Nothing Can Separate Us

Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.”

1 John 4:7-12 NIV

There is nothing on earth in your life that is more powerful than the love of God…nothing

There is no situation or life circumstances that can separate us from God’s love

Trust in Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior

He came down from heaven and sacrificed His life to reconcile us with God

This is the greatest gift you will ever receive

Nothing can separate us from Him

Trust Him with every area of your life and you will know peace

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No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,[b] neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 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.”

Romans 8:37-39 NIV

(This photo was taken at a lake near Plymouth, Minnesota)

Amazing Love

You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

Romans 5:6-8 NIV

You Are My King (Amazing Love) by Newsboys

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“God made him who had no sin to be sin[b] for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

2 Corinthians 5:21 NIV

(This photo was taken at a lake near Plymouth, Minnesota)

God’s Faithfulness

“Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commandments.”

Deuteronomy 7:9 NIV

Father God, You make all things beautiful in their proper timing.  Nothing is too hard for You to accomplish.  You are faithful to keep Your promises.  So often, we forget this and grow discouraged when our situations don’t seem to change.  In those moments, it’s easy to forget that You are not done working.  Through Your Holy Spirit, please change the way we think and behave.  When we start to grow weary, help us remember that You are near and You are faithful.  In Jesus name, Amen.

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Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed,
    for his compassions never fail.
23 They are new every morning;
    great is your faithfulness.”

Lamentations 3:22-23 NIV

(This photo was taken at sunrise by a lake in northwestern Wisconsin)

Prayer

“Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.”

Romans 12:12 NIV

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”

Philippians 4:6 NIV

No matter what the situation or circumstances, do not stop praying about it

Do not give up when God doesn’t meet your timeline, He knows more about everything than we could ever ask, think or imagine

Instead choose to trust in Him and His Way

He loves you, He cares for you and He is with you every step along the way

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Rejoice always, 17 pray continually, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 NIV

(This photo was taken at a lake in northwestern Wisconsin)

Jesus

Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
    and gave him the name that is above every name,
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
    in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
    to the glory of God the Father.”

Philippians 2:9-11 NIV

What A Beautiful Name by Hillsong

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Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well. This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands. In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.

1 John 5:1-5 NIV

(This photo was taken at Temperance State Park along the North Shore of Lake Superior)

Thankfulness

“Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.”

Colossians 3:15 NIV

“Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!”

2 Corinthians 9:15 NIV

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Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.
    Worship the Lord with gladness;
    come before him with joyful songs.
Know that the Lord is God.
    It is he who made us, and we are his[a];
    we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving
    and his courts with praise;
    give thanks to him and praise his name.
For the Lord is good and his love endures forever;
    his faithfulness continues through all generations.

Psalm 100: 1-5 NIV

(This photo was taken in the Botanical Gardens at the Bellagio in Las Vegas, Nevada)

Compassion

“The Lord is compassionate and gracious,

    slow to anger, abounding in love.
He will not always accuse,
    nor will he harbor his anger forever;
10 he does not treat us as our sins deserve
    or repay us according to our iniquities.
11 For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
    so great is his love for those who fear him;
12 as far as the east is from the west,
    so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

13 As a father has compassion on his children,
    so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him;”

Psalm 103:8-13

Care…concern…warmth…kindness…gentleness…tenderness…love

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The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him,
    to the one who seeks him;
26 it is good to wait quietly
    for the salvation of the Lord.”

Lamentations 3:25-26

(This photo was taken in the Botanical Garden at the Bellagio in Las Vegas, Nevada)

Sacrifice…Savior

But he was pierced for our transgressions,
    he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
    and by his wounds we are healed.”

Isaiah 53:5 NIV

Father God, thank You for sending Your only Son to save us.  Thank You for creating a way for us to be reconciled with You.  Because of Jesus’ sacrifice our mistakes are forgiven!  Help us never take this for granted.  Give us courage to glorify You in every area of our lives.  In Jesus name, Amen.

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“For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”

John 3:17 NIV

(This photo was taken at the Corn Palace in Mitchell, South Dakota)

The Truth

“Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

John 14:6 NIV

“Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.”

2 Timothy 2:15 NIV

The Story Behind “You Say” by Lauren Daigle

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To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. 32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

John 8:31-32 NIV

(This photo was taken at a lake near Plymouth, Minnesota)

Our Source Of Strength

“Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

John 4:13 NIV

Blessed is the one
    who does not walk in step with the wicked
or stand in the way that sinners take
    or sit in the company of mockers,
but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,
    and who meditates on his law day and night.
That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,
    which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither—
    whatever they do prospers.”

Psalm 1:1-3 NIV

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“But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord,
    whose confidence is in him.
They will be like a tree planted by the water
    that sends out its roots by the stream.
It does not fear when heat comes;
    its leaves are always green.
It has no worries in a year of drought
    and never fails to bear fruit.”

Jeremiah 17:7-8 NIV

(This photo was taken at a lake in northwestern Wisconsin)