No Expiration Date

Isn’t it wonderful to know that God’s promises, his unfailing word, does not expire. In a world where so many things have a time line, including our own lives, He is steady, immovable. He is our one sure thing. Lately a verse has been popping up everywhere for me. I love that, when God uses a bunch of different resources to drill home the same concept. Facebook statuses, a beautiful card from a friend, quiet time, devotions, messages, billboards… He knows me, and how long it takes me to get things sometimes. :) The verse is Ecclesiastes 3:11. “He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.” Wow..it still makes me catch my breath a little. How reassuring it is to know “My times are in Your hands.” (Psalm 31:15) A quote from Beth Moore totally blew my mind this week. “In man’s realm, time diminishes beauty; In God’s realm, where we will spend forever, time PERFECTS beauty.” Totally amazing. Honestly this is definitely convicting. I see, in my own life, many times past and present when I am always trying to rush God, waiting on the next event to come rather than the ONE who creates ALL. Fear seems to rush us. But God is the exact opposite…He is saying everything gets more and more perfect, more beautiful with time! Faith, the opposite of fear, slows us. It brings us peace in the midst of busyness.

I read something else this week that hit home as well. It’s a book about Jim Elliot’s life called “Through Gates of Splendor”. It’s incredible. A couple of quotes struck me. Among them was this…

“Wherever you are, be all there. Live to the hilt every situation you believe to be the will of God...Of this I am sure. He will lead you too, and not let you miss your signs. The sound of ‘gentle stillness’ after the thunder and wind have passed will be the ultimate word from God. Tarry long for it.”

God I pray that you will deepen our heart's desire for you. That you turn our worlds around and show us that it is ALL about You. Your promises do not have an expiration date. Your word is eternal and we can bet our lives on it. Surround us, guide us, soothe us, strengthen us, and cover us with your convicting truth and steady love. Love that does not depend on our actions, praise You. Show us that the plans you have for us in ten years are just as beautiful as the plans you have for us in our next hour. You are the treasure and you are everything. All for You. <3>

His Hands are Holding You

Something has impressed itself upon my heart lately, Jesus’ hands. The other night I was stirring and just could not sleep. I was restless and many things weighed heavily over me. My heart was troubled and, in my own nature, I was trying to solve problems with my own feeble hands. One thought I battled with, quite honestly, was how I missed having a strong hand to hold. That sense of comfort this used to bring, knowing someone was standing beside you, holding you. Then something that could be only explained by God happened..I opened my Bible and these verses immediately jumped to the page.

“I, the Lord, have called you in righteousness; I will take HOLD OF YOUR HAND. I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles, to open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness.” Isaiah 42:6-7

Then just across the page was this verse:

“So, do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” ~Isaiah 41:10

Words cannot explain the emotions that swept over me. All I could think was, “He knows”. He knew what I was struggling with and how my heart was hurting..and in his everlasting love, He brought me strength. He knows. Whatever you’re struggling with, dear friend, He knows. He has not forgotten you and He will never leave nor forsake you. Don’t forget.

Something else I was reminded of this week is scars.

Scars are something of interest, aren’t they? They tell stories, places we have been, things we have been through. Scars don’t have to be physical. There are plenty of emotional ones to be had as well. In John 20:24-30 Jesus appears to Thomas after his resurrection. Thomas could not believe that it was truly Jesus before Him and asked to see Jesus’ scars as proof. “Then He said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.” (John 20:27) God could have easily healed Jesus fully with no scars. He raised him from the dead. What kept Him from taking away all traces of Jesus’ brutal death? Something about Jesus having scars too seems beautiful. Jesus left this world with scars, just as we will. He knows. He knows what it’s like to be us. So when you feel as though no one could possibly understand what you have been through, remember Jesus’ scars…and the fact that He took every ugly thing about us on himself. The perfect sacrifice so that we could receive redemption, so that we could be covered in His righteousness instead of scars. “Stop doubting and believe.”


"I wanna know who you are
Even if you’re falling apart
I reach in and touch your scars
And all the shame you’ve kept in your heart

‘Cause it’s not enough, it’s not enough
Just to say that we’re “okay”
I need your hurt and I need your pain
It’s not love any other way

So let’s not pretend, stop your parade
Trying to convince me
That you’re alright and everything’s okay
Yeah, do you even know me?
‘Cause I already know who you are
And all the things that kept us apart
So reach in and touch my scars
And know the price I paid for your heart

That it’s not enough, it’s not enough
Just to say that you're “okay”
I need your hurt and I need your pain
It’s not love any other way

A broken and contrite heart
I will not despise, come as you are
And I won’t close my eyes"

~Tenth Avenue North "Any Other Way"

The depth of love

The depth of God’s love blows my mind. Tonight was the last night of our summer video-bible study entitled “Breaking Free” by Beth Moore. Reflecting upon the past ten weeks and the lessons I have learned is almost overwhelming. This was actually my second time going through the study but seeing all God has opened my eyes to has seriously humbled me. God has definitely been reaching parts of my heart I had long hidden away and has been getting to the heart of my motivations. This, quite honestly, hasn’t been easy. To truly bare all before God hurts sometimes, but how glorious and faithful he is by exchanging our layers of self-motivation with his grace and mercy.

How can one ever truly comprehend the amount of love God has for them? The answer is you can’t. God’s love is so perfect, so unfailing…it’s like nothing anyone has ever experienced. I came upon this verse tonight and it struck deeply. It was a verse Beth touched on during the study and is such a beautiful description of how God feels towards us:

“You have stolen my heart, my sister, my bride; you have stolen my heart with one glance of our eyes, with one jewel of your necklace.” ~Song of Solomon 4:9

I know…a pretty surprising book to reference. Before the study, I did not truly understand the parallel between Christ, His bride and Marriage itself. It had been briefly touched on before but it didn’t truly click into place…Until now. Get this…We STEAL God’s heart! How incredible is that? He is captivated by us and he LOVES to tell us so. I know this was hard for me to grasp at first…honestly still is. It doesn’t seem to make sense that He would love me in such a way when I’ve done nothing to deserve it. But here He is, day after day, pouring forth his love constantly. I pray that his love overwhelms us. That it fills us and touches the deep hurts we hide away. That God opens our blind eyes to the evidence of His presence and His heart that covers us every single day. How beautiful He is… “His love endures forever.” He makes all things new and He never fails.

Quoting from one of the messages given during the Breaking Free study, Beth Moore revealed a lesson God had recently taught her. She states that we are not the initiators. How when we say “I love you” to God…it is always, ALWAYS, proceeding God speaking “I love you” over us. How, instead of saying “I love you, Lord”, it’s more of an “I love you too”. Even now, He speaks it over you, over me. To say his love never ends just doesn’t give the concept justice. “We love because he first loved us.” ~1 John 4:19 Words themselves don’t seem to represent the concept fully at all. The way he loves us is so unlike anything we will ever truly understand. It's not the movie or cheap form of love so often represented. This is real, cut to the core, forever love. We don't have to be afraid of him letting us down, or getting overwhelmed by us, or giving up. He never gives up on us!

“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, no anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” ~Romans 8:38-39

Let us not forget that no matter how far we feel we are or what we may be going through, “His love endures forever.”