Who
am I? I’m nobody special. I’m an ordinary woman. A wife.
A mother. A daughter. A friend.
An entrepreneur. An athlete. A writer.
A dreamer.
I’m
just like you. Well, not JUST like
you. You are you, and I am me. Maybe you’re single or divorced. Maybe you don’t have any kids. Maybe you hate sports and enjoy the
arts. Maybe you are a talented singer or
dancer or painter, all of which I am NOT.
Maybe the thought of writing nauseates you but you take great pleasure
in baking a pie or crunching numbers or organizing a fundraiser or designing a
floral arrangement. Maybe we are
absolutely nothing alike after all…
BUT,
I bet you do have dreams, like me. Of course
your dreams will be different from mine too, but that’s perfectly okay. And even if our dreams are as different as
night and day, I still do think we probably have something in common. At least one thing.
Have
you ever been tired?
Have
you ever been discouraged?
Have
you ever felt alone?
Have
you ever wanted to give up?
Have
you ever asked WHY?
Have
you ever questioned what in the world God is doing in your life or what good
could come of it?
Have
you ever wondered if God truly loved you?
If
so, we can certainly relate. And maybe,
just maybe, we are more alike than we originally thought…
I
do know one thing for certain: we are both MADE FOR MORE.
No
matter who you are or where you are at in life at this very moment, I assure
you neither of us are probably living to our absolute fullest potential. I am quite positive we are both falling
short, quite short. Before you go and
think I am a Debby-downer, I promise you we can both change. Not in and of ourselves. Oh no!
On our own we are hopeless.
Completely and utterly hopeless.
BUT, thankfully, we AREN’T on our own.
At least we don’t have to be. You
see, God Himself longs to be part of our lives, every single aspect of them,
down to the tiniest of details. He did
make us, after all. Carefully designing
and molding and shaping each one of us just so, until He decided we were each
perfect in every possible way. Not only
that, but He has some amazing plans and purposes for each and every one of us,
plans and purposes that will totally blow our minds – if only we would let Him…
The
choice is ours.
And
all too often we choose to do our own thing, our own way. Or we listen to what the world tells us and
then do our best to do that thing, the world’s way. It looks good. It sounds good. It feels good. At least in the beginning… But is it really the BEST thing? Is it really going to fulfill and satisfy us? Deep down in our heart of hearts? Or are we left wanting more? Are we left empty and wondering what happened
to the “happily ever after” the world promised us?
What
if the world is lying to us in the first place?
What
if instead of listening to the world, we listen to God instead?
And
how do we do that?
We
look into His Word? We dig deep. And as we do, we discover our Father’s heart. We begin to realize we are MADE FOR
MORE… We start to understand how long
and wide and high and deep is the Father’s love for us… We then dare to dream again, this time
believing GOD can accomplish “infinitely more than we could ever ask or even
imagine.”
So,
without further ado, let’s get started.
Let’s dive into Scripture and see what God Himself has to say about His
love for us. I think this is
foundational to believing, truly believing, you are indeed MADE FOR MORE. I think you have to see and hear God’s words
and let them penetrate deep into your soul if you are going to live out the
abundant life He has for you. Are you
ready and willing to do that? Are you
ready to see for yourself just how much God loves you?
The
world says you need to look a certain way to be beautiful, to be successful, to
be accepted. Don’t worry, it’s a
lie. One Satan desperately wants you to
believe is true. But, God’s Word tells
us something much different, and much better…
1
Samuel 16:7, “The Lord doesn’t see things the way you see
them. People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”
1 Corinthians 1:26-29, Remember, dear brothers and sisters, that
few of you were wise in the world’s eyes or powerful or wealthy when
God called you. Instead, God chose things the world
considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose
things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful. God chose things despised by
the world, things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring
to nothing what the world considers important. As a result, no one can ever
boast in the presence of God.”
Did you see that?
You don’t have to be a certain way for God to love you or use you to
accomplish His plans. You don’t have to
wear a certain jean or dress size. You
don’t have to make a certain amount of money.
You don’t have to own a big house or fancy car. You don’t have to have a certain job. You don’t have to live in a certain
place. You don’t have to earn a certain
degree. You don’t have to be friends
with certain people. None of that
matters. At least not to God.
We can talk more about what DOES matter to Him
later, but for now I want you to see and hear and believe beyond a shadow of a
doubt that GOD LOVES YOU, just the way you are.
Right now.
Don’t take my word for it though; look at what HE
has to say…
You are His MASTERPIECE… “For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in
Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.”
