First, God LOVES me! The God who created all of the earth and the heavens and everything in it, the God who is HOLY and can not tolerate sin, the God who is perfect... HE LOVES ME! Little ol' me who is broken and sinful and often resisting of His guidance. He loves me! It amazes me that no matter what I do, think, say or behave... He still loves me! He loves me so much He sent his son Jesus to be beaten, insulted, scorned, tortured and killed just for ME! Had I been the only person on earth, He would have done it just for me. WOW! That kind of love is so foreign and so unfathomable, yet it is true!
Second, God CHOSE me! It was Him who chose me! Not the other way around. He placed the yearning in my heart and soul for Him. He sent angels and the Holy Spirit to gently direct me to Him. And eventually (it took until I was 16) I followed His promptings and accepted His son into my heart. But He chose me first! He chose me before I chose Him. He chose me before my parents conceived me. He chose me BEFORE the earth was even formed! Being omnipresent, He saw the date of my conception at the beginning of time. He saw my birth before he formed the earth. And He knew that day in April of 1987, I would turn to Him and let His son into my heart! WOW! Just think about that for a second! Before God formed the earth and created man, HE KNEW each and every soul that would ever come to exist. He knew who we were, who we would become, whether we would accept His free gifts or reject them! He knew and KNOWS everything about us and STILL He loves us!
Third, God PURSUES me everyday! God chases after me and yearns for me to turn and accept His love and spend time with Him. He WANTS me and actively pursues me daily. Not just at the beginning of the day and when I race off too busy to acknowledge Him, he stops. NO! He actively pursues me throughout the day and night. Every minute of everyday He is there asking me to stop and listen and love Him. He doesn't care that I just lost my temper with my son over something trivial. He is there waiting for me to listen to His whispers. He is there with open arms ready to catch me when I stumble. Ready, oh ALWAYS ready, to lift me up and direct my feet. Ready to hug me and console me as I make mistake and mistake. Ready to guide me through whatever troubles me. Ready to discipline me when I need it.
I grew up going to church and learning about God and His son, Jesus. I just assumed that was what it was to believe until I was sixteen and went on a Spring Break retreat to Catalina with Campus Life. There, the speaker, Buster Soaries, changed my world! I realized you do not become a believer by osmosis. It takes action. I had to accept Jesus myself. Now it is nearly 26 years later and I am still amazed by God's love, grace and mercy. It still amazes me that there is nothing God doesn't know about me. NOTHING! Yet His love is never-ending, unfailing and unconditional. He knows my deepest, darkest secrets and because of His son, He loves me, despite and IN SPITE of my failings. And to think that He first CHOSE me?!?! WOW! What an unbelievable concept. But it is true!
This morning I was overwhelmed by what God was speaking to me and I still am. As I type this, tears of joy, tears of happiness, tears of guilt and shame stream down my cheeks. I am astounded that God still yearns for me after all I have done. I am shocked that even though I ignore Him, disobey Him, refuse to even acknowledge Him some days, He is still there, ready and waiting for ME! I had intended to reference Scripture verses in this as I shared today's experience but as I typed I realized God just wanted me to hear HIS voice today. Just the words He placed in my heart this morning. I know the Scripture is there for me to reference but the beauty of His words in my heart was what I really needed to focus on.
God is there. God is HERE. He is speaking to us constantly. Sometimes He shouts but usually it is a whisper. Soft and gentle, easy to ignore but persistant and loving. Usually I am so caught up in whatever mundane task I am hurriedly trying to complete that I don't and maybe can't hear the whispers. This morning I briefly allowed a window for God's whispers to pour through and I was floored!
I have a lot of friends who are doing the "Word of the Year" where you pick one word to focus on throughout the year. If I were to pick a word it would be LISTEN. God has been prompting me to LISTEN. First it was the realization that I have too many distractions in my life that are keeping me from God. Now it is becoming very clear to me that that is also about Listening. God wants me to just LISTEN. To stop and listen. Not just hear Him and let His voice drift from one ear out through the other. No, He wants me to LISTEN. Listening is active not passive.
Dictionary.com defines Listen as:
verb (used without object)
1. to give attention with the ear; attend closely for the purpose of hearing; give ear.
2. to pay attention; heed; obey (often followed by to ): Children don't always listen to their parents.
3. to wait attentively for a sound (usually followed by for ): to listen for sounds of their return.
4. Informal. to convey a particular impression to the hearer; sound: The new recording doesn't listen as well as the old one.
verb (used with object)
5. Archaic. to give ear to; hear.
Attend closely; pay attention; heed; obey; wait attentively... theseACTIVE not passive. God is telling me to eliminate the distractions that keep me from ACTIVELY LISTENING to Him. So that is my goal this year, to actively listen to God; to eliminate the distractions that keep me from listening to Him.
Thank you Lord for speaking so clearly to me and making it obvious what it is I need to do to actively walk in faith with You!
Blessings,
Erin
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