God’s love is perfect. As disciples of Christ, it is important to know and accept that God loves us. It is from His love that we are able to return love to God, ourselves, and then others. However, we have an enemy that wants to keep us from understanding and receiving this love.
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VIM Past the Attack
• Greg Boyd
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God’s love is perfect. As disciples of Christ, it is important to know and accept that God loves us. It is from His love that we are able to return love to God, ourselves, and then others. However, we have an enemy that wants to keep us from understanding and receiving this love. Satan tries to convince us that God is not what He seems, that His love is not perfect. If we can be convinced that God is not the full expression of love, then we are not able to fully love God and receive God’s love in the way He has desired us to.
Satan tries to convince us that we can not be loved, that we are not worthy of God’s love. This lie prevents us from truly loving ourselves, and consequently others. If we believe these lies, we try to fulfill ourselves with external achievements in order to make ourselves lovable. We also judge others by their outward appearances and achievements, rather than loving others as the beautiful creation God has made them to be. However, as believers in Christ, we are called to be free from these lies that prevent us from understanding the depth of God’s love for us and for each other.
As Christians we are called to be disciples of Christ, not just believers. A disciple is one who is disciplining and training to become what God has called them to be. Each person has been created with a purpose to fulfill in God’s kingdom. As disciples, we are called to fulfill our purpose by diligently following God’s direction and seeking to become more like Christ.
A healthful and practical tool to move forward in a disciplined walk with Christ is called the VIM model. It stands for Vision, Intention, and Means. The Vision is a clear goal or purpose that we see vividly play out before us in our minds. The Intention is the decision and commitment to achieve the Vision. The Means are the activities and steps that we take that help us grow in our ability to live out the Vision. An example of the VIM model is a set goal of knowing God’s Word. The Vision is: seeing oneself more intimately connected with God through a deep and clear understanding of the Bible. The Intention, is the decision to study scripture to achieve the Vision. The Means, may include private Bible study times, Covenant Groups, books about Bible Study, etc. These are all tools that will help an individual achieve their vision of knowing God’s Word. Through these simple truths and tools we can begin to set aside the lies of our enemy and move towards the freedom and joy of walking in God’s love and will.
Hide Extended SummaryTopics: Discipleship, Love, Satan
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Focus Scripture:
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Luke 4:1-2, 13
Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil. He ate nothing during those days, and at the end of them he was hungry. When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time.
