Peace on Earth - Part 4: Loved by God | Pastor Pablo Morales

Welcome to ECB's weekly sermon podcast. ECB is

an international church in Bangkok, Thailand,

with dozens of nationalities worshiping together.

We invite you to connect with us from wherever

you are through our website, ecb .asia, or our

mobile app. And now we pray that you are blessed

by this week's sermon. Today we will continue

this study on Advent series, and we have talked

about hope, peace, joy, and today we're going

to be talking about love. So will you please

join me as we pray? Father, as we come to this

point, we thank you for your word, but thank

you for giving us truth. That we can understand

these things that you have told us. We can get

to know you better, understand your heart better

so that we can also love you. And as we started

your word today, Lord, would you encounter us

in this space? If there's anyone that is not

experiencing your love, would you break through

any barrier that is just keeping that from happening?

Bring transformation. And Lord, I ask too that

you will use me in the power of your spirit.

Use me in your grace, in your strength. These

things I ask in Jesus' name. Amen. Just give

me one second as we get to the screen already.

With our media team. You can give me a heads

up. Okay, good. Thank you. Today we are talking

about love. And one of the amazing things about

the Bible and how it describes God is that love

is at the center of our relationship with God.

So if you want to have a relationship with God,

if you want to have a deeper relationship with

God, you have to start understanding love. Because

that is the way in which God wants us to experience

Him. God does not just want you to believe in

Him. He doesn't just want you to obey Him. He

actually wants you to love Him. How does this

work? Let me tell you a story. Many years ago,

I got to visit a friend that was suffering from

a very unique health condition that requires

surgery. And she had been going through treatment

for many years about these things. The family

had suffered through that for many years. But

as she was at the hospital awaiting for surgery,

I went to talk to her, encourage her, and we

prayed together. But I will never forget what

she told me in that conversation. She said, you

know, my father came to visit me. And even though

he is not a believer in God, but he loves me

as his daughter. And he said to me, I wish I

could do something. I will gladly take this illness

that you have on me so that you can be healthy

and I can have this instead. She said, when my

father told me that, I realized that in his love

for me, he loved me so much that he was willing

to take this illness upon himself, but he couldn't.

But God loved me so much that he was willing

to take my sin upon him, and he did because he

could. And at that moment, in that hospital bed,

My friend, for the first time, got a glimpse

of what it means that God loved her with the

heart of a father. And until we understand the

love of God as a father, we will never be able

to understand how God loves us. Operate from

that place of freedom in God's love. And you

will either be doubting God's love. You will

be either thinking that it's too good to be true.

Or you will feel that you are. Not deserving

of his love. And always walking in shame. And

guilt. Instead of freedom. This concept of love.

The Bible defines with an actual word. That is

found in the. Greek language, which is the language

in which the New Testament was written, and is

the word agape. This form of love, agape, is

a sacrificial love that is given out of the desire

of the person that is loving, and is not depending

on the worth of the person who is being loved.

In other words, it doesn't matter Where you are,

what you've done, what you have not done, it

doesn't matter whether you deserve it or not

deserve it. All of that is irrelevant. Because

agape love only depends on the one who gives

it. And the Bible says that the way God loves

us is with this type of love. He loves us out

of His love for us, not because we deserve it.

And not only the Bible says that this is how

God loves us, But it goes an extra step to tell

us that actually God is love. God is agape. In

other words, God cannot not love. It's in his

nature. And not only he cannot not love, but

the only way that he can love is through agape

because that's who he is. It defines his character.

God is love. And in the historical context in

which these things are written, was the time

of the Roman Empire. Previous to them, the Greeks

were the main empire. And in both cultures, the

same was true. You will never think of a God

as being love. Powerful? Yeah. Strong? Yeah.

Victorious in war? Yeah. But loving? Why would

you want a God that loves you? Who cares about

that? But when Christianity comes in, and Jesus

comes in, and we start learning what the Bible

says, it actually says, look, love is at the

center of who God is and how we experience Him.

So needless to say, the idea of God being love

is completely revolutionary. It's almost like

just confusing because I can think of God as

a judge, like that. Or God as angry. Okay, God's

someone that I need to be afraid of. Okay, but

God loving me? Me? Just because He is love? And

when people encounter this concept, I've talked

to some people that say, okay, I get what you're

saying, but I don't believe it. It's too good

to be true. And that is the answer. Too good

to be true because why am I so special that God

would love me like that? You see, you are trying

to understand God's love from the perspective

of whether you deserve to be loved like that.

