I’m a leaper. (No, not a leper.) I leap into decisions before I consider all the angles. I do not seep in my thoughts, letting them brew before making an educated choice.
I like to think there are pros to being a leaper. Sometimes opportunities will pass us by if we wait too long to act. Sometimes we can talk ourselves out of our passions if we analysis the situation too much.
There is also a down side to leaping without looking. Naturally not thinking things through can result in mistakes being made and consequences to endure. It sometimes means you have to try many, many wrong things before you realize what the right thing is. Some get discouraged after too many failed attempts and vow to never try again, moving away from something that was once important to them.
And there are pros to being a seeper. You don’t make as many mistakes or risk any more than you’re willing. There is an assurance when you decide on something rather than relying on blind hope, which some find entirely too frightening and/or lazy. You endure far fewer consequences, as you make perfectly certain that you will not act unless it is to your advantage to do so.
The cons of being a seeper tend to revolve around missing opportunities and having to settle with what’s left over. But it can also lead to an inability to make any decisions assuming there is always more to research before committing to a certain act or way of thinking. This waiting around for assurance is what I imagine a lot of people are doing when it comes to taking that necessary leap of faith to believe in God.
I don’t believe God can be proven. I really don’t. But it is absolutely evident that something incredible has happened to me since I put my faith in God and pursued a life that pleases Him. I have faith that it is God who has made it possible for me to get my life right. Having seen such a dramatic difference in my own life, it would be unthinkable for me to not believe that something or someone is helping me.
God doesn't want anyone to die without salvation. That's never been His desire. But there is going to be a day when He rewards His followers for the faith they have had. Salvation has nothing to do with being a good person. Not one of us is a completely and consistantly good person. All of us have screwed up in some way, so we all have a need for someone to intercede for us. That someone is Jesus. I know that if I sent my child to endure what He did, I'm going to make absolutely certain that he will be glorified for it, and that is wasn't for nothing. If we could gain salvation from being good, what in the world did Jesus die for?
I imagine it is a little more difficult for seepers to believe in God because He has purposefully left out a few critical evidences about Himself. He has made it entirely necessary to have faith in Him before you can develop a relationship with Him. This isn’t an issue of whether He wants to have a relationship with you or if He will show up if you ask Him to. He’s always there. He’s patiently waiting on us to acknowledge Him. But He's not sitting back doing nothing either. He's intimately involved in the details of this earth. His fingerprints are everywhere, and I see that now that I know what to look for. He's also asked those of us who believe in Him to help others know Him, but we're not all that good at it. But just because we don't do Him justice, doesn't mean He isn't there!
I pray today that you leapers out there leap into the grace that He longs to freely give you. And I pray that the seepers among us realize the importance of knowing Him before the opportunity to accept His gift of salvation passes by.
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Monday, May 28, 2007
We Must Remember
By Rev. Connie Gibbs [Copyright, 2003]
We pause on this Memorial Day, a brief moment in time,
To bring close to our hearts those memories we hold so dear
Of the men and women before us who unselfishly put their dreams, their lives on the line.
Where danger lay as a stalker,
waiting to take away each breath, while the soldier
plowed with determination the furrows of death.
We must remember, we must, you and I,
those special heroes who chose to fly,
to fly the skies of blue that turned as dark as the midnight sky,
Their wings began to shudder as smoke choked their breath away,
And hope gave way to the resignation, "Today, I'm going to die."
Treading the waters so deep and wide,
Men and women continued on their mission,
For God and country, their hearts would abide.
Surprised by attacks with brutal disregard for human life,
they fought to the end, knowing that life and limb would be lost,
whether of self or friend.
Yes by land, by sea, and in the skies,
they fought for our land,
they fought for freedom so that you and I might stand,
Stand for what is right, for what is good and true,
fight that we might say without fear, "God loves you."
Yes, we must remember, for freedom is not cheap,
for lives and limbs were lost so that we might keep,
All the things that we can have and all the things we can do,
Like cars and boats and a house with a roof,
Like going to church without fear,
and reading the Bible where we find the truth,
The truth of knowing that whether we are red, yellow, black,
or white,
We are all God's children and we need to learn to love one another as God first loved us.
