Made for More: What Does the Bible Say? {Hesed}

I have 3 young girls, and thus I have lots of drama in my house.  My girls are precious and adorable and cute and I love them with every fiber of my being, but they sure know how to push my buttons too.  One minute they will be playing so sweetly together and I rush to find my phone to take a picture and capture the moment, and by the time I get back they are fighting something fierce over whose doll gets to be the mommy or whose turn it is to hold the book they are reading or some other trifle matter that to them is apparently a matter of life and death.  All 3 of my girls have red hair and the Irish temperament to go with it.  Sadly, I have to admit they get some of their strong will and stubbornness from me.  Now, I would like to be able to blame some of these emotional roller coaster rides on female hormones, but that scares me even more seeing as we still have the turbulent pre-teen and teenage years ahead of us.  Heaven help us when that time comes!  Honestly, I may have prayed more than once that Jesus just goes ahead and comes back before then.  For now, though, I'm doing good not to pull all my hair out with the never-ending squabbles that come with having 3 young daughters who are the best of friends one second and the worst of enemies the very next.

Isn't it somewhat discouraging that we as humans are so fickle in our love for one another?  As long as everything is roses and rainbows and unicorns, we are as nice as nice can be, but the moment things take a turn for the worse, our halos turn into horns, the fangs come out, and we're down right mean to each other.  Thankfully, God is nothing like us in regards to the way He loves us.

His love can't be earned.
And it can't be lost, either.
It doesn't depend on us at all, actually.
Nothing we say or do or don't do, for that matter, can make God love us any more, or less.
His love is a no-strings attached kind of love.
It's a never-ending, unfailing, forever and ever love.
It's a for better or worse, in sickness and in health, rich or poor, no matter what kind of love.

It's a patient love.
It is kind.
It is faithful.
It is gentle.
But it is also fierce.
It is abundant.
Lavish.
Gracious.
Abounding.
Ever-present.

It's a love like none other.
It's a divine love.
It's God's love for us.  For me.  For YOU...

But don't take my word for it.  See what God Himself has to say about the way He loves YOU...

1 Corinthians 13 is an excellent place to start, since this section of Scripture is often referred to as the Love Chapter.  You might have heard it read at a wedding.  A good setting seeing as how the love between a husband and wife is supposed to mirror the love God has for us, the church, His bride.  And although we humans pronounce our vows to practice this kind of love "until death do us part," the divorce rate proves we do otherwise.  As bad as we are about keeping our promises, God is true to His word.  He never lies.  He never changes.  He always does just as He says He will do.  And He has committed to loving us in this way:

"Love is patient and kind.  Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude.  It does not demand its own way.  It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged.  It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out.  Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance."

In our culture we use the word love for so many things.  We love pizza.  We love to shop (or in my case, I love to run and bike and hike and be outdoors, not at a shopping mall).  We love a bargain (even I can't pass those up).  We love football.  We love the color pink (that would be my girls, NOT me).  We love our spouse.  We love our children.  We love our dog or cat or horse or hamster or whatever pet(s) we may have.  We love sunshine.  We love, love, love...  In using the same word for such a wide range of emotions, I think we lose the meaning and depth of this concept of what true love really is.  We miss out on how "wide and long and high and deep" God's love for us is (Ephesians 3:!8).  We simply don't get the intensity of His love.  And that is tragic, affecting the way we live our entire lives, I believe.

I want us to at least try to grasp the reality of God's immense love for us.  Granted, His love is far beyond what our tiny, finite human brains can even begin to fathom, but I think we do ourselves a service in taking a look at the Hebrew word for God's love.  You see, the Hebrews weren't as casual in their vocabulary as we are today.  They had a separate, special word used to describe this one-of-a-kind love God has for us.

 Hesed.

Loving kindness.

Faithful love.

Steadfast love.

Love unfailing.

Love unending.

Mercy.

You see how we have to use all these words and phrases to capture the depth and richness of this one Hebrew word?  That's how AWESOME (another highly over-used word in the English language) this HESED love of God is for us. 

Those descriptions don't even come close to doing justice to expressing the full meaning of God's HESED love.  I found an excellent article that expands on this Hebrew word, this love so amazing we won't ever be able to completely understand it in our lifetime or even a thousand lifetimes.  But this might help us get a little closer and at least come to a much better appreciation of God's marvelous, gracious, absolutely ridiculous love for us.  Norman Snaith is also much more educated than I am or ever will be and his knowledge of the Hebrew language and usage of the word HESED in the Bible is more much expansive than mine.  So I strongly encourage you to read what he has to say in this article taken from A Theological Word Book of the Bible.

