The Parable of the Father's Love week 4 day 2 of Living Loved

In my journey of learning to live securely in the Father’s love the understanding that because of Jesus my Heavenly Father will never be angry and punish me has brought such peace to my heart. When He corrects me it is always with love and compassion because I am His beloved child. I don’t really understand why people believe that God is still angry and punishing people for their sins when He made a very clear promise to us all in the book of Isaiah.

In Isaiah 54:8-10 our Heavenly Father says to me and you,   ⁸ “…with everlasting love I will have compassion on you,” says the Lord, your Redeemer. 9 “Just as I swore in the time of Noah that I would never again let a flood cover the earth, so now I swear that I will never again be angry and punish you. ¹⁰ For the mountains may move and the hills disappear, but even then my faithful love for you will remain. My covenant of blessing will never be broken,” says the Lord, who has mercy on you. NLT

In the story of the prodigal son, Jesus gives us a wonderful example of the Father keeping His promise. Here was a son who made bad choices and his life was a mess, but when the son decides to go back to his Father, his Father showers him with love and compassion.  What a beautiful picture of our Heavenly Father’s unconditional love and compassion toward us when we have done wrong. He removes the shame of our sin by reminding us of who we are. He embraces us and kisses us with His words of love. Who wouldn’t want to run to a daddy like that? I know for me this understanding has totally changed my life and my relationship with my Heavenly Father. When I’ve done wrong, I run to Him because He is my safe refuge. He is waiting to correct my wrong opinion of myself with His love. He pours His love and compassion on me and I find myself completely loved by Him and free from the power of sin in my life. What a wonderful Daddy we all have!

Zephaniah 3:17 say, “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.

We truly can live free in our Heavenly Father's unconditional, unchanging love because His good opinion of us never changes!

Living Securely in the Father's Love Week 4 day 1 of Living Loved

There is no one in all the world that is going to love us the way Jesus does. That’s why we can only find true security in our relationship with Him. In this world we all deal with people who disapprove of us or even reject us. I used to live with a sense of rejection. I worried about what people thought about me and their opinion affected my heart in a positive or negative way. This created insecurity in my heart.

Realizing that I am accepted in the beloved (Ephesians 1:6) and allowing that truth to penetrate deep in my heart has brought such healing to my soul. My Heavenly Father loves me. He sent His Son to die for me to prove how valuable and important I am to Him. His thoughts about me are precious and He has a plan to prosper me and give me a hope and a future. If He is for me, who can be against me?

In today’s lesson, I love the example Jesus gave us to demonstrate how we can live free and secure in the Father’s love. Right after the Father said to Jesus, "You are My beloved Son in Whom I am well pleased," the devil came immediately to question His identity. But listen to how Jesus responded, “I live by every word my Heavenly Father says about me.” (Matthew 4:3)

Jesus also faced disapproval and rejection from the people around Him. When they questioned His identity and judged Him badly, He responded in a similar way, “I do nothing without consulting My Father, and everything He says about me is true. Your approval or disapproval means nothing to me because you are not looking at me through my Father’s eyes.” (John 5:30-42)

And in John 8:14-55 Jesus said, "I say only what I have heard my Father say about me and what He says is true. If I were merely boasting about myself it wouldn’t count for anything, but it is my Father who says these glorious things about me and if I said anything about myself other than what my Father says I’d be as big a liar as you.”

This puts a whole new perspective on what it means to follow Jesus' example and be His disciple. I now know what it means to live securely in the Father's love. Just like Jesus, I do not judge myself without consulting the Father because everything He says is true. What others have to say or think about me means nothing if it isn’t in agreement with my Father. My Father says I am loved, abundantly blessed, favored, anointed, healed, accepted, approved, valuable, and complete in Christ. If I were merely boasting about myself it would mean nothing, but it is my Father who says these glorious things about me, and I assure you that everything He says about me is true.

We can live every day secure in the Father’s love by saying only what we hear our Heavenly Father say about us. What does your Heavenly Father say about you?

Established in Righteousness: Week 3 day 3 of Living Loved

You shall establish yourself in righteousness…; you shall be far from even the thought of oppression or destruction, for you shall not fear, and from terror, for it will not come near you. Isaiah 54:13

I am continually amazed at the freedom that the gift of righteousness brings to my heart. When I live in the awareness of who I truly am in Jesus, the devil may try to throw his oppressing, negative thoughts at me, but I simply say, "No! I’m not listening to your lies. I am the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus and God’s promises are true in my life!"

Psalm 112:6-8 says, “ a righteous man will be remembered forever. He will have no fear of bad news; his heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord. His heart is secure, he will have no fear, in the end he will look in triumph on his foes.”

NO FEAR, SECURITY, and TRIUMPH are the fruit of being established in righteousness. I can live secure and confident in this world because of Jesus!

For the last 15 years, I have continually established my heart in the truth of God’s promises concerning my children. Even though the enemy has used negative circumstances to attempt to oppress me with his lies, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve said, Devil, I’m not listening to your lies! My Heavenly Father has spoken and what He says is true. His Spirit will not depart from my children and His Word will come forth from their lips (Isaiah 59:20,21)

Today I experienced the manifestation of that promise as I watched my children sing about what Jesus says about them in this Youtube video. Listen as 3 of my precious children sing the song, “Talk to the hand devil cuz the heart aint listening. We can all live free from the thought of oppression by being established in the truth that we are the righteouness of God in Christ Jesus and what He says about us is true!