As I was reading the other day the words “thoughts to ponder” came to mind, and I began to think about Bible truths that we need to revisit from time to time.  To ponder just means to think about or to consider something carefully.  We’ve studied before about controlling our thoughts but today’s post is about three Bible truths we should meditate on; of course there are many more but we’ll begin with these three.  There may be some who are now thinking, “she’s wrote about this before” or “I’ve heard this before” but I submit to you that the moment we think we don’t need to hear again about faith is when our faith begins to weaken because it is by hearing and re-hearing the Word of God that our faith is strengthen and remains strong.  So let’s get started.

Ponder # 1:  God loves us.

God loves us just the way we are; there is nothing we can do to make Him love us more and there is nothing we can do to make Him love us less.  The reason is because God is love.  It is not that God has love but that HE IS LOVE!  (1 John 4:8)

When I was young I couldn’t understand how God could love me.  I just couldn’t see how He could or why He would or should love me.  I had heard that God loved the world but somehow that world never included me.  I suppose I could go into a lot of reasons as to why I felt and thought that way but I’d rather share how God revealed His love to me, and to encourage you to receive His love.

I was 24 years old when God finally got me to realize and understand His kind of love.  Or should I say I began to understand, because there is always more about His love to learn.  His love cannot be earned.  I remember when my daughter was born and looking at her thinking how much I loved her.  Now this new-born baby hadn’t worked to earn my love; I loved her because she was (and still is) mine.  While thinking those thoughts I heard in my spirit my Heavenly Father say to me, “that how and why I love you; you are my child”.  What a revelation!  I didn’t have to work for His love or be perfect; I am loved because I am His child.

John 3:16-17 tells us that God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life, for God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world but that the world through Him might be saved.  This means that if you are living – you are a part of the world that God loves and Jesus came to save.  God is not condemning anyone. No one is exempted from God’s love.  The God of Creation loves you.  Of course it’s up to us to receive His love.  Think about it this way: it’s not whether God loves you but whether you receive His love.  Just decide to believe that He loves you; say it out loud with your mouth; “I believe God loves me”.  It’s that simple and that easy.  We don’t have to work for His love or be good and perfect for Him to love us.  We just can’t be that good or that righteous.

Ponder # 2: God makes us righteous.

If you are struggling in this area of thinking you need to prove your worth, or need to get your “act together” in order for God to love you, think again.  We cannot make ourselves worthy and we cannot make ourselves righteousness.  Our own righteousness is like filthy rags. (Isaiah 64:6)  Ever smell a filthy rag?  Ugh!  True righteousness is of God and comes from believing in Jesus. (Romans 3:22)  We can’t work for God’s love or work for His righteousness – we receive them by faith in Jesus.  Faith comes by hearing and hearing the Word of God, but righteousness is given to us by God at the moment we receive Jesus as Savior.  (Romans 10:10, 17)  We are either a child of God or we are not.  Faith is the decision to believe God’s Word and righteousness is the position we hold as a child of God.  The position of being righteous come from God but living righteously comes by our decisions to live according to the Word of God.  We may fail at times with wrong thinking, attitude, words, or behavior but that doesn’t change the fact that He loves us.  Our love for him keeps us trying to live a life pleasing to Him.

Ponder # 3: God gives us the right to choose – it’s our decision to believe and live for Him. 

When I realized how much God loved me I began to make decisions to show Him how much I loved Him.  These decisions changed my life.  I began to read and study the Bible and related books teaching Bible truths so I could learn how a child of God was to live.  I began to pray more often and more according to Bible truths.  I changed my thinking to think how God thinks.  I began to change my idle-doubt-filled words to faith-filled words.  I began to change the tones of my speech so they were (are) more loving and pleasant rather than harsh. The list goes on, but you get the picture, right?  I learned that the only way to make these changes was to keep my mind renewed to the Word of God; learning more of Him.  (Romans 12:2)  Each day we must choose the life that God has for us.  Each day we must decide to live and serve Him.  (Deuteronomy 30:19, Joshua 24:15)

It’s up to us whether we live by faith. God just won’t override our will.  He wants us to live according to His Word because obedience brings blessings to us.  However, we must decide by our own will to believe in Him and live according to His Word instead of our own way.  The Bible tells us that God changes us from glory to glory as we behold Him.  (2 Corinthians 3:18)  For me this meant that as I learned more about His love the more I wanted to change and the more I allowed Him to change me.   This is still true today.  I believe this is what Luke 9:23 really means; that we deny our own way of doing things to follow and obey His Way of doing things.  What about you; what is God asking you to change in your thinking, words, and behavior?  If we want to be like Jesus then we must change.

We don’t change in order to get Him to love us; we change because we love Him and want to please Him!