Video Illustration: The Bridge
Our video clip really demonstrates the pain of sacrificing someone we love for the sake of others. It’s rooted in John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
But why do we think that when God sacrificed Jesus that it did not hurt like it did this father sacrificing his son hurt? The hurt was real and it was painful but God did driven by His love for all to be saved.
Series: Summer Love – IN!
Thesis: We all desire to experience a love that reaches us deep down inside our soul – inside our heart – it’s so deep it touches our inner spirit - this type of love is likened to when we first fell in love – our first love – it’s sends chills up and down our spine – our mind is engrossed in the one we love – we think about them all the time – we want to spend as much time with them as we can – we are willing to sacrifice for this love – do you recall that kind of summer – Love - in? The truth is God wants us to experience that same kind of love from within our heart -soul-mind and spirit with Him.
Let me share another story with you: What is the real meaning of the word sacrificial love!
SACRIFICING THE SON
There was a Pastor, who after the usual Sunday Evening Hymns, stood up, walked over to the pulpit and, before he gave his sermon for the evening, briefly introduced a guest minister who was in service that evening. In the introduction, the Pastor told the congregation that the guest minister was one of his dearest childhood friends and that he wanted him to have a few moments to greet the church and share whatever he felt would be appropriate for the service. With that, an elderly man stepped up to the pulpit and began to speak.
"A father, His son, and a friend of his were sailing off of the Pacific Coast," He began, "When a fast approaching storm blocked any attempt to get back to shore. The waves were so high, that even though the father was an experienced sailor, he could not keep the boat upright and the three were swept into the ocean as the boat capsized.
The old man hesitated for a moment, making eye contact with two teenagers who were, for the first time since the service began, looking somewhat interested in his story. The aged minister continued with his story, "Grabbing a rescue line, the father had to make the most excruciating decision of his life: to which boy he would throw the other end of the lifeline. He only had seconds to make the decision. The father knew that his son was a Christian and he also knew that his son’s friend was not. The agony of his decision could not be matched by the torrent of waves. "As the father yelled out, ‘I love you son!’ He threw out the lifeline to his son’s friend.
By the time the father had pulled the friend back to the capsized boat, his son had disappeared beneath the raging swells into the black of the night. His body was never recovered." By this time, the two teenagers were sitting up straight in the pew, anxiously waiting for the next words to come out of the old minister’s mouth. "The father," he continued knew his son would step into eternity with Jesus and could not bear the thought of his son’s friend stepping into eternity without Jesus.
Therefore, he sacrificed his son to save his son’s friend… With that the old man turned and sat back down in his chair as silence filled the room. The Pastor again walked slowly to the pulpit and delivered a brief sermon… Within minutes after the service ended, the two teenagers were at the old man’s side.
"That was a nice story," Politely stated the boys, "But I don’t think it was realistic for a father to give up his son’s life in hopes that the other boy would become a Christian."
"Well, you’ve got a point there," the old man replied glancing down at the worn Bible. A big smile broadened his narrow face, he once again looked up at the boys and said, "It sure isn’t realistic, is it? But I’m standing today to tell you that the story gives me a glimpse of what it must have been like for God to give up His only son for me. You see… I was the father and your Pastor was my son’s friend."
Real genuine LOVE is all about sacrifice!
Sermon: Love from With - In - 1st love!
Thesis: God is the one who created “Love” because He is love. He also coined the term “1st Love” which means that He loved us first before we ever loved Him in return. To experience God’s love is a love that reaches deep down in our soul, mind and spirit! We need to love God like He loved us from within the deepest part of our soul and heart.
Opening Scripture: I John 4:19 (NIV) states, “We love because he first loved us!”
Introduction:
Love is going to be our topic today and this summer month of July. But that 4 letter word love needs to be redefined today to make sure we understand what love really is. So, to get a Biblical understanding of this word let’s make sure we define what love is not.
