Want to smile?

Sometimes I have a thought that makes me smile. And if I want to smile, there’s one thing that will always work. I remind myself that God loves me. The thing is, it is always true. It does not depend on me doing anything, or not doing anything, it is just always true. Such a wonderful thought.

                  It is so easy for me to think negative thoughts about myself. You can probably do the same – think negative thoughts about yourself. Let’s be different, and think positive thoughts. I don’t mean that we should focus on the good things that we have done, but rather we should be recognising who we are in Jesus. We should be reminding ourselves who God is for us. It never helps if we judge ourselves based on our performance as a believer.

                  I love the book of Romans. There is so much truth included in Romans, and I’m trying hard to understand it better. But one verse that I actually already know well struck me in a new way this past week.

                  Rms.5:8 But this is how God demonstrates his own love for us: the Messiah died for us while we were still sinners.

                  I have read those verses countless times, but this last time I realised that Paul is saying the Messiah died for us while we were still sinners, and now we are not sinners. How we see ourselves is hugely important. Am I feeling shame? Am I trying to pull myself out of condemnation? Do I feel that I must do things in order to please God? Would you consider yourself to be a sinner saved by grace, yet still living under the shadow of guilt?

                  Somehow, if I consider myself to still be a sinner, I seem to create a disposition that doesn’t embrace all that Jesus has done for me. A sinner mindset cannot rise up and embrace a higher level of relationship and trust in the Lord.

                  Two wonderful thoughts. I am loved by God, and I am a saint. And neither of those things are because I have done something to deserve them. God loved us and made a way for us to come into relationship with him. You can see this truth in your Bible.

                  John 3:16 This, you see, is how much God loved the world: enough to give his only, special son, so that everyone who believes in him should not be lost but should share in the life of God’s new age.

                  So many of us have memorised this verse but have not allowed it to take root in our hearts. God loved the world – each and every person in the world is loved by God. Not just the good-looking ones, not just the intelligent ones, not just the ones who can sing well or are good at sports. Everyone. That includes you and me. That includes the people who think differently to you and me. That includes the people who do things that we don’t like. God loves them all. And he wants everyone to come to know him, to come to know that they are loved.

                  1 John 4:10 Love consists in this: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his son to be the sacrifice that would atone for our sins.

                  God loved us, and wanted us to be whole, to be forgiven. The only way for this to happen was if he sent his son to be a sacrifice in our place. And that is what he did.

                  Here’s a prayer worth praying: “Lord, please give me a greater awareness of how much you love me.” The more we are aware of how much we are loved by God, the easier it will be to serve him, to please him. The thing is, you are not doing anything in order to receive more love, you are doing it because you are loved.

                  Then there’s that other smile bringer: I am not a sinner, I am a saint. Again, not because of anything that I have done. In human terms we often think of a saint as someone who does some really special things, but that is not the biblical understanding of the word. In the bible a saint is someone who has been made holy by what Jesus did on the cross.

                  Ephesians 2:8,9   How has all this come about? You have been saved by grace, through faith! This doesn’t happen on your own initiative; it’s God’s gift. It isn’t on the basis of works, so no one is able to boast.

                  Made holy by grace, as we put our trust in the Lord Jesus and what he did for us on the cross. It’s a gift. Don’t belittle this wonderful gift by denying what the Lord has done for you.

                  Ephesians 2:10 But now, in Messiah Jesus, you have been brought near in the Messiah’s blood.

                  Don’t stand a long way off because you feel unworthy. Jesus shed his blood in order to bring you close. You have every right to come close to the Father.

                  Smile, you are loved by God. Smile, your identity is no longer that of a sinner, your identity is that of a saint. You have been made holy, and you are brought near to God. Keep coming to him, and keep reminding yourself who you are in him. It will bring a smile to your lips.