I AM THE CANVAS

I am the canvas painted in God’s love.
Colors of the rainbow, threads of glistening gold.
Wherein he paints my picture in his healing light of Love.
And there I am forever sealed, revealed in his love.

Empowered by your grace, I walk the path of love.
By streams of living waters my thirst forever quenched.
My canvas is your treasure, painted in your love.
Your eternal light of glory imprinted in my soul.

The chains of sin that bound me, imprisoning my soul,
Remain forever broken by your Son at Calvary.
My beauty now I see, your love has set me free.
And now I know, your love resides in me.

I am the canvas painted by your Spirit,
in colors of the rainbow, glistening threads of gold.
Precious and begotten in your eternal love.
Forever loved, forever blessed,
I walk the path of love.

© Hand of Grace 2023

SACRED PRAYER

SACRED PRAYER

My beloved Lord and Savior Yeshua, you reveal to me the perfect path of love in sacred communion with you in the inner sanctum of my soul where your Spirit dwells. Sanctify me in your Holy Love where your perfect peace fills all space. You are the door of Grace through which I must enter the presence of my heavenly Father and life giver; source of all good and eternal love. You are the “way, the truth, and the life.” No one comes to the Father except through you, the Good Shepherd, who gave his life for his sheep in order to bring us into the perfection of love through Grace, in your eternal love granting us forgiveness and cleansing us from all sin. In your love I am transformed, and given a new beginning in the innocence and purity of love forever imprinted in my soul by your Spirit. John 10:7,9,10,11,18; 14:6; Ephesians 3:17,19; 17:22,23,26; 2Corinthians 5:17; Ephesians 1:4.

Help me walk in the Truth of your love, daily forgiving myself and all others from all loveless hurtful actions of things I think, say, and do. In your Presence is perfect peace. By not forgiving I deny love and its power to heal. God is love. In you God’s love is revealed in me by the Holy Spirit. May I walk in obedience to your love and always be led by your Spirit. 1John 4:7,8,9,10,13; Romans 5:5; 8:14; Mathew 6:12,15; Colossians 3:12-17; Ephesians 1:4; 5:1,2,9.

Through repentance I open the door of my heart to receive your love and forgiveness and the cleansing power of your love to transform my life and help bring your saving grace and healing to others in need. Isaiah 30:15; Acts 11:18; Mark 1:4; Luke 5:32; 24:46,47; 1John 4:7,12.

You are pure love. My heart is cleansed through Grace and the love received by grace. My life is hidden in you to be revealed in your love. You are the Truth, the perfection of Love. All true justice is revealed in your love. All injustice is healed in your perfect love. All sin is conquered and overcome and healed in the presence, revelation, and unity of perfect love, and our hearts become one. Hebrews 13:9; 10: John 17:22,23,26; Ephesians 1:4; Galatians 5:13,14.

I surrender my heart to you precious Lord, to be healed and guided by the Grace revealed in your sacrificial love; your life blood shed on the cross for my sins. You paid my debt in full. There at the foot of the cross I surrender and die to all that is not born of love and I am reborn in your love as I walk in obedience to it’s revelation in my life by your Word and Holy Spirit. You are the Truth. You are Love. In your love, Truth has its perfect reflection in my life. John 17:22,23,26; 19:30; Ephesians 1:4,7;Romans 8:14; Galatians 5:13,14,16,22.

Your righteous love is the wellspring of all true knowledge and goodness which reveals the righteous judgments of God for my life, to guide me in the way of perfect love, goodness, and Truth, and to bring me into the experience of true peace and joy found only in you. Psalm 36:9; Ephesians 5:9; John 15:11; 14:27; Nehemiah 8:10.

As the vessel of my soul is cleansed from the darkness of sin’s loveless perceptions and hatred born of division, and separation, I behold as in a mirror the true beauty of my soul in the perfect reflection of your love looking back at me. In your love I see my own reflection, and we are one. 2Corinthians 10:18; 1Corinthians 13:12,13; John 17:22,23,26; 1John 4:7,16,19.

Thank you Yeshua for giving me yourself. You are born in me as the true version of myself; a new creation restored to the true image of our heavenly Father, sons and daughters of the King forever in our heavenly home. Galatians 4:19; 2Corinthians 10:18; 1Corinthians 15:49; Colossians 3:3,4; Philippians 3:20,21.

AMEN

© Hand of Grace 2023

The Lords Prayer, Unveiled in His Love.

Our Father in heaven, 
in you all life has its origin, 
in the perfect reflection 
of your eternal love.

Let your love 
and Name be sanctified
and revealed in us, 
as you light our path, 
guiding us
 in ways of peace, 
beauty, and love.

May your love 
rule in our hearts,
revealing in us, your perfect love 
on earth as it already exists,
 in your heavenly presence. 

We trust in you daily,
to provide all our needs,
both physical and spiritual, 
as we share with others in need,
from your table.

The only debt of sin 
is one of love.
Help us to forgive 
our self as well as others 
from unloving thoughts and actions,
so we may have room in our heart,
 to receive and be filled with your perfect love.

