true to this wiring. We hold back from living the love life. We deny our true God-shaped selves the freedom to express ourselves – love and be loved. And when we do that, little do we realize that we are holding back from living authentically.

So what is stopping you from being authentic?
What’s stopping you from living your life the way you were designed to function?
For some it is fear. Fear of being left. Fear of losing their freedom. Fear of rejection. Fear of misconstruction. Fear of not being hot or good enough. Fear of the opinions of other people. The list goes on.

Yet for some, what’s standing between them and their real life is offenses. Bitterness. Hurt. Unforgiveness. They have been hurt so bad. So they have shut up their heart against kindness. Their bowels of compassion are closed. They have been betrayed. So they refuse to believe any more. They approach everyone with suspicion.

I have been hurt countless times. And for some occasions, I had decided to stay as far from those persons as possible. Yet, for others, I had told myself that I would never again listen to them if they came calling for help.

Yet deep within me, there’s this thing I still felt when I saw people going through something unpleasant. My heart always went out to them. I always wanted to reach out and help.
Not helping always felt like living against my design. And it was.
And holding back, say, greetings, would make me feel so unnatural. And it’s unnatural with us!

So I decided that nothing and no one would make me live against my wiring for love. I decided that I am going to live my life unrestrained. Unrestrained by hurt and offenses. Unrestrained by fears of any kind. Unrestrained by people’s opinions.

I have decided that I am going to trust like I’ve never been betrayed before; love like I’ve never been hurt before; give like I’ve never been denied before; and reach out and touch lives like I’ve never been misrepresented or misunderstood before.

God is love. And love is God in action. When you hold back love, you hold back God in your life and relationship. You limit His forgiveness and kindness. You hold back His power. You deny His compassion the freedom to find expression in and through you, to reach a hurting world.

A bird must fly; a fish must swim; a painter must paint, and a teacher must teach, if they will ever feel fulfilled.
In the same light, we must love, no matter what, if we will ultimately feel a sense of satisfaction or well-being.
For we are God-wired for love:

“For we are God’s [own] handiwork (His workmanship), recreated in Christ Jesus, [born anew] that we may do those good works which God predestined (planned beforehand) for us [taking paths which He prepared ahead of time], that we should walk in them [living the good life which He prearranged and made ready for us to live].”
(Ephesians 2:10, AMP)

And until we yield to our design, we will not be at peace with ourselves.
So I have decided to live life unrestrained. Ain’t nobody gonna stop me! ?

I pray for you, that nobody will stop you from living your authentic God-wired life of love. In Jesus Name.