Love Song

God has a precious way to calm our troubled hearts. His ways are not our ways. He sings a song of love for us in times of despair. His song of love makes our heavy load very light. His lullaby can truly calm our hearts. His secret melody is love.

When times of hopelessness, despair come to us. What do we do? Should we sing songs to God to ease the pain? What if our hearts have no strength to sing? What if our hearts have a raging storm that does not let our voice be heard?
 
Zephaniah 3: 16-17  Says:   Jerusalem will be told:  "Don't be afraid. Dear Zion,
don't despair. Your God is present among you,  a strong Warrior there to save you. Happy to have you back, he'll calm you with his love and delight you with his songs.


Zephaniah is telling us that when life has been hard on us. And when we feel that every reason to sing has died, we can still ask our heavenly father to sing a song for us. When He Sings his song of love over us,  His presence is poured into our hearts until it overflows. His song endures until our heartbeat becomes one with His.  His song will allow us to sing again in the middle of our storms.
 
In the midst of our storms and difficulties, God can sing to us the song that we've been longing to hear. His song tells us: "It is over!" "You'll see evil no more." His song tells us that He 'll take the burdens we've been carrying for too long.

It is amazing to hear the voice of our savior singing to us: "Smile! Rejoice and dance! Dance with the song I sing to you today. Evil days are gone. Fear no more! I am mighty to save you! Dance through life and listen to my song. My son/daughter you are mine!"

 God does not promises us to sing His song for us in the future. His song is available for us here and now! His song was written and crucified since the foundation of the world. His song is named: "Jesus!" Jesus has come to take away all our punishment and He has made our enemies turn back.

Jesus is the song of deliverance God sang over us. He sang it to us when Jesus hanged on the cross and shed his blood on Calvary. His song destroys fear and anxiety so we can live in peace. It removes the burdens and dissipates the accumulated sorrows. It also brings honor to our name and removes the shame of our past. His song will make everything inside of us turn into a quiet river of living water.

If you feel like your strength to worship God is gone, maybe you feel like there is no reason to praise God. Don't worry, just stop and in the quiet listen to His love song for you.

Listen carefully,  you can hear his song in everything that surrounds you. If you listen carefully you'll realize that there are many things to be grateful for. Maybe you have a wonderful husband who is cheering you up. Or maybe your friends invite you over for supper and you laugh  a lot! Maybe someone text you: "I'm praying for you." Maybe you see a child smile, or a nice sunset! Or maybe you are reading this post. That means His song is there.

His song is where you are. Listen to it. Let it soothe your heart and calm your raging storm. 


I have decided to listen to the love song my father sings to me. I will cast all my burdens at the precious cross of my savior. Where death became life. Where my curse became my blessing. Where my savior kissed me with a song of love. Where my father exclaimed: "This is my daughter. I count her sins against her no more. I take delight in her."

Would you leave your burdens right there, at Calvary where He said: "I'll quiet his/her heart with my love" ?


Happy Valentine's day!

Listen to a Beautiful Song the Father Sings to you!

I fear not because He loves me!

[Picture by Sofia Di]

Have you ever been afraid of something? I feel afraid about the future very often. God has been revealing to me some truths that are setting me free from it.  One of those truths is to rest in His perfect love. His perfect love drives out all fear. Receiving his love for us help us to embrace and believe in the plans He has in store for us---plans to bless us and not to harm us.

What is fear?

I believe that fear is a negative faith. When we fear, we focus on the negative circumstances that could happen to us. When we fear, we stop placing our eyes on the truth of God's perfect love for us!

What is perfect love?

Many times we believe that perfect love is our love for God or our love for our neighbors, which can be a fruit of it but it is not the root of perfect love. Perfect love is to receive Jesus' love for us. The bible tells us that perfect love casts out all fear.

1 John 3:1 says:  "Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God." By reading this verse, I realized that perfect love starts by beholding. We  have to behold what Jesus has done for us. Beholding means to see attentively, meditate, declare, receive His love for us and His forgiveness of our sins.

1 John 3:16  says: "This is how we've come to understand and experience love: Christ sacrificed his life for us"

 This verse makes the concept of love very clear. Perfect love is God's love for us. This is the love revelation that will cast out all fear. Notice, that the verse does not says:  "When we love others we experience love." Instead, it says when we receive Christ sacrifice then we experience love.

The revelation of God's love for us will allow us to trust in him. We can believe that He has everything under control and that nothing we face will ever harm us.

 What about the times we will suffer?

God promises us in Luke 10:19 that nothing will harm us. It says: "I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you."

  As I read this verse and looked back in all the hardships I had to overcome. I asked God how come you said that nothing would harm me? How come then I had to go through all that trouble?

 He showed me that He promised that I would never be harmed by scorpions or serpents. This in fact,  didn't mean that I was not going to have to face them. Instead, it means that God's plan for my life will always reign! I was specifically design to overcome every obstacle in life. Not only that, I was meant to come out of all my troubles better than what I was before!