And again, God's love is agape. It depends on

him, not on you. Why does he love us so much?

It's because he is love. That's it. And this

concept completely reframes the way we understand

this time of Christmas. Because during Christmas

we are celebrating the birth of Jesus. And the

way that the Bible talks about the birth of Jesus

is very clear. And there are two moments in which

the birth of Jesus is announced. One to Mary

in the Gospel of Luke. And another one to Joseph

in the Gospel of Matthew. And in both Gospels

when the announcement of Jesus being born is

given to the parents. We are told that not only

the fact that this person was going to be born

being the Messiah, the promised Messiah from

all, but that this person had to have a name,

and the name had to be very specific. Take a

look with me at how the announcement is given

to Mary. It says, you will conceive and give

birth to a son, and you will name him? Jesus.

You have to name him Jesus. And this child will

be very great. And will be called the son of

the most high. The son of God. And the Lord God

will give him the throne of his ancestor David.

And he will reign over Israel for how long? Forever.

And his kingdom will... Never end. This child

that is going to be born is the fulfillment of

these promises where this child is going to become

one who will have a kingdom that will never end.

And we're going to study this a little bit more

next week. But you are going to name this child

Jesus. Why Jesus? Why not? John or Pablo. I mean,

why Jesus? Well, because Jesus has a specific

meaning. The word Jesus means God saves. Whether

it be Hebrew, Yeshua. Whether it be Greek, Yesu.

Or whether it be English, Jesus. You're going

to call this child God saves. Why the emphasis

so much? Look at what Joseph hears when the announcement

is given to him. Mary will give birth to a son.

And you are to give him the name? Jesus. Why

Jesus? Because he will save his people from their

sins. In these two announcements, we are already

given the nature of who this Jesus is. He's going

to be called the Son of God, a King, that is

going to establish a kingdom that will never

end. And we are given the purpose for Him to

come. He is coming in order to save people from

sins. And that's why He's going to be called

God Saves. So it turns out that the Bible brings

Jesus at the center of understanding God's love.

God demonstrates his love for us in which when

we were still sinners, Christ, Jesus died for

us. Jesus is the very expression of God's love,

is the face of what love looks like. And if I'm

going to understand, How to relate to God and

how to experience His love. I have to understand

who Jesus is and what He came to do. That's why

when I read this section, even though so short,

it's so profound. And I circle these things.

And I noticed that this Jesus is going to save

us from our sins. But why do we need to be saved

from sins? And what is sin to start with? And

why was it even allowed? And why do we need to

be saved from this thing? And why Jesus has to

be the one that saves? Can it be something different?

And understanding the answers to these questions.

is what brings this picture of what God's love

is. So I'm going to spend the rest of the study

looking at these things. First question, what

is sin? Often we think of sin as doing bad things,

misbehaving, an action. But it's so much more

complex than that. Even though there's no Bible

verse that says, this is the definition of sin.

A, B, C. The Bible does talk a lot about these

things. And it can be summarized like this. Sin

is a condition of your soul. It's like an illness.

It's like a sickness of your soul. Your soul,

my soul, is sick. And is sick with this condition

that has three very specific defining elements.

The first one is that my soul exists under spiritual

oppression. There is a spiritual realm of darkness

that is real, not fantasy. The Bible calls this

realm of spiritual darkness as a realm that has

authorities and entities. And the head of all

this darkness, the Bible calls the devil, calls

it Satan. This is the realm of spiritual oppression

in which we exist and we are born. And not only

that, the second part of being sick with this

condition means that I have within me this distortion.

I have distorted desires. I desire things that

are harmful for me, but I desire them anyway

and I can help it, but I do them and I pursue

them. This distortion of desire. As well as this

distortion of understanding. The way I think

of myself is distorted. The way I think of others

is distorted. The way I think of God is distorted.

And this distortion is an expression of this

condition. But not only that. The physical manifestation

of this condition of my soul is that now I am

mortal. I die. And every time that I get sick,

every time that someone dies, it's simply a manifestation

of this condition that the Bible calls sin. My

soul is sick with it. Imagine, for instance,

that one day I start sneezing. Achoo! Achoo!

