accept – KARLA LEES

I have a prayer for you this Valentine’s day, actually for you every day.

It is a prayer Someone else is praying for you too:

YOU are the one He adores.

REALLY.

It has taken me years to grasp this truth, and years more to let it soak in to my soul and become a part of me.

But don’t take my word for it. Take His words for it.

I am sharing just a few of my favourite bible verses with you today, and a few jots & thoughts, to paint you a colour by number outline of His love for you.

HE LOVED YOU TO DEATH:

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But God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8

For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16

Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of My hands. Isaiah 49:16

God not only loved you first, He demonstrated this love by giving Himself up for us, so we could draw near and receive His love.

HE IS LOVE:

The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. Psalm 103:8

So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. 1 John 4:16

Because you are precious in my eyes, and honored, and I love you, I redeem you. Isaiah 43:4

Love is part of His very character, and He cannot be Himself without it. At the core of who God is, love is. You can’t have one without the other, for God IS love.

YOU WERE MADE OUT OF HIS LOVE:

Oh yes, You shaped me first inside, then out;
You formed me in my mother’s womb.
I thank You, High God—You’re breathtaking!
    Body and soul, I am marvelously made!
    I worship in adoration—what a creation!
You know me inside and out,
You know every bone in my body;
You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit,
    how I was sculpted from nothing into something.
Like an open book, You watched me grow from conception to birth;
    all the stages of my life were spread out before You,
The days of my life all prepared
    before I’d even lived one day! Psalm 139:13-16

God doesn’t make junk, you may have heard.

He doesn’t.

You were made out of love, especially designed, so He could love you and be loved by you. There is only one of you, ever.
Only you can be loved by God in the ways you need to be loved, and only you can love God in the ways He made for you to express love back to Him.

His love moved Him to make you.

HIS LOVE ENDURES FOREVER:

I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you. Jeremiah 31:3

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:35-39

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness. Lamentations 3:22-23

There is nothing you can do that will change His love for you. Sure, we could disappoint Him with less than stellar behavior, but His love for you, and for me, is rock solid. God doesn’t leave when the going gets tough, His love draws closer to us to be with us through whatever comes our way. He will love us always, now and into forever, no matter what. Wow!

HIS LOVE WANTS THE BEST FOR YOU:

So that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Ephesians 3:17-19

We know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose. Romans 8:28

He will wipe away every tear from your eyes. Revelation 21:4

God has the best in store for us. What parent or lover really wants to give less than their best to their loved one? God tells us He has plans for our best yet to come, and He comforts us and loves up on us along the way!

HIS LOVE IS WITH US:

The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness; He will quiet you by His love; He will exult over you with loud singing. Zephaniah 3:17

Song of Songs Chapters 1&2

Not only does these verses, two of my all time faves, remind us God loves us, but they reveals He is with us, rescuing us when we need it, calming with His love, and singing triumphantly over us, a proud daddy & thrilled lover all rolled into one. He is wooing us to Him as a longing lover waiting for His bride to come to Him!

So, what are you to DO about it?!

Here are my A-G tips on what to DO with His love:

1. Accept it. If you can, then you can begin to:

2. Believe He loves you. Truth stands the test of time. God is who He says He is.

3. Care for yourself. If you know & feel loved, you take better care of yourself, as you want to be at your best. God wants us to love ourselves well, and show our respect for His creation, us!

4. Don’t delay. Now is the time to get to know this God of love. We don’t always get another chance when we put things off. If you want to be loved beyond your imagination, God is waiting to be found.

5. Express your love and gratitude back to Him. Knowing we are loved is only half the love story. Responding to the one who loves us in return completes the love.

6. Forgive those who you have loved who have hurt you. Love can be roadblocked by walls around out heart when we have been hurt. Don’t cut off the love you need by refusing to let His love flow. When we forgive, we make room for God to expand His love within us.

7. Go spend time with Him.
Go for a walk together, chat over coffee, read His word, sing songs of praise and adoration, listen to Him. Hanging out with Him will only increase your knowledge of His love for you, and your desire to love Him in return!

Hey, thanks for reading my 514th blog post….very fitting on Feb 14th 🙂

Meet people where they are, not where you’d like them to be.

@POTSC tweet

Every one you meet has a story, just like you and I.
Their story may not be visible on the outside.
Just like you and I.

There is more that goes on inside every book beyond the title on the front & the summary on the back cover.

Because, just like you and I, we don’t let it all out when we first meet people.

We like to look presentable until we know the person we meet is safe to share our real story with.

Like a first date. We take care in choosing our outfit, practicing our answers, and try to make sure we are meeting in a location we can easily escape from, especially if its a blind date. We might even have back up in case our antenna picks up any weirdness.

But just like the rows and rows of novels and hardcovers in the bookstore, each and every book has an aspect to their story that the reader doesn’t expect. A character behaves in a way you don’t expect, a situation has your holding your breath. The unexpected catches your attention, and draws you in to the story.

Every person we meet has a story deep beneath the face they show to the world. Addictions, losses, pain, brokenness, illness, abuse…each and everyone has a unique twist, as no two people are exactly alike.

Everyone you meet has their own story.

As His followers, we need to be listening to His prompting, discerning:
When to offer the same grace God extended you when you met Him for the first time.
When shame needs to be met with a hand of mercy.
When love needs to be poured into a wound until it is made clean and healing can commence.
When kindness in a smile or caring look will soften a hard heart as it begins its journey back to wholeness.

Everyone you meet is beloved by God, and He wants us to meet them where they are at, just as He does the same with us.

When we hear where people are at, it can be unnerving.

Why? When we look into someone else’s story, it can remind us of our own.

That can make us uncomfortable, if we are being honest with ourselves.

I really enjoy learning about the life of King David. But not so much from his story as told by the storytellers, but His own words in the Psalms he wrote, and sang in His day. Honest, gut wrenchingly moving, they are a testimony that we can meet God, be changed for the better, yet be ourselves through the process.

God meets us where we are at.

Let’s offer the same gift to those we meet around us.

Accepting people where they are at is God’s specialty, but it doesn’t end there. He begins to help us write the story He intends for our lives, as we meet and hang out on a regular basis with Him.

We can rest confident that He won’t leave us where He found us.

There are no chance meetings in God’s plans.

If God brings someone into your life, He has a purpose for your meeting.

It may be to help Him be known to the one you meet, or because they have more of Him to reveal to you through their story.

Be yourself.
Accept people where they are at.
Meet up with God.
The world will be a much better place the more we do so.
Imagine the stories He will be writing!
Imagine the rewritten masterpiece you will be from meeting Him!

Tag: accept

love the one you’re with…literally!