Pretty incredible, huh?

This concept of God's HESED love for us actually led us to chose Hesed as our 3rd daughter's middle name.  When I was pregnant with Kyiah Hesed, God seemed to give me the words, "loyal" and "steadfast" to pray over her.  Not only did we pray for our little girl to be a loyal and steadfast friend to those around her, but that in so doing she would she would be a living example of God's loyal and steadfast love for her, for us, for YOU. 

What exactly does this loyal, steadfast, never-failing, always faithful, merciful, abounding love look like?  Let's take a look at some Scripture verses to find out!

One of the first instances of the word HESED is found in Exodus 34:5-7 when God revealed Himself to Moses.  "Then the Lord came down in a cloud and stood there with him; and He called out His own name, YAHWEH.  The Lord passed in front of Moses, calling out, 'YAHWEH!  The Lord!  The God of compassion and mercy!  I am slow to anger and filled with unfailing love and faithfulness.  I lavish unfailing love to a thousand generations.  I forgive iniquity, rebellion, and sin."

We see the Israelites being reminded of God's HESED love for them as they prepare to enter the Promised Land.  They are taking a look back at His faithfulness to first rescue them from slavery in Egypt and then His constant goodness to them as they wandered in the wilderness for over 40 years and have finally come to Canaan, the land He promised to their forefather Abraham hundreds of years before any of them were ever born.  Moses won't be going with his people into the Promised Land, but he wants to give them one final message before they go on their way without him.  *Warning: it is a bit long (and I didn't even include all of Moses' address to the Israelite nation, so I invite you to read it in its entirety to fully capture what he was communicating to God's people, as the same truths apply to us today, thousands of years later)...

6 For you are a holy people, who belong to the Lord your God. Of all the people on earth, the Lord your God has chosen you to be his own special treasure.

7 “The Lord did not set his heart on you and choose you because you were more numerous than other nations, for you were the smallest of all nations! 8 Rather, it was simply that the Lord loves you, and he was keeping the oath he had sworn to your ancestors. That is why the Lord rescued you with such a strong hand from your slavery and from the oppressive hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt. 9 Understand, therefore, that the Lord your God is indeed God. He is the faithful God who keeps his covenant for a thousand generations and lavishes his unfailing love on those who love him and obey his commands. 10 But he does not hesitate to punish and destroy those who reject him.11 Therefore, you must obey all these commands, decrees, and regulations I am giving you today.

12 “If you listen to these regulations and faithfully obey them, the Lord your God will keep his covenant of unfailing love with you, as he promised with an oath to your ancestors. 13 He will love you and bless you, and he will give you many children. He will give fertility to your land and your animals. When you arrive in the land he swore to give your ancestors, you will have large harvests of grain, new wine, and olive oil, and great herds of cattle, sheep, and goats. 14 You will be blessed above all the nations of the earth. None of your men or women will be childless, and all your livestock will bear young. 15 And the Lord will protect you from all sickness. He will not let you suffer from the terrible diseases you knew in Egypt, but he will inflict them on all your enemies!

The Israelites were a forgetful people, seemingly unable to remember for more than 2 seconds the miraculous deeds God had done for them and how He always took care of them, provided for them, protected them, defended them, and led them every step of the way.  As soon as difficulty sprung up or something happened that took them off guard, they were quick to grumble and complain and whine and pout.  But before we are too quick to point a finger, we must admit that we too let our situation or circumstances cloud our view of God.  We too doubt and question.  We have our fair share of pity parties and temper tantrums.  Thankfully, God's HESED love for us doesn't depend on our faithfulness to Him!!!  Despite our childish ways, God's love never fails or wanes.  He never stops loving us, ever.

We see the psalmist David remind us of this time and time and time again (we must be more like the Israelites than we might care to admit if we too need a constant reminder of God's faithful, steadfast, loyal love).

He uses nature to help us grasp the depth of God's love:

5 

Your love, Lord, reaches to the heavens,

    your faithfulness to the skies.

6 

Your righteousness is like the highest mountains,

    your justice like the great deep.

    You, Lord, preserve both people and animals.

7 

How priceless is your unfailing love, O God!

    People take refuge in the shadow of your wings.

8 

They feast on the abundance of your house;

    you give them drink from your river of delights.

9 

For with you is the fountain of life;

    in your light we see light.