Keep us in full awareness of your love,
so that we are never led into temptation.
The conditions we place on love,
come out of the darkness
of our judgments, 
and give birth to evil.

Deliver us Heavenly Father,
from all that is not born out of the purity
of your unconditional love.

Yours is the eternally manifesting Presence
of Divine love,
as the supreme ruling law and light,
of your eternal nature,
beauty, harmony and peace.

AMEN

(c) Hand of Grace 2022

THE OBEDIENCE THAT COMES FROM LOVE

THE OBEDIENCE THAT COMES FROM LOVE
TO KNOW HIM IS TO LOVE HIM

Jesus said “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” (John 14:15). Love is a very powerful motivator. We always want to please the ones we love. This kind of love involves close relationships where we spend time getting to know someone and connect with them deeply on different levels of thought, feelings and emotions, personality, and interests. The Bible says Jesus loved his close intimate 12 disciples till the end (John 13:1). They were his closest intimate friends and faithful followers. They had stuck with him through thick and thin (John 6:66,67; 15:27) They spent countless hours together for three years with him. And after his resurrection he appeared to them again and was with them powerfully and intimately by his eternal Spirit and revelation of himself in their lives and ministry (Acts 1:1-4,8; John 20:15,16,19,20; 21:1; 24,25).

We can only come to know God and Jesus in their love by our obedience to the progressive revelation of that pure and perfect love in our life through his Spirit, (1John 4:7,8,9; John 17:3; Romans 5:5). By the redemptive power of the Cross of Jesus and his Holy perfect blood shed for the forgiveness of our sins, we come to recognize our need for a savior and the prize he paid for our freedom and redemption from the power of sin in our life, and we are reborn in his love and perfected by his love through our walk of faith expressed in love (1Peter 1:2,3,5; 1John 4:7-12,16,19; Galatians 5:5,6; Ephesians 3:19; 5:1,2).

As we experience his love in our life through the Gospel of his Grace for our salvation, we are reborn in his love through faith by his Spirit, (Romans 1:16,17; 8:37-39; Galatians 5:5,6; 1Corinthians 3:18; 2Thessalonians 3:5; 1John 4:16-21; Ephesians 3:16-19; John 3:3,5,16). Jesus then progressively through our walk of faith, brings us into the experience, revealed truth, and transformative power of his perfect love (Ephesians 3:17-20; 5:1,2,8,9,10; 1John 4:16-19; 2Thessalonians 3:5; John 17:23). As he reveals his love to us, we begin experiencing in our heart the intimacy of the Father’s love and Son’s love in us (John 14:23; 17:23,26; Galatians 4:6). We enter a close intimate relationship as sons and daughters with them in a strong bond of love, and are perfected into the complete unity and intimacy of that perfect love (John 17:22,23,26; Mathew 5:44-48; Ephesians 5:1,2,8,9,10). What a precious gift of his love (Romans 3:24; 6:23). We come to see our self and others through the eyes of perfect love, which is unconditional in nature, and is redemptive and transforming.

To truly know Jesus love for us is transforming and liberating (Galatians 5:1,6,13,14,16; James 2:8,12,13; 2Corinthians 3:17,18; Philippians 1:6,9,10,11; Ephesians 4:22-24). The Bible says that perfect unconditional love casts out fear, and that we can only come to love in that way because God loved us first unconditionally, and we have come to know and experience his love in our life through Jesus redemptive unconditional love expressed at the cross for our salvation from sin and death and have been transformed in that love through faith (1John 4:9,10,16,17,18,19).

Jesus said in John 17:3 “And this is eternal life, that they may know (Greek word to experience, be acquainted with) you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you sent.” It’s not just a mental informative knowing, is an experiential knowing of him through a mutual relationship. It is a relationship with God and Jesus through faith, in the obedience that comes from the love shared and experienced in a close bond of love. That is why Jesus said “if you love me you will obey my commandments.” His commandments are all rooted in love of God and love of neighbor(John 15:9-12; Mathew 22: 36-40).

We have free will. The will of God is the will or intention and desire of perfect love and perfect goodness for our lives (1John 1:5; 2:10; Mathew 6:10; James 1:17). The will of God is the outward expression of his divine nature, which is perfect love and goodness. We are children of a loving God who is perfect goodness, and desires to reveal himself in our lives as such, and bring us into the full revelation of his love (1John 4:7-10,16,18,19; Ephesians 3:17-19; John 17:23,26; 2Thessalonians 3:5). That is why he sent his beloved Son Jesus to die on the cross to redeem us from our sin nature and death itself (Psalm 36:9; John 3:16,17; 8:31,32,34,35,36; 17:23,26; Ephesians 3:17-19; James 1:13,17; 1John 1:5; 4:7-10; Romans 8:1,2).

