No Greater Love

If God loved you enough to send His son to die for you, why would he be mad at you?  Many believers live in this state of fear—that the Lord is just waiting to punish them for something they have done. God doesn't punish you. He has forgiven you. He sees you through the eyes of grace—not judgment. You are His child, and you belong to Him.

You don’t need to live in a constant state of fear. “God has not given you a spirit of fear, but of power and love and a sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:7, NKJV). There is no joy in dwelling on what you have done. You are very aware that you have failed. If you keep your mind on Jesus and His gift of incredible grace, failure will not define your life. Joy will be your banner. You will know in the spirit of your mind that you have received forgiveness. You will live in the peaceful freedom of His grace. 

“So have I sworn,” the Lord speaks through Isaiah, “that I would not be angry with you, nor rebuke you. For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed, but my kindness shall not depart from you, nor shall my covenant of peace be removed” (Isaiah 54:9b-10, NKJV). The time is coming, Isaiah says, when there will no longer be a need for God to be angry with you or rebuke you. Well, the time is now. Jesus has reconciled you to God. Circumstances may rage around you, but His kindness will hold you. His covenant of peace is secured. Choose to believe this is true. There is no need for God to be angry at your failure. Jesus paid the price for it. At the cross, He became your covenant of peace. 

“When bad things happen to us,” Tricia Gunn shares in Unveiling Jesus,“or when we do bad things, we need to hang onto this truth that God is not mad at us. God has made an enduring covenant with us and wants us to rest in His presence of love. He will never be angry with us—not because we are good, but because the work of His Son on our behalf is perfect and finished.”

The Truth is “he (God) made Him (Jesus) who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21, NKJV). Jesus became your sin. He gave you His righteousness.

Isaiah prophesied of this promise, “In righteousness you shall be established; you shall be far from oppression, for you shall not fear; and from terror, for it shall not come near you” (Isaiah 54:14, NKJV). 

When you believe by His grace that Jesus has established you in righteousness—and not of anything you have done—the pressure to be good enough is removed. You will not live in oppression. You will not fear. You will live in peace, joyfully realizing that God is not mad at you. After all, He sent His own Son to die for you.

There is no greater love than this.

© 2019 Lynn Lacher

www.lynnlacher.com/2019/01/no-greater-love.html