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We all want the same thing, to love as Jesus does. But in order to do that we need to do a little housecleaning-in our own hearts.

We all have pet hurts and angers. Feelings that we dwell on, even though we know we shouldn’t. Pet sins we know we should give up, but we don’t.

But we can, with Jesus help 🙂

Just as we can ask Jesus to help us to make our hearts a Holy place. A place where He can dwell. A place that allows us to truly love the way Jesus does 🙂

“Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

Lauren Daigle has a song that asks, “What have I done to deserve love like this. I can not earn what you so freely give”

Wow!

That Jesus loves us this much is so incredibly hard for us to comprehend! But Jesus does!

And so how can we not love Him enough to Finish the Race!

Our Lord has said that in order to be Forgiven, we must Forgive. It has also often been said that God can not work through anger. So let’s be clear, we can’t afford to let anger take root in any way.

But that can be difficult since anger often comes from hurt or fear. And that hurt or fear is sometimes justified.

Fortunately, Jesus is willing to help us!

Fear and hurt are quashed by a Complete Surrender to God. And when we truly and fully Surrender to God, all fear and hurt will leave us, as will the anger they caused.

Sometimes though, when we Surrender all to our Lord, we take it back. I know I do sometimes!

But thankfully, we can always turn back to Jesus and Completely Surrender to Him once again 🙂

The world, indeed our nation, can seem a scary place. The news headlines are enough to worry anyone. And as if that was not enough, we, each one of us, have our own share of family or health issues. Of job problems and economic ones…

But there is a way to stop these challenges from overwhelming and worrying us. If we truly Focus on Jesus, if we look at Jesus with an almost tunnel vision, we won’t see all the problems around us.

But sometimes, even as we fix our Focus on Jesus, we become distracted and loose our Focus. But Jesus understands 🙂

Remember the story of Peter and the boat. As long as he was focused on Jesus, he was able to walk on the water in the storm. But when he looked away, he began to fear and started to fall. But even so Jesus saved him. Just as Jesus will Saves us 🙂

We need to keep our Focus on Jesus and Pray 🙂

We hear this word, “transformed” so often. But like many things, this phrase has a simple meaning, but it is hard to do. It simply means: to live a life pleasing to God.

Simple, but hard.

So what kind of life is pleasing to God? It is one in which every single thought and action is governed by:

“And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.  This is the great and first commandment.  And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.  On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” – Matthew 22:47-40

Keep Praying, Prayer changes things 🙂

So often, we forget to really think about some of the basics. And one of the basics is that Jesus truly Saved our life. And it’s not just the lives we look forward to in Heaven, it’s our lives here on earth.

And because Jesus Saved us, we live with great purpose. We get to live a life that pleases God. A life we can be happy with, instead of ashamed of. A life we can offer to God and know that God is pleased 🙂

No matter what we face, no matter how difficult the times, Jesus always walks with us. When our faith seems weak, when our fears seem to overwhelm us, when the world seems in chaos…No matter what happens, no matter how alone we feel, no matter how hopeless our situation seems, Jesus stays with us.

And Jesus loves us in a way we can not comprehend. More than we can comprehend. And Jesus loves us with a love that we can truly count on!

Because Jesus loves us always and never, ever leaves us 🙂

^“Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from thy presence; and take not thy holy spirit from me. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation; and uphold me with thy free spirit.”-Psalm 51:10-12

As we begin this New Year, we need to begin it with a “Clean Heart” 🙂

We can make this our year of Breakthrough with Jesus. As we all make our resolutions for this upcoming year, perhaps this is the resolution we should make: That this year will be our year of Breakthrough!

The year that we actually live as we believe. The year that we pray more! The year that we ask the Holy Spirit to help us not only believe more, but live the life that Jesus taught us to live! Loving God and all God’s people-all of them!

We are not here to help Save the Saved, we are here to help Save the Lost. How can we do that if we are not even friends with them? The first step to Saving the Lost is loving them, really loving them. Genuinely caring about their happiness and welfare. Their health, their hunger, their future…

For if we do not genuinely love them, and like them too, why should they listen to us about anything, much less Jesus.

This year, Pray for and Love the Lost…