The Living Loved Life

What is good? How can we find any joy in such a messed-up world?

Jim Richter and Drew Jarrod share what it is to live loved by God.

Is God Bearing Fruit In Me? Well, first we have to know what "fruit" looks like! Is it something outside of ourselves or is it the work God is doing in us?

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The Living Loved Life Podcast Episode "Is God Bearing Fruit In Me?" (40:04)
℗ & © Copyright 01/18/2024 Jim Richter/Drew Jarrod (BMI). All Rights Reserved.

How Do You Find Rest? What Is Success?
Jim Richter and Drew Jarrod introduce what it means to get one step closer to finding our rest in Jesus.

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The Living Loved Life Podcast Episode "Finding Successful Rest Trailer" (00:59)
℗ & © Copyright 08/09/2020 Jim Richter/Drew Jarrod (BMI). All Rights Reserved.

“With God, there’s no halfway with Love – there’s no distance with Love - with Love we’re all in. He’s all in; we’re all in.” ~Jim Richter

We are thankful for a God Who is committed to us.
(Not that we’re always committed to Him, but He is always committed to us.)
“You’re mine. You‘re mine. I’m not going to let go. I love you.”

God is committed to us... and gives us space to work through our struggle to commit ourselves to Him. Even when we don't love Him and can't even love ourselves, God still loves us. "You're mine... and I'm yours," God says to us, "Now, let's walk together in Love, Truth, and Grace."

"With God, there's no halfway with love. There's no distance with love. With love, we're all in - he's all in and we're all in. And if we understood that, think how secure we would be. And also realize that Jesus doesn't take prisoners... Jesus doesn't take the old Adam prisoner, He kills the old Adam... (that's what crosses do). Just think about it." ~Jim Richter

But for those who surrender to Him and His better way for us, there is every resuscitation, every remuneration, every reconciliation, every justification, every reinstatement to the blessed place of daughters and sons, co-heirs with Christ, and a guaranteed seat at God's table forever - close enough for us to see Him wink at us; close enough for Him to lean over and whisper secrets in our ear.

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The Living Loved Life Podcast Episode "God Is Committed To Us" (??:??)
℗ & © Copyright 02/15/2024 Jim Richter/Drew Jarrod (BMI). All Rights Reserved.

What is Faith?

Faith is relationship with God.

Relationship with God is essential!

And what you get with relationship with god is ever-increasing measures of all the fruits of the Spirit and more! (Including, but not limited to, Peace, Patience, Understanding, Forgiveness, Love, Consideration of the other...)

Relationship with God gives us the wide-open S P A C E S to grow in love with Him.

Covenant...
Relationship with God
Baptism
Marriage
Children
Family

We are safe here to come and go - to come and stay - welcomed by God forever; (welcomed to the point that we don't want to leave and He will never make us leave). But the door is open right now and we can choose to leave relationship with God if WE want to, but God never leaves His relationship with US!

What Is Faith? How do we define Faith? How can we describe it? The author of Hebrews states,

"'Faith is the certainty of things hoped for - the evidence of things not seen.' And in that, you see the balance where you're not being Pharisaical (you're never saying that the things of God aren't true), but you are saying that there's still faith - these things are grasped by faith - 'the certainty of things hoped for - the evidence of things not seen.'" ~Jim Richter

If you've ever thought, "I'm struggling with my faith right now..." that doesn't mean you don't have faith or you have weak faith... it just means you have faith. The struggle IS part of what faith IS! So, rejoice! You have faith! It's not that you are struggling to believe in God - it's more that you are struggling with what He's been asking you to do - struggling in your walk with God as he teaches and challenges and shows us new things that we're not used to.

"To struggle with Faith is part and parcel OF Faith. Faith is not a scientific thing that we experimented with and observed what happened... it's Faith! The very character of Faith tells you that there is going to be grappling with it, just by its very nature... if it's really Faith." ~Jim Richter

"You're walking in Faith and you're struggling... it doesn't mean you're not walking in Faith anymore... You don't leave the family just because you have an argument. God isn't like that. He doesn't ever want to end His relationship with you. He always wants to be gentle with us and keep us, gather us, love us, provide for us, smile at us, inspire us, and grow us. You're still in a relationship with God. Faith struggles are just part of growing up and the continuing journey of walking with God forever in relationship - in friendship - with God. I think people don't understand Faith because they don't know Who God is. I didn't begin to understand Faith in God until I knew Who I was putting my Faith in... Now that I know His deep and never-ending love for me, it's a no-brainer to put my faith in Him." ~Drew Jarrod

"1 What is faith? It is the confident assurance that something we want is going to happen. It is the certainty that what we hope for is waiting for us, even though we cannot see it up ahead. 2 Men of God in days of old were famous for their faith." ~Hebrews 11:1-2 TLB

"1 The fundamental fact of existence is that this trust in God, this faith, is the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living. It’s our handle on what we can’t see. 2 The act of faith is what distinguished our ancestors, set them above the crowd.
3 By faith, we see the world called into existence by God’s word, what we see created by what we don’t see.
4 By an act of faith, Abel brought a better sacrifice to God than Cain. It was what he believed, not what he brought, that made the difference. That’s what God noticed and approved as righteous. After all these centuries, that belief continues to catch our notice.
5-6 By an act of faith, Enoch skipped death completely. “They looked all over and couldn’t find him because God had taken him.” We know on the basis of reliable testimony that before he was taken “he pleased God.” It’s impossible to please God apart from faith. And why? Because anyone who wants to approach God must believe both that he exists and that he cares enough to respond to those who seek him.
7 By faith, Noah built a ship in the middle of dry land. He was warned about something he couldn’t see, and acted on what he was told. The result? His family was saved. His act of faith drew a sharp line between the evil of the unbelieving world and the rightness of the believing world. As a result, Noah became intimate with God.
8-10 By an act of faith, Abraham said yes to God’s call to travel to an unknown place that would become his home. When he left he had no idea where he was going. By an act of faith he liv...