“She kept a low profile, but she didn’t have anybody fooled…” 

This is what the resource officer from my high school told my husband when we ran into him at a restaurant a few years ago.

And it was spot on.

My teenage years were definitely my darkest, as most would also agree. Like the officer from my high school said, I didn’t get into big trouble, but I wasn’t the leader of the youth group at church either. And truth be told, I was way more screwed up than that description even alludes to.

I will spare the details of my sin for my mama’s sake, but I will say I was far away from God. I questioned the truth I had professed to believe when I went forward at the little Baptist  church when I was eleven to receive Christ. I can still hear the choir singing “Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus” holding their hymnals now. I can still feel the lump in my throat and the release of burning tears on my cheeks.

But then, I walked away. Far away, searching for the love I already had.

But He was there the whole time.

Romans 5:6-8
“When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. 7 Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. 8 But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.”

He was there, in the deep, dark days of sin. Of lies, of empty relationships based on lust instead of love, and in the pitch black moments I found myself in and wondered, feeling like I was having an out of body experience, looking in at my situation asking myself,

“How on earth did I end up HERE?”

But it was then at my most shameful moment,

That he let them spit in his face.

That he endured the whips with hooks on the end, pulling out his skin.

That he felt the thorns push through his scalp.

That he followed through in obedience as the nails were hammered  through his wrists into the wood.

He sees the whole span of time, and he saw me at my darkest, most shameful moment and at that moment in history when he took his last breath,

And He loved me.

And He loved you.

When we were utterly helpless, at our

darkest.

His love still meets us in our everyday lowest points. He beacons us, calling us back to him in love. Remembering how he loved us at our darkest helps us stay living in his light.

*This post correlates with the “Love Letters from God” bible study, Week 4 (How Deep), Day 1.

Love Letter From God:

Love Letter to God:

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“And now I will send the Holy Spirit, just as my Father promised. But stay here in the city until the Holy Spirit comes and fills you with power from heaven.”‭‭

Luke‬ ‭24:49‬ ‭NLT‬‬

God’s love for us is so high that he sent his power from on high to live inside his believers.

Power to bear all the fruit of the spirit from Galatians 5:

Power to love when others are unlovely.

Power to still have deep abiding joy in the midst of great sorrow.

Power to know peace that passes this world’s understanding when tragedy strikes.

Power to patienly endure when you want to give up and quit.

Power to be kind and tenderly care for those around you.

Power to do good things for others who could use a glimpse of the Father’s care.

Power to faithfully keep your word and vows when you want to forget you said them.

Power to answer gently when you want the people in Timbuktu to hear you let that deserving person have it.

Power to keep your self-control by this life giving Spirit when you want to give in to that big huge ice cream sundae, with nuts.

Through your ability to act according to God’s perfect, pleasing will for your life in these everyday, ordinary situations, you will have a testimony. You will be able to tell others about how Jesus helps you everyday, and how He can help them, too.

Will you always get it right? No. But then you will have the testimony about a grace-filled God who forgives you time and again.

And you will remember the last time you chose to walk in the Spirit and the blessings of obedience that flowed from it!

Walk in his high and powerful love today!

*This study correlates with the “Love Letters From God” bible study, available for purchase below.

*Discussion of day 4 of week 3, “How High.”

Love Letter From God:

Love Letter to God:

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How can  knowing our position in Christ change EVERYTHING?  

As we walk around in a world that tells us we are not enough, God’s Word tells us what our true worth is in Him.

As believers in Christ, we KNOW WHO WE ARE when any person or the world tell us who we aren’t measuring up to.

We were CHOSEN before the world was created, even when we feel last to be remembered.

We are FORGIVEN in Christ, and washed white as snow, even when our past tries to tell us we can’t change.

We are CLOTHED in Holy beauty instead of rags of our own self-righteousness.

We are ADOPTED AS ROYALTY instead of being left as orphans.

and last but not least,

We are SEATED WITH THE KING OF KINGS, reminding us that we are his daughters.

“For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus.”

‭‭Ephesians‬ ‭2:6‬ ‭NLT‬‬

We are not stepdaughters, left out of the will with no inheritance.

I’m always reminded of this when people ask me if my adopted daughter is in fact MY DAUGHTER. I don’t hesitate when I respond, yes! I am proud of her, and claim her as if she were my own flesh and blood.

My daughter feels secure and has blossomed since she has realized our love is forever and her position in our family gives her full membership as  our daughter.

Knowing this has made all the difference to her. It should make all the difference for us as well. Knowing we are seated with Christ, a daughter of the King of Kings should change

EVERYTHING.