Pretty much everything you see in romantic movies or read about in romantic novels or watch in romantic sitcoms is not genuine love instead it’s actually a cheap fake or fraud to real love. I could also say it’s a cheap substitute for the real thing – for the real deal.
Every person is on a search for real love and that can only be found in God who is love. Many are in frantic search for it but cannot find it because they are looking for love in all the wrong places. The media lies and proclaims this is love, that is love, and even diamonds are love!
Quote: Sweeting, “Love is the Greatest” page 9 “Our world is starving for love. Deep down inside every human being. God has planted a thirst for Himself that is never satisfied until we are united with Him” (This is Real LOVE).
LOVE has been redefined by the world – this why so many cannot find real love today – the world throws everything into the love category and it is uses this word very carelessly. Have you ever wondered why – It’s really an assault on GOD who is Love – His nature is LOVE his DNA is Love – so the world motivated by evil spirits desires to demean and diminish the truth that God is love and love is only found in God.
Here are some examples of love being redefined by this world --- For example:
L – Lusting after another is called “love” and having sex before marriage is called “making love” – sorry it’s not love – sin has no love in it.
O – Out of the closet is love – The Gay community says they are the ones who know how to really love. Reference real love images of gay couples when I typed in a search for real love. They say that they have the real deal – sorry once again not genuine authentic love! It’s once again a cheap substitute for the real deal. Sin has no love in it! See Romans 1:18-32; Lev. 18:22-30; Genesis 19:1-29; Jude 7
V – Valentine’s Day they say is all about love! I beg to differ with you that this day which is supposedly focused on love is not rooted and grounded in real genuine authentic love. Instead it focuses on love between two people but not necessarily is that genuine authentic Biblical love. Why? If God has no part of a relationship then love is absent. If He is not at the center of a relationship then there is no real love involved instead it’s just another cheap substitute.
If you really want to dive deep into real love it’s not found going out to a fancy restaurant. It’s also not found by going out as a couple to a movie. Real Biblical love has nothing to do with candies, flowers, cards or even romantic nights away in a hotel or Bed and Breakfast. Real love has nothing to do with the Opera, Play or Ballot! Real love has to do with being Biblical and sacrificial!
E – Eroticism is flashed before our eyes daily. Porn is running wild on TV’s, computer screens, magazines, photos, the internet but this is not LOVE. It’s sin! We see the media using sexy images to sell products trying to tell us that this will satisfy and bring real love to our lives. But this too is not real love either because for many it’s just another cheap substitute for the real thing called LOVE. Real love comes from within your spirit and soul! It’s 100% connected with God!
We hear the word LOVE describing one’s favorite food to one’s favorite car.
The truth is love - the real word love – is rooted in God alone – “No God – No Love” says the Bible.
No matter how much the world/culture/or our society tries to redefine the word love it’s actually not correct – it’s a distortion of the truth!
Love’s focused intent is giving itself for another with no expectation in return!
This is why Paul wrote the following verse:
Romans 12:1 (NIV) “1Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. (This is LOVE).
Paul is talking here about real Biblical love. It’s a love from within!
T.S. - Let’s read from a text in Ezekiel and discover once again what real genuine love looks like and acts like. I know this is an unusual text to use to make appoint for God’s LOVE!
Scripture Text: Main text - Ezekiel 37:23-27
22I’ll make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel, and give them one king—one king over all of them. Never again will they be divided into two nations, two kingdoms. 23Never again will they pollute their lives with their no-god idols and all those vile obscenities and rebellions. I’ll save them out of all their old sinful haunts. I’ll clean them up. They’ll be my people! I’ll be their God! 24My servant David will be king over them. They’ll all be under one shepherd. “‘They’ll follow my laws and keep my statutes.
25They’ll live in the same land I gave my servant Jacob, the land where your ancestors lived. They and their children and their grandchildren will live there forever, and my servant David will be their prince forever. 26I’ll make a covenant of peace with them that will hold everything together, an everlasting covenant. I’ll make them secure and place my holy place of worship at the center of their lives forever. 27I’ll live right there with them. I’ll be their God! They’ll be my people!