For if there is to be peace on earth,
where all men and women are free,
it must begin with each and all of us,
let it begin with you and me.
Friday, May 25, 2007
Soul Survivor
There is a site online where people are being asked to upload a video of them denying the Holy Spirit. They even get a DVD out of it. They believe that by doing this, they are condemning themselves to hell permanently since the Bible says that blaspheming the Holy Spirit is unforgivable.
Here's the catch 22: How is it they trust what this Scripture verse says, but deny the Author?
They think this is the farthest away from God they can get. Thankfully, they are misinterpreting God’s Word, and just announcing that you deny the Holy Spirit doesn't mean that God will stop calling you to Himself. In rejecting Him, they’re at least acknowledging there’s something to reject. Why else would they bother? It’s a start. Furthermore, it doesn't mean it's too late for these kids to repent and acknowledge Jesus as Christ. Although, from personal experience, I know that making a proclamation like this can make it harder later on for these kids to believe they can accept Jesus.
In college, I "sold" my soul for a pack of cigarettes. The guy went through all this pomp and circumstance about it. I didn’t realize until later that I hadn’t done anything permanent or unforgivable. I just wanted a smoke. I did have a problem later on believing that I was still allowed to accept Jesus as my Savior and that that particular sin could be forgiven. But we all deny Jesus until we accept Him. There are no words or video proclamations we can make that can keep God from trying to pull us to Him. The only thing, in my mind, that has a permanent affect on your soul, is dying with or without having acknowledged Jesus as the Son of God. I believe you can't blasphemy Him until you can't accept Him - which would be after you've died.
This site uses the Bible to fuel its purpose, which is pretty strange, if you ask me. The specific verse they use is Mark 3:29 which says "Whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; he is guilty of an eternal sin."
This is referring to a response Jesus made to a particular act of the Pharisees who had determined within themselves that Jesus’ miraculous works were being done by the power of Satan rather than the power of God. Because Jesus is God, He knew that these particular men’s rejection of the gospel would continue until their death, thus they would not be able to receive salvation.
One thing that is important to point out is that it was Jesus making this claim, not some random witness. Jesus had divine knowledge of whether or not these men were going to accept Him as their Messiah before they died, that’s why He was able to say this with authority. I, on the other hand, have no idea who will receive salvation and have absolutely no authority and could never say whether or not someone is going to heaven or hell.
The kids making these videos are different from the Pharisees because the Pharisees didn't deny the existence of God or hell. These kids are saying "I'm going to hell, and I'm not scared" because they want to believe that hell doesn't exist and is therefore not something to spend another moment with which to be concerned. The Pharisees were faced with a man performing all these miracles and had to come up with an explanation for it. The only other supernatural thing they knew about was Satan, and since Jesus wasn't like whom they had thought their Messiah would be, they assumed His powers were evil - out of a process of elimination perhaps. When Jesus points out the flaw of this conclusion, they continue to resist that He could be their Messiah.
A lot of kids these days are being taught what to think instead of how to think, so they are not seeing the very obvious error of what they are doing. It's like a sweater with a loose thread. If they notice it and pull at it, they'll find it completely unravels. I would love to see that happen rather than a bunch of kids wearing a tattered old sweater. These people are going to have a strong testimony someday, and I look forward to hearing how God’s grace and forgiveness has transformed them.
Here's the catch 22: How is it they trust what this Scripture verse says, but deny the Author?
They think this is the farthest away from God they can get. Thankfully, they are misinterpreting God’s Word, and just announcing that you deny the Holy Spirit doesn't mean that God will stop calling you to Himself. In rejecting Him, they’re at least acknowledging there’s something to reject. Why else would they bother? It’s a start. Furthermore, it doesn't mean it's too late for these kids to repent and acknowledge Jesus as Christ. Although, from personal experience, I know that making a proclamation like this can make it harder later on for these kids to believe they can accept Jesus.
