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Loved Before You Began – Love Beyond Measure · Still, Here

• 0:01
  SPEAKER_00: This is still here.
• 0:04
  SPEAKER_00: A quiet moment to remember what is true.
• 0:08
  SPEAKER_00: Listen to these words from the book of Ephesians chapter 1 verse 3.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_00: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
• 0:18
  SPEAKER_00: who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_00: Most of us learned early that rewards follow performance.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_00: Do well in school and you will receive a good grade.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_00: Meet the expectations at work and you may earn recognition or a promotion.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_00: Keep your responsibilities, make good choices, and people are more likely to approve of you.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_00: That pattern has a useful place in life, yet it can quietly enter our relationship with God.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_00: We may believe that God loves us while still feeling that closeness has to be maintained.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_00: A good week of prayer, scripture, kindness, and self-control reassures us.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_00: A distracted week leaves us wondering whether we have drifted too far.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_00: We may never say it out loud, but the soul begins to live by a smaller ruler.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_00: I have to be doing better before I can feel close to God.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_00: Paul begins by taking that ruler out of our hands.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_00: Before he gives us an instruction,
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_00: names a responsibility,
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_00: or describes the life we are called to live, he announces what God has already done.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_00: God has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in Christ.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_00: The blessing does not begin with our spiritual performance.
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_00: It begins in the heart of God.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_00: God did not wait for you to become consistent enough,
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_00: calm enough, faithful enough, or healed enough.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_00: He did not study your week and decide how much grace you had earned.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_00: In Christ, blessing has already been spoken over your life.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_00: That changes the meaning of spiritual practice.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_00: Prayer is no longer a way to persuade God to stay near.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_00: Scripture is no longer proof that you deserve His approval.
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_00: Worship,
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_00: obedience,
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_00: generosity,
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_00: service, and self-discipline become expressions of a relationship already given.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_00: They grow from belonging rather than fear.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_00: Perhaps you have spent years treading water spiritually.
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_00: You keep moving because you are afraid that if you stop, even briefly, you will sink.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_00: You work to remain useful.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_00: You try to stay emotionally steady.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_00: You watch yourself closely.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_00: You wonder whether God is pleased.
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_00: Grace offers a different experience.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_00: Imagine the loving arms of God around you,
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_00: holding you securely enough that you can stop struggling for
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_00: a moment Let your shoulders soften.
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_00: Let your breath deepen.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_00: You are not being graded in this quiet space.
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_00: You are not waiting to learn whether you have made the cut.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_00: You are already loved.
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_00: You are already held.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_00: You are already inside the blessing of God in Christ.
• 3:41
  SPEAKER_00: Relief is not laziness.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_00: Relief is a holy beginning.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_00: When the soul no longer has to work for its place, it becomes free to respond.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_00: Love can become sincere.
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_00: Obedience can become willing.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_00: Prayer can become honest.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_00: Service can become joyful.
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_00: You do not enter this journey under evaluation.
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_00: You awaken inside blessing.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_00: Take a moment for this prayer of presence.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_00: Relief settles into the places that have been striving.
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_00: Let my prayer, my work, and my love rise from the assurance that I am already held in Christ.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_00: I rest for this moment in the blessing you have already given.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_00: Amen.
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_00: As you return to what's waiting for you, carry this prayer with you.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_00: I am not judged.
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_00: I live in blessing.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_00: I live in blessing.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_00: I am not judged.
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_00: I live in blessing.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_00: I am not judged.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_00: I live in blessing.
• 5:29
  SPEAKER_00: Until next time, stay steady, stay open, stay present.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_00: You are still here.