In our Scripture text today we get a picture of God’s love for His people and in turn His willingness to forgive and restore a broken nation who deserted their precious love first love. He gave them the promised land – he did miracles for them – and they in turn ended up rejecting Him – abandoning His truth and Word. This passage is prophetic and points to Jesus and the New Jerusalem spoken of in Revelation. It really points to God’s LOVE for Israel and really for all of us!
All the way through the Bible God’s love radiates out of its pages for His people – even when they reject His truths and His way of Love. God LOVES inspite of our wayward ways and He seeks to restore and renew those who have followed the way of the world. God LOVES that is why He sent Jesus to suffer and die so we could find real love!
The truth is God loves His creation and desires to be in relationship with us. Not as an autocratic dictatorial leader but as a loving Father. His discipline is always motivated even driven by His love for His children. Throughout the OT God uses tough love to train and restore His fallen children. This section is all about a Father’s Love for His children and His undying love for those who have deserted Him. Listen closely:
Ezekiel 37:22-27 (Exegete using the NIV)
I. God’s love for Israel - Exegetical meaning and message of our text a prophetic word of the future of Jesus and the New Jerusalem:
a. Verse 22: God basically tells us that He will restore a divided Israel and bless them with reunification and One King. In a sense He says, “I will show them love in spite of their disunity.”
i. This One King will be Jesus of the line of David – The demonstration of God’s love for His people and His willingness to sacrifice to show His LOVE for his wayward people.
b. Verse 23: God then goes one step deeper into love He promises to deliver them from themselves and their sinful ways. He will reach down from heaven and deliver them from their sinful cells of bondage. He will pull them out of the miry manure of sin and even clean them up. He will wash their smelly bodies and feet with real love. He will cleanse them and they will know that they are His people, His children, and His 1st love.
i. Love always goes the extra mile and restores – reaches down to pull the ones it loves from their bondage.
c. Verse 24: He promises that David's line will rule over them and we know that this is Jesus. Jesus will be their one loving shepherd. He will be the one to show the world God’s love and He will protect and look after the sheep of God. This true loving shepherd will teach them God’s law of love, this good shepherd will be a role-model to all of them on How to love the Father and serve the Father.
i. LOVE is a verb it’s an action – it’s part of who God is and does!
d. Verse 25: Love will keep its promise of planting them back into the Promised land of love and blessings. And Jesus will be there prince of peace. He will establish them back home in a secure and loving environment.
i. The Promise of the New Jerusalem in the endtimes!
e. Verse 26: Jesus will establish a covenant of peace for them and He does this by dying on the cross for the lost children of God. This covenant made with blood is a sacrifice of love and it will hold everything together. It will unite this divided nation and it will unify the world under this mighty prince. This covenant is not nor ever will be temporary it’s a permanent deal sent from God the Father to His children. He will not only make this covenant but He will place the holy place of worship right before them in the center of their hearts and lives.
i. Love wins in the end – read Revelation!
f. Verse 27: He will live with them and dwell with them just like it was in the beginning with Adam and Eve. The Father will be their loving God. And all those who embrace Him will be His people, and His children forever.
i. LOVE will be the government of Heaven – and God LOVE in the flesh will dwell there with His people.
g. The bottom line here is God first loves us and we should love Him in return first before anyone or anything else!
i. We need to embrace – or – reembrace our first LOVE!
T.S. – Throughout the OT and NT God shows us what real love is. Real love sacrifices for the one it loves ---- So - for us to go deeper into this pursuit of real love let’s look at the definition of “First Love.” more deeply!
II. First Love is defined for us in the Bible and we need to understand what it is.
a. “First Love” – definition - is how God the Father really loves each and every one of us, How God the Father loves Israel and really all the people of this world. He loved all of us and that is why He sent His son to die for us. It was all created and executed by love.
i. It’s a love that touches us from within!
