“I was blind.  But now I see.”

“I was one way but now I’m different.”

These quotes are testimonies of people those lives were changed by Jesus.  Jesus changes everything when He enters our lives and begin His work to make us holy and presentable to God.  This change begins by trading our arrogant, rebellious will that leads only to death, for real life now and eternal life later that is only attainable because of what Jesus did to save us.  It is God who freely gives us a choice to say yes to Him or to refuse Him. 

God wants us to love Him back—but only if we willfully desire to love Him back.  We are the same.  What kind of love is it to have your spouse or children love you back only because they were forced?  That’s not a healthy relationship!  And it’s the same with obedience!  To obey God because you feel obligated or you obey only from fear is not what God wants from us.  God is love who wants to permeate our very being with all of Him in all of us. It is His love that changes us from the inside out. By His love we will know God. By loving God back expands his love in us and through us. His love makes all the difference!

As we grow deeper in God’s love it becomes easy and involuntary to love Him back as we realize the depth of love He has for us.  This love causes us to love others with more compassion and less judgement. The more we learn how God loves, we begin to love in the same ways.  Like Father, like son and daughter.  “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13)—Jesus was the One laid down His life for removal of our sins. God demonstrated His love for us through His One and Only Son!  Believing Jesus makes the difference!

“The eyes of the Lord search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.” 2 Chronicles 16:9 God looks for those who hearts are completely his.  His love in us is the foundation of our commitment to Him.  God seeks to pour out His blessings over those who will see Him as the only one who is Good, the One who stands ready to give His best to all who seek Him.  Humbled hearts given to God makes all the difference!

“You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” Seeking our Most Holy God with His assurance of being found is one of many tremendous promises of a faithful God!  But it depends on the condition of our hearts! Some of the Jews left God long ago—even as they cared for God’s Word as the Chosen. How did this happen?  By losing grasp of the most important relationship of their lives that continually provided love, mercy, and grace from the One who loves us most.  But there’s hope for our hearts!  He is called Jesus!  Jesus makes the all the difference!

Romans 3, The Message

^1-2 So what difference does it make who’s a Jew and who isn’t, who has been trained in God’s ways and who hasn’t? As it turns out, it makes a lot of difference—but not the difference so many have assumed.

^2-6 First, there’s the matter of being put in charge of writing down and caring for God’s revelation, these Holy Scriptures. So, what if, in the course of doing that, some of those Jews abandoned their post? God didn’t abandon them. Do you think their faithlessness cancels out his faithfulness? Not on your life! Depend on it: God keeps his word even when the whole world is lying through its teeth. Scripture says the same:

Your words stand fast and true;
Rejection doesn’t faze you.

But if our wrongdoing only underlines and confirms God’s rightdoing, shouldn’t we be commended for helping out? Since our lies don’t even make a dent in his truth, isn’t it wrong of God to back us to the wall and hold us to our word? These questions come up. The answer to such questions is no, a most emphatic No! How else would things ever get straightened out if God didn’t do the straightening?

^7-8 It’s simply perverse to say, “If my lies serve to show off God’s truth all the more gloriously, why blame me? I’m doing God a favor.” Some people are actually trying to put such words in our mouths, claiming that we go around saying, “The more evil we do, the more good God does, so let’s just do it!” That’s pure slander, as I’m sure you’ll agree.

We’re All in the Same Sinking Boat

^9-20 So where does that put us? Do we Jews get a better break than the others? Not really. Basically, all of us, whether insiders or outsiders, start out in identical conditions, which is to say that we all start out as sinners. Scripture leaves no doubt about it:

There’s nobody living right, not even one,
    nobody who knows the score, nobody alert for God.
They’ve all taken the wrong turn;
    they’ve all wandered down blind alleys.
No one’s living right;
    I can’t find a single one.
Their throats are gaping graves,
    their tongues slick as mudslides.
Every word they speak is tinged with poison.
    They open their mouths and pollute the air.
They race for the honor of sinner-of-the-year,
    litter the land with heartbreak and ruin,
Don’t know the first thing about living with others.
    They never give God the time of day.

This makes it clear, doesn’t it, that whatever is written in these Scriptures is not what God says about others but to us to whom these Scriptures were addressed in the first place! And it’s clear enough, isn’t it, that we’re sinners, every one of us, in the same sinking boat with everybody else? Our involvement with God’s revelation doesn’t put us right with God. What it does is force us to face our complicity in everyone else’s sin.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

Love God.  Love Others.  This is a revolutionary lifestyle but it will make all the difference as we go from dark to light!  We must put these words of Jesus into practice so we can learn to love “as if our lives depended on it!”

“Go after a life of love as if your life depended on it—because it does.” –Paul, 1 Corinthians 14:1, MSG

Peter shows us ways to love like Jesus—

“Most of all, love each other as if your life depended on it. Love makes up for practically anything.  Be quick to give a meal to the hungry, a bed to the homeless – cheerfully.

Be generous with the different things God gave you, passing them around so all get in on it:

if words, let it be God’s words; if help, let it be God’s hearty help. That way, God’s bright presence will be evident in everything through Jesus, and he’ll get all the credit as the One mighty in everything – encores to the end of time. Oh, yes!

Friends, when life gets really difficult, don’t jump to the conclusion that God isn’t on the job.

Instead, be glad that you are in the very thick of what Christ experienced. This is a spiritual refining process, with glory just around the corner.

If you’re abused because of Christ, count yourself fortunate. It’s the Spirit of God and his glory in you that brought you to the notice of others.

If they’re on you because you broke the law or disturbed the peace, that’s a different matter.

But if it’s because you’re a Christian, don’t give it a second thought. Be proud of the distinguished status reflected in that name!

It’s judgment time for Christians. We’re first in line. If it starts with us, think what it’s going to be like for those who refuse God’s Message!

If good people barely make it, What’s in store for the bad?  1 Peter 4:8-18, MSG

Paul continues to encourage the church in Rome to be set apart from the world. What the world thinks is different than what Jesus taught us about God who made a right relationship with him possible and available to all people.  God hates sin and desires all to follow him in word and action for their good and His glory.

“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. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”  John 3:16-17

Lord,

Thank you for making a relationship possible and attainable no matter who we are and what we have done! Thank you for saving my soul and restoring the broken pieces of my life.  You put us back together better than we were before knowing you. YOU make all the difference!  I pray others might see You in us as demonstrated by our love for you and each other.

In Jesus Name, Amen