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This is part 4 of a 4 part series. View other parts here: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3

When blood and water hit the ground walls we couldn’t move came crashing down. We were free and made alive the day that True Love died, the day that True Love died.
– True Love, Phil Wickham

This was God’s great plan. He knew His people could never have bridged the gap between Him and them, He knew they could never pay the price that was required for their sins. So He did it for them. He gave up His rights as God of the universe in order to take on all the frailties of human flesh. He lived by dependence and obedience to the Father, becoming the perfect, faultless sacrifice. For blood is life, and it is the only thing that takes away sin. Humanity was free once again to choose God, to trust in His power and faithfulness and wisdom, to learn the joy of truly living. Once again, mankind could be in the proper relationship with Him: obedience to His Lordship, worshiping His worthiness, delighting in His great beauty and love.

This is the story of Yahweh, the Creator God of the Universe, the Truest Love that has ever been.

Search your heart, you know you can’t deny it. Lose your life, just so you can find it…
– True Love, Phil Wickham

He asks only that we let go of the control of our lives and turn it over to His wisdom. He already gave His life to us. In return, He’ll pour out His grace on us in a flood, and give us even more. He promises to give us the greatest joy possible: friendship with Him. Once we taste that, friends, we know there is no pleasure in this world that can compare. It is the very meaning and purpose of life, the joy of experiencing and worshiping God. Life without that is no life at all… it is a living death. It is Hell.

Jesus died to give us the chance to really live. But He didn’t stay dead. We who live, live in His life, which is the light of men. Abandon this life so that you may have Life. Rejoice in it, in Him, and share the wealth. Spread the joy, the life, lighting up the darkest places with His love and grace.

…Jesus is alive! Jesus is alive! Jesus is alive! Jesus is alive!  HE ROSE AGAIN!
– True Love, Phil Wickham

*Migrated from Facebook Notes and postdated.  View original note here.

This is part 3 of a 4-Part Series. View other parts here: Part 1, Part 2, Part 4

After centuries of waiting, the child that had been promised to the nation was born. He was the ultimate and final revelation of who God was, because He was Himself the same nature as God. He lived out God’s character every moment of His life, displaying to the world exactly what God intended for humanity, before the Tragedy. But the Adversary had twisted the interpretations of the prophecies about the child as much as he could, and warped the expectations of the people. So He was not what the nation expected. The nation had forgotten God and His character, turning instead to empty religion, another ploy of the Adversary, and they did not recognize Him. His own people rejected Him. They plotted against Him. They wanted Him dead. One day, their plots succeeded.

He knew it was coming. He knew the price He was about to pay to redeem the world. And it was high. Jesus, very God, was preparing to lay down His own life for His faithless people. He was seeking solace in a garden, preparing Himself for what lay ahead in the only way possible: communion with the Father, God. He was afraid. He wished for another way, any other way. But He submitted to the will of the Father, and willingly submitted Himself to the plotters when they came.

The Father gave His only Son just to save us.
– True Love, Phil Wickham

They dragged him away. They scrambled for accusations against Him. They pressured the governor to execute Him. They whipped Him. They mocked Him. They mutilated His body. And then they began the execution. It was excruciating, beyond anything that could ever be described. It was the worst, most horrendous thing that had ever happened in the history of the universe. The creation was brutally murdering the Creator.

The earth was shaking in the dark, all creation felt the Father’s broken heart. Tears were filling heaven’s eyes the day that True Love died.
– True Love, Phil Wickham

Creation rebelled. The Father could not look upon His Son, bearing the weight of the faithlessness of the entire world. It was profoundly and absolutely wrong, what was happening. And at every precious drop of blood that fell, the Adversary rejoiced. Little did he know.

*Migrated from Facebook Notes and postdated.  View original note here.

This is part 2 of a 4-Part Series. View other parts here: Part 1, Part 3, Part 4

As Abraham’s descendants grew, God brought them to a land where they would be able to multiply and prosper – Egypt. They grew to such great numbers that the king of the land became terrified of them, and enslaved them. But they continued to grow. And God was not absent from them. When the time was right, God chose a man, Moses, to speak with the king of Egypt, and win freedom for His people. God displayed His power and might in awesome ways in the land of Egypt, triumphing over the “gods” that the Egyptians trusted in.

God continued to work in the life of the nation that was growing out of Abraham’s descendants. He revealed Himself to them in special ways, displaying more and more of who He was. Showing His awesome power, love, and faithfulness. And when they had learned to trust Him and rely on Him, He made a covenant with them. It was the biggest revelation of His holiness and character that He had yet made. But it also was to serve as a mirror to show humanity how far they had fallen from what He had intended for them. He promised this budding nation that He would watch over them and protect them and be their God if they would stay faithful to the covenant, seeking, trusting in, and worshiping only Him.

For a while, they were faithful, and God blessed them. He fought for them and provided for them and guided them. But the Adversary had not been idle. He worked his deceptions, and they began to turn away. The gods and idols of the nations around them began to seduce them, enticing them away from their true love, the one they had promised to be faithful to, who had been faithful to them. God and His covenant were forgotten.

So God brought other nations against them, seeking to get their attention, and bring about repentance so that they could be restored to Him once again. He sought to purge the nation of its wickedness, and create a holy nation with which He could accomplish the ultimate redemption of the whole world – restoration to Himself. He began to send prophets, messengers declaring His anger and love, and promising peace and prosperity in a restoration to God. A child was promised, a Messiah, an anointed one. One who would be both king and priest – ruling the world in justice and peace, and standing as the mediator between God and men.