Obedience that is free of personal interests and selfishness, and resentment, is the obedience that comes in response to the experience and presence of pure love. The only response to love that brings us true freedom by our obedience is our awareness of a love that is pure goodness, and unselfish in it’s nature (1John 4:16,19; Mathew 5:44-48; Ephesians 3:16-19; 5:1,2,9; John 15:5,10,12,13; Galatians 5:13,14,22,23). To come to know God in the purity of his love brings us true freedom, and that freedom can only be realized in perfect obedience to the requirements or commands of that love, which is wholesome and which is expressed as the perfect will of God (1John 4:7,8,12,18,19; Psalm 36:9; James 3:13,17,18). This works out for our eternal good (Romans 8:28,37,38,39).

Jesus said to enter eternal life we must love God with our whole heart, soul, mind and strength, and love our neighbor as our self (Mathew 19:16-19; 22:36,39). Deuteronomy 30:2 says that to love God with our whole heart and soul is to obey him. That is the obedience that brings us into the wholeness of perfect love of God and of our neighbor. Jesus also taught that obedience comes from trust and if we believe in him we will obey him. He said “He who believes in the Son has life; but he who does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides upon him.” In other words he who does not obey the son, has not come to know the love of God and is living in rebellion to it, within the lawless nature of sin, which is a condition of death and dying because it is in resistance to pure love and life itself (1John 3:4; Romans 6:23; Psalm 36:9).

God is life, and God is love. To enter the kingdom of heaven we must be born of his love, which produces in us obedience unto life eternal (Romans 1:5; John 3:5,16,18,19,20,21: Ephesians 5:1,2,8,9; 1John 4:7,8,19; 1Peter 1:8,9; Psalm 36:9). Jesus is the only way this spiritual rebirth into life can take place and for the soul to experience redemption from sin and death, and enter the kingdom of heaven (John 3:16; 14:6; 8:12,24; 5:24; 10:7-11,17,18; Acts 4:12; 1John 4:9,10,16; Romans 6:3-6.11,22,23).

Jesus said he is the resurrection and the life (John 11:25). By his death and resurrection he created a living way in himself for mankind to enter the Kingdom of heaven and enter into the experience of the Father’s perfect love and be made whole in it and experience redemption from sin and death (Hebrews 10:12,14,19,20,21,22; 1Peter 1:3; Ephesians 3:17-19; Psalm 36:9).Jesus himself is the road, the road map, the entry point, the end goal or destination of our journey, our resurrection and the eternal life. He said “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6).

The Apostle Peter said “and though you have not seen him, you love Him, and though you do not see him now, but believe in him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory., obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls.” (1Peter 1:8,9; Isaiah 53:4,5,11,12)

Jesus said in John 15:9,10,11 “Just as the Father has loved me, I have also loved you; abide in my love. If you keep my commandments (obey my teaching), you will abide in my love; just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full. This is my commandment, that you love one another(unconditionally in the purity of love) just as I have loved you (unconditionally in the purity of my love). God’s commandments are expressed principles of love to live by, and is not meant to be a measuring tool for applying judgment when we are living by faith and led by the Spirit under the new covenant of grace (John 15:9,12; Galatians 5:1,4,13,14,16,22-25; Titus 3:4-7; James 2:8-10,12,13; 1John 2:1-6,10; Hebrews 4:16). He invites everyone to follow him and they will come to know the truth that brings freedom from sin and death. He said he himself is that truth, and he said “whom the son sets free is free indeed.” (John 8:30,32,34,36).

Jesus invites everyone into a personal relationship with him for life (John 10:9,10). He gives this invitation in Mathew 11:28-30 “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens of this life, and I will give you true rest. Take my yoke upon you (accept my guidance) and let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, I will guide you in my love, and you will find true rest and true peace for your souls. because the guidance and strength of my love makes life easy to bear, and the burden I give you to carry (that which my love requires of you), is made light in the strength of my love and guidance because we are yoked together as one in my love.” (Paraphrased by me to bring out the meaning and thought of Jesus words).

 

Peace
(C) Hand of Grace 2021

THE POWER OF REDEMPTIVE LOVE

We all face many challenges in life, and make mistakes along the way. Sometimes the journey seems too painful, and we have many regrets and have lost our sense of self, and gone into destructive addictions and behavior which brought harm to self and others. Some find themselves in a downward spiral into loneliness, despair, and hopelessness. They find they can’t dig themselves out of the heavy burdens and darkness they feel trapped under. The feelings of abandonment and betrayal may seem insurmountable. The weight of sin too heavy to bear. Is that you, or someone you know?

There is an answer, a way out. God has placed a light within our soul that will guide us out of our pain and suffering, when we reach the end of our self (John 1:4: Psalm 36:9; 1John 1:5-7; Mathew 6:10). It is a light that is always there to guide us, but we can only find it when we are willing to let go of self, and we are no longer resisting its light by our own will and rebellion. It is the pure and Holy light of perfect love (Mathew 5:8; Mathew 6:10; John 8:12; 3:16,17,19). Jesus came to reveal this light to us, and is Himself the light of the world that came to save us, and the light that is hidden within our very soul (John 8:12; 1:4; Psalm 36:9; Acts 17:27,28).

