Wednesday, January 18, 2012

A Dirty Love

I hope my title caught your attention to read this post! I am trying to think of creative titles :) You are probably really curious why the title is "Dirty Love" especially in today's world. Take the time with me to revisit a story that can easily be skipped over. It's the story of creation...


Genesis 1 talks about how God spoke everything into existence and "It was Good." God thought of something, said a word, and there it was. Move ahead to Genesis 2 and we see how God formed man from the dust. 


                   I want you to get the right image here, so visualize with me. God is forming man with His hands and creating man in His image. I wonder what words and songs God was singing or thinking while He was forming, creating man. Then God looks at His creation and breathes a breath of life into the man's nostrils (verse 7). To breathe into someone's nostrils you have to be face to face and with that breath of air man awakened to life. I wonder what that moment looked like when God saw his creation face to face, eye to eye and his creation looked back at Him. What a sweet, intimate moment. I wonder what their first words were. I wonder what happened in those sweet moments. How joyful God must have felt to see the longing of His heart living and breathing before Him. Then God placed man into the Garden of Eden. 


You see, this image is so sweet because beloved, you are more than just a word spoken or a thought. God in His greatness took the time to form you. You truly are fearfully and wonderfully made. Take Genesis chapter 2 and pair it up with psalm 139 and get the right image of how much God loves you. I have to write out ps. 139 because it is too sweet to pass up. (for my notes on ps. 139 check out the post "my favorite")



Psalm 139

1 O Lord, You have searched me and known me.
2 You know my sitting down and my rising up; You understand my thought afar off.3 You comprehend my path and my lying down, And are acquainted with all my ways.4 For there is not a word on my tongue, But behold, O Lord, You know it altogether.5 You have hedged me behind and before, And laid Your hand upon me.6  Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is high, I cannot attain it...
13 For You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mothers womb.14 I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, Andthat my soul knows very well.15 My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.16 Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, The days fashioned for me, When as yet there were none of them.17 How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How great is the sum of them!18  If I should count them, they would be more in number than the sand; When I awake, I am still with You...
God placed Adam into the Garden of Eden because He made him in the secret place and adam was skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Just like all of God's children. From the beginning God was showing us how much He loved us by how He created us. This psalm is so dear to my heart because of the passion and love exuberayting from it. 
Encouragement: I pray you would reread this love story of how God created man and you would see your story in it. You would see how much God is in love with you and how much He desires and cares for you. You aren't just a word or a thought but formed by the very hands of God. Everything God makes is good. You are good. You are created in His image. You are created in Love. You are created for Love. You are created to walk with God. He is a good Father. He loves you. 

Monday, January 9, 2012

What does it mean to be a child?

I am sure you all are wanting to know more about my book. So this post will be more on topic of the book. 


"...Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of God. Assuredly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it." Mark 10:14-15 (emphasis mine)


A father cannot be a father without having a child. So we need to really see ourselves as God as our father and us as His children. Now, I don't know about you but I have always wondered what it meant by receiving the kingdom of God like a child. I love being around children they are a lot of fun. One thing I noticed about children is that they will believe anything you tell them! Have you ever wondered why they will? It is because of innocence they believe. A young child's brain hasn't developed to understand the difference between reality and fantasy or abstract thoughts: They don't analyze a situation. They trust and follow because of love. I really believe God is looking for us to have pure innocence before him to trust and follow Him because of love. Because He loves us. 
     Innocence means to be free from moral wrong. Jesus gave us back our Innocence when He died for us. It is by his blood that we are made clean and pure. You can't earn it. It is a free gift, called grace. 


Because of Love, Jesus gave us grace. Grace gives us innocence. Innocence lets our minds be pure from evil and moral wrong so we can believe. Belief allows us to trust. Trust allows following. And we follow because of Love. God is always the Alpha and Omega. The beginning and end. He is LOVE. Love will always be the beginning and the end. It was for Love God made man. It was for Love God gave Christ to redeem us. And it is for Love He is coming again. Everything He does is Love because it is who He is.


Have you ever watched little children imitate their parents? It is because they love and admire them so much and they want to be just like them. Think back to the authorities you had in your life growing up. The ones who showed you genuine love and respect were so much easier to listen and obey and you wanted to be like them and not disappoint them. I think that is why Jesus always did what He saw the father doing because He wanted to be just like him. Love is the greatest key to life. Love is why we exist. It was all for LOVE and will always be. 

Love gives grace, restores innocence, causes one to believe and trust which leads to obedience and following what their father does. 

Encouragement for the day: Know the Father loves you. You are His and He is yours. You are His child. He longs for you to spend time with Him. How do you spend time? Read His word, meditate on it, and worship. Listen and be still and know GOD IS IN LOVE WITH YOU. He doesn't see the mess ups and the screw ups. He sees His sons' blood washing over you because you are HIS. You are pure and innocent before Him because He loves you.   So...          "Fall in Love with the Love of God today!"

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Time keeps on Going

I can't believe it is 2012! It seems as a kid time went by SOOOO slow but now it is as if time flies by with or without you. As I was falling asleep last night thinking about the day ahead of me I realized,

"Time waits for no one." 

It was a weird thought, but true. Time is valuable you can't buy it, you can't earn it, it's just there and if you don't make the most of it, it will keep on going without you. Sometimes I get to the end of the day and realize, "What did I do today, and where did the time go?"

It's funny to me how time goes at the same pace day in and day out, it never changes (unless for daylight savings). But to us it can either go by fast or slow, yet it is the same seconds, minutes, and hours throughout life.

I started thinking...

  • What am I doing with my time?
  • How effective am I being?
  • Am I putting God first?
These are good questions to ask yourself. Remember "Time waits for no one," it will leave you behind, right on schedule or even ahead if you use it wisely. 

And Speaking of time, my book begins the first stage of production in 'copyediting' for the month of January. I won't hear much from the editors this month. They will be looking at grammar, punctuation and spelling. In February they will begin Conceptual Editing which will be for the flow of the book. So time will continue and remain slow for me in the month of January on my behalf with the book. Until next time, Be blessed and know you are deeply Loved by God!

Encouragement for the day: Make the most of the time you have been given and spend it with people you love, get to know someone new, and work on restoring broken relationships. Relationships take time. They don't form or fix in minutes but with patience, prayer, and positive thoughts.