*Migrated from Facebook Notes and postdated.  View original note here.

This is part 1 of a 4 part series. View other parts here: Part 2, Part 3, Part 4

Come close, listen to the story about a love more faithful than the morning.
– True Love, Phil Wickham

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. He poured His character and love and glory into this creation, making it an overflow of who He was, and it was good. Oh, so good. The vastness of His knowledge, wisdom, and understanding were prominently displayed in its intricacy. It’s breathtaking beauty was merely a reflection of His own. The way everything worked together perfectly flowed out of the cooperation of the three persons willing, creating, and sustaining it. Ah, but the crowning glory? The part that most reflected the Creator? That was when He created man. A being as relational as He was, to experience the same indescribable joy that God experienced within Himself. A being that could truly delight in God the way that God delighted in him, that could be God’s true representative to the amazing world He had just formed. And it was very, very good.

But then…
Then, the unimaginable happened. The Adversary, the Great Deceiver, came. Man was deceived. Even knowing God’s character, seeing His goodness displayed everywhere around him, and actively experiencing it every moment, Man decided that God was not to be trusted. Man rejected God. And it was catastrophic.

Everything in the whole earth, the whole universe, was affected by Man’s decision. It was no longer very, very good. Things became twisted, and didn’t do exactly what God intended for them anymore. All of this, because Man, the God-appointed ruler of creation, God’s representative on earth, broke relationship with God. Turned away from the most precious and faithful being in existence. All of creation began to mourn because of it, and long for restoration. And so did God.

But God was not content to resign Himself to this state of affairs. Absolutely not. He loved His creation too much. He longed to restore them to Himself, and to give them the joy that He alone can give, from which they had cut themselves off. He knew what He had to do – He had to reveal Himself in a way that the people could understand, so that they would begin to trust Him and delight in Him again. He knew that it was far too much for them to be able to take in all at once, but He had a plan. He had a plan from the very beginning, before they even turned away from Him. He began to speak to a man, one by the name of Abram. He promised Abram that his descendants would be beyond numbering, changing his name to Abraham to reflect that promise, and that there was a land of promise that God had just for him, and for his descendants. God began to reveal His power and faithfulness in Abram’s life, fulfilling His promises and working on Abraham’s behalf. And Abraham learned to trust God.

*Migrated from Facebook Notes and postdated.  View original note here.

*Migrated from Facebook Notes and postdated.  View original note here.

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.

I love these verses.

Can’t you just feel the energy of something grand about to happen? like the calm before the storm. Everything is unnaturally still. I can just imagine it, like a movie that starts out in darkness and near silence, with only that hint of a hum of music in the background, building. You hold your breath, because you can sense the dramatic pause, the tension building. In those few moments, you feel the potential for something great, something dramatic. You know it’s coming.

And then, out of the silence, God speaks.

And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.

And out of the darkness, His voice brings light. Glorious, beautiful, blinding.

Magnificent.

*Migrated from Facebook Notes and postdated.  View original note here.

From glass alabaster she poured out the depths of her soul.
O foot of Christ, would you wait if her harlotries known?
Falls a tear to darken the dirt,
Of humblest offerings to forgive the hurt.

She is strong enough to stand in Your love.
I can hear her say…”I am weak,
I am poor. I’m broken Lord, but I’m yours.
Hold me now. Hold me now.”

Let he without sin cast the first stone if you will,
To say that my bride isn’t worth half the blood that I’ve spilled.
Point your finger and laugh if you choose,
To say my beloved is borrowed and used.

She is strong enough to stand in My love.
I can hear her say…“I am weak.
I am poor. I’m broken Lord, but I’m yours.
Hold me now. Hold me now.”

– Jennifer Knapp, “Hold Me Now”

She had just messed up. Worse than ever before. She looked out towards the horizon, tears threatening to form in her eyes and spill down her cheeks. The beauty of God’s creation was spread out before her. Pure. Not like her. Displaying His glory and majesty, just like He designed it to. Not like her. But He was calling her.

She was walking along the beach. The sand beneath her was wet, and the waves would occasionally reach up and cover the tops of her feet. Inviting her to come deeper.

She continued walking. But slowly, ever so slowly, her steps carried her farther into the waves. He was drawing her.

She stops. Turns toward the ocean. The water completely covers her ankles, the waves carrying it almost to her knees. She looks out over the water and marvels at how perfectly blue and lovely it is. She closes her eyes, overcome with wonder and sorrow. The wind brushes her cheek, while the waves continue to pull at her legs. Still He beckons.

Dive in.

She protests. But I’ll look ridiculous…I still have my clothes on over my swimsuit. But she takes a step. And another.

Dive in. Let my love wash you clean. And another.

But I don’t deserve Your love. I don’t deserve to be clean. Her feet carry her yet further in, almost to her waist.

I love you. Be clean. Dive in. A wave comes, carrying the water up to her ribs, ever so gently knocking her off balance.

She regains her balance. The next wave is on its way.  Dive in.

She catches her breath. Holds it. Takes two steps, then dives into the wave. He smiles. She surfaces, in awe of the God that is Holy, but loves her. The God that forgives. Another wave comes, and sets her on her feet. She smiles. The waves continue to come, almost sweeping her feet out from under her once again. She giggles.

Play with Me, He says.

Waves of Mercy, Waves of Grace
Everywhere I look, I see Your face.
Your love has captured me
O, my God, this love…
How can it be?