Blog Archives
Receive God’s Love – It Will Change Your Life!
Receiving the love of God changed my life and it still does every single day. For years I wanted to experience it but it seemed elusive. I knew the Bible verse that said God so loved the world that He gave His only son that whoever believed in Him would not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16). But I could not tangibly feel that love. Have you ever felt it?
I also noticed that no one I knew ever talked about feeling God’s love for them. I heard stories of answers to prayer and good things happening to people. But no one ever said, “Wow, I just feel so loved by God right now.” Have you ever heard anyone say something like that?
I wrestled with these questions for years as a practicing Christian. How could I ever learn to love another person if I did not feel loved by God? Love is not meant to be theoretical – it’s meant to be tangible and personal.
Maybe you’ve also struggled with this idea. Why does God feel so far away, up in heaven somewhere? Why don’t I feel loved by God? What does that even mean? What does it look like or feel like?
Lots of people explained that Jesus came as God’s Son to show me how much God loved me. Many preachers spoke about my need to accept Jesus as my savior. But that did not translate to my heart as being loved or feeling the love of God. The emphasis was always on something I had to do – I had to pray to accept Christ into my heart and life. I had to obey God’s commands or else suffer the consequences. The emphasis was on my response to what God did for me by sending Jesus.
But where was the tangible love?
I kept searching – I knew there had to be more. My heart was hungry for God’s love.
The good news is God’s love is real and now I’ve learned how to receive it. It is tangible. You can receive it and FEEL it inside of you. It will change your whole life – how you see everything around you. It gives you a HUGE shift in perspective and in the way you feel about yourself and others. It has certainly done that for me!
And it is for YOU. Not just everyone else – YOU too.
You can receive it personally. You can feel loved by God. You can know that you know that you know that God loves you, really loves you and won’t leave you, no matter what.
This is possible, even for you. Yes, I know you may feel disqualified … but please keep reading. Don’t give up now.
There’s a new little book that explains how to receive God’s tangible love so that your heart can feel it. It also gives you tools to help you overcome barriers to receiving that love – like not feeling worthy. The practical exercises in the book really helped me receive God’s love.
I hope you check it out – it’s a free download. Just click the button:
Do you know how to receive God’s tangible love into your heart? If so, how did you learn this? Please share below – that’s how we learn from each other! 😊
Thank you for reading this post – it means a lot! God bless you today! ❤️
P.S. Many people focus on the verse that says, “be transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Romans 12:2) and they think that just means your head. But the Greek word used for mind in that verse includes the feelings – it comes from the root word that means to know God by experience, intimately, not just to know in your head intellectually.
Related Posts:
Overcome Rejection – It’s NOT Your Problem
One of the readers of this blog asked me to share some suggestions for overcoming the Spirit of Rejection. A lot of people suffer from attacks from this spirit and don’t even realize it. In fact, the reader who contacted me also had a generational curse of Rejection to overcome. But she’s determined to do it! And so can you!
I’ve met people (and you probably have too) that everyone seemed inclined to reject. It wasn’t even directly tied to their attitude or behavior – you just instantly get this feeling that you should avoid them. Guess what? That’s the Spirit of Rejection! People can be born with a curse of rejection assigned to them (from a generational curse that’s not even their fault). From day one, people reject them. This becomes particularly painful when they reach school age and NO ONE wants to play with them or be their friend. Can you relate? Or do you know someone like that? I do.
When I was in my twenties, I moved to a new city and was getting to know people my age. This one guy came across my path in a group setting and immediately, I wanted to walk away. I was surprised! I hadn’t even made eye contact with him yet and already I was repulsed. I knew something wasn’t right. As I asked the Lord about it, He showed me what the Spirit of Rejection does to someone. It was so sad. Over time, I got to know this guy and he was funny and tender hearted. I could tell he suffered a little bit from social anxiety – probably because he’d been rejected his whole life! I didn’t know then what I know now so I couldn’t help him, but I DID pray for him quite a lot and I hope he found freedom.
Most of us have experienced rejection in some form or another. In fact the fear of rejection is the number one fear that all human beings experience. Let’s talk about how to break it’s power over us!
Rejection is very painful. It can alter our view of ourselves. I would encourage you to make a list of the ways Rejection has affected you. Be very specific. For instance, I used to be afraid to walk into a room of strangers because I was afraid I would be rejected. I felt insecure about meeting new people – there was always this question, Will they like me?
