Receiving God's Perfect Love For You

We often resist accepting God's love due to guilt, shame, or a misguided desire to earn our salvation. God's plan doesn't depend on us, yet He deeply desires for us to receive the love and grace He freely offers.

• Your importance to God isn't about what you can do for Him, but that you are His beloved child
• Refusing to accept God's gifts blocks blessings for both the giver and receiver
• Much like we feel disappointed when someone rejects our genuine help, God desires us to receive His love
• Jesus made an incalculable sacrifice so we could live guilt-free and walk in victory
• Receiving God's love rather than trying to earn it brings joy to His heart

Will you choose to accept God's love today instead of trying to earn it?

Transcript

Accepting God's Love vs Trying Harder

Speaker 1 0:00

Are you going to accept God's love, his power, him taking responsibility, or are you going to keep trying to claw that back? Are you going to keep trying to put up a wall? Are you going to keep saying I'm a sinner, I'm messed up, yeah, yeah, you are. You are a sinner, you are messed up man. That's why he came for you. That's the good news, man. That's the gospel. Jimmy, james Johnson, guilt-free faith. If you're looking for guilt, you're in the wrong place, because we don't get down like that here. We're going to get you walking in victory today. Let's get into it.

Receiving Christ's Love Without Guilt

Speaker 1 0:36

The God of the universe isn't depending on us to fulfill his plans. Maybe that makes it sound like God's cold or distant or doesn't really care. It's like a one-way relationship. But that's not what the Bible says. The Bible outlines his love for us in detail in many ways and in every circumstance, but, mercifully, what he doesn't do is say, oh, but, jimmy, I'm really dependent upon you to do this, man, or my whole plan falls apart. I don't know about you, but I don't want that level of responsibility. I don't want to be the one that collapses God's plan. I don't want to be the one that doesn't come through for Jesus. I don't want to be the one who thwarts what God has in store for this person or that person, or the healing that somebody needs here, the testimony somebody needs there, or the healing that somebody needs here, the testimony somebody needs there. Like God, has an agenda and has a plan and has the resources to fulfill that plan. So your importance to God isn't about what you can do for him. Your importance to God is that he loves you. You are his child. He wants all the best things for you. That's why you're saved. That's why you're saved, that's why you're delivered. That's why you can walk in victory here and in the hereafter. So that's your part, that's your responsibility. You're saying, jimmy, what's my part If God don't need me? What's my part? One of your parts is to accept and receive and embrace the love of Christ. To receive. Some people say that sounds selfish. But here let me say it to you another way.

When We Block Blessings

Speaker 1 2:09

Part of the guilt-free faith mission, the guilt-free faith movement, is to highlight the fact that when you're bound up in guilt and you're bound up in sin consciousness and you're bound up in what you owe God or how you think you're going to pay God back or how you're going to make God proud by somehow miraculously being this sinless new being. What gets lost in all that is you enjoying the receipt, you receiving Christ's love, receiving his salvation. You can relate to this Haven't you ever bought someone a gift, or wanted to give somebody a gift, and they refuse it? Or hey, yeah, here's a friend of yours is down on their luck. They need some money, they may need some groceries, somebody needs some help, their car needs a fix, somebody needs some help with something. And here you go, you're out of love, out of kindness, out of generosity, out of joy. You want to help that person out. You're like, hey, man, no, take what you need. Man, let me get you those groceries, let me get you those groceries, let me fix that flat tire, let me speak to that person about helping you get that job. And sometimes that person, they beg off. No, I don't want you to do that for me. I don't want.

Speaker 1 3:22

And actually, in some cases, when it's something you really want to do, like out of the love of your heart, that's a real disappointment, isn't it? If it was something you didn't want to do, that's another matter. Then you're glad. You're like good, I ain't really trying to give you this money anyway. But when it's somebody you care about and it's somebody you want to help, you want them to take your help. Nothing would please you more than them taking your help. You want to see them happy. You want to see them whole. You want to give them that birthday gift, or you want to pay that light bill, or you want to help them repair that relationship, or you want to go walking with them in the mornings to get them on a good fitness regimen.

Speaker 1 4:02

You want to do something for somebody and there's so much joy that flows through you when you're able to do that. But when people block that flow, when people put up the and for the best intentions they don't want hey man, no, I don't want you to. I know your money isn't all that. I don't want you to come out of pocket for me or I don't want, I don't want to take anything from you. I know you would do it, I appreciate it, but I don't want to.

Speaker 1 4:25

A lot of times, man like you, refusing that is canceling that blessing for both parties. The giver doesn't get a chance to give out of the abundance of love in their heart and you're not receiving. God here is working through this person to help take care of you and you're blocking it. No, I don't want that. Let me turn that blessing down. Let me turn that friendship down. Let me turn that parent down. Are there times when that's appropriate? Sure, there are times when that's appropriate. Days you're sad, some days you want to help, some days you don't, and all that imperfection.

God's Joy When We Receive His Love

Speaker 1 5:16

Now, if you can even feel that frustration, if even you don't want all of that love to be pent up without an opportunity to share it, imagine how God feels God has all this love for you. Jesus has all this love for you. Feels God has all this love for you. Jesus has all this love for you. He makes this incalculable sacrifice for you and for some of us. We're blocking him out, we're blocking that off.

Speaker 1 5:41

No, I can't really accept Jesus's love like that. No, I can't really accept that salvation. I know I still got to earn it, or I know I still got to do something, or I need to at least feel guilty about this, or I should at least be earning this or working on that, or going there or there, or praying for this or doing this or like all these action verbs. Right, what you're going to do and a lot of times, like Jesus, has to be looking at you like man. Just receive what I'm giving you.

Speaker 1 6:09

I died to give this to you.

Speaker 1 6:11

I am the source, I have the resources.

Speaker 1 6:14

I'm the rich uncle who wants to bless you, take care of you and keep you from facing destitution.

Speaker 1 6:22

The grandparent that you know loves and supervises you when you're away from your own home. You know here, like Jesus, he has all these roles to play with you and he's just I can't say he's begging, but man, think how happy he is when we receive that love, when we say, god, yeah, I'm going to rest in you. You did all this work, you forgave me, you brought that earthly battle for my soul to an end and I appreciate it so much, I believe in that so much, that I'm going to receive it and enjoy it and declare it and walk in victory with it. God loves that. God loves that man and, like I'm saying, if you've ever felt like how good it feels to help somebody, that you want to help, that's in all your brokenness, that's in all your humanity and the darkness that's in your heart, if even you know how to give good gifts to your children, so much more does God know and desire to do so for you, so are you going to receive that today?