Jesus was the physical manifestation of the eternal Son of the eternal Father who the Bible says created all things and refers to him in John 1:1 as the Word of God which spoke the worlds into existence. John 1:4,5 says: “his life brought light to everyone. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.” Verse 10 says: “He came into the very world he created, but the world did not recognize him.” Verse 14 says: “So the Word became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness.” NLT

Jesus who is unfailing in his love for mankind said in John 8:36 that: “If the Son sets you free, you are truly free.” What freedom was Jesus here referring to? The context shows he was referring to the sinful nature of man and to death itself, since he overcame death itself on our behalf (John 8:34,35; Romans 6:6,23; 1Corinthians 15:50-57). This freedom Jesus died to give us includes freedom from pain and suffering, freedom from addictions, freedom from hatred and even sickness (Isaiah 53; Mathew 8:17; 1Peter 2:24). What is the power that can bring about such freedom in our life? How did Jesus give us access to that power? Let’s see.

John 3:16 introduces us to this power. It says: “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.” 1John 4:9,10 says: “God showed how much He loved us by sending His one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through Him. This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.” See also 1John 3:1-9.

What does this mean “to take away our sins?” It means he came to give us a new spiritual birth into the kingdom of God (1Peter 1:3-5; Colossians 1:13,21,22). This new birth takes place in him through faith, at the doorway of his cross, where he bore our sins on his body, and was punished for our sins, so that we could die in him to the power of sin in our life, and be raised in him through the power of his resurrection, to a new life free from the condemning power of our sinful nature and the guilt by which we are kept captive and enslaved to the judgment nature of sin (Romans 6:3-6,14; 7:22-24; 1Peter 1:3-5; Colossians 1:21,22; 2:13). On the cross the Bible says that Jesus took away the power of sin to condemn us and keep us locked up as prisoners in guilt and condemnation (Romans 8:1-4; Luke 4:18,19). There at the cross, he freed us to live in and by the power of his perfect love (Ephesians 3:16-19; 5:2,8,9; 1John 4:7-10,13,16-19). In this way we are free to truly love and be loved, because in Christ Jesus, we have been given a new birth into the true nature of love which is not subject to the nature of sin and cannot be conquered by sin (1John 4:8; 1:5; James 1:13-17).

The Bible teaches that once we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, our spirit is transferred into his Kingdom of pure light and pure love, we are joined to him as one body, and the Holy Spirit is given to us to regenerate us into His perfect love, and guide us into all Truth (Colossians 1:13,14; Ephesians 4:1-6; 6:23,24; 1Corinthians 12:13,14,25,26,27; Titus 3:4,5; John 14:16,17,18,25,26,27; 17:22,23,26; 2Thessalonians 3:3). It says we are a new creation in Christ Jesus, and the old things in our life have passed away (2Corinthians 5:17). That means we have died to our sinful past, and are alive in Jesus by his Spirit to a new life in him (Romans 6:2,6,14,17,19,,22,23). We are not left on our own (Philippians 1:6; John 14:23; Hebrews 13:5,8). Jesus loves us in our sin, and he loves us to much to leave us in our sin (Romans 5:6,8; Titus 3:4-6; John 15:12,13). That is why he died on the Cross, to free us from sin (Romans 6:6). In him there is no sin, and when he took our sins upon himself on the cross for our eternal salvation and freedom, his love conquered our sin there at the cross (1John 3:5; Romans 8:32-39; Hebrews 9:12,13,14; 13:20,21).

In his love he paid the ultimate price for our redemption…his own life! (Colossians 1:13) All our sins are forgiven in him! They are not being held against us (2Corinthians 5:19-21; Romans 8:1,2; Colossians 2:9,10,13,14). We are washed clean by his precious Holy blood. Sin cannot live in his love. He conquered sin and death on our behalf by becoming sin for us, and then rising from the dead free of our sins by the power of His love (1Corinthians 1:30; 2Corinthians 5:21. His love conquers sin. His love is unconditional, and thereby does not create the conditions that allow sin to exist or “feed” on. Sin feeds on fear and hatred. His love is perfect love, pure love, Holy love. Through our walk of faith and love in a living relationship with him, we are being transformed, and perfected by his love, through the Holy Spirit of his love in which we are sealed unto salvation (2Corinthians 1:22; 3:18; 1John 4:8-13,16-19; Ephesians 5:1,2,8,9,10; 1:13,14; 3:16-19; 4:30; Romans 5:5; Galatians 3:3-5; 4:19; 5:5,6), Jesus said “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father (source of all existence and creation and life) except through me.” (John 14:6; 11:27) He is the eternal Son of the Father and the Bible says our true identity is hidden in him (Colossians 3:1-4; 2Corinthians 3:18). Jesus is the blueprint of what we are to become in the perfection of love and life (2Corinthians 3:18; 1Corinthians 15:45-49)..

