DISCIPLES OF JESUS MINISTRY

                                                                   

LOOK INTO THE MIRROR AND WHAT DO YOU SEE?

Look into the mirror and what do you see?
You answer “That’s easy for I see me.”
God looks at you and sees someone very special,
You are made in His image so handsome and beautiful.

God knew you before you were even conceived.
And even the hairs on your head were numbered,
He sees you and says "This one I love,
I desire to pour upon you my grace and love.

I have a wonderful plan and purpose for you,
My desire is for you to know me and love me too,
For Jesus came so that you and I could be reconciled,
Sin has separated us but for your sins He died.

Today He stands with His arms open wide,
Saying, “Won’t you come home to me my child,
All of your sins I can wash away and forgive,
My desire is for you to really learn to live.

For only in me can you discover your life’s purpose,
From before you were born it was you I chose,
I looked at you and said this one will follow me,
It is time now for you to give your life over to me.

Now you can know you are on your way to heaven,
My blood was shed that you might be forgiven,
A sacrifice had to be made for forgiveness of your sins,
I went to the cross so you might know salvation.

Come to me and you will spend eternity with me,
Your sins I will remember no more for you will be heaven bound,
For a new life full of hope for today and eternity you will have found,
My heart beats with love for you dear friend, come home to me.”

You are not a mistake the days of your life were planned,
Where you were born, your parents and your land,
I saw it all and every hurt you have had I want to heal,
Just come to me and I will place upon you my family seal.

There is nothing you have done that I can’t forgive,
Repent of your sins today and you will a new life live.
My heart is crying out with love for you dear friend,
I long for you and I to be completely reconciled.”

ACCEPTED


There is one who loves you unconditionally,
He is the one who has forgiven you completely,
By Him you are never ever rejected,
He looks at you and say's my child you are accepted.

Men and women may not understand you,
But the Lord He truly knows you,
He sees your hurts and wants to heal them,
You confess your sins and by Him they are forgotten.

He brings healing to the deep places of your mind,
He gives his peace and from stress you can unwind.
Nowhere else can such beautiful love be found,
Place your feet upon the rock, that solid ground.

So, my friend you are no longer an orphan,
You are a child of God, He calls you a son,
The safest place to be is in his presence,
Seek him and he will pour out his blessings.

He will draw you close right into His arms,
Under the protection of his wings you will come to no harm,
No matter what in this life comes against you,
Be assured the Lord is always with you.

So hold your head up high you are a child of the king,
In you today the Lord is doing a new thing,
He is wooing you and drawing you closer,
He says to you come up a little higher.

It is so wonderful to know true acceptance,
And he wants to take us by the hand and give us guidance,
But we have to come seeking his direction,
Walk in his ways, and refuse now to turn to him with rejection.

For this one who has forgiven our all,
Surely now deserves our all,
He tells us we are no longer rejected.
By him we are so completely accepted.

Irene McGough © 2009

Rom 5:5 Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

Do you get that if you know Jesus as your Saviour and have the Holy Spirit residing within you God wants to pour out His love in our hearts? He, the Creator of the Universe and all things wants to immerse you and little old me with His love. Isn’t that just wonderful? He wants to pour out the oil of His Spirit all over us, how amazing is that?

love, agape (ag-ah-pay); Strong’s #26: A word to which Christianity gave new meaning. Outside of the NT, it rarely occurs in existing Greek manuscripts of the period. Agape denotes an undefeatable benevolence and unconquerable goodwill that always seeks the highest good of the other person, no matter what he does. It is the self-giving love that gives freely without asking anything in return, and does not consider the worth of its object. Agape is more a love by choice than philos, which is love by chance; and it refers to the will rather than the emotion. Agape describes the unconditional love God has for the world.


Rom 5:8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Rom 5:9 Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.

