March Newsletter
Because He First Loved Us.
Everything God wants from us will be given to us first—He never demands something of us unless He has already deposited it in us through Christ. Any revelation we have is given by God in the first place. Any worship we give Him was placed in us by Him. Any love we offer Him exists because He first loved us. Any glory given to God came from Him in the first place. We simply return to God the very thing He has already given us.
Living this way in the Spirit is an instinctive and intuitive thing. When we have the joy of dependency, we can live expectantly. No Christian should ever be intimidated by life; we should be too busy being fascinated by Jesus.
I want to live an expectant life. I’m learning to be fascinated by God and what He is doing, not intimidated by the circumstances swirling around me. I want to look for God in the day-to-day issues of my life. I know that God is up to something every moment of every day, and I want to be a part of that plan. What is it about my current situation that God wants to use to show me more of His nature? I want to embrace the principle of Romans 8:28—“And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.”
When we live in child-like simplicity, there is nothing that can overcome us. “We are more than conquerors through Him who loved us,” Paul said in Romans 8:37. Being a conqueror isn’t just about one person being free; it’s about setting others free to live the same lifestyle we do.
The worst thing we can do for a pre-Christian is try and evangelize them. I don’t think God ever asks us to evangelize anyone. I do think that God asks us to live in such a way that people around us are intrigued by His nature. And I think we must be ready with an answer when they ask us about what they perceive about God and us. We must look constantly for what God is doing and walk with that plan. This was how Jesus shared the love of God, as He explained in John 5:19—“Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner.”
When God points a person out and tells us to do or say something specifically to them, He’s already given us what we’re about give away. What He has given us is meant to be a gift to that person. And what goes back to God is that person’s changed heart and our obedience. “Freely you have received, freely give,” Jesus said in Matthew 10:8. Evangelism is about being part of the cycle that God wants to initiate in someone else’s life.
The joy of dependency is knowing that no situation can stop God from working in us. “No weapon formed against you shall prosper,” says Isaiah 54:17. God’s power in us can overcome anything, all by itself. When we see God as big as He really is, when we are filled with a sense of wonder, and when we are child-like, we see ourselves the way God sees us: as an unstoppable force for good.