~Psalm 36:5-9

All throughout Psalm 86, David recalls the HESED love of God:

O Lord, you are so good, so ready to forgive,

    so full of unfailing love for all who ask for your help.

With all my heart I will praise you, O Lord my God.

    I will give glory to your name forever,

13 

for your love for me is very great.

    You have rescued me from the depths of death.

But you, O Lord,

    are a God of compassion and mercy,

slow to get angry

    and filled with unfailing love and faithfulness.

I grew up singing and clapping a song that was taken from David's words in Psalm 100:

For the Lord is good and his love endures forever;

    his faithfulness continues through all generations.

And in case seeing this concept of HESED love over and over in Psalm after Psalm isn't enough, David decided to include the phrase in the same Psalm multiple times to make sure we got the idea nailed into our thick heads and far too often hard hearts.

1 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good!
His faithful love endures forever.
2 Give thanks to the God of gods.
His faithful love endures forever.
3 Give thanks to the Lord of lords.
His faithful love endures forever.

4 Give thanks to him who alone does mighty miracles.
His faithful love endures forever.
5 Give thanks to him who made the heavens so skillfully.
His faithful love endures forever.
6 Give thanks to him who placed the earth among the waters.
His faithful love endures forever.
7 Give thanks to him who made the heavenly lights—
His faithful love endures forever.
8 the sun to rule the day,
His faithful love endures forever.
9 and the moon and stars to rule the night.
His faithful love endures forever.

10 Give thanks to him who killed the firstborn of Egypt.
His faithful love endures forever.
11 He brought Israel out of Egypt.
His faithful love endures forever.
12 He acted with a strong hand and powerful arm.
His faithful love endures forever.
13 Give thanks to him who parted the Red Sea.[a]
His faithful love endures forever.
14 He led Israel safely through,
His faithful love endures forever.
15 but he hurled Pharaoh and his army into the Red Sea.
His faithful love endures forever.
16 Give thanks to him who led his people through the wilderness.
His faithful love endures forever.

17 Give thanks to him who struck down mighty kings.
His faithful love endures forever.
18 He killed powerful kings—
His faithful love endures forever.
19 Sihon king of the Amorites,
His faithful love endures forever.
20 and Og king of Bashan.
His faithful love endures forever.
21 God gave the land of these kings as an inheritance—
His faithful love endures forever.
22 a special possession to his servant Israel.
His faithful love endures forever.

23 He remembered us in our weakness.
His faithful love endures forever.
24 He saved us from our enemies.
His faithful love endures forever.
25 He gives food to every living thing.
His faithful love endures forever.
26 Give thanks to the God of heaven.
His faithful love endures forever.

You might be thinking, "Okay!  Enough already!!!  I get the idea!  His faithful love endures forever!  How many times do you need to say it?!"  And yet, I know I forget - or at least act like I have forgotten - how much God loves me and that He will never stop loving me, no matter what I say or do or don't do.  Maybe David knew my tendency to let what's going on in my life affect what I think about God and His love for me.  

And just in case you are wondering if the God of the Old Testament is the same God of the New Testament and the same God we serve today, He is.  Hebrews 13:8 assures us, "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever."    

This foundational truth is why we see this same concept of God's never-ending, unfailing, always abounding love in the letters Paul wrote to the believers all over the known world at the time.  

Paul speaks of God's love for us while we were still His enemies in Romans 5:

8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

9 Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! 10 For if, while we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! 11 Not only is this so, but we also boast in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

Lest we think we can earn this love, Paul reminds us in Ephesians 2 that God loves us not based on anything we have done, but purely out of the riches of His grace and mercy (both of which we do NOT deserve in the least):

4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. 6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works,which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Furthermore, since we did nothing to merit this lavish love in the first place, we can do absolutely nothing to extinguish God's love for us either.  Paul clarifies that in Romans 8:

35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written:

“For your sake we face death all day long;
    we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”

37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 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.

As I said before: God's love cannot be earned, nor can it be lost.

This goes completely against the way of the world.

The love the world offers me, offers you, is NOTHING like the love of God.