And I tell you, you know, I have a headache and

I think I have fever. What would you deduce?

Ah, you have a cold, Pastor Pablo. What are you

doing here? Go back home and stay in bed. Because

you're going to give it to all of us. Right,

you can read those symptoms. You can hear the

coughing, the sneezing, the headache. You can

detect these things and put it together and say

the problem is not the sneezing or the coughing.

The problem is the cold. That is the root. These

things are just symptoms. Well, we go out through

our life experiencing the symptoms of this condition,

and we never realize that actually those are

the symptoms, not the real problem. If you feel

a sense of emptiness, there's something deeply

missing within you. If you feel that you are

walking in shame and guilt and this sense of

worthlessness, If you feel like you're damaged

goods and no one will ever love you ever. If

you have broken relationships where your marriage

is just not working right. Where your relationship

with your children is all broken and dysfunctional.

All of those things are simply manifestations,

symptoms of the fact that your soul is sick with

this condition. call sin. And only yours, but

your spouses and your children and all human

beings, the Bible says, are born with this condition.

And these three symptoms are part of it. That's

why when the Bible describes us, look at what

it says. The one who does what is sinful is of

the devil. I don't like that. What? If I'm a

sinner, I am of the devil. Why? Well, because

the devil has been sinning from the beginning.

And the reason the Son of God appeared was to

destroy the devil's work. Jesus came to save

us from our sins. And part of that involved that

he had to overcome the power of Satan in order

to rescue you from under that. Oh. I'm not sure

I like that. I'm a good person. I know I'm not

perfect. Sometimes, you know, I lost my temper

maybe a few times. Or maybe I lied here and there,

a little white lie. But just to think that I'm

of the devil. I mean, I'm not a Satan worshiper.

Welcome to reality. The Bible says, That the

condition that Jesus was born to save you from

is so serious. And one of those things is that

there's a spiritual reality that you have to

come to terms with. And this is real. But how

did we get to this point to start with? When

did this begin? Well, the Bible also tells us.

There's a patient zero when it comes to sin.

The Bible says it this way. When Adam sinned,

what entered the world? What? Sin. Yeah. There

was a point in which sin entered the world. And

it was when Adam sinned. Adam sinned brought

what? Death. So death spread to everyone for

everyone sinned. The Bible says that the first

human beings that were created in God's image

and likeness were created to be in relationship

with God. And in that relationship, they made

a choice. They decided not to love God. And when

they decided not to love God, it was the first

time that they acted on this. And when they acted

on this disobedience to God, on this choice to

not love Him, they became contaminated with this

condition called sin. And who had been sinning

from the beginning, we read? The devil. And the

Bible says that Satan is the one that deceived

these first humans so that they would become

contaminated with this very condition that he

has. Which reminds me of something. During the

COVID pandemic, there was this terrible case

of this woman that went to the clinic to get

help because she was struggling with COVID symptoms.

But it so happened that there were so many other

patients waiting that when she got to the clinic,

she could not be helped and she was asked to

come back another day. So when the person at

the counter is helping her and telling her, sorry,

we cannot help you right now. You have to come

back another day. The patient became so upset

that she removed her mask and went like this.

On the face of this person on the other side

of the counter. And so it happens. And then that

person became sick with COVID and died. And this

became a legal case because that was a premeditated

act of intentionally spreading a mortal, a deadly

virus to someone just because I'm upset with

you. Terrible. Well, that's exactly what Satan

did at the beginning. He went to Adam and Eve

and coughed on their face. Deceived them. And

they became sinners. The same condition that

Satan had. Now became part of humanity. And every

human being born descendants of Adam and Eve.

Which is all of us. Have the same. I picture

the father going to visit my friend at the hospital.

He conceived this child. He saw her being born.

He saw her growing up. He held her in his arms.

He said, I love you. He never imagined. That

this child was going to become sick with this

illness that will require all these things and

the uncertainty of whether she would ever be

healed from it. That is not what he desired for

her. God did not create us so that we would become

this. Sin, mortality, the power of Satan, all

of that is not what God desires for us. And that's

why the Bible says that when Jesus was born,

he was sent to save us from this condition. God

loved us so much that he wanted to take this

condition from us. And he could, so he did. This

is God's love. So what you have to understand

is that this condition that you have is real.

