February 15, 2011 Real Love! 2

But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, CHRIST DIED FOR US!

I need to start today as I finish most all days by saying this. I love ya! Pastor Dan

Good Morning, my dear brothers and sisters, and yes I am sending my love from the Southern Location of the North Pole here in Mechanicsburg, Pa., to you, regardless where you might be living in this world. I am sending my love to you, regardless of your race, your skin color your religion, and even your lifestyle. While I really hate sin, I do love sinners, and yes, I am indeed a sinner, saved only by our Lord Jesus Christ. So let me say it again... I LOVE YA! I really, really do.

Please pray today for Kathleen Sansoni who has cancer and is going through some really rough treatment. Dear Tom and Kathleen, hang in there, God is good and He is going to heal Kathleen. I love you both. Brothers and sisters, I married Tom and Kathleen years ago, they are a wonderful couple. Ron, I am praying for you and your wonderful wife Donna, and I know, I have faith that God is going to heal you, Ron, of all the cancer in your body. Keep your faith, my dear friends. Please pray today for Rob Campbell who fell yesterday and broke his gas pedal foot. Rob, God is going to heal you also. Brothers and sisters, this morning, very early, I went in and prayed for Dolores and laid hands on her to be healed by God. I truly have faith that God is going to heal her. God has been planting on my mind of late about His healing powers. You see, Jesus is the same today as He was when He walked the earth healing people. Today, TODAY, God is still in the healing business.

This is Tuesday and the day we pray for God to bring forth a cure for cancer, and heart problems and all other really severe health issues. Brothers and sisters, I really do love Jesus and I really do look to Him for healing. God is good, GOD IS GOOD! And regardless of your problems, He will heal them.

The Big Trip 10-2 Real Love! day 2: Romans 5:8 - But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, CHRIST DIED FOR US!

Romans 5:1 - Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance, 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His Love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us. 6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, CHRIST DIED FOR US! (NIV)

When we talk about love, REAL LOVE, this scripture comes forth in my mind. Romans 5:8 - But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, CHRIST DIED FOR US! (NIV)

Our Lord Jesus did not just die for us, HE DIED FOR US! I want to be very clear on this love, this love He gave to us, GAVE to us. Listen to me here, God, The Father, gave His Son Jesus to us, and Jesus gave His life for us. Jesus, who was "Born to Die" so "We can Live", knew from the very start that He was laying down His life just for us. THAT IS REAL LOVE. I want to rewrite the scripture from Romans again... Please read it again.

Romans 5:1 - Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance, 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His Love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us. 6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, CHRIST DIED FOR US! (NIV)

Let's look for some standout words in this scripture and just talk about them.

FAITH! Faith, and we all need it, for brothers and sisters, like it or not, if we do not have faith in God, if we DO NOT HAVE FAITH in God, then what do we really have? Nothing! When we pray for healing as we did this morning, if we did not have faith, then I wasted my breath and my typing abilities. God is going to heal Kathleen, and God is going to heal Ronald, and God is going to heal Rob and my dear brothers and sisters, those three, Kathleen, Ronald and Rob, all have faith that the healing has started. I have also talked with Kathleen and also with Ron and know that they have PEACE about this and that God is going to heal them. I also know Rob's heart and He also is big on faith and that faith gives us peace.

Folks, the Bible is telling us that we should also REJOICE in our suffering. While most of the time we seem to want to complain or just keep praying for healing, the Bible does tell us that suffering produces perseverance, and that perseverance will bring character. And folks, we sure do need character. And while those words, perseverance and character are great words in this scripture, we need to look at one more word today, in fact let's look at a few more words. Today let's look at hope and how as we rejoice in our suffering, we have hope that this suffering will end. Now I want you to look at this line of scripture. It is Romans 5:5.

Romans 5:5 - And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His Love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit whom He has given us. (NIV)

Look at this love now... He went to the cross for us, He gave so much love for us that it cost Him His life. The Bible tells us that God poured out His Love right into our hearts. He did not just pour it out on us, or even into us, but into our very own hearts. Listen to this, a lot of people think about a heart as just something that pumps blood (God made our heart to pump blood also). However, He made our heart so that we could have love, receive love and send love also. Then He also did this... He GAVE us the Holy Spirit and please note again the wording... The Holy Spirit is real, and folks, I know this, The Holy Spirit is alive and well in my heart, and to that I must just shout out... THANK YOU JESUS!!

Brothers and sisters, I get excited when I talk about love, and hope, and faith and the Holy Spirit, and I just need to say it again... I love ya. Please keep your faith, please have hope, and please, please welcome in, and yes, you must welcome in the Holy Spirit. God gave us this gift, the gift of His Love and the Gift of the Holy Spirit, but we, all of us, one on one with Jesus must take this love, these gifts of Love and the gift of the Holy Spirit, and bring them on board. Then we need to share this love with others... and if it will help you, please, please use my writings.

Dear Father in Heaven, I love You, and thank You for loving me, loving me enough to die for me. Thanks Jesus... I love You, please forgive me of my sins and please help me to share more and more of the blessings You have given to me. In Jesus name, Amen.

Go forth now and share your blessings and how about the first person you see today, give them a hug around their neck. And you can say, it is from me if you want to. Love ya, Pastor Dan.