We can be confident that our hope of great future blessings will come to pass, because the Holy Spirit gives evidence deep in our hearts of God’s love for us bas we open up to receive from Him.
We didn’t have to make ourselves righteous before God our Father for God sent Jesus His one and only Son to die for us, to shed His blood for us that our sins might be washed away and we might be saved and reconciled to Father, for He is the Father who cares for you and wants a deep relationship with you. .
God’s covenant love reaches beyond our justification but the shedding of Christ’s blood was for our reconciliation into a real living relationship with Him and faith in His blood and the power of the blood of Jesus should lead to victorious triumphant living for us, triumphing over sin and all that comes against us.

1Jn 4:16 And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.

We should recognise the love that God has for us, for God is love and He is our Father. Abiding in love is stated here to be abiding in God, so we should flee from sin, including harbouring any ill feeling towards our brothers and sisters, for God expects us to walk in love and harmony with one another.

1Jn 3:1 SEE WHAT [ an incredible] quality of love the Father has given (shown, bestowed on) us, that we should [be permitted to] be named and called and counted the children of God! And so we are! The reason that the world does not know (recognize, acknowledge) us is that it does not know (recognize, acknowledge) Him. (AMPLIFIED)

My sentiments go along with John’s here, isn’t it truly amazing the love that the father has for you and I, that we should be permitted to come into His presence, that we should be adopted into His family , made heirs of the Kingdom (see Jas2:5)

Rom 8:15 For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, “Abba Father."

1Jn 4:18 There is no fear in love but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.

We belong to a Father who has adopted us into His family. The Holy Spirit assures us that we are indeed children of God. Abba is the Aramaic word for Father or really an affectionate term Daddy.

Jer 32:38 They will be my people, I will be their God.
Jer 32:39 I'll make them of one mind and heart, always honoring me, so that they can live good and whole lives, they and their children after them.
Jer 32:40 What's more, I'll make a covenant with them that will last forever, a covenant to stick with them no matter what, and work for their good. I'll fill their hearts with a deep respect for me so they'll not even think of turning away from me.
Jer 32:41 "'Oh how I'll rejoice in them! Oh how I'll delight in doing good things for them! Heart and soul, I'll plant them in this country and keep them here!' (MSG)

Yes this was directed at the restoration of Israel but look here at those verses.

Gal 3:16 Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, "And to seeds," as of many, but as of one, "And to your Seed, who is Christ.

Gal 3:29 And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.

So that includes you and I, we are Abraham’s seed, the promises are ours too, God wants to establish you and I with all His heart and soul. Wow!

Jer 33:3 "Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.'
When we cry out to Him he hears us, He desires to show us great and marvellous things.

Psa 37:4 Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He will give you the desires and secret petitions of your heart.

Father God wants to give us the desires of our hearts, when we seek Him and amazingly He is the one who gave us those desires in the first place. (See Phil 2:13).

Let’s take a look at how Paul prayed for the church at Ephesus.


Eph 3:14 For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
Eph 3:15 from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,
Eph 3:16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man,
Eph 3:17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love,
Eph 3:18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height--
Eph 3:19 to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
Eph 3:20 Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us,
Eph 3:21 to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

He was a man who knew the Father’s heart of God and He prayed for them as he would pray for us to be granted according to the riches of his glory to be mightily strengthened through the Spirit indwelling them and that they might conceive the fullness of God’s love which passes knowledge and be full of the Spirit.

Jesus Himself prayed for us in John chapter 17.

Joh 17:20 "I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word;
Joh 17:21 that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.
Joh 17:22 And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one:
Joh 17:23 I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.
Joh 17:24 "Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.
Joh 17:25 O righteous Father! The world has not known You, but I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me.
Joh 17:26 And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them."


Jesus states that He has given us His glory, do you get a grip of that? He prayed that we His bride might be united in Him, that we might be as one , that the world of onlookers might believe that He is the Messiah sent by God when they see the love of Christ in us and the unity. Oh, that Jesus might be seen in us in such a way that people around us will see Jesus in us and come to a knowledge of our Lord. Jesus desires that we might be with Him where He is, that we might behold His glory, which the Father has given to Him.