Sadly, though, we base our idea of love on what we see and hear all around us.  We look at how our parents or friends or neighbors or co-workers or even complete strangers treat us, and we use those experiences to formulate our concept of love.  If we were all living out God's command to "Love one another as He has loved us," then we would have a rock solid view of what true love is.  However, far too many of us, myself included, are NOT loving the way God intended for us to love.  Hence, the divorce rate is over 50%.  Even those who remain married are not exempt from falling short in loving one another.  Spouses are abused, physically and emotionally.  Same with children.  Human trafficking is a multi-million (probably billion) dollar industry.  We are selling men, women, and children into slavery.  Yes, today.  Right now.  In the 21st century.  Where I live is actually one of the most heavily trafficked areas due to the intersecting highways that make it easy to transport slaves from one place to another.  These may be extreme instances of NON-LOVE, but everywhere you look, even in the "safe," "posh" suburbs we don't have to look further than a billboard to see FALSE LOVE advertised at every turn.  We are bombarded from every angle that we must do certain things, look a certain way, have a certain job, earn a certain amount of money, live in a certain house, drive a certain car, or meet a host of other "certain" criterion to be lovely, to be loved.

Listen closely.  THOSE ARE LIES!!!

Don't for a second let Satan trick you any more.  

Today is the day you will stop letting him deceive you.

Today is the day you will see his truth-twisting for what it really is.

Today is the day you will realize he's a wolf in sheep's clothing.

Today is the day you will recognize he has no place in your life.  

Today is the day you will tell him to pack up his bags and take his no-good self somewhere else.

And not come back.

Ever.

And if you tell Satan to leave, he will.  He has to.  He has absolutely no power over you.  None whatsoever.  Not unless you give it to him.  And you don't have to.  Not at all.

Don't believe me?

See what God's Word says in James 4:7, "So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you."

So, tell him to go, and he will go.  And he may even shut the door on his way out.

BUT, I guarantee you he won't stay away.

He'll come knocking again.  All too soon.

Jesus shares with us in John 10:10 that Satan's life goal is to "steal and kill and destroy," and that he won't stop trying to rob us of the abundant life God has planned for us.

The choice is ours, YOURS.  

To whom will you listen?  Satan or Jesus?

They are both calling out to you.

They are both fighting for you.  They are battling it out for your soul right this very moment, actually.

One wants to rip you to pieces and suck the life out of you.

One wants to wrap His loving arms around you and shower you with His grace and mercy.

Which will you choose?

Jesus went on in John 10 to explain how He is the Good Shepherd, how He would lay His life down for His sheep.  David described this Shepherd earlier in Psalm 23:

1 

The Lord is my shepherd;

    I have all that I need.

2 

He lets me rest in green meadows;

    he leads me beside peaceful streams.

3 

    He renews my strength.

He guides me along right paths,

    bringing honor to his name.

4 

Even when I walk

    through the darkest valley,[a]

I will not be afraid,

    for you are close beside me.

Your rod and your staff

    protect and comfort me.

5 

You prepare a feast for me

    in the presence of my enemies.

You honor me by anointing my head with oil.

    My cup overflows with blessings.

6 

Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me

    all the days of my life,

and I will live in the house of the Lord forever.

Did you see that?  At the very end?  God's HESED love will PURSUE you.  And if you let Him, He will catch you and love you with a rich, lavish, abundant love that will blow your face off (as we like to say in our house).

The invitation has been extended.  Jesus Himself offered it, to YOU, in Matthew 11:

28 Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”  

Will you come? 

Will you lay your burdens down?

The weight of the world's requirements to be loved can be quite heavy.  We were never meant to feel that way, though.  We were never meant to have to jump through hoops to feel loved and accepted.  God has been calling out to us all along, trying to get our attention, to let us know He already loves us, loves YOU, just the way YOU are, RIGHT NOW.

Do you believe Him?

I am learning to.

As I spend more time looking at Scripture and less time looking at the TV or billboards or magazines or what everyone else may be trying to tell me, I am beginning to understand just how much God loves me.  

And I pray for YOU, as Paul did for the believers in Ephesus:

When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, 

the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth. 

I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources 

he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. 

Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. 

Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. 

And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, 

how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. 

May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. 

Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.

Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, 

to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. 

Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen.

I pray you are starting to realize the depth of God's HESED love for you.  I pray you are beginning to understand that you truly are MADE FOR MORE...

As you reflect on what you have learned today about God's steadfast kindness and faithful, abundant, gracious, never-ending, ever-present love for YOU, listen to this song and let its words penetrate deep into your heart.

Furious by Jeremy Riddle

       

Made for More: What Does the Bible Say? {You are Loved}

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.”

~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.”

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.

 

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. 

