Intimacy With God

Oh to be known fully. Oh that the depths and chambers of my heart, thoughts, and emotions would be searched and known by another. There is a cry in all of us to be known and to be seen even more than just our outward appearance and the shallowness of everyday acquaintances. For it is on the inside that we are defined and it is in this place of inwardness that God’s description of us is formed. To describe the inward man is not an easy task. It is made up of chamber after chamber, longing after longing, passion after passion, and an endless pool of emotions and affections. One can not come close to bringing to perfection the blue print of our inward lives. But there is One that can. He not only has words to describe each of our unique inner qualities, but He has the ability like none other to reach into the depths of each of our hearts and know exactly what moves us, quiets us, and stirs us. Coming from this beautiful array of majestic and holy pleasures is the jealous love in which God draws each one of us into sweet communion with Him. It is when our hearts touch His that pleasure beyond any worldly experience occurs. Intimacy, being the greatest gift God has given, is available to any and all who open their hearts in holiness and hunger. Deep cries unto deep. The depths of our hearts, though we may not know it, yearn for something greater, something deeper, and something that will bring definition and identity to our lives and give us worth.

Adopted

Of all the different aspects of who God is, I think the one I like best is that He is a Father - one who brings us into His family, close to His heart, and embraces us with belonging and acceptance. Working in the past and present with children who live in tough situations, I find that the revelation of my Father and His love for little ones like these is often one that resides in me. Six years ago, I worked at a battered women's shelter. During my time there, I got to connect and spend time with children who had been abused on every level. Memories of when I got to visit the children who lived in the city dump in Ecuador also fill my mind. As I held the baby in my arms whose diaper had been used over and over again and whose body was covered with filth, my heart began to realize just how much this God of extravagant love gave for them. Though it has not been much, I am blessed to have spent time among the poor, the fatherless, and the forgotten. For it is in looking in their eyes, that I see the my Father. It is in sitting with them, talking with them, and befriending them that I learn about the heart of friendship my Father longs to extend to us. It is in opening my heart to them that I realize the incredible truth that Jesus' heart is open to us. My Father loves extravagantly and He is not afraid to embrace us in our weakness and imperfection. "He gathers the lambs in His arms and carries them close to His heart..." Isaiah 40:11 He wants to pull us in close to His big heart where there is room for everyone. He has enough love to heal every wound and scar of the past and wants to nurture us to completion and wholeness by His love. There is a place in His family for everyone...and oh it feels so good to have this kind of Father...it feels so good to be in His family!

From Rags to Royalty

It is amazing to me that God has written a book about my life which includes my birth, my death, and everything inbetween. He has recorded the day I rode my bike off a cliff and broke my arm when I was five, the day I wrecked the mail man's truck at a carwash , and every choice I have made whether big or small. There is one thing that will not be in that book...my mistakes, my weaknesses, my sin. I am grateful that He is keeping track of my life and all the while forgetting when I fall short. Because of His amazing ability to look upon my life with a happy heart and a smile, I have hope knowing that one day I too will be able to fully receive His love for me with no shame or fear. Though I stumble, I am perfect before Him...blameless with inward beauty which comes from His own reflection. He covers my multitude of sin and loves me faithfully in the middle of testings, doubts, and confusion. All because He stands as a mediator between me and the Father. He takes my sin and makes me pure. Therefore, though we struggle with our sinful nature on the earth, we can know we are truly loved, important, delighted in, and enjoyed by the one who loves best.

I am so thankful that He has chosen to treat me better than I deserve. He has taken me in my rags and made me into a princess! I am poor, yet He makes me rich! I am of low estate, yet He invites me to sit at the table of a King. Like Cinderella, He chose the lowest of the low in whom others wouldn't have chosen and has brought me into His royal family. He is my good samaritan. When no one noticed me, He did. When no one stopped to care for my wounds, He did. When I had no covering, He became my covering. When no one else cared, He did. He stopped and He listened. He bandaged my wounds and spoke words that no one else had spoke into my heart. He saw me differently and I am not ashamed to say that He is the love of my heart...not because I am so dedicated, but because He did for me what no one else could do! What's even more amazing is that He is not ashamed of me. He is not ashamed to say that I am the love of His heart and He is not ashamed to stand with me through every season as a faithful friend and partner. Even if I had the strongest love this world had to offer, it would be nothing compared to the love He has for those that open their hearts to Him. No one...and I mean no one has ever loved me like this!