July 8-9, 2006, Ephesians 3:17-19, Selected

INSTANT MESSAGES!
AML – A WORD OF LOVE!

*** Eph. 3:17-19 "I pray that Christ will live in your hearts by faith and that your life will be strong in love and be built on love. And I pray that you and all God's holy people will have the power to understand the greatness of Christ's love - how wide and how long and how high and how deep that love is. Christ's love is greater than anyone can ever know, but I pray that you will be able to know that love. Then you can be filled with the fullness of God." [New Century Version]
*** Romans 8:35-36 "Can anything ever separate us from Christ's love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or are hungry or cold or in danger or threatened with death?" [New Living Translation]

NEVER LET AFFLICTION MAKE YOU LOOSE SIGHT OF GOD'S AFFECTION!

*** Romans 8:37 "No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us." [NLT]
*** Romans 8:38-39 "And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from his love. Death can't, and life can't. The angels can't, and the demons can't. Our fears for today, our worries about tomorrow, and even the powers of hell can't keep God's love away. Whether we are high above the sky or in the deepest ocean, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord." [NLT]

HOW DO GOD'S IMs OF LOVE CHANGE OUR LIVES?

1. HIS LOVE SETS ME FREE FROM FEAR!
*** 1 John 4:18 "Where God's love is, there is no fear, because God's perfect love drives out fear." [New Century Version]

WHAT IS IT THAT MAKES US AFRAID:
DESTINY!

DEVIL!

DEATH!

*** Deut. 31:8 "Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the Lord is the one who goes before you. He will be with you; he will neither fail you nor forsake you." [NLT]
*** Psalm 40:11-12 "O Lord, my problems far too big for me to solve are piled higher than my head. My only hope is in your love and faithfulness." [Living Bible]

I DON’T KNOW WHAT THE FUTURE HOLDS, BUT I KNOW WHO HOLDS THE FUTURE!

*** Romans 16:20 "The God who brings peace will soon defeat Satan and give you power over him." [NCV]
*** 1 John 4:4 "You belong to God and have defeated them; because God's Spirit, who is in you, is greater than the devil, who is in the world." [NCV]
*** John 3:16 "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." [NIV]
*** Isaiah 49:15 "Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you!" [NIV]

2. IT MOTIVATES ME TO BE GENEROUS!
*** 1 John 3:17 "Suppose someone has enough to live and sees a brother or sister in need, but does not help. Then God's love is not living in that person." [NCV]

- WHEN JESUS SAW SOMEONE HURTING HE GAVE HEALING!
- WHEN JESUS SAW SOMEONE FAMISHED HE GAVE FOOD!
- WHEN JESUS SAW SOMEONE STRUGGLING HE GAVE SUPPORT!
- WHEN JESUS SAW SOMEONE NEEDY HE GAVE NECESSITIES!

*** Romans 5:8 "God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." [NIV]

THE CHRISTIAN IS FORGIVEN AND FOR GIVING!

3. IT BUILDS UP MY SELF-WORTH!
*** Psalm 145:17 "The Lord is righteous in all his ways and loving toward all he has made." [New International Version]

IF I LIKE ME AND IF GOD LIKES ME – BUT YOU DON’T LIKE ME – IT'S YOUR PROBLEM!

***John 5:41-42 "Your approval or disapproval means nothing to me, because I know you don't have God's love within you." [NLT]

4. IT HELPS ME ENDURE!
*** 2 Thes. 3:5 "May the Lord bring you into an ever deeper understanding of the love of God and the endurance that comes from Christ." [NLT]
*** Jude 1:21 "Keep yourselves in God's love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life." [NIV]
*** Psalm 52:8 "I am like an olive tree, thriving in the house of God. I trust in God's unfailing love forever and ever." [NLT]
*** 2 Tim. 1:13 "Hold on to the pattern of right teaching you learned from me. And remember to live in the faith and love that you have in Christ Jesus." [NLT]

NO MATTER HOW BAD IT GETS, HANG IN THERE BECAUSE YOU ARE LOVED!

5. IT SAVES MY SOUL!
*** John 15:12-13 "I command you to love each other in the same way that I love you. And here is how to measure it - the greatest love is shown when people lay down their lives for their friends." [NLT]
*** 1 John 4:9-10 "God showed how much he loved us by sending his only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love. It is not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins." [NLT]
*** Eph. 3:17-19 "I pray that Christ will be more and more at home in your hearts...may you have the power to understand, as all God's people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love really is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is so great you will never fully understand it." [NLT]

God's IM to you today...ALL MY LOVE!