  Now I believe, that the harm He is talking about is the harm that would paralyze us for ever. And that would leave us completely destroyed without any hope. If The situation we are going through right now is not of victory, it means is not God's plan for our lives. It means is not the end! It is the beginning of our victory.

  God is omniscient, He knows everything! He knew how the world we were coming into was like. He also knew about the enemies that were going to try to prevent us from our divine destiny.

 Since He knew about it, He decided to carefully knit us together our mother's womb. He equipped us with all the weapons, abilities and all the strength we would need to face and overcome every obstacle in life so we can fulfill our divine destiny.

 If He knows that something has the potential to harm us, or to prevent us from our destiny, then He would never let us go through it! It is just like the trees, God doesn't plant coconut trees on snowy places. Those trees are design to endure the heat and the winds. In the same way, God will not plant us in a place that we are not made to resist or that will destroy us.

 God wants us to rest in His love for us. He wants us to know that it does not matter the name of the fire we may go through, it is not meant to harm us. We were made to overcome it. And we are not facing it alone. He is with us until the end of the world. He has sent his one and only son to replenish us with the love we need to cast out all fear.

Some action steps to overcome fear:

1. Read verses out loud about God's love for you.

   Meditate on them day and night. Do it first thing in the morning and last thing before going to bed. Whisper those verses all day long. When fear tries to come back in then declare God's word. Some verses are: John 3:16, Romans 5:8, 1 John 3:1

2.  Make a list of all your fears and next to it write:

I fear _____________________ but I know that God loves me! He will not let me go through this if it has the potential to harm me and prevent me from my divine destiny. If I ever go through this situation that scares me is because I am already equipped to overcome it.

Are you Barren?

by Sofia Di

 Is there something that is not producing fruit in your life? Maybe your marriage, womb, studies, therapy, rehab, job search? Have you been believing for a miracle that has not come yet?  Well,  let me tell you that you are not alone. There are some things I don't see moving in my life like they should be. I believe the reason is that there is a foundation that needs to be lay in my heart so I can have faith for miracles in my life. The foundation I am talking about is to stop living by the law and to start resting on the finished work of Jesus Christ.   


Last night, my sister shared with me Romans 4:17 and she told me that God lead her to tell me that those verses were for me. This morning, I read the whole chapter (I recommend you to do it as well.) There are two things the Lord showed me I could do so I could receive the miracles I expect.


 1.    Receive God's righteousness.

    Romans 4:17 Tells us the story when Abraham received a promise of becoming a father of many. His faith was so great that he did not see his circumstances---he was old and his wife was barren. Yet, he believed and was called father of many.

    If we see the context of this chapter, we notice that the author is talking about having faith in God's forgiveness and in His righteousness. We also see that Abraham's faith in God's righteousness empowered him to be a father of nations.

     Romans 4 tells us that before Abraham became a father of many,  he was justified and made righteous by faith. Which means, Abraham believed that he was in right standing with God. Abraham believed that God was merciful to forgive and cleanse him from all unrighteousness.

   The bible tells us that Abraham was not boasting of his own good deeds. We all know that he sinned---he lied at some point of his life. Still, he was counted as righteous.  In other words, God credited Abraham righteousness not because the things he made were righteous, but because he was DECLARED righteous by God.

    In Romans 4: 1-6  We read that when we work hard to be righteous---in right standing with God. Or when we try to justify our selves----be established just without guilt, then we get we get paid for what we deserve. But if we do not work to earn our righteousness, then we receive an unmerited favor, which is God's grace. And this will bring us joy and happiness because we know that our sins are forgiven through Jesus.

   Through Jesus we can all believe that we are constantly being washed and cleansed with his blood.  He payed for our sins once and for all! We don't have to live under guilt anymore. We've been sprinkled with pure water to have a clear conscience because of Jesus' sacrifice. God wants us to stop striving to please him and start resting and enjoying what he has done.

  All this means is that we, as human beings,  do not deserve a miracle. We do not deserve a single blessing because of the sin that entered through Adam. But through Jesus' blood we can be forgiven and receive his unmerited favor and righteousness.

Can you receive his forgiveness right now? It does not matter what you've done, come to Him! He will embrace you and convict you of righteousness.

2. Get your mind off of your performance and the law.

  

picture by Ajith Kumar

      In Romans 4:11 we read that Abraham was circumcised because he had faith.  I see circumcision as a figure of the law and our performance. Circumcision to me represents to follow all the rules to please God and live in holiness. I also means, to achieve something through self effort.

  The law will makes us focus on what is wrong with us. When we realize all the things that are wrong with us we feel guilty and condemn. Then we try to fix our behavior by following the law but in reality, the transformation of our performance will only come when we believe in what God says about us. He says that through Jesus we are the righteousness of God.

   The Bible says that Abraham first believed and as a result he was circumcised, which became a sign of having faith in God.  In other words, Abraham first believed he was righteous and as a result his behavior changed. Many times we get it backwards, we think that by doing the right things we are going to be without guilt. But it is really by receiving God's grace and believing that through Jesus we are forgiven that we will be righteous. This attitude of being forgiven will take us to have a faith for other miracles in our lives.

