Nothing More, Nothing Less

Lately, I have just been resting in the fact that there is nothing more I can do to make God love me more than He already does AND there is nothing I can do to make Him love me less.

There is no amount of church attendance, ministry volunteering, or rule following that will make Him love me more. All that He requires is a clean heart. Only God can create a clean heart by the sacrifice of Christ on the cross. You can sit and rest! That realization that it is all God and not you will provide the exhale necessary to live in Sabbath rest.

Furthermore, there is no sinful behavior that will make Him run for the hills and deny He knows me. His love is unconditional--without conditions. No matter if the sin is something small  or something huge on my scale--He will love me the same.

Ahhhh...He loves me for me. He doesn't love me for what I do, or what I could do--my potential. He loves me for me!

Grasping this unchanging uncondition love of God for us sets us free. Thank you Jesus! Take some time today to think about His love for you. Read and meditate on Romans 8.

...with ALL my heart

Today turned into a crazy chaotic day. The noise around me has robbed any hope for the quiet time with the Lord I so desperately wanted. The children are asking a gazillion questions about everything and nothing at the same time, the chores are screaming my name, and the to-do list is multiplying at a rapid rate.


Yet, through all this commotion, I can hear Him. I can hear Him calling my name. I can hear Him whispering His love over my life. It’s the song I hear Him sing over me that draws out of the craziness and into His arms. It’s in my knowing that He loves me endlessly that helps me push through the demands of the day. I know that rest will come to me. I know the Father will wrap me in his strength.

I am His. You are His. We are His. Everything that we are-- is His. He calls us His own.

Our calling is to live a life of loving worship to the Father of Lights. It is in worship that I give Him everything that I have or have ever wanted. It is in living a life of worship that my heart finds rest.

(writer's note: this entry originally was published in Liberty Bible Church's womens' ministry newsletter for the month of September. I wanted to share this on here since there are many who don't get that newsletter--enjoy!)

The Temporal Longs for the Eternal

I can still remember the first day I felt it. We were newly married, living in Kansas City MO, out on a bike ride. It wasn't a growing feeling, but something that hit me all of a sudden.

 I couldn't put my finger on at first. It felt like I had been up at camp all week and I just wanted to come home.

I started asking myself questions:
Am I homesick for my family? Answer: No, not to the point of feeling homesick?

Am I homesick for my hometown? Answer: No, not at all.

What could I possibly be homesick for then?

Then it hit me...and hard! I was HOMESICK FOR HEAVEN.

My physical body was groaning for the spiritual. Paul says in Romans 8:23, "And not only this, but also we ourselves having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body." This is what was happening to me, my physical body was homesick for its redemption when I will be fully restored--spirit, soul, and body--to the presence of God in heaven before His throne.

The temporal was looking to the eternal and longing for the presence of the Lord. Again Paul says in 2 Corinthians 4:18, "while we look not to the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal. My temporal body was looking to the unseen God and crying out in longing for Him.

By no means am I wishing my life caught short. No, I am merely recognizing that I come from my Creator. Eventually, we will all be united with Him. It is perfectly natural as a part of creation to groan for the day when sin will be thrown down to the lake of fire once and for all.

I have had this sensation a few other times over the years, but not too often. When it does hit me, I run to prayer and thank the God of the Universe, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob for His beauty and wonder and creativity and delight. I thank Him for creating me, and delighting in me, and loving me. I thank Him for His swift return and the day when I will be free from the Sin that roams this earth.

Embrace who you are. Embrace the fact that you are an eternal spiritual being that groans for the redemption of our bodies. We groan in desire to be set free from this fallen earth. We are homesick for the Father's House.