To what depths would you go for your spouse, your children, or your family members? Would you risk your life for them? How much would you sacrifice for their happiness or their safety? The answers for most people would be positive. But what if you were asked the same questions about your enemies? No. You would likely not be willing to risk your life for your enemies. But would you surrender your pride to forgive them? Would you sacrifice your ego to bless them? Would you persist in giving them Christ even as they reject and mock you? Those are such painful and humbling commands. However, God is able to take us farther than we are willing to go. Fortunately, for us, there are no limits to the depths of God’s love and forgiveness.
Absolutely no limits.
In our passage today from Isaiah, we read of Hezekiah’s emotional praise as he thanks God for rescuing him from an eternity spent in Hell. Hezekiah was one of the kings of Judah. He is described in 2 Chronicles 31:20 as one who did “what was good and right and faithful before the LORD his God”.
One fateful day, Hezekiah became very sick. Isaiah the prophet went to him on behalf of God telling him to set things in order and prepare to die. Hezekiah was only 39 years old. He wept. He prayed. He cried out for God’s mercy. Isaiah had not even left Hezekiah’s house before God’s response to his prayer was answered. God’s answer was that he would extend his life by 15 years. Hezekiah was so overwhelmed with thanks that he began praising God.
Yet, Hezekiah received so much more. Because on another fateful day, as Jesus gave up His spirit on the Cross, a horrific earthquake ripped the veil of the temple. The gates of Heaven opened granting all who believed access to the throne of God. The graves of the Old Testament saints were opened, and they were all reunited with God in Heaven. Hezekiah expected 15 years, but he received an eternity.
There are no limits to the depths of God’s love or forgiveness.
Romans 8:38-39 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
There are no limits to the depths that God will go to rescue His people. He enters our ordinary lives and pours out His extraordinary glory. God fiercely pursues the disobedient, the doubtful, the brokenhearted, and the lost so that we all may know and experience His love, grace, and mercy to the fullest. He enters prisons, drug dens, homeless shelters, and institutions to draw people near to Him. God battles satan and this dark world for our very souls until we are His. As we open our hearts to Him, we begin to see the lengths that God will go for us. God has no limits.
While God delivers believers once, for all time, from eternal punishment, He doesn’t stop there. God continues to meet our deepest needs daily with His promise that in the end, we shall be victorious. Even the most faithful will experience trials, tests, and troubles, but God’s love for us remains unlimited, unwavering, and unrestrained. God’s people can have the confident assurance that we are secure in Jesus Christ, and there is nothing that anyone can do to change that.
In what circumstance are you struggling to receive the depth of God’s forgiveness and love in your life? How can we pray for you as you make God’s unlimited forgiveness your reality?
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Terria serves on the LGG encourager and social media teams. She is newly married to her best friend. She is a proud mother of two beautiful girls in college. Her passionate goal is to start a revolution to empower a generation of young women to grab onto God’s truth and cling to it. She loves to talk and loves to listen. She can be tracked down at work in noisy hospital hallways listening to people’s stories, and sharing the lessons and love that God has poured out in her life. Despite the sometimes chaotic circumstances of Terria’s life, God shows himself strong and loving. The evidence is clear – He loves hard!
Everlasting God, You have made the heavens and the earth. Your Word is tried and true. I am forever grateful. I come boldly to ask that You remove all hindrances, preventing us to receive fully Your beautiful gift of forgiveness and unrelenting love. You are our Great “I AM” Let us hear Your still small voice as it calls us by name. Remind us there is nothing that will make You remember our sins, You have cast them behind Your back, thrown them into the depths of the sea, they are cast away from us as far as the east is from the west, and You, O Lord, are faithful and just and forgive us our unrighteousness. You are worthy of all honor, praise, glory, and power. I will sing of Your mercies all day long. Thank You for this week of learning how deep Your forgiveness is. Help our finite minds get a grasp on Your infiniteness. Thank You. I pray this in the name above all others, Jesus, our Redeemer, Blessed Savior and the Lover of our souls. Amen
Deanna thank you for this beatiful prayer to start the morning off! I’ve read it twice, you see, writing the prayers and praying out loud is something I struggle with, so when I read yours, it just fills me with thankfulness and joy! Isn’t God’s forgiveness beautiful?! I’m so thankful to Him for drawing me to The LGG studies!
Mondee~LGG Encourager
Me too Mondee. The freedom and the love God gives us is just awe-inspiring!! <3
Please pray as I continue to seek healing from a friend who wants nothing to do with me now, and as I battle with anger and frustration from past hurts. My husband and I are struggling financially and I am a working mom who just wants to stay at home for a season to teach my infant daughter. Mountains, come down!