Go through the list and break your agreement with the lies that Rejection has told you. For instance, one of my lies was – You should be afraid to meet new people, they probably won’t like you. That’s a lie! I had to break my agreement with those lies. If you have a hard time identifying the lie, there’s a little exercise called Lie Detector: Self Concept that can help. It’s here: https://establishingthekingdom.com/freedom-exercises/ (scroll down on that page)
Then make a list of the truth about you – the opposite of the lies. For instance, “I’m not afraid to meet new people! People like me!” The Lie Detector exercise helps you identify the truth you need to hear. I did that exercise over and over and over and gathered a long list of truths that I needed to hear.
Say those truths about yourself OUT LOUD every day. Print them and tape them to the wall so you can see them and read them and meditate on them every day. You are training your brain and shifting the way you think about yourself which takes time and effort. Like a parent raising a child, you have to say it over and over and over and over until it becomes the way you think about yourself. Then people will begin to treat you differently based on these truths. I was pleasantly surprised when it started happening to me.
Here’s an example of some of the things I said about myself to cancel the rejection I had experienced:
I am accepted and I belong.
I am appreciated and acknowledged for my contributions to the kingdom family.
What I say is important, valued and received with honor and respect.
I am loved for who I am.
I receive love and respect from other people.
I have faithful, loving, close relationships. I am a blessing to others.
To be honest, when I started saying them out loud, part of my brain would say, “Yeah, right!” with a sarcastic tone of unbelief. I kept doing it anyway – teaching myself the truth. Whether I felt like it or not, I just kept doing it – like going to the gym, I was working on my muscles, getting stronger in the truth.
Two BIG keys 🔑🔑
The first BIG key for me was a revelation the Lord showed me:
You are already truly and deeply loved by God. Other people are meant to love you too. We are commanded by God to love one another. If someone doesn’t love you and rejects you instead, it’s THEIR problem, not yours! Isn’t that amazing?! Rejection is NOT your problem. 💗
Rejection is NOT your problem. 💗
Fear of rejection is what we need to heal from. But whether or not someone rejects you is NOT your problem. It’s a heart issue between them and God. Let that sink in. Ponder THAT.
The second key was identifying a lie about being alone. Feeling rejected can make you feel alone and isolated. This was another big revelation for me – it’s actually IMPOSSIBLE to be alone! If you are a follower of Jesus, you are in Christ and He is in you. You are never, ever alone – you always have all that you need. He is in you – His love, His companionship, His encouragement, etc. You belong to God. Feeling alone and isolated is an illusion! You always have a place to belong – it’s with God, Jesus and Holy Spirit. Your eternal family. 🙂
I know it can be hard to really receive another person’s revelation – so simply ask Holy Spirit, “Will you please reveal to me how I am never alone?” Or, “Will you please reveal to me how rejection is not my problem?”
Healing from the spirit of rejection takes time. You can break it’s power over you in the spiritual realm instantly, but healing your heart and changing the patterns of your thinking takes time and effort.
Here are some videos and books that helped me – my best ones for dealing with rejection:
Inheritance by Graham Cooke – I’ve listened to this one, over and over. SO good!
Father’s Love Letter – another good one to listen to more than once and share with your friends!
Experiencing Fathers Embrace by Jack Frost This is a GREAT book – totally shifted my thinking about God’s acceptance and love for me as a Father. Some of Jack’s teachings might still be on YouTube – you can search for them, if you wish. His family also offers live workshops on this topic now that Jack is with Jesus.
Daddy, You Love Me by Brent Lokker This book WILL stretch you in the way you connect with God.
Whew! That’s a lot. Take whatever works for you – this is how the Lord set me free. Now, when I walk into a room full of strangers, I’m excited! It never occurs to me that they might not like me. God adores me! Why wouldn’t they love me too? 🙂 God’s love has given me SO much confidence in social settings. I used to worry about what people thought of me all the time, but not anymore. What they think is THEIR issue, not mine! And if they don’t like me, I feel bad for them because it’s their loss! LOL 😁
I trust that the Lord will lead you down the perfect path for YOU to become completely free of rejection. It takes time, but it is SO worth it to feel comfortable in your own skin and happy with who you are.
If this post helped you today, would you add a comment and mention which point spoke to you? Or if you have already overcome rejection, please share what set you free! I love to hear other people’s stories. 🤩
Unity in Uniqueness – There’s No Other Way!
“Everyone else is __ and I’m not. I don’t fit in. I must be weird or something.”
I would venture to guess that every person has had those thoughts at some point in their life.
I just discovered that this is a LIE!
Who knew?
