Light Just Beyond the Clouds

As I stood outside tonight, I noticed that I couldn't see the moon; but there was a bright light shining just behind some clouds. God seemed to speak to me through this simple message. Even though the moon was covered by clouds, I still knew it was there. Sometimes we have clouds in our life, and we can't seem to find a source of light. Even when we can't see the light, we can know that the Son is still there. That's not a typo! Through the trials in our life, we can know that God is with us. Just beyond all the problems is a solution. The problems may be all we can see, but we need to look beyond them. God is bigger than the clouds you face, so why would you focus on the smaller things? You can still see the light shining through the clouds, so you can know that the light is still there. Even through the struggles, the Light is still shining on you.

Understanding that God Loves You

One of the first steps of knowing God is to know His love for you. The essential, most basic expression of God's love for you is the fact that He created you! Psalms 139:14 says, "I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well." God took the time to facet every little detail of who you are. Why would He spend so much time and care on someone He wouldn't love? Before you were born, He knew who you were; which brings me to another way of knowing that God loves you. God did more than create you; He knows you. If your spouse, or relationship partner really loves you, they will show it by getting to know you. They will find out what hurts you, so that they will know how to bring you happiness. They will show you that you can trust them with your deepest secrets, and they will help you to overcome your fears. When you come across a relationship like this, you cannot deny that there is love between the people involved. That's how God shows His love for us! He knows who we are, how we've been hurt, what makes us smile, and every weakness that we could possibly have. The fact that He knows us allows Him to comfort us when we are hurt, to bring us happiness out of even our sadness, and to make us strong when we are weak. He knows about the things you will face in life, and He promises to be there to get you through them and bring beauty from the ashes (Isaiah 61:3). These facts are enough to know that God loves you, but there is even greater love than these things. There is no greater love than when someone will give up their life for you. That's exactly what God did for us. He came to earth, and covered Himself in skin so that He could know what we face from experience. Then He gave His life for us, so that we could be free from the death that we deserved. For God so loved the world, that He gave His one and only Son; so that whosoever would believe in Him will not perish, but have everlasting life (John 3:16). You may be looking at this now, thinking, "These are just scriptures. How can they prove that God loves me?" God doesn't mind being called out, so call on Him and ask Him for His love. I know that He will show you that He loves you beyond a shadow of a doubt. 

Discovering God's Love: Part 2

Throughout my lifetime, God has shown me that, even through the bad, He was working for my good. Situations that seemed so horrible, turned out better than I could ever imagine. Right before I dedicated my life to God, I was heartbroken; I felt as if I was worthless. Since then, He has shown me how much I'm worth to Him. I mentioned I man from a Christian social network in my last post. Well this is not the last time you're going to hear about him. Beginning a relationship with God brought every other relationship in to place. The man that encouraged me to get back in church and serve God is still in my life. As a matter of fact, he's the man I will be marrying in the next few years or so :) God loved me so much that He took me from the wrong relationship to the right relationship with Him; and then He gave me a partner in Christ that reminds me of His love everyday! God is the juice that the human mechanism runs on. Without Him, we may be able to run for a little while, but eventually we will sputter to a stop; because we're not running on the right fuel. When we give our lives to God, we put the foundation in place to build everything else on top of. With your foundation in place, everything else will be built right and strong!

Discovering the Depths of God's Love

Before I fully gave my life to Jesus, I found myself in the darkest part of my life. I had made so many mistakes, and turned away from God in so many ways; I didn't think there was anyway God could forgive me after what I'd done. However, I wanted desparately to start my life over; but I wasn't sure if God would take me back. I began seeking God, and reaching out for help from wonderful people God was using to remind me of His love. I began discussing my life in Christ with a man on a Christian social network. Eventually, we became really great friends; and God used him to encourage me to go back to church, seek God, and find out how much He loves me. I began going to a small church in the middle of no where called Lake Chapel, where I met people that loved me, even though they had never met me! I continued to go there for several weeks, then the pastor's son preached a message on forgiveness. He said, "Sometimes the hardest person to forgive is yourself..." then he continued to tell of the depths of God's love, and how it never changes, even when we change. After the message, there was an alter call, and I went and fell at the alter and cried to God. I prayed, "I feel like can't forgive myself for what I've done. Please God, just show me that you still love me. If you can fogive me, I'll forgive myself." All of a sudden, warmth and light enveloped me, and I felt love like I've never felt before. This was the most real moment I've ever experienced: I felt someone stroking my hair; like a father does to comfort his daughter. I looked up and saw this face, that looked so overwhelmed by compassion and grace. Then I heard a thundering, yet gentle voice say, "I love you." That's all it took. God loves me so much that He would come and tell me! He loves you just
as much :) There's nothing you can do, or will ever do that will stop His love for you; so don't hold on to regrets and mistakes. God has already let go of them.