Jesus will never stop loving you

“Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank Him for all He has done. Then you will experience God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6,7).
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Today I want you to think about the worst thing that could happen in your life. Is it sickness? Bankruptcy? Loneliness? Normally I like to talk about nice things, but I want to share with you how God has been helping me with my worry. You see, I worry a lot. And most of my worries never come true.

But say the worst of the worst happened, whatever that is for you. There are a few things you can know will never be affected, no matter what goes wrong:

• God will still be glorified: “’As surely as I live,' says the LORD, ‘every knee will bend to Me, and every tongue will confess and give praise to God'" (Romans 14:11)
• God will never leave you: “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5)
• Jesus will never stop loving you: “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:39)

So I’d like you to do this exercise with me. Fill in the blank with your worst worry and say out loud: “If God wants to glorify Himself through _______________, then so be it. He will never leave me, abandon me, or take His love away from me. And I will arrive at the End of Days with Jesus in Heaven.”

Because that is the ultimate worst-case scenario: that you would arrive at the Day of Judgment and not be admitted into Heaven. But Jesus has promised you: “My sheep listen to My voice; I know them, and they follow Me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them away from Me” (John 10:27,28).

What are you worrying about today? Give it to God. This is how I do it: I imagine my worry as a ball that I throw to God for Him to deal with. I Peter 5:7 says, “Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you.” Sometimes I have to throw my worry ball to Him just once; sometimes once an hour. But He always gives me His peace in exchange. And He will do the same for you.

So let’s pray together this week that:

• We would completely give all our worries over to God and receive His peace
• We would rest in the knowledge that He will ultimately be glorified
• Global Media Outreach would completely give God all our worries

THANK YOU so much for your prayers. If we can pray for you, just hit “reply” to this email and let us know your prayer requests. God loves you!

Gift of the Holy Spirit

A lot of Christians are sitting on the greatest gift of all time and don’t know it. It is the gift of the Holy Spirit. Peter, one of Jesus’ followers, said to a huge group of unbelievers, "Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:38). Do you ever feel like being a Christian is hard or like you just can’t do it? That’s a sign that you are missing out on the full benefits of Holy Spirit.

I was just like that when I first became a Christian. I thought that I had to do all of these good things to please God; the problem is I couldn’t find the strength to do them! Then someone told me that the Holy Spirit gives you the power to do the things God wants you to do. After praying for God to fill me with His Spirit, my whole life changed. Suddenly I wanted to read the Bible; wanted to pray; and wanted to tell people about Jesus. I felt connected to God in a whole new way.

I was just like that when I first became a Christian. I thought that I had to do all of these good things to please God; the problem is I couldn’t find the strength to do them! Then someone told me that the Holy Spirit gives you the power to do the things God wants you to do. After praying for God to fill me with His Spirit, my whole life changed. Suddenly I wanted to read the Bible; wanted to pray; and wanted to tell people about Jesus. I felt connected to God in a whole new way.

Have you ever seen an old, dried up piece of leather? Once you put a few drops of oil on it, the leather becomes supple and beautiful again. That’s a picture of what the Holy Spirit does for you as a Christian. Read this verse slowly and insert your name in it: “To ­­­­________ who mourn in Israel, He will give a crown of beauty for ashes, a joyous blessing instead of mourning, festive praise instead of despair. In their righteousness, _________ will be like great oaks that the LORD has planted for his own glory” (Isaiah 61:3). This is what God wants to do for your life through filling you with His Spirit. He wants to take the dried up, old things of your past and replace them with beautiful, healthy things of His Spirit, like love, joy, and peace.

You just need to ask Him. Jesus said, “How much more will your Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those that ask Him!” (Luke 11:13). Jesus wouldn’t have said that if He didn’t mean it. Take a minute right now and ask God to fill you with His Spirit. Ask Him to make you the Christian He wants you to be. You will never regret being filled with His Spirit. It’s the greatest gift of all time.

So this week, let us pray that:

• God will fill us with His Spirit
• We will experience the fruit of the Spirit in our lives
• God will pour out the Holy Spirit on all the staff and volunteers at Global Media Outreach

THANK YOU so much for your prayers. If we can pray for you, just hit “reply” to this email and let us know your prayer requests. God loves you!