I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you. (Jeremiah 31:3 ESV)
God is a faithful Father who can be trusted, hallelujah!
If there is one take-away from this Heart of Grace narrative it is this: God is so in love with you and you belong to Him. And since you belong to Him, He is continually drawing you, pursuing you with His grace…especially when you are stuck (or even when you don’t realize that you are stuck)!
You belong to Him! That is key and you can take that to the bank, my friend.
You may be able to find yourself in some pages of my “stuck” story. Maybe you have fashioned your own self-identification journal as I had—written therein are similar disqualifying traits and insecurities; a lengthy script of heartache and disappointments. Nothing highlights treasured and cherished; maybe the words righteous, justified, and worthy are not found.
And perhaps in small caps is indelibly written the word “STUCK,” and you think you have no means to erase it.
Well, I have two words for you: But God!
WAIT! You say you still feel on the fringe, ready to throw in the proverbial towel to your brand of Christianity that mirrored mine? Or you deal with something so horrendous that no one could possibly understand? You’ve “tried” God but have grown tired because Christianity just doesn’t “work?” Breakthroughs? You find that they escape you.
Let me reiterate: But God!
The belief system I developed over the years—do good, get good from God—was covered layers thick. This was Christianity for me. Other contributing and painful factors compounded that belief system and my way of Christianity worked until I believed it failed me. My implosion came with such a bleeding.
But God!
He chose and appointed me (John 15:16 NKJV). He loves me with an everlasting love so He sent His Son Jesus to die for ME. If He chose me and sent Jesus to die in my place, then I must be pretty valuable.
And that is exactly the way He sees you.
This was the turn around that I was experiencing from Charis Bible College shortly after I had thrown in the towel. I didn’t want any more to do with God, church or ministry. Though I didn’t see it, I was beautifully positioned to encounter Him as I had never experienced before.
But I still had questions that needed to be answered: Why all the doctrines? Why so many belief systems? Why does one person say this and the other say that? Why do people keep disappointing me? I have followed You, why isn’t everything falling into place? You called me, I’m doing Your work. Why, why?
God remains the perfect gentleman even in our questioning.
He showed me several verses that started to peel away at my layers. He showed me that His work is not burdensome:
Are you weary, carrying a heavy burden? Then come to me. I will refresh your life, for I am your oasis. Simply join your life with mine. Learn my ways and you’ll discover that I’m gentle, humble and easy to please. You will find refreshment and rest in me. (Matthew 11:28 TPT)
One layer dislodged.
So above all, constantly chase after the realm of God’s kingdom and the righteousness that proceeds from him. Then all these less important things will be given to you abundantly. (Matthew 6:33 TPT)
Another layer gone!
He chose me and appointed me. He is my care taker. He will work out the fine details of my life because He doesn’t want any of His children broken. Philippians 2:13 in the Passion translation reads:
God will continually revitalize you, implanting within you the passion to do what pleases him.
His love is what moves us towards Him, moving us to obey. Obedience becomes a passion, not some challenging dread.
More study into understanding God’s nature awakened me with fresh eyes. His goodness, His grace, His loving kindness kept drawing me in and softening my heart. All this was done by the Spirit and through my intentional and diligent examination of His word.
My mind was becoming renewed (Romans 12:2 KJV) and my life was in a major shift. This is the faithful Father who chose me, He was (and still is) looking after me. He loves His children. He loved me way before I ever loved Him. He “invested” in the precious blood of Jesus and knew that there would be a return! He knew I would respond to His call.
Sure, I would have loved to have had this truth embedded in my head and heart long ago. But with God, nothing is ever lost, and He gives beauty for ashes (Isaiah 61:3).
Now He asks, “What do you, (insert your name here), do with this truth?”
You respond! You examine who God is! There is no mystery to God, only discovery. Discover the true nature of God for yourself. Make a decision to allow an interruption—a Daddy disruption—of whatever it is that keeps you at unrest and far from experiencing a progressive freedom.
Picture a wounded child with his head on his daddy’s lap, pouring out everything that is troubling his heart. Envision yourself as that child. Hold nothing back, He knows it all already. You belong to Him. He wants to help you process the pain, bring understanding to your soul, begin the healing. But He waits for you.
He pursues, yes, but pursue Him back!
When you love someone, you want to know more about that person. In that kind of relationship your pursuit is never ending. The desire to discover new things about that person is with such intentionality.
That’s the same intentionality I am speaking about when it comes to pursuing your Daddy. He wants your relationship with Him to be a journey of discovery.
Intentionality must rise above any casual Christianity we may practice. Though we may not be as intentional as we would like, His love for us doesn’t change, it never ends.
However, when we decide to be intentional, when our focus is completely on Him and what His Word says, He will not withhold! He is always ready to show us more about the new man (2 Corinthians 5:17 NKJV). The more He reveals Himself to you in His Word, the deeper your relationship becomes.
It is in this very relationship that you become more in tune to His voice. You start aligning your words and responses to what the Word says. Heart desensitization reverses and your heart becomes pliable and responsive to Him. The grace encounter you experience becomes a work of “heart.”
Desire more of Him. Find a spiritual confidant, make yourself accountable. To see different results you have to do things differently. Pray without ceasing. Pray in your heavenly language.
I have a new ID, a new story, and I now confess the things He sees and declares about me. His love for me—the real truth that I was never aware of before—is what keeps me tethered to Him. It keeps me joyful, helps me to forgive quickly, helps me to see circumstances with His perspective. My temptation to act out from the flesh is quickly kept in check by the indwelling Holy Spirit.
I will say it one more time: He chose ME. And He chose YOU! He actually selected us for Himself as His own before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4 AMP). He will not unchoose us!
For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels,
nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things
to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature,
shall be able to separate us from the love of God,
which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38-39 NKJV)
Now I am choosing to be close to Him because I do not want to give the enemy any place in my life. I renew my thinking (Romans 12:2 NKJV), I’m conscious of the words that I speak (Proverbs 18:21 NKJV), I guard what I allow in my life (Proverbs 4:23 NKJV).
This is not a formula, but a life-long pursuit. Do I miss it at times? Of course! However, He is no respecter of persons (Romans 2:11). He who calls and chooses is faithful and He will surely do the same for you as he did for me. He will see to it (1 Thessalonians 5:24).
I am praying that you discover Your Father God, Your loving Savior, Your Helper and Comforter afresh today! Experience His grace like never before and let the transformation begin.