1. It’s not an on again off again experience – it’s rooted deep into our heart-our soul our spirit.
ii. I John 4:19 (NIV) states, “We love because he first loved us!”
1. The truth is God first loved us and then we saw or experienced that powerful love and it in turn changed us. Many sitting here today can say that they embraced love in response to what God has done for them personally. Do you recall that precious moment in time?
2. For those who are still head over heels in love with the Lord it’s a moment of pure joy, of pure thankfulness for His great expression of love.
a. I pray that you are still in LOVE with Jesus 1st!
3. But for some here today the truth is you have been drifting over time away from your first LOVE – this has happened slowly and your love for God, for His presence, for His voice, for His direction, and for His provision has waned.
a. Time seems to have drained away your first love, your love seemed to fade – to erode away slowly.
b. You loved a little less each day and then finally you woke up one day feeling distant from the one who loved you the most.
c. It seemed as if love had vanished in your life. But the truth is our love for Him died not His love for us.
d. When your love died for Him it lied to you saying, “God does not really love you!” “Who are you kidding!” “You do not pray enough or spend time in His word enough!” So, we listen to lies and it siphons away our love for Him and then cages us from within – to chain up love from encouraging us!
i. It makes us think that God does not love us. That we have been rejected by LOVE! But it’s a lie a deception of our soul.
iii. Our minds get influenced by our culture, by media, by the devil and even by our own thought process.
1. We think that God will love us less by our actions or reactions to life.
a. The truth is God loves me as much today as He did when I was a practicing sinner. His love is consistent and steady and it is not like my so-called love.
i. His love surfaces from within – we love Him from within the recess of our soul-our heart- our spirit.
2. My love seems to waiver and to fade but His never does and it never will. He loved me enough to die for me today as much as when I was a lost and a full fledged living and breathing sinner. He loves me in spite of myself.
a. This is real LOVE!
iv. I find it a shame that the English language has only one word for love whereas the Greek has three words for love:
1. Phileo – natural love – or companion type love - If you love me then I will love you! It is rooted in fondness or liking of each other.
2. Eros – Sexual love – self gratifying – it’s all about the sex.
3. Agape – Perfect God type love – sacrificial – unselfish – I will love you and even die for you even if you don’t love me.
a. I think we need to redefine love today especially since it gets a bad rap in the media, in movies, in sitcoms and in churches today.
b. It’s a love from within – deep within our soul!
b. Revelation 2:1-7: let’s look at this term “first love” again as it relates to us as Christians.
i. To the church in Ephesus
1“To the angel of the church in Ephesus write: These are the words of him who holds the seven stars in his right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands: 2I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. 3You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary. 4Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love. 5Remember the height from which you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.
6But you have this in your favor: You hate the practices of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate. (part of idol worship in eating foods offered to idols and practicing fornication)7He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God.
1. Melvin Newland notes this about our text: The first question is, "What is first love?"
a. A while back I listened to someone reminiscing about his first love. He recalled tree-lined streets, & long summer evenings when he & his girl friend walked down the street holding hands & dreaming of their future together. They envisioned themselves living in a little cottage built for two in their blue heaven somewhere. When practical questions arose concerning money, they answered it in what seemed to them a most logical way. They said, "We’ll live on love." That’s the way first love is, isn’t it? It loves the object of its affection without reservation. It is being totally head over heels in love.
b. Quote: Newland “Now what is "first love" in God’s eyes? It is the love that first brought you to God. It is the love that you experienced when you saw the cross as it really was. This love impacted you from within. It was when you realized that the blood of Jesus Christ was shed for your sin & you were overwhelmed with His amazing love. So you became a child of God, & you experienced His forgiveness.”
c. The following thoughts are also taken from the sermon “Losing your first love --- Melvin Newland”
i. “It isn’t the giant step from virtue into corruption that we need to fear. It’s the little steps that ultimately lead us away from God. It must have happened that way in the church in Ephesus. In Rev. 2:1-5, as Jesus looked at that church, He saw many positive things.”