In college, I "sold" my soul for a pack of cigarettes. The guy went through all this pomp and circumstance about it. I didn’t realize until later that I hadn’t done anything permanent or unforgivable. I just wanted a smoke. I did have a problem later on believing that I was still allowed to accept Jesus as my Savior and that that particular sin could be forgiven. But we all deny Jesus until we accept Him. There are no words or video proclamations we can make that can keep God from trying to pull us to Him. The only thing, in my mind, that has a permanent affect on your soul, is dying with or without having acknowledged Jesus as the Son of God. I believe you can't blasphemy Him until you can't accept Him - which would be after you've died.
This site uses the Bible to fuel its purpose, which is pretty strange, if you ask me. The specific verse they use is Mark 3:29 which says "Whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; he is guilty of an eternal sin."
This is referring to a response Jesus made to a particular act of the Pharisees who had determined within themselves that Jesus’ miraculous works were being done by the power of Satan rather than the power of God. Because Jesus is God, He knew that these particular men’s rejection of the gospel would continue until their death, thus they would not be able to receive salvation.
One thing that is important to point out is that it was Jesus making this claim, not some random witness. Jesus had divine knowledge of whether or not these men were going to accept Him as their Messiah before they died, that’s why He was able to say this with authority. I, on the other hand, have no idea who will receive salvation and have absolutely no authority and could never say whether or not someone is going to heaven or hell.
The kids making these videos are different from the Pharisees because the Pharisees didn't deny the existence of God or hell. These kids are saying "I'm going to hell, and I'm not scared" because they want to believe that hell doesn't exist and is therefore not something to spend another moment with which to be concerned. The Pharisees were faced with a man performing all these miracles and had to come up with an explanation for it. The only other supernatural thing they knew about was Satan, and since Jesus wasn't like whom they had thought their Messiah would be, they assumed His powers were evil - out of a process of elimination perhaps. When Jesus points out the flaw of this conclusion, they continue to resist that He could be their Messiah.
A lot of kids these days are being taught what to think instead of how to think, so they are not seeing the very obvious error of what they are doing. It's like a sweater with a loose thread. If they notice it and pull at it, they'll find it completely unravels. I would love to see that happen rather than a bunch of kids wearing a tattered old sweater. These people are going to have a strong testimony someday, and I look forward to hearing how God’s grace and forgiveness has transformed them.
Thursday, May 17, 2007
Tag! You're it!
I’ve been tagged. I was asked to share 7 little known facts about myself and then ‘tag’ 7 others. The only problem is trying to come up with 7 things my blabber mouth hasn’t already told you all!
- Books have always been like a security blanket to me. When I was young, I carried a Hello Kitty suitcase filled to capacity with Nancy Drew Mysteries everywhere I went. (I still have the suitcase, but not the books.) Today you still won’t find me without a book nearby. I should just have “Mere Christianity” surgically attached somewhere.
- Tori Amos invited me backstage one evening after one of her concerts. We sat and talked for quite a long time. I used to worship her. (You’re wondering if “worship” is the right word, aren’t you? Well, I was praying one night right after I became a Christian, and I ended it with “In Tori’s Name, Amen.” Oh yeah, I had it bad.)
- I have eaten monkey brains right out of the skull. I don’t remember any of the details, but I saw a picture from the dinner once, so I know it happened. (I don’t know what was put in my pipe that night, but it must have been STRONG!)
- My very favorite ice cream flavors are chocolate chip cookie dough and anything coffee flavored. No nuts! I’m nuts enough as it is.
- I have stayed in about a dozen mental hospitals. I was not an intern.
- When I was younger, I used to dream of having 15 kids. Now, I have two amazing kiddos and wish I could adopt more. But I’m thinking numerous stays at mental hospitals isn’t going to look too “parental” on adoption applications. There’s never one of those boxes to check on the applications that says “Got God – all better now” that would nullify all the scary answers.
- During my senior year in high school, I was drum major of the marching band, president of the Texas Association of Future Educators, and French club publicity officer (I think). I was a member of the National Honor Society and Mu Alpha Theta (a math excellence group). I won the Semper Fidelis award from the Marines for my work in Band, and all kinds of other honorable things. There were also a few non-honorable things that I think I’m just going to keep to myself. HA!
