He forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases. Psalm 103: 3 (NLT) God wants you to picture a positive life. He doesn’t want you to live in fear of what might happen to you. In fact, if you allow yourself to dwell on fear, it affects your ability to experience good things. When fear builds a picture in your mind, your mind can’t tell the difference between that picture and reality. For example, if I were walking through a back alley in South Africa and a lion began to stalk me, my adrenaline levels would immediately skyrocket, and my heart rate would increase. But the very same thing would happen if I were walking through that back alley and I started imagining a …

I am placing a cornerstone in Jerusalem, chosen for great honor, and anyone who trusts in him will never be disgraced. 1 Peter 2:6 (NLT) Guilt and shame are not the same. If you feel guilty after hurting someone it’s a feeling that stems from your conscience. It alerts you when you know you’ve done wrong, and it helps motivate you to do better next time. Shame is different. If guilt says, “I did something wrong,” then shame says, “I am wrong.” Shame disconnects you from God because it makes you feel unlovable, unacceptable, and unforgivable. As a result, you don’t feel like you can go to God for help and strength. Religion often uses shame to try to control people’s behaviour. They make condemning …

Kind mercy wins over harsh judgment every time. James 2:13 (MSG) Most people know when they’ve done wrong. They don’t need us to rub their faces in it. When the religious leaders brought a woman before Jesus because she had been caught committing adultery, she knew what she had done. She felt the sting of the crowd’s judgmental, condemning looks as she stood helpless before them. But Jesus didn’t look at her that way. He didn’t rub her face in the fact that she had done wrong, although He also didn’t excuse it. He met her with both grace and truth. By saying, “All right, but let the one who has never sinned throw the first stone!” (John 8:7, NLT), Jesus was reaching down to …

Instead, immense in mercy and with an incredible love, he embraced us. Ephesians 2:4 (MSG) Before you were ever born, God loved you. Before He carefully formed you in your mother’s womb, you were surrounded by His love. He has always wanted a relationship with you. Even if you are living the kind of lifestyle that has taken you far from Him, He yearns for you to love Him (James 4:5). He will never give up on you. He didn’t give up on any of us. Ephesians 2:4 says, “Instead, immense in mercy and with an incredible love, he embraced us.” Because Jesus went to the cross and took the penalty and curse for our sin, God accepts us with open arms. He did this …

God is love. When we take up permanent residence in a life of love, we live in God and God lives in us. This way, love has the run of the house, becomes at home and mature in us, so that we’re free of worry on Judgment Day—our standing in the world is identical with Christ’s. 1 John 4:17–18 (MSG) 1 John 4:19 says, “We love God because He first loved us.” When you think about it, there’s great humility in that statement. You see, if God loved you first, that means you couldn’t have earned His love. He loved you before you even knew Him. Because you didn’t earn His love, you can’t say that you deserve it more than anyone else. We are …