GOD's RADICAL GENEROSITY is a Reflection of His Grace

GOD IS WITH US!

Think about that for a moment. Jesus, EMMANUAL, means God is with us. God is with us...and in us, dwelling in Him and with Him forever. Now, that is the most fantastic news ever! Don't you agree? So, what's that mean, "God is with us!?"

“BEHOLD, THE VIRGIN SHALL BE WITH CHILD AND SHALL BEAR A SON, AND THEY SHALL CALL HIS NAME IMMANUEL,” which translated means, “GOD WITH US.” Matthew 1:23

God’s Grace is the ability to experience HEAVEN NOW! It’s TRUE. Because of Jesus, we all can live “in” and “from” the Father’s Heart, the sea of Grace, where there is unlimited Love, Mercy, Wisdom, and Favor.

"And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth." John 1:14

God is THE Eternal Now; the Spirit that GIVES LIFE is always NOW. He’s the source of ALL THINGS, and He is Eternal. There is no beginning and no end, leaving only NOW. Perpetual NOW.

"for He says, “AT THE ACCEPTABLE TIME I LISTENED TO YOU, AND ON THE DAY OF SALVATION I HELPED YOU.” Behold, now is “THE ACCEPTABLE TIME,” behold, now is “THE DAY OF SALVATION” 2 Corinthians 6:2

NOW is always the time of God’s KINGDOM. By Grace working through love, we have all been saved and offered Eternal life as a gift from God our Heavenly Father.

"I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me." Galatians 2:20

We receive His gift by FAITH, or we reject it. NOW is the time of Salvation.

"so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. " Ephesians 2:7-9

Followers of Christ have received the Holy Spirit of Truth. NOW, because of NOW, nothing can separate us from the Father’s love. And get this…

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

God’s love through Grace was given and offered to us while we WERE YET sinners and enemies of God. IN TRUTH, we deserved nothing and received everything. That’s God’s Grace! That’s RADICAL GENEROSITY in action.

"But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together IN Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus," Ephesians 2:4-6

Jesus is the Grace of God. The Bible declares that Jesus came in Grace and Truth. Specifically, the Bible states that by Grace, Jesus came to establish TRUTH in us and throughout the Earth. Jesus was successful and accomplished His mission.

"For of His fullness we have all received, and grace upon grace. For the Law was given through Moses; grace and truth were realized through Jesus Christ." John 1:16-18

Jesus is the exact image of the invisible God. The Bible declares that “God is LOVE.” Therefore, Jesus is the LOVE of God in a resurrected Human. We are made in God's image, in His likeness because He is our Father.

"For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them." Ephesians 2:10

By Grace working through love, Jesus, TRUTH, dwells within us as LOVE. The LOVE of GOD dwelling in us is transforming us from the inside out as a gift. This is RADICAL GENEROSITY for all to see! God’s Grace is the ability to experience HEAVEN NOW! It’s TRUE. Because of Jesus, we all can live “in” and “from” the Father’s Heart, the sea of Grace, where there is unlimited Love, Mercy, Wisdom, and Favor.

As followers of Jesus Christ, THE Holy Spirit comes and makes His abode within us, and He dwells permanently inside us.

"He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation." Colossians 1:15

Nothing can separate us from the Love of Christ, revealed to us by THE Holy Spirit of Truth. We have nothing to do with our salvation or our transformation; it’s a gift of love that can only come from the Father working through the Son of God, Jesus Christ, who is LOVE.

"in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God." 2 Corinthians 4:4

Here is the SECRET SAUCE: Whenever we experience LIFE’s TRIALS and TRIBULATIONS, the Grace of God empowers us to persevere and overcome because of our JOY in knowing HIM. Joy can only come from KNOWING Jesus and TRUSTING HIM COMPLETELY.

"If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; from now on you know Him, and have seen Him.”... Jesus *said to him, “Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? John 14:7,9

Trusting Jesus means surrendering SELF, trusting in God’s Grace alone to reveal the TRUTH and to EMPOWER us, giving us what we need to triumph, and trusting the TRUTH has already set us FREE. Jesus IS KING, or He isn’t. Jesus IS LORD, or He isn’t. Jesus is either your KING and your LORD, or He isn’t. For me, I SURRENDER ALL to my KING and LORD, Jesus Christ.

"Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing." James 1:2-4

God’s Grace is the absolute goodness of God. Jesus is the TREE of LIFE, and He provides us Grace to be transformed into His image is in His fruit. We can eat from the Tree of Life, Jesus Christ by Grace."who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God." 2 Corinthians 1:4

God’s Grace proves that God is FOR US, for His Humanity is His Creation, His Family. Jesus, Emmanuel, is “GOD WITH US, GOD IN US!” God’s full life IS IN US to TRANSFORM US into the image of God, Christ.

"But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit." 2 Corinthians 3:18

God so loved the world that He sent His only Son to die so we could be redeemed, transformed, and restored into our original image, LOVE. Jesus, like His Father, is SELF-GIVING Love.

"Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come." 2 Corinthians 5:17

Jesus said, FOLLOW ME!” He called us His Brothers and told us that God is OUR Father.

"And He *said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Matthew 4:19

Jesus said we will do “Greater Works” than His because He returned to the Father and now DWELLS IN ALL OF US. Jesus restored our Heavenly Citizenship. That’s RADICAL GENEROSITY!

"and have put on the new self who is being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created him—" Colossians 3:10

Jesus is LOVE, was always LOVE, and will always BE LOVE. Jesus had to love us because HE IS LOVE.

"We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world." 1 John 4:16-17

Jesus came to Earth to LOVE US, to give himself for us. Once He was here, on Earth as a Man, the man Jesus, He had no choice but to LOVE US because HE IS and ALWAYS WILL BE, LOVE. Jesus, “God is with us!” Now that’s RADICAL GENEROSITY!

God’s Grace is His Glory revealed in us and through us. The Bible says we are GLORIFIED. Past-tense. We’ve been made ALIVE TOGETHER WITH CHRIST.

GOD’s RADICAL GENEROSITY is a Reflection of His Grace God is love, and we are made in His image, love. God is always with us and in us and will never leave us. He is always leading us through love. He can’t stop loving us, and He won’t stop loving us because He is love. Love couldn’t stop loving no matter what because Love is love, which is absolutely good.

"In the exercise of His will He brought us forth by the word of truth, so that we would be a kind of first fruits among His creatures." James 1:18

Jesus said, “If you’ve seen me, you’ve seen the Father!” God with US! According to Jesus, who is love, we are the lost children of God, and HIS LOVE came to rescue us. LOVE CAN’T FAIL. God’s Grace and His Glory IN US is RADICAL GENEROSITY.

"and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us." Romans 5:5

According to the Bible, we have been given the Holy Spirit, we’ve been given God’s Grace, and we’ve been given the MIND of CHRIST. The Bible says we have received God’s Peace and His Joy. Jesus took on ALL SIN and ALL HUMAN FAILURE and ALL HUMAN REBELLION and the consequences upon HIMSELF and, in return, Gave us His LIFE. As the Bible declares, we are NEW CREATIONS IN CHRIST.

"For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son," Colossians 1:13

God made us in His IMAGE. Jesus was the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. We are made in the image of God, exactly like Jesus, by Grace. We have been given the same divine capacity as Jesus.

"and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God. Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us, " Ephesians 3:19-20

We have been given His divine nature. According to the Bible, Jesus is the second Adam but the first REAL HUMAN.

"For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust." 2 Peter 1:4

According to the Bible, we are NEW CREATIONS in CHRIST, exact replicas of Jesus Christ, and we are made in His image, the image of God, who is LOVE.

We have all fallen short of the Glory of God, so Jesus gave us His. According to the Bible, Jesus has glorified us. Because of Jesus and His self-giving sacrificial love, Humans can flourish as originally created and designed, IN CHRIST. By Grace, we are NEW CREATIONS, and we now have the full capacity of Jesus, who is LOVE to LOVE OTHERS.

"For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified." Romans 8:29-30

If the Bible is TRUE, and I believe it is the only TRUTH, we are all called, EMPOWERED, and sent to be RADICAL GENEROSITY to the world, a shining light on a hill for all to see.