Consider yourself tagged:
John M. (write anything – it doesn’t have to be this.) :)
Jenn I. (can’t I re-tag you again since you have oodles of blogs?)
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
ouch!
I woke up this morning to my little ones cuddling with me. I had my daughter on my shoulder, my son on my belly, and my dog licking my ankles. It was very sweet. I took my daughter's hand and kissed it like she was a princess. I marvelled outloud as to the incredible softness of her hand, to which she replied, "I know. It's because I'm not a grown up yet."
Well, good morning to you too! Haha!
Well, good morning to you too! Haha!
Sunday, May 13, 2007
friend to friend
I have been really trying to learn from non-believers what their experiences have been with Christians who have tried to share their faith with them. I'm reading some books from Jim Henderson, that I highly recommend, who asks non-believers to go to church with him and tell him what they think of the whole experience. It's a great resource for churches and anyone wanting to discuss Jesus with people.
I'm trying to learn more about this because I believe it's what being a Christian is all about. It's not about getting out of going to hell, although that is a blessing I don't deserve. It's not about having a crutch that helps me explain away all the unexplainable parts of existence, because I have more questions now than before, they're just different. I'm not a Christian so I can look down on the rest of the world and feel better about myself. I'm not a Christian so I can point fingers at people and condemn them for things that I'm sure I’m doing right alongside them.
I'm a Christian because I have faith that the God of the Bible really exists and that what the Bible says about Him is true. I am a Christian because I see myself as a sinner who can't follow the Laws that were established long before me; Laws that, if everyone followed them, would have our world at peace. I am a Christian because I believe that God sent His Son, a part of Himself, to be born in an incredibly humble way, who actually did follow the Laws in a way that broke many man-made traditions, who was man and God at the same time, who called the religious leaders at the time hypocrites, who - because of threatening the hold the religious leaders had over the people - was nailed to a tree (a cursed death) and died, who later appeared to people after His resurrection, which strengthened the men who saw Him in their assurance of what they 'preached' and their mission to tell the world that its Savior had been revealed.
The first church, these first followers of Jesus, had one goal in mind: to tell the world about Him. They did this by going from town to town, eating and being sheltered only at the merciful hands of the townspeople, telling the people there about Jesus and equipping them to further the message in their town. Then they'd move on to the next town.The number one goal of these Christians was to spread the news of Jesus. To establish places where the people could go to learn more about Him. Then those people would be equipped to go out to their respective social circles and tell their friends about Him.
We all know that the best marketing technique is word of mouth. If a customer is pleased with the services of a particular business and tells a friend, that person is likely to try it out based on their trusted friend's opinion. We do that. We trust personal experience over roadside billboards and badly written commercials. Jesus knew that the best way to have His message of salvation spread to the ends of the earth was to have friends tell friends.
I've tried this several times. I suck at it. Honestly. I've insulted a dear friend's intelligence and assumed they hadn't really tried to find God or research it for themselves. I've not learned how to explain some things without using church-lingo which to those who don't attend church seems like a foreign language. I have a hard time saying "I don't know," opting rather to try to explain something I have no authority or ability to explain for the sake of not having any breaks in my argument. But I'm not God, and I don't have access to the knowledge of everything. My understanding is going to have holes. And so are non-believers'. Science can only prove so much, and it is changing with every new advance to understand this world we live in. At one point, the world was convinced the earth was flat and that the sun revolved around us. Who knows? Perhaps in another decade we will be able to definitively know what happened to the dinosaurs or how to cure cancer.
One thing I don't ever think we'll be able to do is prove the existence of God. The Bible puts great emphasis on having 'faith.' If we could prove the existence of God, there'd be no need for this faith. I cannot ever really say that I know without a doubt that there is a God. Yeah, you read that right. A self-professing Christian just said she can't know for a fact that God exists. If I could, the whole world could too, but that's not happening. No one can deny that grass is green or that it's cold in Antarctica. If God could be proven to exist, it would have happened by now, I believe, and there wouldn't be any non-believers.