  
   You might wonder, how can a life that is not under the law, guilt and comdemnation might help me to receive the miracle I am beliving for?

   I'm glad you asked! I didn't understand this until I read Romans 4:13 where very clearly says: "The promise of God didn't come through the law but through the righteousness that comes from faith."

  Remember the context of this whole verse, it talks about forgiveness of sin. The miracle Abraham expected came because of his right-standing with God. The right standing came as a result of his faith in God and not of his own good deeds. Abraham didn't see himself as a sinner. Instead, he saw himself as the righteousness of God. He saw himself as forgiven! Therefore, he was blessed.

  The miracle you and I are expecting will start coming to pass by believing in the salvation God provided for us through Jesus.  It will not come based on our performance or by the laws we follow. I believe God is asking us to believe in his finished work at the cross so the things that are barren in our lives can start producing some fruit.

   In a personal conclusion, God wants me to receive and believe in his finished work specially when I fail. And He wants me to extend grace to others every time they fail me.  By having faith in His finished work I can obtain the greatest miracles of all, which is salvation. If I believe for the greatest miracle, then believing that all things are possible for those who believe will be a piece of cake!


Remember guilt and condemnation can hinder your miracle. Don't give into it!

A guilt-free conscience

©Sofia Di

     Last year, the Lord showed me many things that allowed me to overcome the challenges I faced. One of the most important truths He taught me was to live a "guilt-free" life through Jesus Christ. I learned that my faith in Him will cause me to produce good fruits.

   The base of this truth can be found in Romans 8:1 "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus."

As an old Christian---received Jesus at age 4. I grew up trying to please God in everything I would do. I  didn't understand that God was already pleased with me. In the Songs of Solomon He says of me that I am altogether lovely, I am like a lily among thorns. Nevertheless, the mindset of being a good Christian all the time created a self-righteous attitude in me that would not allow me to see God's love for me.

     I recently realized that my self-righteous attitude was very similar to the one of a pharisee  because I was trying to impose rules and regulations over my life very hard to bear. My joy depended on my performance, if I would follow the rules then I wold feel good about my self. If I would break one of those rules I would beat my self up over and over.

   The problem with the rules and regulations I would impose on my self is that they were never satisfying. Every day I would require more righteous works, more righteous thoughts, more righteous attitudes or words. Condemnation became like a monster in my mind.

   Guilt and condemnation can be an endless cycle in our lives that instead of helping us to overcome our challenges, it would lead us to do the things we hate the most.

  God wants to remove this guilt, shame-based nature in us. He wants us to receive HIS righteousness so we can produce good fruit.

   Our righteousness is not based on our good or bad performance. To God, there is no difference between doing the "right thing"  or the "wrong thing"  because both "works" are counted as filthy rags if they come from our own merit or strength (Isaiah 64:6.) The only righteousness God receives is the one given by his son Jesus Christ at the cross where He died to pay for our sins.

   When we sin we focus on our performance, so we try to make up somehow for the wrong we've made. Sometimes, we try to pay by feeling guilty and condemn. But the truth is that God does not requires sacrifices anymore.  Guilt is a sacrifice that would never please God. The only sacrifice that pleased him was the one made by Jesus Christ at the calvary---we find this truth in Hebrews 10.

   Hebrews is a book that talks about faith, This book teaches us the only way to please God, which is to have faith.  We need to have faith in His son and in HIS righteousness because when we have faith in HIS righteousness then God writes His laws in our hearts and in our minds. This will cause in our hearts a real transformation and it will set us free. We can be assured that our lives will produce a pleasant fruit when we receive the grace God is giving us.

      Also, If we believe in HIS righteousness we will see ourselves and others with God's eyes. We will realize that we have been cleansed from all unrighteousness. Therefore, we are the righteousness of God. We will also see that we have been sprinkled with water so we can have a clear conscience. We are His lovely bride without a wrinkle or spot.  We have been made perfect for the sacrifice of his son. It is good news to know that He remembers our sins no more! What God has forgotten we should forget too! His grace abounds for all of us even when we sin.

     Next time you make a mistake, just remember to take your brokenness at the cross and receive Jesus' wholeness because there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ.  Don't give place to guilt and condemnation because when God sees us, He sees Jesus' work at the cross.

    Lastly,  is important for us to know that the things we do to "please" God should never be the root of our righteousness.  Instead, they should be a result of our faith in Christ Jesus.

Salvation Prayer

     Have you receive Jesus as your lord and savior?  It is only through Him that our sins are forgiven. If you have not receive him yet as your savior, do not be afraid. He is not respecter of persons. We are all accepted into his kingdom. To receive him just pray with me the following prayer:

"Lord Jesus, I repent of my sins, come into my life, I make you my lord and savior. I believe you died for me and you rose from the grave. I believe that through you my sins have been forgiven.  Thank you for the new life I have in you." Amen