And until you understand that this condition

is real, you won't be able to reconnect with

God's love. Okay. That's something, isn't it?

This is a very complex picture of what it means

to be a sinner. But I have another question.

Why do we need to be saved from it? Why not just

be with God like that? It's just... Why does

Jesus have to come to do something about it?

Well, the answer is because this condition has

two immediate consequences. The first consequence

is that it corrupts us, and the second one is

that it separates us. Think of it this way. When

my mother had cancer in her stomach, the moment

she was diagnosed with cancer, the doctors immediately

scheduled surgery they removed the tumor which

was the size of a tennis ball in her stomach

and then they decided that they also had to remove

the stomach altogether so now my mom doesn't

have a stomach but part of the treatment was

that she had to undergo this whole chemotherapy

several rounds for it because the goal of that

was that They will kill every single cancerous

cell in her body. And after they finish the treatment,

they have to go through all these blood tests

and all these details to confirm, is there even

a little single cell in her body that is cancerous?

And when it was confirmed that there was no more

cancerous cell in her body, then she was declared

cancer -free. Now imagine that as my mom is going

through all this pain of all this treatment with

putting all that poison in her system to kill

all these cells, I said to my mom, they're ready

to remove the stomach. They're ready to remove

the tumor. What can one little cancer cell do

in your body? Just stop the treatment. It's too

hard for you. Just leave it there. Would you

agree with that advice? Just one little cell.

What would that do? You have trillions of other

cells that are healthy. You're going to be okay.

Well, if you're a doctor or a scientist and you

understand how this works, you say, Pastor Pablo,

you're the pastor of this church and that's how

you think? I'm not sure I can trust you with

my soul. Right? Because you know that one single

cancerous cell in the body is just a matter of

time before... It multiplies, spreads, and takes

over the body. You have to start thinking of

sin, this condition, like that. It's so serious

that your soul is sick with it. And as time progresses,

eventually this sin condition starts growing

and takes over and becomes more and more and

more and more corrupt. Right now, you're only

experiencing some of these symptoms, but you

wait and see. Because this condition is not just

your physical body. It continues after you die.

It's your soul that is sick with it. That's why

when the Bible talks about this, it says it this

way. Those who live only to satisfy their own

sinful nature will harvest two things. Decay

and death. From that sinful nature. You're going

to become more and more decayed. And you're going

to experience death. Not just physical. But spiritual

death. With the Bible calls the second death.

That is the problem with this condition. Is that

doesn't stop when you die. It continues if your

soul still has it. And because it has this nature

to it which we don't really understand why or

how exactly works this way, God has to do something

about it to remove it. It's so serious that the

Bible says that the time is coming when God is

going to, in the future, destroy this earth as

we know it because it's contaminated with all

this stuff. And He's going to create a new earth

in which sin will no longer be. Because He is

in the business of eradicating sin from what

He has created. From us and from the world altogether.

Sin and death eventually will be completely eradicated.

And because that is going to happen in the future,

God... is going to do something that is very

radical. Before even reading what the Bible says

about this, I want to show you a picture. Look

at it. You do not know anything about it, but

just by looking at it, what is something that

you can deduct? Deduced. This is the wrong word,

deduct. Deduced. What is something that you can

deduce from this? Uh -huh. Yeah, all these people

are trying to completely eliminate any exposure

to whatever is there because it's so lethal.

I happened to visit Liberia a few months before

the Ebola outbreak happened. And because I just

had been there, Then I started following all

the news. And it so happened that later as I

was living in Dallas, there was one patient that

had come from Africa, flew into Dallas, and he

had Ebola. And they immediately took him to this

hospital and he was completely secluded from

everything. Because Ebola was a virus that was

so lethal that what started happening in Liberia

at that time spread to Ivory Coast and some other

places in the region, is that the moment someone

had Ebola, the level of death possibilities were

so high that the government immediately started

taking measures that were very drastic to control

the spread of it and to eradicate it completely.

Because not eradicating it was irresponsible.

Not trying to control it was irresponsible. So

they did like... What any government that is

responsible would do. And all these people started

going to the villages where they heard there

were people with symptoms. And they would walk

with these places. And if someone tested positive,

they had to take them out of the village into

this place that they had created to contain it.