I have faith, hope, that He exists. I can't know. But I can tell you, as a friend, that I have experienced a life-change since I first started hoping. Since I admitted I couldn't do this life without the guidance, protection, and forgiveness of a Higher Power, my life has become remarkably easier. I have a peace that I didn’t have before. I have a strength I didn't have before. I have a reason to wake up every morning. I can feel loved when everyone around me treats me like I’m worthless. I can feel significant even when no one seems to acknowledge me.
Why would God keep Himself ‘invisible’ to a watching world if His goal was to have His people know Him? Well, I think His heart’s desire is for us to love Him. The Bible says God is love. Love is very important to Him. And not that counterfeit kind of love that is so prevalent here that says you’ll receive love once you do something for someone else, and if you make a mistake, it can be taken from you. That’s not love. Our definition of and experience with love pales in comparison with the love God has to offer us. It’s a love that exists just because. It’s a love that doesn’t weaken or disappear when we fail to meet expectations. It’s a love that doesn’t discriminate if you think differently than another. It’s a love that exists even if you don’t reciprocate it! This is so foreign to us that we doubt it’s possible. It sounds lovely and many have expressed their desire to know this kind of love but have yet to see many examples. We tend to withdraw our love when we feel our emotions waning. God’s love isn’t like this at all, and for that I am eternally grateful.
So why isn’t this unconditional love seen more if God is love and we Christians are supposed to act like Jesus? Because we fail miserably at it. Not all, just most, I think. Mother Theresa comes to mind, so I’m not going to put us all in a box and stamp the word ‘failed at love’ on it. We still have human eyes and human hearts, and our perspective doesn’t align with God’s will more often than not. God would not be so invisible if we followed His commandments more closely. A lot of non-believers can’t see God because we Christians not representing Him well. We get distracted by our own urges and desires (made strong because Satan knows our weak spots) and forget to consider how God would want us to behave.
If you loved me because you had to, because I demanded it, well then, I wouldn’t feel very loved. I would want you to WANT to love me. Yeah, now you know I’m a female. (Honey, I want you to want to do the dishes…Heck, I don’t want to do the dishes!) But if you loved me in response to who I was to you, I’d really feel loved. I think God wants us to love Him because of who He is, not just out of obligation or fear. When you start to understand Him, it’s like you’re compelled to love Him. When you are compelled to love Him, you want the world to know Him and experience this great love. You know that this kind of love doesn’t exist here, but you know where to find it. Since you love God, you love His creation, namely people. Since you love them, you want what’s best for them, and you try to introduce them to God so they too can know this perfect love. It’s contagious really. At least it should be. When God loves, it is perfect. When I love, it’s not so perfect. I’m trying, but I’m not God! He loves me just because. He loves me despite myself. He loves me when I intentionally choose to disobey Him. He knows what’s best for my life and wants to bring that to me. It may not be what I thought was best for my life, but I trust that God knows far better than I do.
So this entry is a small way of telling you, friend to friend, about the love of God and how good it is. I would love for you to know it. To feel how truly incredible it can feel to know you are loved no matter what.
I’m trying to learn how to say this to people I meet, not just hide behind my computer from the comforts of my home. I don’t want to misrepresent God’s love to anyone because I wouldn’t want to get in the way of them experiencing God’s love. I know you will feel compelled to love Him back when you experience His love for yourself, and I want His heart’s desire to come true.
My daughter has a great way of telling people about God. She runs down the hallways of doctor’s offices and down the aisles of grocery stores announcing that “Christ died on the cross to save you from your sins.” She’s done this countless times in the last few months. She tells everyone. I wish I had her personality sometimes. She feels loved by God and wants you to feel it too. She wants you to understand what her God did for you, and she wants you to love Him like she does. She thinks He’s worth it. She’s not hesitant. She’s not afraid. She’s not embarrassed. She just openly shares this with the people she loves, namely everyone she comes in contact with. My daughter is extraordinary in this. She witnessed to a lady at shoe store recently. The lady couldn’t quite understand what she was saying, so she asked me to clarify. I smiled and admitted that she was witnessing to her. Her face lit up and she said “well then, I want to hear all about it.” And she did. She sat there as Gillian just poured out everything she knows about God until she got distracted by a pair of Disney Princess sneakers that light up when they hit the floor. Who knows? Perhaps this was the first time that lady’s heart had been opened to receiving this information. Perhaps she had heard it many times and that she has Christ as her Savior and was just encouraging my daughter in her evangelism. Perhaps she was responding to my daughter’s apparent love for her. Either way, I was so proud of Gillian and inspired to try to better my evangelism style.