Jesus spoke about this new birth by the Spirit in John chapter three. He said to enter heaven we must be born again of the Spirit of God (John 3:5-8). He also said that he is the way, by way of his cross, in which this new birth can take place (John 3:14-17). He said he is the light of our salvation and in him we pass from the judgment of sin and death to eternal salvation and freedom from sin and death (John 8:12;5:24). Jesus is our redeemer! He paid the price that sin required, to give up its hold and rights to our soul, and to provide a living way out of the nature of sin and death (Mathew 20:28; 1Timothy 2:4-6; Romans 7:22-25; 8:1-4,6,9,14,15,23,24; Romans 6:5,6,11,14,22,23; Hebrews 10:14,18-22). He conquered the power of sin and death over our life. Only in him, and by his love, can we be victorious in our life and overcome the nature of sin in our life. We must experience his unconditional love, and know we are forgiven by his grace and loved unconditionally (1John 4:7-19; Romans 5:1,2,5-8-10; 8:37-39). When we truly know that, we will be transformed by his love, and we will love others in the same way as he loves us (1John 4:19; 3:11,14,15; Ephesians 3:17-19; 5:1,2; John 15:9,12; 17:23,26).

Paul said that if we are being led by the Spirit we will not fall into sin at all (Galatians 5:14,16; 19-25). Yes, we can become free of sin even now in our earthly life. True love is free of sin! Sin is simply falling short of perfect love (1John 3:3-5; Galatians 5:13,14; Romans 13:8-10). We are by faith being perfected by God’s Spirit into the perfect image of Jesus love (2Corinthians 3:18). Jesus said in the context of Mathew 5:43-48 that we must be perfect in love as our heavenly Father is perfect in love. He said that is how we prove we are children of God (Mathew 5:44,45). To be born of God is to be born of his love and into his love (1John 4:7,8,19; 2Thessalonians 3:5). The Bible says that God is love, and we must be born of his love, or we don’t know him (1John 4:7,8,19). It also says we can only come to know and experience his love and be born of his love through Jesus sacrifice on the cross, and by God’s Spirit (1John 4:9,10,13,15,16; Ephesians 5:1,2).

We have in Christ Jesus the gift of righteousness given to us through faith (Romans 5:17-21; 6:23; John 3:16). However, what we do with that gift is determining whether or not we truly value that gift and receive its benefit in our life. If we throw it away by willfully continuing to live in sin, and thereby not accepting and appreciating his gift of grace and righteousness, then we are not living in his grace by faith, and no longer have the gift of his righteousness since we have thrown it away (Hebrews 10:26,29,30,31,35,38,39). To be redeemed, such a person must then again come to repentance, and treasure that gift which Jesus died to give us, and receive it again in faith and live in obedience to his word, by the power and Spirit of his love. Jesus said he is the true vine and we are the branches in John chapter 15. There he says we must abide in his love through obedience to God’s revelation of himself in his teachings, which are all rooted in perfect love of God and neighbor (1John 2:5,6,10; Romans 13:9,10). Jesus says that if we don’t remain in him we will not bear the fruit of his love, and we will dry up and become firewood.!!! Our life is in him, apart from him there is only death. In him is life! (1John 1:1-1-4; 5:11,12). We must be joined to him in the obedience of love (John 15:8-12). Then we are kept alive by his Spirit, and the Father who Jesus said is the vine dresser, prunes us and removes what is dead, so that we can bear more fruit and be perfected in his love (John 15:2).

Christianity is a way of life lived by faith and love in Jesus; it is not a free pass out of hell (Acts 9:2; Philippians 1:9-11; Galatians 5:5,6). It is a passage through faith over the bridge built on the very life of Jesus, out of sin and death and hell, into the glorious freedom of the children of God, and into the eternal kingdom of his perfect love (1Timothy 2:5,6; 4:18 Mathew 6:10; Romans 8:19-25).

Jesus invites you to come to him and join yourself to him, and he will give you rest from your struggles and freedom from the cares of life (Mathew 11:28-30). He loves you into life itself (2Corinthians 5:3; 1John 4:7,19; Ephesians 3:19). He is our freedom in the all conquering power of his love (Romans 8:37-39). The Bible says he is the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13:8). It also says he will never leave you or forsake you (Hebrews 13:5). By giving your life to him, you have everything good to gain and nothing to lose except your pain and suffering, and sin and eternal death. Jesus said that without him, we will die in our sins. He came to free us and give us true life (John 10:10). The Bible says now is the day of salvation (2Corinthians 6:2; Romans 10:8-11). We are not guaranteed tomorrow. Just let Jesus know that you accept him as your Lord and Savior, and repent of your sins, and that you want to follow him and be led by his Spirit and perfected in his love. Read the Bible, and find others who are believing and following him in faith and love.

PEACE
(c) Hand of Grace 2021

THE CROSS

THE CROSS
Salvation so freely given,
Redeemed by the blood of Jesus.
Oh, Sacred Cross upon which my Savior died,
and shed His life blood to cleanse me from sin.
I am forgiven and set free from the guilt I carried.
Empowered by His grace…
I walk the path of life with my risen Lord.

How did this miracle take place?
Jesus Himself is the Way,
He is the door of grace,
His Cross is the entry point,
The gateway of death and rebirth.
The crucified life.

In Him,
We die to the power of sin,
and we are raised up to new life,
in the power of His perfect love.
What is not born of love… dies with Him
at the Cross of our salvation,
where we are reborn in His love,
and raised up with Jesus to new life;
the resurrected life!
All that is left of our sins…
is His empty tomb.