We tend to see patterns among our associates – friends, coworkers, family members, neighbors. Because we have a strong desire to belong, we look for those who are similar to us. We join clubs, community organizations or sports teams to be one of the gang.
Then when “everyone else” appears to be united in doing the same thing or wearing the same style or buying the same products and we don’t conform, we feel like the odd one. In fact, in some social circles, that point will be brought to your attention, like:
“You don’t like football? What’s wrong with you?”
“Come on, everyone’s having a drink. What’ll it be?”
“Are you seriously wearing THAT outfit to the party?”
People pressure us to conform to whatever they are doing because conformity feels like belonging.
But it’s NOT.
And those who know this often feel like they don’t really belong.
And they are right! 🙂
On the outside, it can look like everyone is agreed on the same thing. Like employees wearing a uniform at their job – does it make them a unified team because they all wear the same thing? No, not usually.
It’s not true connection and unity.
We are each made to be unique – like snow flakes. There aren’t two that are alike.
So when you think you are weird for not being like everyone else, stop yourself and say,
“No, nobody is like everyone else – we are all unique for a reason!”
True belonging and connection comes because we are all different. I like you because although we might have some things in common, you have your own perspective, your own personality and your own sense of humor. I LIKE that about you!
On the outside you might see conformity in a group of people, but I have never in my life met two people who were alike. Never. Even identical twins are not perfect copies of each other – they each have their own tastes, talents and interests in life.
Each person is “weird” in their own way and it is a reason to be celebrated! (not rejected)
In God’s kingdom, every part does it’s share and together God’s purposes are fulfilled. The Bible says,
But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased. And if they were all one member, where would the body be? But now indeed there are many members, yet one body. And the eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you”; nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” If the whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where would be the smelling? (I Corinthians 12:18-21, 17)
The whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love. (Ephesians 4:16)
We NEED our uniqueness to make the world a beautiful place!
Like puzzle pieces, we each have our own shape, our own edges and uniqueness. Some people will connect with certain parts of you and others will connect with a different side of you. THAT’S THE WAY IT’S SUPPOSED TO BE!
There’s Unity in Uniqueness – true belonging comes from truly being who we are. And not trying to be like everyone else because that’s just plain impossible.
I hope this encourages you today. It’s impossible for you to be weird, odd or strange – because there is no standard that everyone conforms to. You are meant to be different than others – that’s what makes you YOU.
Questions? Comments? Arguments against or Support for this idea? Feel free to post them below and let’s start a conversation about this.
Thank you for reading my “weirdness” and enjoying it too – I like you just the way you are. 🙂💗
By the way, this kind of reminds me of a recent post I did on the Rainbow Circle of Light. Each person had a different wavelength or color of light with which they glowed. Shine brightly! 😁
Book Review: My Descent into Death
My Descent into Death by Howard Storm is a very inspirational Near Death Experience (NDE) story about an American college art professor who has a medical emergency while traveling in Paris, France. I love reading books about another person’s experience of life after death in the heavenly realm. Unfortunately, Howard didn’t start there. He was an atheist when he died and experienced something terrible – something I hope you never see or hear in your life. I won’t go into detail – no spoilers here. But fortunately, a song from his childhood came to his mind – Jesus loves me. He sang it in pure desperation, wondering if he could ever escape this hellish place he found himself in and guess what? Jesus came to him!
The rest of the book is full of inspirational and unusual insight. Remember, he didn’t know Jesus when he died so he had no preconceived religious ideas (or not very many). So he asked a LOT of questions of Jesus and the angels – the answers he received provide some powerful truths we could all benefit from.
For instance, when Jesus told him that he needed to go back to earth, Howard was very reluctant and asked why he had to go back. He was experiencing such love and peace as he had never experienced before – you can imagine why he didn’t want to come back to earth. Jesus’ answer to him was unique.
You can save the world.
I don’t think so. I’m nobody and I’m not going to save the world. How could I save the world? Howard replied.
You are to love the person you are with.
How will that save the world? Howard wondered.
When you love a person, they will love the next person they meet, and they will love the next person they meet, and so on.
I don’t know if I can do it.
You can do it because we will help you. (“We” meaning Jesus and the angels who were with them.)
Howard was also thinking of his family – his wife and two children. Jesus told him he had to return to finish the job he had.
You have a job to do, which is to take care of the people God needs you to love. You were born to love these people. This is the job that you were created to do.
I LOVE this idea, don’t you? You have a job to do – to take care of the people in your life. Whether that’s your spouse, children, parents, siblings, friends, neighbors, etc. But it’s not “everybody” in the world – just the ones you are with – the ones you speak to, live with, visit or see each day. “You were born to love these people.” What a simple, yet profound concept.