I am grateful for his mercies are new every morning, every week, every minute! More than anything, I want to be a vessel and a well-spring of life. I want to be a better friend and soulmate, but most importantly closer to my loving savior Jesus Christ! One thing hindering that many times is my lack of forgiveness for myself and dealing with regrets and feelings of inadequacy. I am my own enemy at times.
Jesus, precious Lord Jesus, rid the burdens of regret and deceit away with all of your power and with the cross. All the love and forgiveness poured out on the cross for me should remind me every minute the depths of your love. And this should also remind me the depths of grace, love, and forgiveness to extend to others. Thank you, Lord!!
Sweet Jessica, I can relate to being my own enemy, and when it rains it pours. This study is really opening my eyes and showing us how great Gods grace and forgiveness really is! We are given trials, and Satan feeds off it getting us down. So every day we have to strap on the armor God gave us to fight off Satan. We have to let it all go and trust in Him to get us through these hard times. This is hard at times, but I know in my heart that we can do it! I love the words in the blog about Gods love and forgivenesd being limitless. I pray that our Lord comforts you and helps you forgive as he has forgiven you. Father draw Jessica close to you in times that seem impossible to get through, help her feel your love and forgiveness so that she too can let it all go. Lord, thank you for your limitless forgiveness and love, show us how to be more like you and show this kind of love to those around usthose around us. Father I pray you soften the heart of Jessica’s friend so that they too can feel forgiveness and let past hurts go. Amen
Amen Mondee!! So beautiful and so powerful!!Amen!! <3
Everlasting Lord, Bread of Life, Your Word is tried and true. Your precepts are my delight, please hear my prayer as I come and lift up Jessica. Lord You can heal her broken heart, restore her soul and have already forgiven her sins and cast them into the depths of the sea. Let her walk in the true freedom that You give us. Let her stand firm against the wiles of our enemy, and hold fast to everyone of Your promises, especially the one’s that tell her she is forgiven and her sins are cast behind Your back. Guide her husband and herself with Your wisdom for their budget, send a financial blessing and meet all their needs. Help her to shine Your Light through her in her words, deeds, and thoughts. Less of her and more of You. Help her to be Your vessel and a well-spring of life. Let her cast ALL her cares before You because You care for her. Be the lamp to her feet and the Light to her path. Thank You. I pray this in the name above all others, Jesus, Blessed Redeemer, and Living Word. Amen
Dear Jessica. I am struggling with a friend who has cut me out of her life, as well. Almost Everyday for the past 2 1/2 years we were support buddies. God is leading me to the thought that she may have given too much and does not know how to have a balanced friendship. The only way she can detach is by no contact.
Similar to this, I have a friendship where I needed to make boundaries. The word , no, is hard to say to my friend who is blind. What feels right is to be true to ourselves, whether a person is blind or perfectly healthy.
The truth is, I miss my support buddy but I have now found you guys. When I move on, God opens another door which, quite possibly, will be the very next thing I need.
I trust Him to lead me where my heart will be full from his love no matter who the friend may be.
Simply, I just keep searching for his will. This is what fills my soul more than human friendships.
With much compassion,
Linda
“In what circumstance are you struggling to receive the depth of God’s forgiveness and love in your life? How can we pray for you as you make God’s unlimited forgiveness your reality?”
I am struggling with not having assurance of salvation. It’s been a struggle for me these past 3.5 years. We had been attending a church that said “if you’re a believer you must PROVE it… And if there’s little to no fruit, maybe you weren’t saved to begin with”. That sort of teaching terrified me. I’d never questioned my salvation before. Now I was. We left that church and are getting good teaching now, but I’m always questioning myself “Are you *really* saved? Was that confession of faith really real? Do you believe *enough*?” Seriously it haunts me on a daily basis. In all honestly I am scared to die because I don’t know where I’d go. I read God’s promises and I believe them to be true. But it’s like there’s some disconnect… Like it’s true, but maybe not for me. But I realize God’s love is for ANYONE. I’m no better or worse than anyone else else. We’re all sinners here. So His promises work for me, too. I dunno… That teaching of “maybe you weren’t saved to begin with” for some reason struck terror and huge doses of doubt in me. I just want it to be done and over with so I can live for God and not fear death. I just want to feel freedom. And you guessed it… These past 3.5 yrs I’ve struggled with anxiety. Even writing this, I know it sounds silly. And it’s wrong. But I can’t seem to shake it and get free.
Prayers would be appreciated. I’ve never really shared this publicly with anyone. I’ve talked to my husband about it. He just keeps sharing the truth, encourages me, and prays for me. Not much else he can do. Maybe with your added prayers there can be a breakthrough.
It’s verses too like “Father, didn’t we prophecy and teach and etc in your name. And God says ‘depart from Me. I never knew you.’. And “even the demons believe and shudder”. Verses like that scare me too.