We have been raised with Him,
freed from the power and guilt of sin.
Free to live in the fullness of His love.
And to love self and others…
in the life giving power
of perfect love.

(John 3:16; 10:9; 17:22,23,26; 1Peter 1:3,8;
1John 4:7-19; Romans 6:3-6,11,22).

(c) 2021 Hand of Grace

CELEBRATING GOD’S GIFT OF LOVE IN THE BIRTH OF HIS SON JESUS

CELEBRATING GOD’S GIFT OF LOVE
IN THE BIRTH OF HIS SON JESUS

This is the time of year where people everywhere are busy getting ready for the Holidays with family and friends, sharing memories and time together and exchanging gifts.

Let us always remember that Jesus is our reason for the season. Jesus birth 2000 years ago impacted the whole world and changed the course of human history. Jesus revealed God as a loving Heavenly Father who wants the best for His children and has purposed restoration and redemption for the whole human race in the unity of love, by sending His beloved Son Jesus into our world (John 17:23,26; 3:16; Romans 8:137-39; Revelation 21:1-5; Mathew 18:11). He came as the Way, the Truth, and the Life, to bring us into a restored relationship with our Heavenly Father and life giver, in the perfection of His love (John 14:6).

The good news of His birth was announced to the shepherds in the Bible in Luke 2:10-14 by an Angel. There we are told by the angel that he brings good news of a great JOY which shall be for ALL people. Then a multitude of angels appeared to the shepherds praising God and saying: “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth PEACE among men of good will.”

How will this peace come? Mary the earthly mother of Jesus was told by the angel Gabriel that the child she would give birth to was to be conceived in her by the Holy Spirit and thus was to be called the Son of God who came to “save her people from their sins.” Luke1:26,27,31,35,37; Mathew 1:18-21. Have you considered that sin is what is standing in the way of peace? Simply stated sin as defined in the Bible is falling short of perfect love. There is perfect peace in perfect love.

Can it be so simple that the answer to all the world’s problems is to live in perfect love? Why has that not been accomplished in all of human history? The answer to that is also simple. The Bible gives us the answers. Let’s take a look.

The Bible says that God is love (1John 4:7,8). Jesus also taught this in Mathew 5:43-48; and Luke 6:35-37. In fact there Jesus teaches us that God’s love is unconditional. What did Jesus mean that we must be perfect in love just as God is? He taught that love has One Standard, and that it is not something people have to earn or deserve. Perfect love is perfect goodness and expresses itself in kindness, mercy, compassion, and unselfish thoughts and actions towards everyone, seeking to bring about the greatest good and solution to every situation, and human condition. Perfect love does not judge in hatred or with evil intent (1Corinthians 13:4-8,13; John 3:16; Romans 5:6-8; James 1:13,17).

God’s will is perfect goodness, which is perfect love (1John 4:7-10.18,19: Mathew 6:9,10; James 1:12-17). Jesus taught us in the Lord’s Prayer that God’s will is to be done on earth as it already is in heaven (Mathew 6:10). There Jesus teaches us that in order for this to happen, we need to recognize God as our heavenly Father, provider, source of life, and we must recognize God’s kingdom as the means by which the perfect will of God will be done on earth as it is in heaven (Mathew 6:8-15). There Jesus also emphasizes the need to practice forgiveness in our daily life and recognize our need for God’s forgiveness in our life. The Lord’s prayer is a prayer of God’s perfect will for this world, and the means by which this will happen.

Jesus came as the Way, the Truth, and the Life into the kingdom of God by way of the Cross for our salvation from sin and death (John 14:2; 3:5,14-17). He is the Way to restore us into the unity of God’s perfect love which the Bible teaches us that Adam and Eve lost for themselves and there offspring when they separated themselves from the unity of love and fellowship they had as God’s children in the Garden of Eden, to go their own separate way apart from fellowship with God in perfect love. Only in God’s perfect will does perfect Goodness exist and perfect love (Psalm 36:9). When they ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil their will became separated from the perfect will of God. So they and their offspring became separated in their spirit and heart from the perfect will of God and were no longer in unity with His Spirit in perfect love, and thus sin entered our world. The rest is history, and here we are today in a sinful world full of hatred, pain and suffering, sickness and death. Thus Bible reveals for us in simple terms why the world is in the condition it is today. Jesus became the answer. Let’s see why and how.

John 1:1-17 says that the Word of God was in the beginning of creation with God and all things came into existence through Him as the living Word of God who existed with the Father as the eternal Word of God, divine in nature with God. There we are told, that the Word was born into our world as the man Jesus in order to create a new and living way back to the perfection of love and regeneration of the human race back to God’s original love and purpose for mankind (see also John 14:1-6; 17:23,26; 3:16; 5:24; Mathew 25:28,29; Titus 3:4-7; Revelation 21:1-5; 2Peter 3:13; Hebrews 10:19-23; Jeremiah 29:11). Through Jesus death on the cross for the atonement of our sins, He became the living way to at-one-ment with the Father through the revelation of God’s love and grace and the empowering Spirit of His love to bring us into the perfection of His love through faith and the rebirth of the spirit and soul of man in union with the Spirit of the risen Christ (1John 4:7-19; 3:9; John 17:23,26; 3:3,5,15,16; I:12,13; Romans 6:3-14,22,23; 5:17,18,20,21; Ephesians 2:4-10; 1Corinthians 15:45-49; Titus 3:4-7; Galatians 4:19).

