Truly Loved + Wholly Surrendered

My heart breaks, oh, how my heart breaks for those who are hurting, in pain, or just have a lot of heartache. I know from experience that it's not easy, and quite honestly, it just drains you. But, dear ones, take heart. Please don't forget that 'the Lord is close to the broken-hearted,' (Psalm 34:18); He heals all wounds that time cannot. When I thought of writing in light of this topic, this song came to me almost immediately: And all you who labor in vain And to the broken and shamed Love is here Love is now Love is pouring from His hands, from His brow Love is near, it satisfies Streams of mercy flowing from His side 'Cause Love is here  Listen:  "Love is Here," Tenth Avenue North Jesus bore all this pain that you carry on that rugged cross. Yes, I understand that it doesn't always take away the pain right away, but, dear ones, take notice of the fact that He knows that you're hurting. You think it doesn't bother Him? Oh...

"But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved)," Ephesians 2:4-5 NJKV By grace you have been saved. Think about this: the definition of grace is, "the free and unmerited favor of God, as manifested in the salvation of sinners and the bestowal of blessings." FAVOR. In other words, God so favored us that He sent His only Son to die on the cross for our sins. Not because He loves us, although He did send His Son because He loves us, we receive salvation because He favors us. Isn't that crazy to think about? In the midst of all our sin, all our brokenness, God looked down on us and said, "Yes, I want these people to be Mine, I will provide a way. I choose to bestow My favor on them." Isn't it crazy? God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, because of His grace, and now we are His, forever. When you think about how and...

"Your love is proud to be seen with me." (Steffany Gretzinger, Pieces). I was listening to this song in the "Have it All" album created by Bethel and this line struck a chord with me. There are people in this world that we don't want to associate ourselves with, Christian or not. There are simply just people that we don't want to be seen in public with for any reason. God doesn't do that. God loves to love those people that don't have a lot of associations in public, in the real world. God is proud to know you, regardless of what you've done (or haven't done). If you're one who thinks that it's hard to find friends, or stay connected to people because of what you've done, or because of what others think of you. Jesus accepts you. He wants you. He chose you. God came down for this very reason: to love the unloved. Think about the numerous times Jesus chose to befriend someone in the Bible. Those He casted demons out of, those w...

I wanna think about Jesus for a moment, before His death. Think about the fact that a couple days before His crucifixion, He knew that the crowd that adored Him just a couple days ago would reject Him. He knew that His time was coming, that He was about to do what the Father had sent Him to earth to do. Think about the fact that He knew the pain that the disciples would feel, the sorrow His mother would experience, the sins that would be forgiven. A couple days before His crucifixion, Christ KNEW. He knew that the beatings He would bear would heal us of all our iniquities. He knew that He would have to bear the sins of the world, the shame, the guilts, the brokenness of this world, yet He chose to go through with it. He chose to have the full wrath of God placed on Him, He knew He would be alone in this. He knew that mockery and disbelief would rage on in the front row viewers of those watching Him being nailed to that rugged cross. He knew, and He thought of us in the midst of it all....

If Christ gave His all  for you, why can't we give all back to Him? Think about it, Jesus gave all of His love, all of His grace, all of His mercy, all of His forgiveness. He continually blesses us and reminds us of His greatness. I think it's human nature to want to hold back, but once we realize that He already knows and He still accepts you, it makes it easier to let go of everything. Give Him all of your thoughts, your relationships, your doubts, your concerns, your love, your praise, everything that makes you, you. He wants it all. He wants YOU. I think we sometimes get caught up in how we're feeling or what the circumstances look like. Jesus still loves you, but He also still wants all of us and that will never, ever change. He loves you too much to leave you the way you are, but He loves more than enough to accept you the way you are. He won't force you to change, but He does want to help you change to further His kingdom while we're living here on earth. Can...

I've had this topic on my heart lately, and I think it's so important to follow Christ in service. Over the past few months, I've had the attitude of "ugh, again?" "do really have to help? again?" "this is not fun" etc. However, being a servant for those around us and for those we love actually brings joy because we are showing that we love them enough to help them. Serving others is really simple, it's not something that we should dread doing. Jesus is the best example of them all, and since we're following Him, we should be doing the same, right? Serving others can be as simple as helping your mom (or dad) out for dinner by setting the table, doing the dishes, etc. It can be doing something that someone else is very capable of doing themselves, but doing it for them instead. I feel like people nowadays focus a lot on themselves and what they want and how they feel. Serving others isn't based on your feelings. If you serve someone,...

I had this thought earlier this week: when you're little and you get hurt, you want to run to your parents and have them help you, comfort you, etc. Even when you're older, you still look to your parents for that comfort. It's the same way with God, He knows each of our hurts and scars, and He wants to help You because He loves you so much! His love is deeper than the ocean, and we can't really imagine how deep the ocean is. The ocean has a drop point where it's like a cliff and then all of a sudden it just drops to the vast deepness of water. That's also like God's love; it gets deeper and deeper and suddenly you're just surrounded by the love of God everywhere You turn. There's no reason to fear God or His love for you. All you need to do is accept it. This next part comes from 'How He Loves' by Kim-Walker Smith: His presence, His love Is so thick and tangible in this room tonight. And there are some of you here that have not encountered ...