God's Character Part I.

John 17:20-23
20 "My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: 23 I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.

A good way to start off the day is how I usually end my posts...with a quote by Mike Guzzardo. "If you want to change your response to temptation and sin, you must first change your perception of God."

The question I want you to think about over the next couple days is "how do you perceive God?" Forget about being cliche, just be honest! Come up with an answer that you actually believe in, not just one that you assume to be true or heard through the grapevine.

Did you know that God cares about you deeply? You can't even begin to fathom how much he cares about your emotions, thoughts, future, and pain. He's created you perfectly in the image of God despite having a few flaws in our own eyes. Ignore those because its Satan trying to bring you down. God would never do that. That's not his nature. You know how when you don't know what to do next, you start pacing up and down the floors of your home? Well, that's how I think of Satan. He's just waiting to destroy you and turn you away from God.

God, the protector, loves you and doesn't want you to listen to the ignorance of Satan. That's why he gives you weapons: the Bible, the Holy Spirit, and the armor of God. When you hurt, he hurts.

Do you know what's awesome? As it states in the passage above, Jesus is not only praying for those who were following him at the time, but all those who would ever believe him. Additionally, God loves you just as much as he loves his son! Let's think about this. Jesus was flawless. How could he love us the same? It's because God loves you out of perfect, unconditional love!

I pray for all those out there who are being deceived by the enemy about this very fact. Start digging into the Word if you are having trouble with this. It is meant to change you for the better. Don't expect it to take place overnight; be patient and give it some time.

Here's the song "Beautiful One" by Tim Hughes!



P.S. If you have trouble with the video stopping and starting, keep the video paused, and let it "buffer" (load) as it's called for a while. You will see the red bar along the bottom advance (speed depends on your Internet connection). Wait until that bar gets pretty far along (I'd say more than halfway) before you play the video and it shouldn't pause. P.S. If you have trouble with the video stopping and starting, keep the video paused, and let it "buffer" (load) as it's called for a while. You will see the red bar along the bottom advance (speed depends on your Internet connection). Wait until that bar gets pretty far along (I'd say more than halfway) before you play the video and it shouldn't pause.