By accepting God’s gift of love and salvation through His Son Jesus, we enter in relationship with Him through a living faith and receive His Holy Spirit of pure love which He pours into our heart, giving us a new spiritual birth to a new life in union with His Son in the eternal love of the Father. We are then gradually perfected in love as we receive deeper and deeper revelation of His love which is being perfected in us through the obedience of faith working through love (Romans 5:1,5; 1Peter 1:2,3; Galatians 5:5,6; Romans 6:3-6; 8:2,14-16; Ephesians 6:23; 3:15-19; 1John 4:7-19; 2Corinthians 3:18).

We truly celebrate God’s gift of love by our worship and songs of praise and gratitude and by living a surrendered life to the law of love which is the very law of life (1John 4:7,8,9,10,13,14,16,19; James 2:8,12,13; Galatians 5:13,14,16,22,23,24,25; 1John 3:14,15).

So in this Christmas season and throughout the year, let our greatest gift be the gift of love expressed in all we say and do. Let us be a blessing to those in need and do good to all. Thus we honor the Spirit of the living Christ and share in His love for others (Mathew 25:31-46; 1Thessalonians 2:12; Galatians 6:10).

PEACE
(c) 2020 Hand of Grace

THE FATHER’S LOVE

THE FATHER’S LOVE

Jesus,
Eternal light of the Father’s love,
shine in me the peace of Your love.
Restore my soul in the crystal clear ocean of light,
flowing through me in eternal love.

Let my eyes behold Your beauty,
in the fragrance of the dawn.
Enveloped in its beauty
and the warmth of Your embrace.

Bathed in the light of Your Glory,
the darkness disappears,
and I am made whole.
In the pure light of Your love,
I find perfect peace.

Your goodness reflects in all I see.
You behold me in perfect love,
and I am reborn
in the beauty and innocence of love.

I pray all come to see themselves and others,
through Your eyes, in perfect love.
You said:
“Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.”
You reveal
the Father’s love in me.
“God is Love.”

(John 1:1,4,14,16,17,18; 8:12; 3:16; 1John 4:7,8)

(c) Hand of Grace 2020

RENEWAL

RENEWAL

There is a new beginning waiting for you (Lamentations 3:22,23; Jeremiah 29:11; 2Corinthians 1:22; 2Corinthians 5:19-21; Hebrews 10:16,17,22). Don’t look back and live in past regrets (Philippians 3:13; 4:6-9; 1John 1:5-10; 2:1) Let go of the past through the open door of Grace. Forgiveness closes the door to the past and allows us to step into healing and renewal, to walk in and receive the fullness of love..

Take hold of the open hand of Grace. It will lift you up and place you on solid ground, where you stand and see a new horizon beyond the problems, pain, and sorrow of the past (Mathew 7:24-27; Romans 5:1,2,5-8; 1Corinthians 2:9,10; Hebrews 4:16). There you are received and reborn in the heart of pure love (1John 4:7-10,16,18,19; 3:1; Ephesians 1:4-6; John 1:12,13; 3:3,5,16). There the cleansing waters of God’s pure love will renew and cleanse and restore you in the beauty, vision, and heart of His love (Titus 3:4-7; Hebrews 10:22,23; Psalm 36:9; Revelation 22:1,18).

There is a new beginning waiting for you (Revelation 21:4,5; Titus 3:4-7; 2Corinthians 5:17). Take hold of the hand of Grace. Step through the door of forgiveness. Jesus is the door (John 10:9). Take hold of His hand of grace. He is the Rock of your salvation (Ephesians 2:20; Mathew 7:24-27; Romans 9:32,33; Luke 6:46-49). Come and rest in His love (Mathew 11:28-30; John 3:16; Ephesians 3:17,19; Romans 8:37-39). He will never leave you or forsake you. His love endures forever (Hebrews 13:5 Romans 8:39).

