Stop working so hard to earn His love. ~ Anne Graham Lotz, Jesus In Me   Editor's Note: Have you heard the news? Jesus in Me: Experiencing the Holy Spirit as a Constant Companion by Anne Graham Lotz is our next community Online Bible Study starting March 1st! More than 7,500 of you signed up in the first 24 hours! Wow!!! Praise the Lord! We know this will be an incredible life-changing and world-changing study and we are so blessed today to give you this early glimpse at some of the content. Enjoy this exclusive excerpt from Jesus in Me by beloved author, Bible teacher, and evangelist Anne Graham Lotz.
*
I remember well the day my husband, Danny, gave me my engagement ring.
We were sitting on the couch beside the fireplace in my parents' living room.
Inside a little black velvet box was the most beautiful ring I had ever seen. It was exactly what I would have selected had I done so myself. Just a single diamond in a Tiffany setting. I was thrilled!
That night when I went to bed, I couldn't sleep. I kept gazing at the ring on my finger. It seemed to glow in the dark.
Early the next morning, I slipped down the stairs to my mother's room so I could show it to her.
She agreed with me that it was as beautiful as any engagement ring she had ever seen.
But the ring was more than just a beautiful piece of jewelry because I knew it carried with it Danny Lotz's pledge of marriage.
Every time I saw it, I was reminded that the day would come when his promise would be fulfilled.
I would become his wife, and we would live together until death separated us. The ring remained on my finger until the moment during my wedding ceremony when I slipped it off so Danny could place a wedding band on the same finger.
Then I placed the engagement ring next to the wedding band, where it remains to this day. It is a constant reminder of my husband's love and commitment to me, and mine to him, even beyond his death.
The Holy Spirit within us is our "engagement ring."
He Himself is the promise... the guarantee... the pledge... that Jesus loves us. That He is committed and faithful to us. And that one day He will return to take us to live with Him forever in the Home that He is preparing. (John 14:2-3.)
I used to assume that the Holy Spirit was "assigned" to me.
I thought He had come into my life because He had no option. I was now His "job" — His responsibility.
My view of Him was that He was strictly professional, a perfectionistic stickler for details and Someone who would keep me in line until one day He would present me to the Father and say something like "Here she is. I've done My best to work with what I had."
This harmful attitude could have led me to living a lie, as I would have tried hard to impress Him.
I could have burned myself out trying hard to earn His love.
Then one day while reading my Bible, I was gripped by the following:
Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. — Ephesians 4:30
While I understand that Scripture is warning us not to intentionally, willfully sin, the word grieve caught and held my attention.
I reflected on grief in my own life and knew I had experienced that emotion only when I deeply cared about someone or something.
I grieved when my mother went to Heaven. I grieved when my husband followed her there about eight years later. I grieved when my father joined them both. And I realized that grief is a love word.
I grieve because I loved my mother and my husband and my father.
This realization turned the light on in my thinking as I realized that if I can grieve the Holy Spirit, it's because He loves me.
The Holy Spirit loves me! That was a profound, revolutionary thought. He's not just a professional partner. He's not just assigned to me. He doesn't live within me because He has to — He lives within me because He wants to live within me.
He deeply cares about what I do and who I become.
When I do the right thing, He rejoices. When I do the wrong thing, He grieves.
Not only is He spiritually and practically involved in my life, but He is also emotionally caught up in who I am and who I am to become.
What a difference that simple truth has made in my perspective. I can be myself with the Holy Spirit. I don't have to be "on." I can relax and be transparent with Him because He is God's promise to me.
I can trust Him completely because He truly loves me!
And the Holy Spirit loves you too!
He cares deeply about what you care about because He cares about you.
It doesn't matter how small or how large your concern is.
He cares. He understands.
And yes, He wants to make you holy — because He loves you! He will work all things — all things — for your good (Romans 8:28).
So gaze at your "engagement ring," the Holy Spirit.
If He truly loves you fully, unconditionally — if He truly desires what's best for you, if He truly cares about everything you care about because He cares for you—what reason do you have for not trusting in His providence and pledge?
Relax. Stop trying to impress Him.
Stop working so hard to earn His love.
Be open and honest and transparent.
Live with the confidence that you are deeply, unconditionally, permanently loved by Him.
The Holy Spirit is absolutely committed to fulfilling His responsibility to take good care of you until the day you are presented as a glorious bride to your Bridegroom.
And that's a promise.
*Thanks to Multnomah for their permission to publish today's devotion, excerpted from Jesus in Me by Anne Graham Lotz, copyright 2020 by Anne Graham Lotz. * Don't miss our great deals on the companion study guide when you sign up for the Online Bible Study!
* * * Your Turn The Holy Spirit loves you! He is Jesus without skin and bone living within you. He knows your every thought and action, wish and dream. He has plans for you and wants to walk you through this life guiding you all the way in His love. You can trust in Him! Leave a comment on our blog! ~ Laurie McClure, Faith.Full
Announcing our next OBS leading up to Easter 2021
Jesus In Me with Anne Graham Lotz will help us learn to experience the Holy Spirit as your constant Companion, Counselor, and Friend!
Save over 30% of the Study Materials JESUS IN ME: Experiencing the Holy Spirit as a Constant Companion  Regular Price: $15.99 Sale: $11.00 (31% off) + free U.S. shipping on orders $30 or more Jesus. In. Me.
Have you lost touch with the wonder of those three words?
The notion that Jesus can literally be inside of us should startle us with the extent of the intimacy we can have with Jesus, and astonish us with the depth of connection he offers.
And it's all possible because of the Holy Spirit.
In Jesus In Me, revered evangelist and Bible teacher Anne Graham Lotz guides us to a deeper relationship with the Holy Spirit, who is Jesus without skin.
In this practical study that is a true Bible study, Anne starts with a workshop on how to get to know the Holy Spirit by listening to him when we're studying the Bible. Then, we apply the skills of asking and listening as we work through five Bible studies per week on selected Scriptures about the Holy Spirit.
Through eight sessions, we will discover why the Holy Spirit is not an optional extra in the Christian life.
Discover how you can better love and rely on the Holy Spirit— and embrace how much He loves you.
Save on the Study Guide + DVD pack  Regular Price: $44.99 Sale: $31.49 (30% off) + free U.S. shipping on orders $30 or more
Miss any of our recent articles?  by Ruth Schwenk  by Elizabeth Passarella  You're Invited to the Jesus In Me OBS! with Anne Graham Lotz Save the dates: March 1 - April 25, 2021 Jesus in Me with Anne Graham Lotz  *Sale prices valid through 5/1/2021, excluding eBooks. eBooks purchases are fulfilled by our partner, Glose. Free U.S. shipping on orders $30 or more, excluding Alaska and Hawaii.
|
Faith.Full ~ the women's newsletter at FaithGateway Our mission is to help you grow and share your faith |
Copyright © 2021 HarperCollins Christian Publishing. All Rights Reserved.
501 Nelson Place, Nashville, TN 37214, USA
Privacy Policy | Terms and Conditions
*Manage Your Email Preferences or *Unsubscribe
Posts
.jpg?x-oss-process=image/auto-orient,1/quality,q_70/resize,m_mfit,w_350,h_350/format,webp)
No comments:
Post a Comment