In this is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation (the atoning sacrifice) for our sins."God loves us, but I don't think many of us actually comprehend the love that God loves us with.
(1 John 4:10)
God has shown me, through the study I have done on this, that if we really knew in our spirits how much God loved us, we would rise up and be a lot different than what we are a lot of the time.
Meditate on God's love for you. That's what is going to change you. If you don't like something about yourself, "knowing that you know" that God loves you is going to change it.
How does it make you feel when you know that somebody loves you? It makes you feel good, right?
Do you feel ugly? God told me that some of the people who would be reading this hate themselves. You hate the things you do, and you have not accepted that you are a new creation—you are constantly fighting the old nature.
As long as you go around feeling badly about yourself all the time, not liking yourself, hating yourself, not realizing how special you are, you are never going to act special. The Bible says, "For as he thinks in his heart, so is he" (Prov. 23:7 AMP).
God Loves You
It is all because you have not really grabbed hold of the fact that God loves you. It is a powerful thing to know how much He loves you.
God wants you to get with Him yourself on a daily basis. That's what will change you. If you don't put God first, you are putting Him in a position where He can't do for you what He wants to do.
It is the private time you spend with God, just loving Him and letting Him love you, that's going to cause you to grow up and be strong in your spirit man.
The biggest majority of people are lazy, and they would rather not do that. They would like it much better if somebody would do it for them. Don't make excuses.
Everyone reading this who is not fellowshipping with God and is being convicted because of what I am writing is going to have the devil coming in right behind that conviction and saying, "But you've got all these other things to do."
I know how it goes—the devil gives you one excuse after another. Get serious with God, and cry out to Him. The Word of God and fellowship with Him will change you. God has made you able.
Paul says in Philippians 4:13, "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." In other words, there is nothing in all creation you can't do through the power of Jesus Christ.
Knock It Off
As fast as God points out a problem to you, you ought to rise up in power and victory and knock it off. If you will rise up and receive God's love for you and refuse to let that dirty, lying devil tell you how rotten and no good you are, you will start acting victoriously.
You may be acting awful now, but you can act differently if you will believe that you are a new creation on the inside.
You will never change or act one bit differently until you begin to rise up and say, "Praise God, I'm special. I'm holy. God chose me. He has purified me by the Blood of the Lamb. I'm going to act that way.
And I don't care, devil, how many mistakes I make. God's big enough to pick me up and cause me to go on. He cleans up my messes!"
Excerpt permission granted by Harrison House Publishers
Joyce Meyer is one of the world's leading practical Bible teachers. A New York Times bestselling author, her books have helped millions of people find hope and restoration through Jesus Christ. Through Joyce Meyer Ministries, she teaches on a number of topics with a particular focus on the mind, mouth, moods and attitudes. Her candid communication style allows her to share openly and practically about her experiences so others can apply what she has learned to their lives.