I took my mother to a doctor’s appointment recently and as we were leaving, the doctor turned to us and said, “Take good care of each other.” That hit me with such powerful simplicity. Yes, that’s what we are called to do – every single one of us. Just take good care of each other. 💗
Reading Howard’s life story is very encouraging – his NDE completely changed his life. You can imagine what it might be like going from being a humanistic atheist to a man of faith who had actually met Jesus, face to face! How he changed his life and the differences it made in those around him is contained in the book and I am so glad! Often NDE stories end with the person waking up in the hospital, but not this one. He describes what life was like for him and how long it took to physically recover as well as process his supernatural experience. And the life choices he made afterwards profoundly changed the direction of his life and family.
He said something very powerful toward the end of the book,
Living life with faith is infinitely more rewarding than living without faith in God. Having faith gives one courage to do things one would never do, and the patience to endure the unendurable. Faith gives hope when you haven’t a clue how things will turn out. Faith gives joy when everything is bleak. Life with faith in God is so superior to life without faith that I recommend anyone to seek faith above all other things.
– Howard Storm, My Descent Into Death: A Second Chance at Life
Thank you, Howard, for sharing your story with us. We need encouragement when things look bleak in the world. We need that courage, patience, hope and joy. And most of all we need Love.
As Howard learned to apply his faith, he was amazed at how much good he could do to help others. He said,
“There is nothing we couldn’t do if enough people listened to God.”
I believe it! And as my previous post described, Jesus is already drawing people together to bring restoration to the earth. They WILL be listening to God, whether they realize it or not! 😁
If you’d like to read Howard Storm’s book, you can click here to find it on Amazon.
Do you have a book you’d recommend? Please post the title and author’s name below in the comments. I love finding good books. Thanks to Andrey in Poland for recommending this one!
Companionship with Christ
Did you know that you can enjoy the companionship of Jesus Christ?
I don’t often hear this mentioned when people discuss matters of faith. Jesus Christ is real – He’s alive and active in the world today. He wasn’t just a historical figure known for teaching people to love one another. Most people have heard that he was killed (crucified, you’ve seen the statues, right?), but did you know He also rose from the dead? (Maybe it’s a little harder to make that into a statue.)
Jesus is the only one who died, came back to life in his physical body and then went to heaven (without dying again). What’s unique is that He told His disciples before He left – I will always be with you. (Matthew 28:20)
This is not something theoretical – this is real and practical. Have you ever experienced the companionship of Christ?
The other night I was laying in bed thinking of something – praying about something that was on my mind. I can’t recall now exactly what it was. Probably worried about someone I love – that’s usually what’s on my mind before I fall asleep. As I was talking to Jesus, I became aware of His presence. One minute I was alone in the room, talking to the ceiling and the next minute I was not. He was there. It was a gentle, comforting sense that He was listening, paying attention, keeping me company.
I was reminded that Jesus said, “I will ask the Father and he will give you another Comforter.” And He promised about this Comforter, “He will never leave you.” (John 14:16)
In The Message Bible, it says it like this:
“I will talk to the Father, and he’ll provide you another Friend so that you will always have someone with you.”
That’s really unique. A Friend who will always be with you.
Companionship is really important – we are not meant to do life alone. Though if we’re honest, most of us feel alone. In our innermost thoughts and worries, no one really knows what we’re thinking or how we are feeling.
Even when surrounded by other people, many people feel alone. There’s just no way another person can know what it’s like to be YOU.
Except Jesus. He’s the exception – He can know. That’s really amazing, isn’t it?
When you allow Him into your life, He brings with Him the knowledge He has about you, about life, about other people and what they are like. And most of all – He brings His love, His comforting presence, His companionship.
He wants to be our companion in life. He wants us to enjoy His friendship – to be aware of His ever-present help and support.
I love that about Him. Think about the story of Adam and Eve in the garden. It was God who came looking for them. Why? To spend time with them. You get the impression from the story that He often came “walking in the garden in the cool of the day” to hang out with Adam and Eve. He likes our company.
I encourage you to consider the companionship of Christ. He can be with you if you’d like. Invite Him to make you aware of His presence. Talk to Him. Look for Him. Give yourself permission to enjoy and receive His friendship.
He likes you and He enjoys being with you. ❤
Looking for more? This article appears in a free ebook called Intimate Relationship with God – you can download it here. 🙂
Discernment of the Supernatural Realm 