EPISODE355 - "The Blessing Comes Before The Rain"

1 John 3:16-24The Message (MSG) 16-17 This is how weâ??ve come to understand and experience love: Christ sacrificed his life for us. This is why we ought to live sacrificially for our fellow believers, and not just be out for ourselves. If you see some brother or sister in need and have the means to do something about it but turn a cold shoulder and do nothing, what happens to Godâ??s love? It disappears. And you made it disappear. When We Practice Real Love 18-20 My dear children, letâ??s not just talk about love; letâ??s practice real love. This is the only way weâ??ll know weâ??re living truly, living in Godâ??s reality. Itâ??s also the way to shut down debilitating self-criticism, even when there is something to it. For God is greater than our worried hearts and knows more about us than we do ourselves. 21-24 And friends, once thatâ??s taken care of and weâ??re no longer accusing or condemning ourselves, weâ??re bold and free before God! Weâ??re able to stretch our hands out and receive what we asked for because weâ??re doing what he said, doing what pleases him. Again, this is Godâ??s command: to believe in his personally named Son, Jesus Christ. He told us to love each other, in line with the original command. As we keep his commands, we live deeply and surely in him, and he lives in us. And this is how we experience his deep and abiding presence in us: by the Spirit he gave us.