March 2010
What a blessing it is to
share another monthly view, affirming God's
love for you. An affirmed person knows the
love of Jesus and expresses God's abounding
love even in an emotional way with something
as simple as a hug or a kiss. The apostle
Paul commanded the church at Rome, Corinth,
and Thessalonica to "Greet all the
brethren with a holy kiss."1
The Unaffirmed Person
An unaffirmed person has
never felt genuine care and concern from
a mature adult. Can you find yourself in
this partial list of characteristics of
an unaffirmed person?
- Attempts to affirm one's self through
material goods, sexual exploits, power
or fame.
- Plagued with obsessive thoughts, distorted
feelings, and compulsive actions.
- Suffers from worry, anxiety, tension,
fears, restlessness, and a sense of lack.
- Doubts one's self-worth and identity,
plus fearing the adult world.
- A nagging fear of failure to achieve
in a demanding intellectual world.
- Feelings of inferiority, inadequacy,
insecurity, loneliness, and depression.
- Inability to establish normal rapport
with one's peers and form lasting friendships.
- Medicates emotional pain with alcohol,
drugs, and sexual immaturity.
The goal of aboundinglove.org
is to affect the way you see God. Our prayer
is that you will see God's love in Christ
Jesus as the ultimate affirming love that
heals human wounds and patiently awaits
your graced response.
A New Heart & Spirit
Our desire is to help you
understand that God loves you, knowing the
Holy Spirit can reveal His love to you.
Years before Jesus fulfilled the promise,
God said, "I will sprinkle clean water
on you, and you will be clean. Your filth
will be washed away, and you will no longer
worship idols. And I will give you a new
heart with new and right desires, and I
will put a new spirit in you. I will take
out your stony heart of sin and give you
a new, obedient heart. And I will put my
Spirit in you so you will obey my laws and
do whatever I command."2
In June 1975, God began
a healing process of the unaffirmed areas
of my heart through the blood of His Son
and by placing His Spirit in me. The blood
of Jesus cleansed me from sin so that His
Spirit could come within my heart to empower
me towards a healthy life as His temple.3
He gave me a new desire to renew my thoughts,
choices, reasonings, and emotions, that
have caused so much pain. These will take
a lifetime to be brought into harmony with
God's word.
Jesus' Affirming Love
This may help you as it
has me. If you go to the Gospel of John
in a red letter edition, the affirming love
of Jesus is in red. These are the words
of Truth that will set you free from the
unaffirmed life.4 Here are some of Jesus'
words:
"For God so loved
the world that He gave His only begotten
Son, that whoever believes in Him should
not perish but have everlasting life.5
"I am the bread of
life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger,
and he who believes in Me shall never thirst."6
"If anyone thirsts,
let him come to Me and drink. He who believes
in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of
his heart will flow rivers of living water."7
"I am the light of
the world, He who follows Me shall not walk
in darkness, but have the light of life."8
"I am the door. If
anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and
will go in and out and find pasture."9
"I am the resurrection
and the life. He who believes in Me, though
he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives
and believes in Me shall never die. Do you
believe this?"10
"If you abide in Me,
and My words abide in you, you will ask
what you desire, and it shall be done for
you."11
"Father, You have
loved them [us] as You have loved Me. I
desire that they also whom You gave Me may
be with Me where I am, that they may behold
My glory which You have given Me, for You
loved Me before the foundation of the world."12
Your Graced Response
All my life, I wanted to
be loved for who I was, but was never accepted
as a unique individual. I was raised by
parents who loved their children, but I
grew up feeling that the love of others
was earned or based upon conditions. I never
felt unconditional love, the God kind of
love that awaits my graced response. For
God's unconditional love to be effective,
it must be spread from one individual to
another through the power of the Holy Spirit
in an emotional-felt way.
Over the years, I have
experienced the love of God through friends
and family, but rarely do I feel the love
of another in a truly special way. For those
who have never been affirmed themselves,
it seems so wrong to say "I love you"
with a hug. We fear it may be taken the
wrong way. Don't get me wrong, it is necessary
to use wisdom while abounding in God's love,
but wouldn't it be wonderful to literally
feel the love of God throughout your entire
being?
Won't you respond to God's
love today? "We love each other as
a result of God loving us first. If someone
says, 'I love God,' but hates another Christian,
that person is a liar; for if we don't love
people we can see, how can we love God,
who we have not seen. And God Himself has
commanded that we must love not only Him
but our Christian brothers and sisters,
too."13
A Prayer For You ...
Heavenly Father, it's hard
for me to believe that You would love me,
but I want to believe You. Holy Spirit,
I need Your help to know God's love and
for the willingness to receive Your love
through abounding love ministries. My life
is a mess, but I believe that Your love
in Christ Jesus is the ultimate affirming
love that heals human wounds and patiently
awaits my graced response. I come to You
now in faith, believing that You raised
Jesus from the dead for my salvation, which
is available to me. I invite Jesus into
my heart, so that I may be cleansed from
sin, to receive a new spirit and a new heart
with new and right desires. Thank You, Father,
for setting me free to experience Your healing
and affirming love. Amen.
Scripture References:
Acknowledgement: A special thanks
to Sherry for transcribing this months view!
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