1. Listen as I read the first 3 verses:
a. "These are the words of Him who holds the 7 stars in his right hand and walks among the 7 golden lampstands: `I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary.’"
ii. Newland, “Isn’t that a great description of a church? We’d be proud to have Jesus say something like that about us, wouldn’t we?”
1. He adds, “But Jesus doesn’t stop there. He goes on in vs. 4, "Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love." I don’t imagine that their forsaking their first love happened in one giant step. It wasn’t that just one day they decided not to love God any more. It was a gradual thing. For a while their love for God was so great & so infectious that people were drawn into their fellowship. Great sermons were preached, & wonderful things were happening. And they were known far & wide for their steadfast faithfulness, even in the face of persecution. But then, people who used to pray a lot gradually stopped praying. People who may have been giving a lot gradually quit giving.”
iii. Scripture often uses the covenant marriage relationship between two as an illustration of love.
1. Newland, “Two people meet and fall in love. So they spend precious time with each other, talking to one another, sharing their hopes and dreams. And when they’re apart, they’re thinking about each other, wishing they were together again. Their love just seems to grow & mushroom. Then one day they become husband & wife. They build a cocoon of love about themselves & they say, "We will always be together. And life will be so wonderful." But there are jobs to go to, & appointments to be kept, & stresses to be dealt with, & arguments & problems & family feuds & fusses. And all of these things pull on us, until soon the demands become so overwhelming that the love relationship begins to suffer. Then one day you look across the table at each other & you think, "That’s not the person I married. You’re a stranger. I don’t know you anymore." And what’s happened is that your love has been starved. It didn’t receive the daily nourishment it needed to grow healthy & strong.”
2. One song writer sang a while back, "Doesn’t anybody stay together anymore?"
a. That’s kind of the way it was in Ephesus, wasn’t it? So many good things and yet they had forsaken their first love.
3. We must make sure that we keep our love for God alive, active and in motion. This kind of love is only maintained as we use it and express it to others.
a. It guards this precious gift!
b. It does not allow the world to distort it in our lives.
c. It clings to it with all of its heart.
i. But some fall prey to the lies of the enemy that say’s, “God really does not love you!”
T.S. - For many they have a hard time believing in this kind of selfless love from God. So, for us to be able to understand the Father’s love requires us to understand a little about God’s nature and eternal being.
III. The Fathers Love is His nature – His being is rooted and centered in Love.
a. 1 John – 3:16-18: The Message:
i. 16This is how we’ve come to understand and experience love: Christ sacrificed his life for us. This is why we ought to live sacrificially for our fellow believers, and not just be out for ourselves. 17If you see some brother or sister in need and have the means to do something about it but turn a cold shoulder and do nothing, what happens to God’s love? It disappears. And you made it disappear. When We Practice Real Love 18My dear children, let’s not just talk about love; let’s practice real love.
1. Love should compel us to keep His commandments. To obey His teachings and be willing to be guided by His loving hand. It’s all centered in a love relationship with Him.
2. We should not as Christians be out for ourselves instead we must live like Jesus lived and died – selfless!
b. How do we understand Love from this passage of Scripture?
i. Well we understand it and experience it by Jesus Christ – the King of Israel – The King from the lineage of David. His selfless sacrifice should be an example to us of the nature of love.
1. Love gives sacrificially to others and does not demand its own way.
2. If only the church could really grasp this truth.
3. Love sacrifices their self-interests for the benefits of others.
4. Love sees a need and chooses to step in and do something about it.
a. Recall John 3:16
i. God saw the need and did something about it! That is love in action!
5. Love will disappear when people only focus on themselves.
6. Love will always leave when pride, selfishness takes root in the hearts of the people.
a. When it’s all about you -- love is absent!
b. When you choose you self-centered path you choose to throw out love in your life.
c. When self-indulgence takes over it drives out love.