But because it was so lethal, most of the people

went to the containment region. They would die

of it anyway. Because the virus kept... until

it took over completely. It was tragic. It was

sad to see the families that were being torn

apart because somebody had it. But if that person,

if that mother of that grandfather was not removed,

it put a risk to everybody else. And even though

painful separation, it was the right thing to

do in order to contain the spread of it. And

the Bible says that sin is more lethal Than Ebola.

It's actually the reason why we are mortal to

start with. And God is going to eradicate sin

completely. Therefore. In this new place that

God is going to create. That it will be free

from sin and death. Something is going to be

true of it. Let me read it for you. The Bible

says nothing evil will be allowed to enter. Nor

anyone who practices shameful idolatry and dishonesty.

But only those whose names are written in the

Lamb's book of life. And that is another name

for Jesus. Only those who Jesus has saved. Only

those who Jesus has healed from this sinfulness.

Are the ones that will be able to enter this

place. Everybody else. That had this Ebola of

the soul. Will have to be removed. Not allowed

to enter in this place. And it says it like this.

Cowards and believers. The corrupt. Murderers.

Immoral. Those who practice witchcraft. Idol.

Worshippers. And all liars. All liars. Even those

that lie a little white lie. All liars. Their

fate is in the fiery lake of burning sulfur.

This is the second death. Remember how we read

that sin eventually will cause decay and death?

Here it is. The Bible says that at one point,

those who died with their soul not healed from

this condition. Not only won't be able to enter

this place that God has created. But these people

will have to actually be sent to this place that

had been created for Satan. And his angels. And

this place of complete destruction. So sin can

be completely eradicated. Even one single cell

left. Gone. And that complete eradication has

to happen because of God's love for everybody

else. A tragic picture, but a real one. And this

picture reminds me of something that happened

with the Ebola patients. When these doctors would

go into somebody else's house that they had to

remove. You know what they did with their clothing

and their belongings? You guessed it right. They

had to burn it. You know why they had to burn

it? Because they had to eliminate any possibility

of the virus contaminating somebody else. And

when you see that happening, you think, wow,

how sad, how tragic. You don't think, oh, that's

unfair. Who allowed that to happen? We don't

think that way. It's a tragedy. Sin is a tragedy.

The most significant tragedy in human history.

And today you and I are still suffering the consequences

of it. Because you and I, if Jesus has not healed

us from it, still have that condition in our

soul. And we carry it with us every single day.

This is kind of heavy. I thought we were going

to be talking about love, you know, and nice.

It's like, Pastor Paulo, I think I like Jesus

better, you know. Love, Jesus, it's all about

love and accepting everyone and love. But actually,

you know, that Jesus told us about this. Jesus

warned us because he came to save us from this.

And this is what he said. Do not be afraid of

those who kill the body and cannot kill the soul,

but rather be afraid of the one who can destroy

both soul and body in hell. I know this topic

is not popular. I'm not here to try to make you

feel good. I'm here to tell you the truth of

what God says about love. And you cannot understand

the depth of his love until you understand the

depth of your condition. Your condition is so

serious. That God's strategy to solve it is so

amazing. This is why we have to be healed from

it. It's because sin will corrupt and sin will

separate you from ever from the God who loves

you. Wow. That's something else. But you know,

I have a question. If this is so bad, why didn't

God create us unable to sin? That would have

been much smarter. I mean, no offense, God. But

couldn't you have come up with a way of creating

us that we were not able to sin? Why did He create

us this way? That's why it leads me to the next

question. Why didn't God make us unable to sin?

The Bible does not tell us a specific verse to

give us the answer to this, but it gives us enough

information where we can connect the dots. When

Jesus was asked, Jesus, God saves, right? That's

his meaning. God saves. What is the most important

command of all time? Jesus could have said, well,

behave, or otherwise you go to hell. He could

have said, well, you know, you need to be good.

But that's not what he said. The most important

thing of all, you know what he said it is? It's

this. You must love the Lord your God with what?

With all your heart and all your soul and all

your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment.

But also, a second is equally important. Love

your neighbor as yourself. God created us not

only because he loves us. But he recreated us

so that we can love him and love others. And

you want to guess what is the Greek word for

love in this verse? You've been paying attention.