I kinda feel like doubting Thomas. I just wish I could see my name in the Lambs Book of life and then I could rest assured.
Please say there’s other believers out there that struggle having assurance of their faith. How do you overcome this and just get on with life? I’m so exhausted being stuck where I am.
Dear wanting assurance.
What keeps coming to my mind is John 3:16.
For God so love the world, he gave his only begotten son. That whosever believe th in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.
i believe this. I believed I have salvation.
Love looking at the big picture, as well.
Ohhh my sweet friend….I want to pray for you. Many struggle with this at first. But the scripture your referring too about fruit, yes their should be fruit God says so but so often this scripture is used on complacent mature believers to “motivate” them to examine their lives. Read about Gods fruit…peace, love, joy are just a few. I personally received salvation but it wasn’t until I had an experience with Gods love that my salvation became unshakeable.
Father we invite You to come into this situation examine my friends heart, bring healing to her wounds so that she may stand firm in Your promises. Father I ask for her to have a divine appointment with You so radically that she become unshakable in her salvation. Lord settle this in her once and for all. Give her peace. Work in her the fruits of the spirit so that she may bare fruit for Your Kingdom. Lord lead her to the right women who can guide her in the things of God and lead her deeper in her relationship with You. Lord You love her and gave the life of Your son for her so that she could have life and life in abundance. In Jesus name. Amen
Sheila, LGG Community
Dear Wanting Assurance,
To put the verse you quoted (from Matthew 7:22) in context: This is during the Sermon on the Mount. This specific portion is during a teaching on true and false prophets. I was reading over some commentary on this verse at http://biblehub.com/commentaries/matthew/7-22.htm. The Benson Commentary section says something pretty profound that I think might help…
“So that even the working of the greatest miracles, and the uttering the most undoubted prophecies, is not a sufficient proof that a man possesses saving faith,”
This verse is actually confirming the OPPOSITE of what your former church was teaching you. It is saying that your saving faith has NOTHING to do with your works. Unfortunately, it got twisted and used as a way to instill fear. A former pastor of mine put it like this:
“Fear is the opposite of faith. Faith is the belief in God and all that He stands for. Fear is the belief in the devil and all that he stands for.”
Rest assured, that we all have moments of doubt! Just the other night I was crying on my husband’s shoulder, asking why God hates us (even though I know he doesn’t…but my emotions got the better of me. Thank God for forgiveness!), because yet another one of my friends gave birth to a child (something that SHOULD bring nothing but happiness, but I struggle with jealousy as we continue our journey of trying to conceive).
I wish there was a set answer for how to overcome these doubts. The BEST, and only real answer I can think of, is to continue praying! And, know that there are other people coming into agreement with your prayers for assurance in your faith!
“Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven.” – Matthew 18:19 (NIV)
Dear Sweet Sister, I understand totally where you are coming from b/c as a child I sat though a lot of ‘hell & brimstone’ sermons that made me quake. I had the same questions coming into adulthood: “For everyone … but me?” “What if…. ” etc, etc. But I could NEVER find scriptures that backed up those thoughts….actually just the opposite. John 3:16 says “whosoever believes” and I CHOOSE to believe. In interest of space on this vital issue you are experiencing, here is what helped me to overcome: 1) Remembering I can do NOTHING for my salvation other than believe (My salvation is: Jesus + NOTHING…I can’t help Him save me by ANY works I do!) 2) When the thoughts came, I recognized they were from my worst enemy (satan) and one of his best tools against Believers (he KNOWS he can’t have us but he can steal our joy in our salvation and render us less efficient in serving the One Who loves us so,) SO I just said to him, “STOP IT” OR spoke “JESUS” (at the mention of HIS name, satan HAS to flee)….he will come back but the more you take an active part in rebuking him, the less he comes AND… most importantly…. 3) I CHOSE to believe God’s promises rather than satan’s lies. Deal with him the second your enemy brings these thoughts to your mind… and you will bask in the promises and love and saving grace that is God’s gift to you…and all of us. Blessings today and everyday…also bask in the knowledge that there are many of your ‘sisters’ praying for quick resolution of this in your mind and heart and for your joy to return. Sending hugs and love your way….
