As I was thinking about what I wanted to blog about this week, a concept came to mind, and I really believe someone reading this needs to hear it today, so I hope it ministers to you. The concept is this: God loves you. I mean, really loves you.
Check out what Isaiah 43:4 says... "Since you are precious and honored in my sight, and because I love you".
The rest of the chapter is definitely worth reading, but for now, let's just break down those adjectives that are used in this verse to describe God's people. Precious. Honored. Loved.
But do we really live with this perspective? How often do we walk around as if instead, the adjectives over our heads are common, guilty, sinful? Has Christ not paid our ransom once and for all and called us His own?
I think that when you've been around church for a long time, you begin picking up a sense of false guilt, which is unfortunate. You start putting unrealistic goals on yourself, and then feel awful when you don't measure up. I didn't read my Bible for thirty minutes, and then pretty soon, we don't read our Bibles at all. I am preaching to the choir, by the way, when I say that. I'm not focused enough during worship, and then pretty soon, worship becomes another Sunday chore. Little by little, we take the gifts of God in our lives and adopt a false sense of guilt toward them. Instead of picking up these gifts, we leave them at the altar, and we pick up the very chains God has freed us from.
Remember what God has called you? Precious. Honored. Loved.
How would our mindset and actions change if we believed God when He tells us He loves us? Think of how a relationship changes once you know there's true love there. God is not out to trick us. We need not guard ourselves from Him. In actuality, it's the opposite. He's desperately calling us to so much more. He's laid out all these dreams and gifts in front of us, and He's cheering us on, begging us to pick them up and see what He has planned for us.
I challenge you today to claim the verse that says you have the mind of Christ. It's not a fight. It's already been bought for you. All you have to do is reach out and take it as your own. Become conscious of the way you think about God. Are you afraid of His punishment and disappointment? Do you feel ashamed? Or do you really believe you are what He has called you? Precious. Honored. Loved.
You are His own, and nothing you can do or have done will change His love.
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This is totally random, but I couldn't pass up the chance to share it with you. Today I got to meet up with my critique partner, Angie Dicken and have lunch! This woman is such a blessing in my life. It's like God knew I needed her as a friend, and didn't let the physical space between us keep that from happening. Here's a picture taken shortly after our excursion in the Godiva store.