7. Love which is birthed in Heaven and comes from Heaven is to be practiced on a daily basis and in our daily relationships as Christians. We do it:
a. With God!
b. With each other!
i. Jesus said in Matthew 22:36-40, “The Greatest Commandment
36“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” 37Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38This is the first and greatest commandment. 39And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”
b. When love is flowing out of our lives then we are really living. We are all made to love because God created us in His image and love is His central character.
i. When we are living out of love and living for love it lets others see God in our lives. It gives glory to God!
c. Love can only be understood and experienced through a relationship with Love.
i. 1 John 4:7-5:5:
1. God’s Love and Ours
7Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
13We know that we live in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. 14And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God. 16And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. 17In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him. 18There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.
19We love because he first loved us. 20If anyone says, “I love God,” yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. 21And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.
2. 1 John 5 - Faith in the Son of God
1Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well.
2This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands.
3This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome,
4for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.
5Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.
Key point: Love is God and God is love – the two of them are the same thing! You cannot have one without the other.
Conclusion:
God is the source of love!
Jesus is the proof of love!
Jesus made love the mark of a Christian!
Others will know us as Christians by our love!
Quote - Sweeting – Love is the Greatest - page 122 “God’s love is not cheap or sentimental. It is priceless and incomparable. The way of love is God’s way, and His way is the only way to abundant and victorious living. It is the best way. Life apart from God’s love is failure. In fact, living without love is merely existing! The prize of love can be gained when we are willing to pay the price. It may involve heartbreak, suffering, disappointment, frustration, exhaustion, and tears. The call to love is not for the halfhearted. It is a full-time, lifelong vocation. Though it is not an easy road, it is a satisfying one. Those who embark on it would never turn back for any simple pleasures of the old turned-in way of life. It is the exciting peak that must be climbed, the zenith of all Christian experience. Love is the greatest!
Story: At a comparative religions conference, the wise and the scholarly were in a spirited debate about what is unique about Christianity.
Someone suggested what set Christianity apart from other religions was the concept of incarnation, the idea that God took human form in Jesus. But someone quickly said, “Well, actually, other faiths believe that God appears in human form.”
Another suggestion was offered: what about resurrection? The belief that death is not the final word. That the tomb was found empty. Someone slowly shook his head. Other religions have accounts of people returning from the dead.
Then, as the story is told, C.S. Lewis walked into the room, tweed jacket, pipe, arm full of papers, a little early for his presentation. He sat down and took in the conversation, which had by now evolved into a fierce debate. Finally, during a lull, he spoke saying, “What’s all this rumpus about?”
Everyone turned in his direction. Trying to explain themselves they said, “We’re debating what’s unique about Christianity.”
“Oh, that’s easy,” answered Lewis. “It’s grace.”
The room fell silent.
Lewis continued that Christianity uniquely claims God’s love comes free of charge, no strings attached. No other religion makes that claim.
After a moment someone commented that Lewis had a point, Buddhists, for example, follow an eight-fold path to enlightenment. It’s not a free ride.
Hindus believe in karma, that your actions continually affect the way the world will treat you; that there is nothing that comes to you not set in motion by your actions.
Someone else observed the Jewish code of the law implies God has requirements for people to be acceptable to him and in Islam God is a God of Judgement not a God of love. You live to appease him or else!
At the end of the discussion everyone concluded Lewis had a point.
Only Christianity dares to proclaim God’s love is unconditional. An unconditional love that we call grace.
Christians boldly proclaim that grace really has precious little to do with us, our inner resolve, or our lack of inner resolve.
Rather, grace is all about God and God freely giving to us the gifts of forgiveness, mercy, and love.
And that is called “1st LOVE!” A love that impacts us form deep within our soul, our heart and our Spirit! It’s an amazing thing to experience!
