Just as God took His time and care with this single flower bud, so he takes the time to care about you, to see you and to grow you from a seed in the ground to the blossoming flower that He intended for you to be...
God is able to do miracles in and through your life just like He did with Abraham, who moved forward in faith believing “that what he[God] has promised he is able also to do.”
In context:
Romans 4:19-21: “Without weakening in his faith, he[Abraham] faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. 20 Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, 21 being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.”
*Emphasis mine*
You are worth more than gold, dear one, just thought you should know,
May you have a blessed Palm Sunday as you look toward the cross and remember Jesus's entry into Jerusalem as He began His journey to the cross for you and for me.
[Verse 1]
I know it may be hard to believe it
You cried so hard, your eyes are crimson
The pain in your life is overwhelming
If he did it before, he can do it again
[Chorus]
I know it may seem like your life is falling apart
But don't you know God's already working it out
There's strength in you, you were born to win
So don't quit now here comes your second win
The leaf in this photo is flawed. There are spots where the rain has fallen and the sun peeked through, yet there is also something beautiful about this leaf, even with all it’s imperfections. It’s the same with you, beloved, there is beauty even in your scars, flaws, and imperfections.
*Scars are the evidence of what we have lived through, survived, and overcame by God’s grace and faithfulness.*
(Jesus had scars after He was crucified on the cross. His scars are the evidence of the laying down of His life so that we may live free and abundant lives.)
Often it seems like flaws are a deal breaker. If someone knew that we were imperfect then they wouldn’t love us or accept us. On the contrary, God wants to do the opposite. He wants to love and take us in when we are at our weakest, broken, flawed, and in great need of repair. He wants us at these times because he knows that He alone is able to do the necessary mending and healing.
Imperfections remind us that Jesus is the only one who is spotless and that He alone is our source of perfection & purity; we cannot achieve those things on our own.
Most of all scars, flaws, and imperfections remind us of the unconditional love of God. We are unconditionally loved, chosen, and accepted. Nothing and no one can separate you(or me) from God’s love when we allow him to be at the center. Nothing.
Ephesians 1:4-14 about sums it up I think.
4
Long before he laid down earth's foundations, he had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of his love, to be made whole and holy by his love.
5
Long, long ago he decided to adopt us into his family through Jesus Christ. (What pleasure he took in planning this!)
6
He wanted us to enter into the celebration of his lavish gift-giving by the hand of his beloved Son.
7
Because of the sacrifice of the Messiah, his blood poured out on the altar of the Cross, we're a free people - free of penalties and punishments chalked up by all our misdeeds. And not just barely free, either. Abundantly free!
8
He thought of everything, provided for everything we could possibly need, 9 letting us in on the plans he took such delight in making. He set it all out before us in Christ, 10 a long-range plan in which everything would be brought together and summed up in him, everything in deepest heaven, everything on planet earth.
11
It's in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for. Long before we first heard of Christ and got our hopes up, he had his eye on us, had designs on us for glorious living, 12 part of the overall purpose he is working out in everything and everyone.
13
It's in Christ that you, once you heard the truth and believed it (this Message of your salvation), found yourselves home free - signed, sealed, and delivered by the Holy Spirit.
14 This signet from God is the first installment on what's coming, a reminder that we'll get everything God has planned for us, a praising and glorious life.
*Emphasis mine*
Let these truths sink in and carry you today. You don’t have to be perfect to be beautiful.
Come just as you are and let God do the rest.
You are wanted,
E
*Scars can only come after healing has done it’s work, not before. Scars show where we’ve been and that we are no longer there. If you haven’t started the healing process yet, don’t be discouraged there is hope.*
Click the Hope for Today link above for more information about how you can be free to live a new and abundant life in Christ.
National Suicide Hotline: 1(800)273-8255
https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/
National Domestic Violence Hotline: 1(800)799-7233
I felt a move to post this Advent writing of mine after a long break from posting. I hope it can bring some light, hope & love your way. 💛
God wants to be a father to us. A heavenly father, if you will. (smile)
Maybe your father was loving, kind and caring. Maybe he was absent or passive.
Maybe you never knew your father...
We all have a thought or vision that pops into our head when we see or hear the word, father.
Yet, God is not like the fathers' we may have known. He is not a distant Father nor is he a father who abandons his children or who has no desire for relationship with them.
He is a father who desires a close and intimate relationship with His children and He far surpasses even the best earthly father we may have known.
When we enter this world, sin becomes a very real reality and battle for us. Sin also separates us from our heavenly Father. Our Savior, Jesus, came so that we would be free and forgiven from the sin that separates us from relationship with God, so we can in turn be reconciled to God. (1 Timothy 2:4)
When we are reconciled to God, we find a home and a forever family. No longer are we orphans, for we have become children of God and He will never leave us, desert us, or reject us. His love is from everlasting to everlasting, infinite. (Psalm 103:17)
In Mark 14:36 we see where Jesus displays the closeness with God that the Father intended for us. Jesus was preparing to give up his life so that we could be saved. The Father's love, for us, is sacrificial.
