Because He Loves Me

Last weekend I went to a great women's conference in Dallas with a few friends.  The speaker, Elyse Fitzgerald, spoke about the topic addressed in her most recent book, Because He Loves Me.  Honestly, when I saw the name of the conference I wondered if I was really going to get much out of it.  I know God loves me, so was I going to learn anything new?  I mainly went for the nice fellowship I would have with my friends.  After the first session, I was blown away.  Elyse talked about God's love in such a way that I have never heard.  I took lots of notes and want to use this post to jot down a few of the points that impacted me the most. 

-You are not going to want to pray, read your Bible, etc. until you know God loves you.  Our love for Him is responsive in nature.

-Our faith will grow in direct proportion to our apprehension of His love.

-You can tell whether you believe God loves you based on what you think when bad stuff happens (Do you think He still has wrath towards you? is displeased with you?). "We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him." -1 John 4:16

-God's love for you is not contingent on anything you do- He does not love us more on the days we are "good".  "See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are." -1 John 3:1

-At the end of the first session, she asked us to pray this: "God, help me understand how much You love me no matter what I do."

-The Gospel is good news about something God did- not something you did.  "By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins." -1 John 4:9-10

-The Gospel is: the incarnation, the sinless life, the substitutionary death, the bodily resurrection, the ascension and continuing intercession and reign of the Son of God.

-Justification means just as if I had never sinned and just as if I had always obeyed- you don't have to justify yourself anymore because you are justified!

-Not WWJD but What Did Jesus Do?

-The reason we don't witness is because we don't think it's good news- we think it's about making you do better and your life looking better. 

-The way you grow in Godliness is by remembering the gospel message.  It is the only true motivator.

-If you're thinking about sanctification all the time, you are thinking about yourself too much.  Think about Jesus.  If you're more focused on your sanctification than your justification, it will thwart your growth.  Focus on what He did and that will motivate you to grow.

-Do you wonder about God's disposition towards you?  He is not disappointed!  Christ paid it ALL.  God is demanding but the demands have been met.  He is joyful about you and rejoices over you because you are in Christ.

-In your pursuit of Godliness, have you left Jesus behind?

-Your growth in Godliness must be motivated by the Gospel.

-I'm a great sinner and I have a great Savior.

-Nothing here on earth will completely satisfy you- you'll be digging in the dumpsters of life trying to find His face.

-The Gospel should intersect and impact our daily lives all the time.  She used the example of being in the grocery store and trying to checkout in the 10 items or less line, but a person is in front of you with more than 10 items.  In that moment, we can get really frustrated or we can notice the fact that the person in front of you has broken the rules, but then remember how often we sin and break the rules.  That will then turn into us thanking our Father for His forgiveness.  What a different and more thankful way to live!

-There is 1 hero in the Bible- Jesus!  All the sinners in the Bible give us hope because we are just like them.

-You are more sinful and flawed than you ever dared believe.  You are more loved and welcomed than you ever dared hope.

I am so thankful I went to this conference and got a greater understanding of His love for me.  Even though I know He loves me, I so often live with the mindset that I have disappointed Him.  I focus on my own growth and get frustrated when I fail.  Instead, I should focus on what He did.  I think about myself way too much, but when I think about Him and how much He loves me...then I am free!  Free to live a life that is pleasing to Him that is not marked with despair or pride or worry or critical thinking.  I pray that I and anyone reading this will know the "love of Christ, which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fulness of God." -Eph. 3:19  HE LOVES US!