Isaiah 6: 2, 6-8
I've been talking in this blog series about being transformed by God's love and forgiveness. But is there a purpose? Does this lead somewhere in God's plan? And in fact, this transformation does lead to something. It frees us to be sent for His purposes.
In my new book and video series, "Live Like You're Loved," I make the point in the first half of the book that God intends for us to live differently because He loves and forgives us. For example, I talked in the steps to accepting God's love that we must discard our baggage in order to better live in the freedom and immediacy of God's love. If we are focused on our baggage (such as worry, guilt, anger, bad habits and addictions), we become focused on ourselves rather than on God and on other people. How can you truly accept God's love if you hold onto that baggage? How can you fully love others if you're self-absorbed?
God's idea is to love us and forgive us in order to fully free us for His Kingdom work and for His glorification. There is a scriptural basis for this, found in Isaiah 6, verses 1-2 and verses 6-8:
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying...Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, "See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for." Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" And I said, "Here I am. Send me!"
When we feel the cleansing and refreshment of the Lord's love and forgiveness, we are more prepared to take on heavenly tasks with renewed energy and purpose!
Remember in last week's devotional blog on Forgiveness that I said God forgives because it is in His character, meaning forgiveness is about God and not about who we are and whether we even deserve forgiveness. God wants us to live in the present (more on this in an upcoming blog), not the past. God wants us to live for others, not for ourselves. So God sends us into the world, each and every day, according to his purpose, to live with immediacy in this day, and to focus on helping and serving others.
To summarize concepts I've already shared, you are intended to:
Discard your baggage
Love your neighbor, since God loves you
Love toward the unlovely in yourself, forgiving yourself, so that you can...
Love toward the unlovely in others, forgiving others.
I hope you can see that God's love and forgiveness are sufficient on their own, as He loves His children, but they also perfectly set up our ability to be sent into the world. In Friday's 7-day practical faith blog, I'll discuss what it looks like to be sent.
I'm so excited that more and more people are inquiring about Live Like You're Loved, wanting to individually learn from the book and wanting to share it in video form with their small group or Sunday School class. You can read all about the content and its availability at ceciltaylorministries.com/live-like-you-re-loved. You can also find the book on Amazon and Barnes and Noble.
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