Glory to the Father and the Son, Jesus, Lover of my Soul!
I'm trying to learn more about this because I believe it's what being a Christian is all about. It's not about getting out of going to hell, although that is a blessing I don't deserve. It's not about having a crutch that helps me explain away all the unexplainable parts of existence, because I have more questions now than before, they're just different. I'm not a Christian so I can look down on the rest of the world and feel better about myself. I'm not a Christian so I can point fingers at people and condemn them for things that I'm sure I’m doing right alongside them.
I'm a Christian because I have faith that the God of the Bible really exists and that what the Bible says about Him is true. I am a Christian because I see myself as a sinner who can't follow the Laws that were established long before me; Laws that, if everyone followed them, would have our world at peace. I am a Christian because I believe that God sent His Son, a part of Himself, to be born in an incredibly humble way, who actually did follow the Laws in a way that broke many man-made traditions, who was man and God at the same time, who called the religious leaders at the time hypocrites, who - because of threatening the hold the religious leaders had over the people - was nailed to a tree (a cursed death) and died, who later appeared to people after His resurrection, which strengthened the men who saw Him in their assurance of what they 'preached' and their mission to tell the world that its Savior had been revealed.
The first church, these first followers of Jesus, had one goal in mind: to tell the world about Him. They did this by going from town to town, eating and being sheltered only at the merciful hands of the townspeople, telling the people there about Jesus and equipping them to further the message in their town. Then they'd move on to the next town.The number one goal of these Christians was to spread the news of Jesus. To establish places where the people could go to learn more about Him. Then those people would be equipped to go out to their respective social circles and tell their friends about Him.
We all know that the best marketing technique is word of mouth. If a customer is pleased with the services of a particular business and tells a friend, that person is likely to try it out based on their trusted friend's opinion. We do that. We trust personal experience over roadside billboards and badly written commercials. Jesus knew that the best way to have His message of salvation spread to the ends of the earth was to have friends tell friends.
I've tried this several times. I suck at it. Honestly. I've insulted a dear friend's intelligence and assumed they hadn't really tried to find God or research it for themselves. I've not learned how to explain some things without using church-lingo which to those who don't attend church seems like a foreign language. I have a hard time saying "I don't know," opting rather to try to explain something I have no authority or ability to explain for the sake of not having any breaks in my argument. But I'm not God, and I don't have access to the knowledge of everything. My understanding is going to have holes. And so are non-believers'. Science can only prove so much, and it is changing with every new advance to understand this world we live in. At one point, the world was convinced the earth was flat and that the sun revolved around us. Who knows? Perhaps in another decade we will be able to definitively know what happened to the dinosaurs or how to cure cancer.
One thing I don't ever think we'll be able to do is prove the existence of God. The Bible puts great emphasis on having 'faith.' If we could prove the existence of God, there'd be no need for this faith. I cannot ever really say that I know without a doubt that there is a God. Yeah, you read that right. A self-professing Christian just said she can't know for a fact that God exists. If I could, the whole world could too, but that's not happening. No one can deny that grass is green or that it's cold in Antarctica. If God could be proven to exist, it would have happened by now, I believe, and there wouldn't be any non-believers.
I have faith, hope, that He exists. I can't know. But I can tell you, as a friend, that I have experienced a life-change since I first started hoping. Since I admitted I couldn't do this life without the guidance, protection, and forgiveness of a Higher Power, my life has become remarkably easier. I have a peace that I didn’t have before. I have a strength I didn't have before. I have a reason to wake up every morning. I can feel loved when everyone around me treats me like I’m worthless. I can feel significant even when no one seems to acknowledge me.