David Crowder: Oh How He Loves Us

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…

Made for More: What Does the Bible Say? {Introduction}

I have this dream.  I want to be a published author.  It's a big, lofty dream.  A seemingly unattainable one, really, since I don't have any way of going about getting a manuscript in front of someone who could take my random thoughts and organize them into a sellable book version and then present that to someone who could print it and make it look all nice and then present that to someone who could get it in the stores or even on the web for mobile downloads.  BUT, I have learned more than anything this past year that if God places a dream or desire or goal or vision on your heart, you need to just go for it.  Who cares how big or daunting or scary or impossible it may seem?! You will never accomplish anything if you don't at least try. You'll always be in the same spot if you never take that first step.  And so, today, I am taking that first step.  I have no idea where it will lead me.  But, I'm taking it anyway...

I feel as though God has been laying some things on my heart and I am supposed to share them.  I can't shake the words He is speaking to me.  Not when He has been telling me the same things over and over again, in various ways through various people.  My husband.  The songs I hear on the radio.  My children.  The books I am reading.  My pastor.  The verses I am studying in Scripture on my own.  My friends.  Maybe He's even used YOU to speak to me...

As I share my thoughts and more so my questions to what God has been revealing to me, I want to be sure I stick to HIS Word and not just relay my interpretation of it.  This morning our pastor reminded us of the importance of knowing God's Word and using it to combat Satan as he tries his best to derail us from the plans and purposes God has for us.  He wants to sidetrack us, trick us, deceive us, sideline us, or whatever he can to prevent us from doing and BEING all God has created us to be.  He lies to us.  He misguides us.  He trips us up.  He sabotages us.  Or tries to.  He even uses Scripture - God's very Word - to carry out his evil schemes.  He takes what God intended for good and twists and turns it, rips it out of context, distorts it, and more, but just enough that we don't tend to realize what he's doing.  So, we fall for it.  We believe his lies.  We listen to him, thinking we are listening to God.  And as we do, we miss out on all that God has for us.  We forfeit His wonderful, amazing, spectacular, out-of-this-world, life-giving plans and purposes for us and trade them in for the not-so-glorious, mundane, quite ordinary, life-draining traps Satan has set ever so carefully for us.

My hope and prayer is that we will return to the TRUTH of God's Word and see for ourselves what God Himself has to say, that we will hear from HIM, that we will listen to HIM, that we will believe HIM, and that ultimately we will CHANGE THE WAY WE LIVE because of what we learn from HIM.

This is not about me.  It's really not about you either.  It's all about Jesus.  The awesome thing is, though, as we focus on Jesus OUR lives get better and better.  That's how God works.  And that's what I want us to see.  I want us to understand that we are MADE FOR MORE, so much more than what the world tells us, so much more than what Satan tries to convince us is good.  But only as we "dig deep into God's Word" will we discover the "Father's heart" for us, only then can we break free from the chains Satan has used to tie us up and hold us back, without us even realizing it.  Only then can we RUN and do and be all that God has created us to be.  Only then can we live the ABUNDANT life God offers us, if we will just come to Him and drink from His flowing water and let us wash over us.  Only then can we THRIVE...

I hope you will join me on this journey into God's Word.  I am excited to discover with you what the Bible says about God's rich, lavish, gracious, ever-abounding love for you and me.  I have goosebumps just thinking about the humanly insane, ridiculous, mind-boggling plans He has for each and every one of us.  I get tears in my eyes as I pray for us to truly believe God and take Him as His Word.  I can hardly wait to see what God will do in and through as we surrender our hearts and minds and lives over to Him.  As we come to realize we serve the God who can do the impossible, may we also understand that this same God is living inside of us and equipping us with His power - the same power He used to raise Jesus Christ from the dead - to accomplish incredible things!  Things we could never even begin to hope or imagine.  Things beyond our wildest dreams.

But before we get started, I invite you to listen to a song God has used to spark this fire and ignite this dream inside of me...

As you listen, let God's Words penetrate your heart: YOU ARE MADE FOR MORE!

House to Home to Heart

Took a break from cleaning and organizing and laundry and such to take a walk.  Was a good time to think and pray and reflect.  Couldn't help but notice all the black spots on driveways and sidewalks and the road from all the fireworks set off last night.  Had I counted, I am sure I would have found thousands of bits and pieces of firework remains.  As I stepped on and over these shreds and scraps, I wonder how much money was spent...

This week, I have thought quite a bit about how we (myself included) spend our money.  Hear me out, as I am simply sharing thoughts.  No judging or comparing or anything.  Just thoughts and emotions that are jumbled up and trying to make sense in my head...