Ephesians 2:10
He took His time designing and shaping and
molding you…
“You made all the delicate, inner parts of
my body
and knit me together in my mother’s womb.
Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!
Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.
You watched me as I was being formed in utter
seclusion,
as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.
You saw me before I was born.
Every day of my life was recorded in your book.
Every moment was laid out
before a single day had passed.”
as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.
You saw me before I was born.
Every day of my life was recorded in your book.
Every moment was laid out
before a single day had passed.”
~Psalm 139:13-16
You are the APPLE OF HIS EYE… “Show me the wonders of your great love, you who save by your right hand those who take refuge in you from their foes. Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings.” Psalm
17:7-8
He DELIGHTS in you and SINGS over you… “The Lord your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke
you, but will
rejoice over you with singing.” Zephaniah 3:17
He love for you is greater than you can even
begin to fathom… “ For
this reason I kneel before the
Father, from whom every family
in heaven and on earth derives its name. I pray that
out of his glorious riches he may
strengthen you with power through his
Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may
dwell in your hearts through
faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy
people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you
may be filled to the
measure of all the fullness of God.” Ephesians 3:14-19
His love for you is never ending… “How priceless is your unfailing love, O God! People take refuge in the shadow of your wings.” Psalm
36:7
Nothing and no one can keep Him from loving you, ever…
What, then, shall we say in response to these
things?
If God is for us, who can be against
us?
He who
did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—
how
will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?
Who will bring any chargeagainst those whom
God has chosen? It is God who justifies.
Who then is the one who condemns?
No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that,
who was raised to life—
is at the right hand of God and is also
interceding for us.
Who
shall separate us from the love of Christ?
Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or
famine or nakedness or danger or sword?
As it is written:
“For your sake we
face death all day long;
we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”
we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither
angels nor demons,
neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else
in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
~Romans 8:31-39
He loved
you before you ever loved Him. In fact,
He loved you while you were His ENEMY… “But God
showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were
still sinners. And since we
have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly
save us from God’s condemnation. For
since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we
will certainly be saved through the life of his Son. So
now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord
Jesus Christ has made us friends of God.” Romans 5:8-11
Not only does His love make it possible for us to be His FRIEND, but
also His CHILD…
Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he
adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, “Abba, Father.” For
his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children. Romans 8:15-16
As amazing as God’s love for us is, we have to choose to accept it. God never forces His love upon us. He freely offers it to us though, all day
every day. His arms are open and ready
for us to come to Him, to receive His love.
His arms spread wide that day when Jesus hung on the cross, taking our
sin upon Himself, dying so that we might live.
The nails didn’t keep Jesus up on that splintered tree. His LOVE for me, His love for YOU, kept Him
there.
And that my dear brother or sister is a great love. One you cannot question or doubt. I dare you to try.
Sit down for a moment.
Be still.
Picture Jesus hanging up on that cross.
Picture Jesus hanging up on that cross.
You’ll have to look past the bruises and ripped flesh. You’ll have to look beyond the sweat and the
blood. You’ll have to get up enough
courage to look Him square in the eye.
Do you see His tears?
Do you see the pain, the agony, the grief?
Good. Now, look even deeper.
Yes, He’s looking back at you.
NOT with condemnation. “For He did not come into this world to
judge the world, but to save the world.” John 3:17
That’s LOVE in His eyes. Pure
love. For YOU. “For
God so LOVED (insert your name), that He sent His one and only Son so that
(insert your name) who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.”
John 3:16
God’s love for you is deep. It is
strong. It is beyond our comprehension.
But don’t let that stop you from receiving God’s love.
He freely gives this love to whomever will accept it.
Whether you made the decision to follow Jesus and trust Him as your
Savior years ago (as I did when I was a young child) or you are ready to take
that step for the first time right now, know this: GOD LOVES YOU SO VERY MUCH.
God showed how much he loved us by sending
his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through
him. This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us
and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. ~1 John 4:9-10
You may not be anyone special.
I’m not either. You don’t have to
be. And neither do I.
Why? Because in God’s eyes I am
lovely. In God’s eyes I am
accepted. I am cherished. I am LOVED.
As you let the truth of God’s Word penetrate deep into your heart of
hearts, I invite you to listen to this song that simply reiterates what we have
seen in Scripture together today.
As you listen, let God’s love flow into every fiber of your being. Open your heart to receive this never-ending,
all-encompassing, mind-boggling love. In
so doing, not only will the love of God wash over you, but you will also be
filled with hope and joy and peace and purpose.
And I pray that as you are, you will know beyond a shadow of a doubt
that you are MADE FOR MORE…
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