Do you know that God loved you before you were ever born? His love for you will never change no matter what you feel, what your circumstances are and what you do. God is love therefore love is not something he does, but who he is. Many of us base our perception of God's love on people that have fallen short to show us true "agape" (love in Greek). This is the kind of love that God is. He is a self-sacrificing, humble, unconditional love. He desires for us to have a true heart revelation of him and his love for us. 

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Do you ever wonder what it means that you are a new creation in Christ? What does it look like to have a completely new identity in Christ once you surrender you life to Jesus? Join in for this nine week series based off Carie's book, "Identity Christ-Us". Carie will explain what it looks like to have a new identity in Christ and how to walk that out in your daily life. 
In order to get the most out of this series purchase the workbook to go along with the teachings. Order at:
https://www.amazon.com/Identity-Christ-Us-Workbook-Carie-Smith/dp/179469479X?ref_=ast_author_mpb

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We see how God in the flesh, Jesus, persevered all throughout his life. He lived in a culture that if you weren't the part of a certain status,  you were considered less than. Jesus refused to confirm to the cultural norm and his love for humanity persevered past the religious box into the margins. His love persevered past the sin of the world, past the suffering he face, past the persecution and all the way to the cross. Now he calls us to love past where people are at. He calls us to meet them where they are at and invite them to come up higher.

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No matter what we have done or what has been done to us there is always hope for us. It's not because of us but because God sent us Jesus, our hope. When we realize that we need a Savior and truly accept what he did for us on the cross we can walk in the hope he paid for us to have. Once we realize we aren't hopeless and accept Jesus' forgiveness for our sins, we now have the opportunity to have hope for others that the world would deem "hopeless". 

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God's love for us looks beyond the times we've rejected him, betrayed him and denied him. God “is ever ready to believe the best of every person…”(1 Corinthians 13:7 AMPC). But, as humans, we tend to think the worst of people instead of believing the best. We struggle to demonstrate the mercy God shows us. How do we if people have hurt us over and over? What does it look like to walk in freedom in this area of our lives?

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What was Paul trying to convey to us when he wrote, "love always protects"? The Greek word used for "protects" in this sentence has several different definitions. First, God protects us physically, just like protected his people all throughout the Bible. Second, He keeps our personal business in confidence.  We serve a God that doesn't throw us under the bus and talk about us behind our back. Third, God never gives up on us. God is constantly pursuing us no matter what we have done or what's been done to us. Understanding how God protects us better helps us to know how to protect others. 

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Some of us have an idea that God is up in Heaven just waiting to catch us in our sin. Almost as if he is excited and delights in evil. That is so far from the true character of God. The truth is God understands that sin leads to death and destruction. He see the consequences we face when we choose sin over walking in our righteousness that Jesus paid for us to have. He loves us so much he can't help but rejoice with the truth.

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We have all sinned and fall short of the Glory of God but none of us could ever make up for or pay for our sin. That is why God sent His One and Only Son to pay the price for every sin we ever committed or ever will commit. This Good Friday let's reflect on what Jesus did for us. Let's revisit the simple gospel to contemplate just how amazing his grace truly is. 

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So many of us think God is up in Heaven with a giant white board and black marker keeping tally marks of every wrong thing we think and say. We imagine him keeping record of every wrong thing we have done in order to put shame, guilt and condemnation on us. This is so far from the truth of who God is. The Bible tells us God keeps no record of wrongs. He is a loving God that sent his one and only son to die for us. We see this play out when Jesus says, "Father forgive them for they do not know what they are doing" (Luke 23:34). After Jesus was wronged by all of our sins, he still cried out to the father to forgive us. Now we have an example of what keeping no record of wrongs looks like.

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What does it mean that God is not easily angered? According to the Thayer's Greek Lexicon the word used for "angered" in the Greek means: irritated, provoked, roused to anger.  This verse is not telling us God doesn't get angry. God has a righteous anger that burns in love for people. This verse tells us God does not get irritated, provoked or roused to anger. 

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