We have done some shopping to "transform" our house into our HOME.  We have spent money, BUT we have tried very hard to be extremely practical and reasonable and save every penny we can.  We bought chairs and a little table for the porch.  We had a set picked out at Bed, Bath, and Beyond.  It was 50% off, and a great deal!!  BUT, then we went to Nebraska Furniture Mart and found something much simpler and WAY cheaper.  We saved over $100!

We bought chairs for a den/office.  Fun ones.  We are still looking for an "accent" chair.  Can't seem to find one we like that doesn't cost as much as the groceries for the entire month.  We did find a rug, but once I unrolled it and laid it out, we realized it was more like a yoga mat (in size).  We rolled it right back up and are returning it today because we are pretty confident we can find a better deal somewhere that gets us more rug for our money.

We bought new bedding, towels, and a rug for our master bedroom/bathroom.  We figured our 7.5 year old towels were up for replacing!  We found some we liked that went with our bedding, which we saved about $100 on by getting a duvet cover to put over our current comforter.  We picked out some fun pillows to add a splash of color, but Lawrence and I both agreed we couldn't see spending almost $100 on pillows!!!  So we put them back.  Found a set for $16 total instead of $20 a piece!!!  We figure we are really the only people who will ever use or even see these pillows (except when I post a picture of our finished room here on FB).  Why spend money on pillows just to make it look like a room in a magazine.  We don't live in a magazine! :)  We also decided not to get new sheets, that will be under the comforter and seen by no one ever except us.  We will sleep just fine on blue striped sheets as we would on plain gray sheets.  Who cares that our new bedding is yellow and gray and white and doesn't match our blue sheets in the least?!  We have a bed!  We have covers!  That is so much more than so many people in this world - and not just in other countries either, but right here in our own city!!!

All the other rearranging and transforming we have done has been free. Simply moving things around and getting rid of a lot actually.  Feels super good to simplify and eliminate things that have caused stress in our lives.

We have spent money though.   Paying cash for everything.  And I am uber excited to invite you all over to our house to enjoy everything with us.  Our house is your house.  We want to be sure our doors are open and people feel welcome here!

I am hesitant to share what I feel God has been whispering in my heart.  I know what He's been telling me isn't the same as what the world shouts at me from every angle every second of the day.  I know the way He is showing me is not the popular route, but definitely the one less traveled....

You see, I feel as though the world tells me I need to have the newest, biggest, nicest things.  I need to have designer clothes.  I need to have manicured nails, painted with fun designs.  I need to live in a "dream home" furnished with appliances that make my life easier.  I need to have a landscaped lawn.  I need, I need, I need...

And yet, all around me people are wearing the clothes on their back and don't have a closet full of clothes at home.  Or even a home at all.  I'm concerned about pillows and sheets and bedding and everything looking just so for a picture I want to post on Facebook, and there are countless thousands (maybe even millions) of people all around the world who don't have a bed to sleep on at all.  What they would give for a pillow and blanket, without a second thought to their color scheme or pattern!

So should I sell all my possessions and give everything I have to the poor?!!  Is that what I'm saying?  No...

But, I do feel God is at work in my heart.  Our pastor talked last week about how it's okay to have things but it's dangerous when things have you.  It's not wrong to have a house.  It's not wrong to have nice things inside your house.  What counts, what truly matters is the condition of your heart.  Your lawn can be perfectly landscaped and not a weed in sight.  Your house can be decked to the hilt.  Your closet can be full of designer clothes.  None of that matters.  Not to God, at least.  

Possessions.  Things.  Social status doesn't impress Him.  He doesn't care how many 0's are in your paycheck.  He doesn't need your money.  

But He does want your HEART.  More than anything.  He wants to make YOUR heart HIS home.  

I think as we transform our house into a home, God keeps reminding me of this foundational truth over and over.  His message is very different from what the world bombards me with everywhere I look, and so I must fix my eyes on Jesus instead.  I have to plug my ears to what the world is shouting at me and listen closely to hear God's whispers.  

This post may not make me very popular and numerous times as I typed, I wanted to select all and push DELETE.  I was THISCLOSE to letting fear of what others would think keep me from sharing what I truly feel God has laid on my heart.  Even now, as I finish, I am shaking and nervous and scared....

So I closed my eyes one last time.  Quited myself.  And heard the lyrics to Casting Crown's song once again.  "I was made to THRIVE..."  I was made for so much more than what the world has for me.  The world tells me I can have it all, that I need it all, that I deserve it all, but God asks me to give my all to Him.  And in so doing I lose absolutely nothing but gain EVERYTHING.  

Yes, I was made for more.  And so are YOU...