"And He was saying, “Abba! Father!"
We have a Father that we can cry out to when we are hurting or feel wronged, and one whom we can cry out to for rescue.
Our closeness with God the Father also means that we trust him with our very lives as we willingly submit to Him even in times of trials and difficulty, because we trust that He loves us and has a divine purpose and plan He's working out through those trials.
For He is not a Father who punishes unjustly or without thought or reason. Everything He allows us to go through is meant to bring us forth as gold as He refines and shapes us, for His glory and our good and the good of those He is calling to Himself. (Job 23:10:1 Peter 1:6-7;Galatians 4:6;Romans 8:15)
This week's God Is Faithful video/song is He Loved Me
Key Highlight:
I was lost in my sin when He found me
Broken and in despair
Desperate searching for something
and someone who would care
Then I met Christ the Savior
Who gave His life for me
Overwhelmed by His mercy
And all He's done for me
Chorus:
He loved, forgave me, my life has changed since Jesus came
And loved me, forgave me, I know I'll never be the same
Now I see, now I believe, Now I know His love for me
This week's God Is Faithful video/song is O the Blood
Key Highlight:
O what love
No greater love
Grace, how can it be
That in my sin
Yes, even then
He shed His blood for me
O the blood of Jesus washes me
O the blood of Jesus shed for me
What a sacrifice that saved my life
Yes, the blood, it is my victory
It was a sacrifice that saved my life
Yes, the blood, it is my victory
This week's God Is Faithful video/song is Redeemed
Lyrics:
Seems like all I can was the struggle.
Haunted by ghosts that lived in my pass.
Bound up in shackles of all my failures.
Wondering how long is this gonna last.
Then you look at this prisoner and say to me
"son stop fighting the fight that's already been won."
Chorus
I am redeemed, You set me free.
So I'll shake off these heavy chains,
Wipe away every stain now I'm not who I used to be.
I am redeemed.
All my life I have been called unworthy.
Named by the voice of my shame and regret.
But when I hear you whisper, "child lift up your head."
I remember oh God, You're not done with me yet.
(repeat chorus)
Because do not have to be the old man inside of me.
Cause his day is long dead and gone.
I've got a new name, a new life I'm not the same.
And a hope that will carry me home.
I am redeemed, You set me free.
So I'll shake off these heavy chains,
Wipe away every stain now I'm not who I used to be.
I am redeemed.
This week's God Is Faithful video/song is Chain Breaker
Key Highlight:
If you’ve been walking the same old road for miles and miles
If you’ve been hearing the same old voice tell the same old lies
If you’re trying to feel the same old holes inside
There’s a better life
There’s a better life
If you’ve got pain
He’s a pain taker
If you feel lost
He’s a way maker
If you need freedom or saving
He’s a prison-shaking Savior
If you’ve got chains
He’s a chain breaker
This week's bonus God Is Faithful video/song is Sometimes It Takes A Mountain.
Key Highlight:
I faced a mountain
That I never faced before
That's why I'm calling on the Lord
I know it's been awhile
Lord please hear my prayer
I need you like I never have before
Chorus:
Sometimes it takes a mountain
Sometimes a troubled sea
Sometimes it takes a desert
To get a hold of me
Your Love is so much stronger
Then whatever troubles me
Sometimes it takes a mountain
To trust you and believe
This week's God Is Faithful video/song is Made a Way
Key Highlight:
You made a way.
When our backs were against the wall.
And it looked as if it was over.
You made a way.
And we're standing here. Only because You made a way
You move mountains. You cause walls to fall.
With Your power. You perform miracles.
There is nothing that's impossible..
And we're standing here. Only because You made a way
This week's God Is Faithful video/song is I Never Lost My Praise
Key Highlight:
I've lost some good friends along life's way
Some loved ones departed in heaven to stay
But thank God I didn't lose everything
I've lose faith in people who said they cared
In times of my crises they were never there
But in my disappointment, in my season of pain
One thing never wavered, one thing never changed
Chorus
I never lost my hope
I never lost my joy
I never lost my faith
But most of all, I never lost my praise
My praise still here My praise still here
I've let some blessings slip away.
When I lost my focus and went astray.
But thank God I didn't lose everything.
Now I lost possessions that were so dear.
And I lost some battles walking in fear.
But in the midst of my struggles, in my season of pain.
One thing never wavered, one thing never changed.
I never lost my hope
I never lost my joy
I never lost my faith
But most of all, I never lost my praise
Praise, praise, praise, praise.
Most of all, I never lost my praise.
I never lost my hope
I never lost my joy
I never lost my faith
But most of all, I never lost my praise
My praise still here.
My praise still here.
I never lost my hope
I never lost my joy
I never lost my faith
But most of all, I never lost my praise
This week's God Is Faithful video/song is Favorite Song Of All
Key Highlight:
But His favorite song of all
Is the song of the redeemed
When lost sinners now made clean
Lift their voices loud and strong
When those purchased by His blood
Lift to Him a song of love
Nothing more He'd rather hear
Nor so pleasing to His ear
As His favorite song of all