Why would God keep Himself ‘invisible’ to a watching world if His goal was to have His people know Him? Well, I think His heart’s desire is for us to love Him. The Bible says God is love. Love is very important to Him. And not that counterfeit kind of love that is so prevalent here that says you’ll receive love once you do something for someone else, and if you make a mistake, it can be taken from you. That’s not love. Our definition of and experience with love pales in comparison with the love God has to offer us. It’s a love that exists just because. It’s a love that doesn’t weaken or disappear when we fail to meet expectations. It’s a love that doesn’t discriminate if you think differently than another. It’s a love that exists even if you don’t reciprocate it! This is so foreign to us that we doubt it’s possible. It sounds lovely and many have expressed their desire to know this kind of love but have yet to see many examples. We tend to withdraw our love when we feel our emotions waning. God’s love isn’t like this at all, and for that I am eternally grateful.
So why isn’t this unconditional love seen more if God is love and we Christians are supposed to act like Jesus? Because we fail miserably at it. Not all, just most, I think. Mother Theresa comes to mind, so I’m not going to put us all in a box and stamp the word ‘failed at love’ on it. We still have human eyes and human hearts, and our perspective doesn’t align with God’s will more often than not. God would not be so invisible if we followed His commandments more closely. A lot of non-believers can’t see God because we Christians not representing Him well. We get distracted by our own urges and desires (made strong because Satan knows our weak spots) and forget to consider how God would want us to behave.
If you loved me because you had to, because I demanded it, well then, I wouldn’t feel very loved. I would want you to WANT to love me. Yeah, now you know I’m a female. (Honey, I want you to want to do the dishes…Heck, I don’t want to do the dishes!) But if you loved me in response to who I was to you, I’d really feel loved. I think God wants us to love Him because of who He is, not just out of obligation or fear. When you start to understand Him, it’s like you’re compelled to love Him. When you are compelled to love Him, you want the world to know Him and experience this great love. You know that this kind of love doesn’t exist here, but you know where to find it. Since you love God, you love His creation, namely people. Since you love them, you want what’s best for them, and you try to introduce them to God so they too can know this perfect love. It’s contagious really. At least it should be. When God loves, it is perfect. When I love, it’s not so perfect. I’m trying, but I’m not God! He loves me just because. He loves me despite myself. He loves me when I intentionally choose to disobey Him. He knows what’s best for my life and wants to bring that to me. It may not be what I thought was best for my life, but I trust that God knows far better than I do.
So this entry is a small way of telling you, friend to friend, about the love of God and how good it is. I would love for you to know it. To feel how truly incredible it can feel to know you are loved no matter what.
I’m trying to learn how to say this to people I meet, not just hide behind my computer from the comforts of my home. I don’t want to misrepresent God’s love to anyone because I wouldn’t want to get in the way of them experiencing God’s love. I know you will feel compelled to love Him back when you experience His love for yourself, and I want His heart’s desire to come true.
My daughter has a great way of telling people about God. She runs down the hallways of doctor’s offices and down the aisles of grocery stores announcing that “Christ died on the cross to save you from your sins.” She’s done this countless times in the last few months. She tells everyone. I wish I had her personality sometimes. She feels loved by God and wants you to feel it too. She wants you to understand what her God did for you, and she wants you to love Him like she does. She thinks He’s worth it. She’s not hesitant. She’s not afraid. She’s not embarrassed. She just openly shares this with the people she loves, namely everyone she comes in contact with. My daughter is extraordinary in this. She witnessed to a lady at shoe store recently. The lady couldn’t quite understand what she was saying, so she asked me to clarify. I smiled and admitted that she was witnessing to her. Her face lit up and she said “well then, I want to hear all about it.” And she did. She sat there as Gillian just poured out everything she knows about God until she got distracted by a pair of Disney Princess sneakers that light up when they hit the floor. Who knows? Perhaps this was the first time that lady’s heart had been opened to receiving this information. Perhaps she had heard it many times and that she has Christ as her Savior and was just encouraging my daughter in her evangelism. Perhaps she was responding to my daughter’s apparent love for her. Either way, I was so proud of Gillian and inspired to try to better my evangelism style.
Glory to the Father and the Son, Jesus, Lover of my Soul!
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