It is great to consider this great Love for us, you and me. Knowing that we are indeed truly loved, from the heart by God[and with True, perfect Love], is something that can not compare to anything else we might be tempted to engage in.

Thanks Jim for this,

Adam

Jim,
Hasn't sin consciousness driven allot of the misunderstanding here as well? I mean one the biggest confusions we face in the midst of personal struggle is in the attempt to find out if it is "our fault". Why? So we CAN remain in God's favor, acceptance and forgiveness and Love. We also feel that because of what we see with our eyes, that maybe these things that go wrong are a "correction"[or rebuke] from God,somehow moving us away from and out of His divine Love. We constantly live as though God is ready to conk us on the head to get some important and changing message through to us stupid, no good mess ups. To be led internally is a whole new thing to us, for it is foreign to all that we formerly knew. Oh we knew impulses and lusts and even attempts to control but, we knew nothing of having eternal life inside. I think we have been led to assume that every problem is our own darn fault, and the world is loving every minute of seeing us agreeing right along with them in there self condemnation. For they love it when your [real] sincere heart is weighed down with legalistic bondage like they are. The world lives as if they must "get" something to be justified...God in the ones who are His, are justified..though it is not seen by the flesh.

Jim thanks!

..I was thinking about this more during breakfast and interacting with my family. I was thinking about the assumptions of the flesh and it's viewing things of the Spirit. Oddly enough, I have always seen that though the flesh can not SEE, it still has an opinion about the Spirit. So does the Spirit recognize the flesh as dead.[accept for it's judgment is TRUE] I was thinking about the millions of times in my life when I would be doing something from the Spirit, that I instantly recognized as genuine[as in the real article] but also recognized that others weren't SEEING it while viewing only from the appearance of my rough exterior[earthly judgments]. Christians often do see these manifestations of Life in us but, not always either. In fact it was you Jim that helped me so much with the encouragement that even within the voices in our OWN minds, that the flesh is always balking at the activity of The Spirit. The flesh may look VERY good on the outside before men...on the other hand the genuine Life of Jesus may not appear as real and true in some who might have a rough exterior. I have seen life come out of me when I was dead tired and unable to even be "polite" as the world calls it[and been judged for it by the flesh of course]...and on the other hand I have seen time and time again the flesh flaunting it's "good" works in front of me to prove it's own sense of supposed morality and justification. The thing about the flesh is when it is becoming known that it is Evil, it will hide and in fact often times go do "good works" to shut down any attack on it's proud self justification.It is going to show YOU, that it is JUST as "holy" and righteous and clean and perfect as the undeniable wisdom that radiates from within YOU!.[from the righteous One]It DOES NOT submit to the only cleansing available for sin...Jesus Christ. It thinks that by it's continual work to justify, that it can claim purity and "cleansing." But like you once said[but in another context]Jim, it is hard to wipe clean the oil on us with an oily rag! It is kind of a "cute" way to say that it does not work, though there is nothing really cute about it, in fact it is a very serious thing. We keep thinking that we will here a "denial of Christ" as obvious as the words themselves make it so...however MORE times than not, it comes in a much, much more casual and sneaky way..so as to stay hidden, under the radar..in the dark. Funny enough these same people will swear up and down that they have "faith" in God and that they "pray" and do good etc...Aha but, the denial continues. For the One who denies the Son[the cleansing from Sin and the bridge to God] can not know the Father, and therefore the Father does not hear him/them. Much like the book of both 1John and James explain thoroughly.