Good. Right. God created us so that we will agape

him as he agape us and that we will agape each

other. But the problem is that we can't because

our soul is sick. And there's something that

suddenly comes to the surface. Because God who

created me just to be someone that will be programmed

only to say, yes, sir, whatever you want, sir,

anytime, sir. That would be great. I wish we

could program our children to be like that. But

it just doesn't work that way. Because God did

not create you so that you would believe in him,

so that you would obey him. He created you so

that you will love him. And in order for you

to love him, he created you with freedom. Because

love can only be given, but not demanded. Can

you imagine? That when I proposed to my wife,

would you marry me? She says, but Pablo, I don't

love you. I cannot marry you. And I said, well,

you have to love me. So you're going to marry

me because you have to love me. Would that work?

No, that won't work. You cannot force someone

to love you. Love has to be chosen in order to

be loved. And that's what God creates us with,

freedom. And it so happens that the first humans

chose not to love God. But thank for Jesus, because

that is not the end of our story. He is giving

us the opportunity to be healed from this so

that we can agape Him as He agape us. And that

transformation that happens from the soul, from

inside out, It's what Jesus is able to do. Wow,

but why Jesus? I mean, can I save myself from

it? Maybe with diet or something? Okay, can I

be saved from it maybe just by worshiping my

parents' religion? Because, you know, it's very

nice. They're very nice people. Maybe that can

save me. The answer is no. Any religion can teach

you how to do nice things. But only one person

can touch your soul. And that is your maker.

And that is Jesus. That's why the Bible says

it this way. You know that Jesus appeared so

that he might take away our sins. And in him

is no sin. Because he's not contaminated with

this condition, he can heal. But even better,

the Bible says who Jesus is, is not just one

of us. He is more than just one of us. The Bible

says this, would you read this aloud with me?

No one has ever seen God, but the one and only

Son, who is Himself God, and is in closest relationship

with the Father, has made Him known. How do you

know God? By knowing Jesus. Why? Because Jesus

is himself. Who? What? Jesus is God? Yes. That's

why he was conceived by the Holy Spirit. And

that's why he is sinless. Human like us, but

not sinner like us. Because his soul, his spiritual

dimension of it, he is God. And I love this.

Because if there's one section that tells us

exactly as it is, it's in the book of Hebrews.

Since we humans, since we the children have flesh

and blood, Jesus too shared in our humanity.

He had to become one like us. He had to be born

so that by his death he might break the power

of him who holds the power of death. And who

is that? The devil. And free those who all their

lives were held in slavery by the fear of death.

Jesus, the Son of God, the sinless one, was born

so that by becoming a human like us, he could

enter the realm of death and overcome the power

of Satan, overcome the power of death, and now

touch our souls so that we can be transformed

from within. The soul that is touched by Jesus,

the soul that is healed by the power of the Son

of God, will experience the healing of the soul.

While sin corrupts, Jesus transforms us from

within. While sin separates, Jesus reconciles

us to the Father. That is the power of Jesus.

And that's why Jesus is named God saves. There's

no other name under heaven that can save. Because

there's no other God saves but only one. And

that is Jesus. The very expression of God's love.

So you can go and try to heal your soul. Go and

meditate. Go and worship this and that. But I'm

here to tell you, it's not going to work. Only

Jesus was the one sent by God to be able to become

the Savior from our sins. And this, It's what

it looks like. Anyone that wants to be healed

at the soul level by Jesus, anyone that wants

to experience this transformation from within,

has to only do it by this way. What do I need

to do? Tell me, tell me. There's only one? you

have to be forgiven. That is the only way in

which this becomes part of your life and your

inner being, your soul, and suddenly your soul

becomes healed is by receiving the forgiveness

that Jesus already paid for. Because when Jesus

died, And when he resurrected, he was able now

to overcome the devil, to overcome death, to

overcome sin. And now he can touch your soul.

And the only way to be forgiven is by repenting.

Not by trying hard, but by repenting. It's by

coming to God and say, God, I am a sinner. I

realize my soul is sick. And I'm asking you,

save me. I'm going to turn from what I've been

pursuing to you. Save me. That's why the very

first time in the entire history of humanity,

when this message of good news about Jesus coming

to save us was proclaimed, was proclaimed with

these words. Now, repent of your sin and turn

to whom? To God. So what will happen? So that

your sins may be wiped away. Then times of refreshment

will come from the presence of the Lord in you.