In Christ Jesus you have a wonderful future, and all of your sins are erased (Hebrews 10:17,18,22; 4:14-16; 1John 1:7; Romans 5:17,20,21). Your case has been brought up before the Court of heaven and you are declared righteous and innocent of your sinful crimes against love, in Christ Jesus, by virtue of His atoning sacrifice for your sins on His Cross for the forgiveness of sins (Romans 5:17,20,21; 8:1,2,33,34,38,39; 1John 1:7, 3:4; 4:9,19; 2Corinthians 5:18,19 20; Romans 4:6-8). All you need to do is receive it in Faith and follow Him as you are taught by His Word and Spirit the way of love, peace, and righteousness (Romans 3:22-24; 5:1,2,5-8; James 3:13,17,18; 1Peter 1:2; Ephesians 5:2). He will make you succeed by His Spirit (Philippians 1:6). You can’t loose because the King and creator of the universe has promised you can’t loose if you put your trust in Him. He will make you a winner. So reach out and grab the open hand of Grace. Let go of the past and move forward into your divinely guided future (Jeremiah 29:11-13). You are beloved of God (1John 3:1; Colossians 1:13,14; Romans 8:38,39). He loves you as much as He loves His beloved Son Jesus, whom He sent to die for your sins and give you a blessed future (2Peter 1:3,4; 3:13,14). He sacrificed His own beloved Son for your sins and makes you an heir with Him of all the riches and glory and beauty of His precious Eternal Son Jesus (John 3:16; 2Corinthians 4:6; Romans 8:17).

His perfect vision for your life was written in a book stored in heaven’s library, before you were even born, and encoded in your DNA as potential for fulfillment of your life’s purpose (Psalm 139:16,17). Seek your highest good and true identity written for your life In a book with your name on it held in heaven’s record library. Jesus will reveal its contents for you through His Spirit. The Bible says that your Identity is hidden in Christ, and your highest good and potential for life will be revealed in Him (Colossians 2:13; 3:1,3,4,5). You are not an accident. You are here for a purpose, and that purpose was planned by God for your life’s journey, and fulfillment in love (Ephesians 1:4-6; 2:4,5; 3:17-20). The blueprint for your highest good and discovery and fulfillment in life is hidden with Christ in God according to Scripture (1Corinthians 2:9-16; 15:20,-23,45-49; 2Corinthians 3:17,18; Colossians 3:3,4). In Him you have eternal life in a blessed journey of growth and discovery in the Mind of Christ, in the unity of pure love, and fellowship with God’s eternal Son and our Redeemer (1Corinthians 2:9,10,16: 1John 1:3; John 17:23,26; Psalm 36:9). Just imagine, being plugged in to the Mind of Christ in your spirit, it is like being plugged into the entire universal wisdom and knowledge and Truth of life and existence for all eternity (1Corinthians 2:9,10,16; Colossians 2:2,3,8,9).

The Bible says as followers of Jesus, we are the Body of Christ (Romans 12:5; 1Corinthians 12:12,13,27). He is the head, and you are one with Him in love and Truth, and you have access to the Mind of Christ (1Corinthians 2:16; Ephesians 3:16,19; John 17:23,26; 1John 4:7). The Bible teaches that those who trust Jesus as their Savior and live in faith and unity with Him in love, are led by God’s Spirit and are the very Bride of Christ! (Romans 8:1,2,6,9,14; Galatians 4:6; 5:13,14,16,22,23; Ephesians 5:23,27,29,31,32; John 3:28,29,30; Revelation 21:9).The access code to heaven is faith in Jesus working through love (Galatians 5:5,6). You then are plugged into His Spirit to the heavenly internet of pure Truth and life itself! You become a living part of the Source!!! (Psalm 36:9; 2Peter 1:4; Galatians 4:19; 2Corinthiansd 3:18; 1Corinthians 15:49; 1John 3:2,9; John 17:23,26). Nothing on earth that man can come up with can even begin to compare! They are all “child’s play.” The Bible says the Reality belongs to Christ! (Colossians 2:17). Would you like to be plugged in to eternity, a life of untold possibilities, beauty and new discoveries? (1Corinthians 2:9,10; Revelation 21:5). Jesus said He Himself is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father (source) except through Him (Through the revelation of His unconditional love by way of His cross Jesus reveals the Father to us in love, whose perfect reflection we become in Christ 2Corinthians 3:18; 1Corinthians 15:45-49). Come….He is inviting you to become part of the eternal Body of Christ, the Eternal Son of the eternal Father (Revelation 22:17). How will your book end?…the choice is yours (Revelation 3:5; 20:15).

LOVE AND PEACE

(c) Hand of Grace 2020

THE AWAKENING BEAUTY OF LOVE

The beautiful flower of love awakening in our soul, speaks to our heart and opens its pedals to receive the light of the sun. In the warmth of its rays love fully awakens and our heart sings with joy (Psalm 84:11; Malachi 4:2). Love sees its reflection in all that is; in the eyes of each person, in the beauty of nature, in the good and the bad, in the beautiful and the ugly. Love is always present to save and restore, to heal and understand, to awaken in any moment, to reveal itself to those who mourn, who are broken in spirit, who have lost hope. Love is the breath of life, it is our source of origin (Psalm 36:9; 46:1). It’s flower is planted in our heart waiting to open, and reveal its eternal beauty and love. Love is Truth; it is the wholeness and Oneness of undivided unity and perfect goodness from which all life comes into being. God is love, and in Him there is no darkness at all (1John 1:5; 4:8). His love is the beautiful flower of life, in many colors, hidden in our heart, waiting to blossom and show its beauty. To heal our lives, to bring us joy, to live life to the fullest and guide our way to meet all challenges, to solve all problems, to give hope to everyone, and lasting peace in our world.

(c) Hand of Grace 2020