Abba Father wants us to truly know Him as our Heavenly Father, not just know of Him, He wants us to seek after Him, to know how much He loves us and that He is really rooting for us. He wants us to know His Father’s heart and in turn show His love to others and to walk in close relationship with Him.

THE FATHER’S LOVE FOR YOU  -   PART 1

THE FATHER’S LOVE FOR YOU  -   PART 1

 

Psa 139:1 For the choir director: A psalm of David. O LORD, you have examined my heart and know everything about me.
Psa 139:2 You know when I sit down or stand up. You know my every thought when far away.
Psa 139:3 You chart the path ahead of me and tell me where to stop and rest. Every moment you know where I am.

The Father knows everything about you. He knows when you sit down and rise up. He is familiar with all of your ways.

Mat 10:29 Not even a sparrow, worth only half a penny, can fall to the ground without your Father knowing it.
Mat 10:30 And the very hairs on your head are all numbered.
Mat 10:31 So don't be afraid; you are more valuable to him than a whole flock of sparrows.

Even the heads in your hair are numbered.

Gen 1:27 So God created people in his own image; God patterned them after himself; male and female he created them.

He made you in His image.

Act 17:28 For in him we live and move and exist. As one of your own poets says, 'We are his offspring.'

You are his offspring.

Jer 1:4 Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying:
Jer 1:5 "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you;
Before you were born I sanctified you;
I ordained you a prophet to the nations."

He knew you even before you were conceived.

Eph 1:11 In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will,
Eph 1:12 that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory.

He chose you when he planned creation.

Psa 139:16 Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed.
And in Your book they all were written,
The days fashioned for me,
When as yet there were none of them.
Psa 139:17 How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God!
How great is the sum of them!

All of your days are written in His book

Act 17:26 And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings,

He determined the exact time of your birth and where you should live.

Psa 139:14 I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Marvelous are Your works,
And that my soul knows very well.

You were fearfully and wonderfully made.

Psa 139:13 For You formed my inward parts;
You covered me in my mother's womb.

You were knit together in your mother’s womb.

Psa 71:6 By You I have been upheld from birth;
You are He who took me out of my mother's womb.
My praise shall be continually of You.

The Lord brought you forth at birth.

Joh 8:41 You do the deeds of your father."
Then they said to Him, "We were not born of fornication; we have one Father--God."
Joh 8:42 Jesus said to them, "If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me.
Joh 8:43 Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to listen to My word.
Joh 8:44 You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.

He has been misunderstood and misrepresented by people who do not know Him.

1Jo 4:16 And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.

He is not distant and angry , but is a complete expression of love.

1Jo 3:1 Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.

He desires to lavish love on us because we are His children

Mat 7:11 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!

He offers more than any earthly Father could.


Mat 5:48 Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.

He is the perfect Father, and we are called to be holy, for He is holy

Jam 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.

Every good gift we receive comes from His hand


Are you starting to see how much he loves you. Give Him the praise!

PART  2

PART  2

 

Mat 6:31 "Therefore do not worry, saying, "What shall we eat?' or "What shall we drink?' or "What shall we wear?'
Mat 6:32 For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.
Mat 6:33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.

The Father says seek my Kingdom and I will meet all your needs. I am your provider.

Jer 29:11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.

His plans for your future have always been filled with peace and hope.

Jer 31:3 The LORD has appeared of old to me, saying:
"Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love;
Therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you.

The Father loves you with a love that is everlasting, beyond anything we can concieve and he draws us to Himself.

Psa 139:17 How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God!
How great is the sum of them!
Psa 139:18 If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand;
When I awake, I am still with You.


His thoughts of you are beyond what we can imagine, they are countless, greater than the grains in the sound, you are so important to Him

Zep 3:17 The LORD your God in your midst,
The Mighty One, will save;
He will rejoice over you with gladness,
He will quiet you with His love,
He will rejoice over you with singing."

He rejoices over you with gladness and singing when you seek His face.

Jer 32:40 And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from doing them good; but I will put My fear in their hearts so that they will not depart from Me.