It should change our outlook when all seem hopeless. Because no matter what is going on down here on earth in our lives, our God has seated us beside him, in honor because we BELONG to him. I hope this encourages you as it does me!

Our Love Letter From God:

Our Love Letter to God:

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God created you to be extraordinary, to fulfill plans you can only imagine in your wildest dreams.  His love for you reaches to the heavens, and his plans for you reach that high, too.

We are going to need a confident heart, like David had in the psalm below to keep reaching for these dreams:

 

Psalm 57

7My heart is confident in you, O God;
my heart is confident.
No wonder I can sing your praises!
8Wake up, my heart!
Wake up, O lyre and harp!
I will wake the dawn with my song.
9I will thank you, Lord, among all the people.
I will sing your praises among the nations.
10For your unfailing love is as high as the heavens.
Your faithfulness reaches to the clouds.
11Be exalted, O God, above the highest heavens.
May your glory shine over all the earth.

How high does the love of God reach?  Today I want to encourage all of us, his word says it reaches to the clouds.

As I prayed through this verse today, God reminded me of how BIG he is.

He reminded me to dream far up, BIG DREAMS.

He reminded me to REACH for the stars.

I want His GLORY to SHINE over all the earth.

 

When David pinned these words, he was hiding in the cave from King Saul.  God soon sent 400 men to come and fight with him.  David could have stayed hidden away, praying small prayers for God to simply keep him hidden and help him live a quiet, safe life in the wilderness.

But God had other plans.

And David knew he had a BIG GOD.

I want to look up into the sky and be reminded that His love and faithfulness are as HIGH as the heavens and REACH to the clouds.

I want to believe he has BIG PLANS for me, because he does.

And he has BIG PLANS for you, too.

Sometimes those plans seem small to us, but they have a large, immeasurable impact in God’s eyes.

After adopting our daughter from Africa, I came to remember that the day to day mothering and homemaking in my home was just as important to God as the orphan rescuing.

What dreams are God stirring in your heart?  Is your motive to shine His GLORY over all the earth, and to spread his love?  Then pray about it, and go for it!

Keep looking up to the heavens, remembering his high love for you reaches places you cannot imagine!

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All we have to do to remember how high God’s love for us reaches is to simply look up.  Up, to see the expanse between the ground and the clouds.  He doesn’t write the answers to our questions out in thin air, but he gives us a passage to remind us that he’s got his reasons…

Isaiah 55

5“My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord.
“And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine.
9 For just as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so my ways are higher than your ways
and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.
10 “The rain and snow come down from the heavens
and stay on the ground to water the earth.
They cause the grain to grow,
producing seed for the farmer
and bread for the hungry.
11 It is the same with my word.
I send it out, and it always produces fruit.
It will accomplish all I want it to,
and it will prosper everywhere I send it.
12 You will live in joy and peace.
The mountains and hills will burst into song,
and the trees of the field will clap their hands!
13 Where once there were thorns, cypress trees will grow.
Where nettles grew, myrtles will sprout up.
These events will bring great honor to the Lord’s name;
they will be an everlasting sign of his power and love.”

We can’t understand or see his plan, working together for our good, but we can choose to trust that his perfect love for us knows what he is doing.

For my letter to God today, I chose to illustrate the concepts to give a deeper understanding and ability to memorize it easily.

Illustrating is a popular concept for college students studying any subject these days. On Pinterest, there are tons of links to ideas for illustrating information for the sake of understanding and retaining it.  I have been doing this with my bible studying for  awhile now, just simply sketching out doodles that show God’s word in a personal way.  Here, I used “anchor” illustrations for this passage to remember the meaning behind the words so that I can apply it to my thinking and my life.

Anchors:

Think cloud:  God’s thoughts higher than mine.

Arrows:  God’s ways go far beyond what I can see in either direction, past present, or future.

Rainbow:  God’s good plans surpass anything I can IMAGINE.

Airplane banners:  I think of banners the planes pull at the beach, with God’s message, “I know what I’m doing, trust me,” written on them.  🙂

The earth:  My understanding of all situations is far below and skewed compared to his clear view from above, of all the pieces of the puzzle fitting together according to his perfect plan.

 

After grasping how HIGH his perfectly understanding love is for us, we have a choice, to trust Him or not.  This is where we come before him honestly in prayer, committing to trusting him, and asking him to meet us in our doubts and fears.  Asking him to create faith where we want to be the one  in the pilot’s seat, flying the plane with our own banner of plans streaming behind us.

 

He is good and worthy to be trusted.  Our understanding is so small compared to his.  Simply trust.

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