My sweet sister, wanting assurance, our enemy has ways of finding the ”kink” in our armor. We have all wrestled with that probably at one time or another, and the Devil is not going to let us easily forget it either. Abba, Bread of Life, Wonderful Counsellor, O magnify the Lord with me and let us exalt His name together. Thank You Abba that You are near to the broken hearted and save the contrite spirit. I lift up this sweet sister and ask that You give her the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of You. Let her eyes of understanding be enlightened, that she may know what is the hope of Your calling and what the riches and the glory of Your inheritance in all the saints. Fill her with the exceeding greatness of Your power according to the working of Your mighty power, which You worked in Christ when You raised Him from the dead and set Him at Your own right hand in the heavenly places. Let her be strengthened with the might by Your Spirit in her inner man, according to the riches of Your glory. Let her be rooted and ground in love because Christ lives in her heart by her faith. Let strength and honor cloth her and she shall rejoice in times to come. Lord, let her be rooted like the tree by the river and let her not worry about times of drought. Let her works, and her fruit show her love for You, not because she has to earn Your love, but because from Your love out flows Your light, love, mercy and grace. When the enemy tries to sow seeds of doubt, fear, anxiety, fill her with Your peace which passes all understanding and guards her heart and mind through Christ Jesus. Fill her with Your Spirit and remove all that is not from You. Let her husband keep lifting her up, praying for her, and encouraging her through Your Word. I pray this in the name above all names, Jesus, our Redeemer. Amen
Love seeing your big picture in this blog, Terria….it’s just so comforting how you mentioned verse Romans 8;38-39, it’s reassuring that nothing will be able to separate us from the LOVE of God which is in Christ Jesus, this tells me that we cannot loose our salvation….thank you Father God for the gift of new life and for the gift of salvation through your Son, Jesus Christ, to You be the glory forever and ever, Amen.
i would give my life for my family. That is so easy to say. God gave His Son for all of us, the least we can do is give ourselves for our children. We raised one grandson and are currently raising two teenage grand-kids. Never thought of it as a sacrifice until recently. We would do it all over again to give them the home they needed.
Please pray for me. I’ve been battling postpartum depression. Please pray for it to be removed and for me to continue to believe in Gods promises for healing.
Dear Jennifer,
I struggled with post partum depression after having my daughter. This was the scariest time of my life. I’m glad you are talking about this. I kept all my feelings inside until I was ready to burst. I will begin praying for you. You are not alone.
I pray for you to receive adequate sleep and nourishment during this tough patch of life. I pray you stay in touch with your doctor with your condition. Dear Heavenly Father, Please stay close to her and give her the encouragement she needs to continue reaching out during this time. I pray this in Your Name, Amen.
Jennifer, know your not alone! I remember going through that and the worst thing was I felt alone. I’m so glad you reached out to us! I pray that the lord wraps his loving arms around you and lifts you up out of the darkness of your depression. Keep praying, lean on Jesus, and know you are not alone and will get through this.
Mondee~LGG Encourager
Oh Jennifer, I’m also dealing with post partum depression at the moment, it has definitely been one of the darkest points in my life! One of the biggest struggles has been letting go of all the expectations I have for myself, guilt and shame. I’ve really struggled to connect with God during this time too, but I have been holding onto this verse: 28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Matt 11:28-30.
I hope this verse brings you some comfort. Today is a better day for me, but it is very up and down, praying for God’s healing in your life, as I hope and pray for that too!!
Dear Jess,
Matthew 17:28 has been my lifeline the last year. When this verse shows up, I know I am on the right path. Let me explain..
June 24, 2015, I overheard a conversation my husband was having with a woman. Devestated, especially because 10 years prior he had an affair. I ended our 25 year marriage that evening and asked him to leave. That Saturday I received a card from a friend with Matthew 17:28 in the cover. I broke down. God was telling me to come to him for peace.
This day was one of the saddest days of my life. After wandering aimlessly lost throughout the day, getting sick each time I ate I finally sat down with my bible and began reading messages on hope. The bible suggested different verses to read on hope throughout the Old and New Testament. The fifth reading was Matthee 17:28, the verse on the card my friend sent me. I broke down at his mercy and love I knew he was talking to me directly. This verse followed me throughout the year telling me, yes, I am here and this is the pathway to peace and rest.
My journey began at a Christian recovery group where a man began his topic with Matt 17:28. Next a Christian divorce support group had a video which began with Matt 17:28. Countless times this verse God sent me telling me, I am here, I will give you rest. This is the way. I lost count of the times the verse showed up in my life until I told God, seeing this verse was overwhelming me.
Several months went by without hearing or seeing this verse. I moved into a tiny house, and I was telling God, where is that verse… I haven’t heard Matt 17:28 for so long.
Of course, you know what happens next. That day, the cable guy could not come so I turned on Joyce Myers. Don’t you know her entire show was on Matt 17:28. Isn’t he great!!!
Ps. I struggled with post partum depression after having my daughter Jess. I find God connecting me to this group through you, Jess. Thank you for your post!!
Hi, are there any YAF facebook groups with openings for new members? If so could you please reply with a link to the group? Thank you!
Lord. I thank you for your forgiveness. Forgive me for my doubts for I am only human. I pray father that the grace and peace you have given me will stay and rule in my heart. Please wipe away all my doubts, fears, and anxiety. Never allow me to doubt your love and forgiveness, Lord.