He will never stop doing good for you

Exo 19:5 Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine.

The Father treasures you, you are his treasured possesion for you as His child.

Jer 32:41 Yes, I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will assuredly plant them in this land, with all My heart and with all My soul.'

The Father desires to establish you with all His heart and soul.

Jer 33:3 "Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.'

He says"Cry out to me and I will answer, and show you wonderful and marvellous things" For He desires to show us those things.

Deu 4:29 But from there you will seek the LORD your God, and you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul

You will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart.

Act 17:25 Nor is He worshiped with men's hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things.
Act 17:26 And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings,
Act 17:27 so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us;
Act 17:28 for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, "For we are also His offspring.'

The Father made us and if we seek Him we shall find Him for He is never afar off, He is always there for us.

Psa 37:4 Delight yourself also in the LORD,
And He shall give you the desires of your heart.

If you delight in Him He will give you the desires of your heart

2Th 2:16 Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and our God and Father, who has loved us and given us everlasting consolation and good hope by grace,
2Th 2:17 comfort your hearts and establish you in every good word and work.

He sent Jesus to reconcile you unto Himself, to give you the wonderful gift of grace, to comfort and encourage us and establish you in a new way of life(good words and works)

2Co 1:3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort,
2Co 1:4 who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

The Father is there to comfort you in all your troubles. you therefore can comfort others in there troubles for Christ is in you.

Psa 34:18 The LORD is near to those who have a broken heart,
And saves such as have a contrite spirit.

He is very close to you, very accessable when you are down and brokenheated. When your spirit is broken and you reach out and repent of your sins the Father hears and he forgives you.

Isa 40:11 He will feed His flock like a shepherd;
He will gather the lambs with His arm,
And carry them in His bosom,
And gently lead those who are with young.

As a shepherd carries a lamb, He has carried you close to His heart! Isn't that wonderful.  What love!

PART 3

 

PART 3

 

Rev 21:3 And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God.
Rev 21:4 And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away." One day He will wipe away every tear. He will take away all pain and sorrow from you. He is Jehovah Nissi - "God, my Banner or God my Standard of Victory"

Joh 17:23 I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.

He loves you even as He loves the Lord Jesus, what amazing love!


Joh 17:24 "Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me; for You loved Me before the foundation of the world

He wants to reveal His glory to you.


Joh 17:26 And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them."

His love for you is revealed in Jesus

Heb 1:3 who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,

Jesus our Lord purged our sins and now sits at the Father's right hand.

Rom 8:21 because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God.

He has taken you from bondage to freedom

Rom 8:31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?

He is for you, not against you, always remember that.

2Co 5:18 Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation,
2Co 5:19 that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.

Jesus died that we might be reconciled to the Father

1Jo 4:10 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

His death on the cross was the ultimate expression of the love the Father has for you.

Rom 8:32 He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?

God gave up son for us, He delivered Him even unto death, He who was God died for us so that we could have our sins forgiven and be reconciled to the Father. How much more so then will He freely give us all things, when He loves us so?


1Jo 2:23 Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either; he who acknowledges the Son has the Father also.

Having received Jesus we have received the Father.

Rom 8:38 For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come,
Rom 8:39 nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Nothing can separate us from His love again.

Luk 15:7 I say to you that likewise there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine just persons who need no repentance.

There was wonderful joy in heaven the moment you gave your life to Jesus.

Eph 3:14 For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
Eph 3:15 from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,

He is our Father and always has been Father since the beginning. He is your Father.

Joh 1:12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name:
Joh 1:13 who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

You are His child, because you have been born again, you are adopted into His Family.


Luk 15:32 It was right that we should make merry and be glad, for your brother was dead and is alive again, and was lost and is found."'

He rejoices, because you who were dead in your sins are now alive in Him.

HIS LOVE IS A LOVE BEYOND ALL MEASURE, THERE IS NO LOVE LIKE THE LOVE GOD HAS FOR YOU.

Can you feel His sweet caress and kisses as He says to you " I love you for you are my child."