Hope, with a splash of romance.
See, I know me, and I know all those verses about anxiety. I’d quoted many of them while lying wide awake in bed. The verses are truth, but throwing a verse at something without taking steps to change the focus of the thoughts wouldn’t make much difference. All that would do, for me at least, is reinforce my inability to defeat it.
I wasn’t seated at my desk for more than a few minutes, when I realized how desperately I needed His companionship and I asked Him for something from His Word to assure me He hadn’t forgotten about my desires.
Colossians 4:5-6 Live wisely among those who are not believers, and make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversations be gracious and attractive so that you will have the right response for everyone.
Have you never heard? Have you never understood? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of all the earth. He never grows weak or weary. No one can measure the depths of his understanding. (Isaiah 40:28 NLT)
There is something powerful about starting my day reassured that God is with me, that He loves me despite my failures the day before, and I begin the day with a sense of accomplishment from having completed something before I leave the house.
For years I’ve been carrying around the ashes of a relationship I wanted God to revive. I kept the remnants of a fiery and painful…
“But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow…
But – it is not a gift simply for gift’s sake. He freely makes us new and gives us the ability to see people the way He does for a reason, listed in verse 18.
“And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to Himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to Him.”
When I came to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ, it wasn’t because someone told me that sleeping around, drinking, and having an abortion was wrong. In fact, the people who told me that are the ones who drove me away from church.
The message I received was, “Stop sinning and trust Jesus so He can love you.”
We want them to know about Jesus and about the holiness of God, but the idea that they will be as welcome in the church and in the kingdom of God as we are? Nope. They shouldn’t get off that easy after what they’ve done!