If you want your soul to be healed. You will

have to repent of your sins and turn to God.

So that the very presence of Jesus can now reach

that place and begin this treatment that only

he can give you. So I have to ask you a question.

Have you repented? I'm not asking you, do you

believe in Jesus? Demons believe that Jesus is

the son of God. But they are not cured. From

their condition. Have you ever. Repented. Because

unless you repent. Your soul will not be transformed.

And you will never be able to agape God. This.

It's how this works. This is what God's love

looks like. He saw us in the hospital clinic

bed and said to us, I love you so much that I

wish I could take your illness upon me so that

you could go and be healed. And he could, so

he did. So I would like to conclude this study.

By reminding you the very words of Jesus. And

ask you these few things. The very words that

Jesus told us. Is this affirmation. Of the assurance

of his love for us. I have loved you. Even as

the father has loved me. I have loved you with

his agape love. It is not because you deserve

it. You will never deserve it. So stop worrying

about that. I love you. But you will have to

learn to remain in my love. Are you remaining

in my love? So if you are someone who has never

asked Jesus to save you, I have a request for

you to consider today. This is real. And this

is serious. If you have never asked Jesus to

save you, ask him to save you today. Here and

now. Don't wait another second. What you carry

within you is too serious to ignore. Ask Jesus

to save you. You don't have to understand how

this whole thing works. You will learn as God

works in your life. But simply come to the Lord

today and say, Jesus. You came to save me from

my sins. Would you save me today? I repent. I

want to turn to you. I do not know how this works

or anything, but I'm inviting you today. Touch

my very soul. That is what you need to do. And

if you don't do it today, now you know what you

need to do when your heart is ready. But remember,

if you die with your soul, not healed, you know

what Jesus told you will happen. Not because

he doesn't love you, but because you refuse to

love the truth. Secondly, if you are a follower

of Jesus, perhaps you have stopped remaining

in his love. And you're in that place in which

you've been feeling like damaged goods. You've

been struggling with shame because you've been

doing things you know do not please God, but

you've been a hypocrite. And you are wondering,

does God really love me? Is he going to give

up on me? Is he tired of me? Remember, God loves

you with agape love. It does not depend on your

performance. So you will have to learn to trust

in his grace and let that place of trusting in

his grace be the empowerment to give you a breakthrough,

the addictions that are holding you back. But

don't entertain that voice for even another second.

Does God really love me? Look at the cross and

you will know the answer. And finally, If you

are following Jesus, if you are a believer in

God, but you're in this place in which you are

doubting because things have happened in your

life that have been hard and you are wondering,

God, if you really love me, why did you let this

happen to me to start with? How can you say you

love me and let this happen at the same time?

If that is the place of crisis you are in, I'm

here to encourage you. You will have to learn

to trust God's heart. Remember, God is love.

He cannot act otherwise. He is love. That's His

essence. So what you may be experiencing is that

you do not understand why these things are happening,

but you have to understand that no circumstances

have the power to define who God is. Only God

can tell you who he is and he has told you in

his word that he loves you. So rather than using

these circumstances that are waiting for you

to use them as an excuse to say, well, God, you

don't love me. You will have to change the paradigm

completely. You will have to realize, God, you

love me. Let me find in your love the strength

I need to go through this hardship because you

are with me. You see the difference? May you

find the strength in God's love to go through

this passage. So as you go through it, you may

come out of it stronger and with a love for God

that is deeper than ever before. God loves you.

That is a fact. So that is not even the question.

The question is, would you love God? That's what

he created you for. So I'm going to invite you

today, as we conclude this time together, if

you have never asked Jesus to save you, Let this

be the beginning of experiencing God's love.

But if there is any other distortion that is

holding you from experiencing God's love, let

this moment sink in and let the love of God touch

your soul. Lord, as we come to this time, thank

you for this powerful reminder. That your love

is so deep. And we can only understand how deep

it is until we understand how deep our mess is.

Thank you for loving us enough to get into our

mess, to rescue us from it. If there's anyone

here, Lord, that has not encountered your love,

or struggling to remain in your love, use this

time to touch our very hearts with your presence.

In Jesus' name, amen. Thank you for tuning in

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