Worrying does not Glorify God

I have been writing a lot about the topic of worrying. Right now I would like to take it from theory to practice. Last night I submitted myself to God and asked him if I was practicing what I was preaching. I quickly realized that, although, I was getting better at trusting and praising God over worrying - He pointed out that as human beings we are driven by our feelings, our state of mental and physical health and also by environmental influences. We are never going to be perfect at anything in this life. We can only desire and strive to have HIM perfected IN us.

The last few days when I wasn't feeling very well, I fell into a gully of self-pity. I found myself falling back to my old ways and begging him to help in a situation that has been a heavy burden on my heart and mind.

My worrying affected my belief system which caused me to experience all the things that come attached to worrying!!! Emotions and thoughts like fear, anxiety, panic, sadness, grief, doubt, darkness, despair, vexation, fretting, etc. 

Is that the mindset and heart set that God wants us to be in? No, it is not! That is the mindset and heart set that Satan wants us to be in! Satan loves it when we are worrying. But, you know what he hates? He hates praise. He hates it when we trust God and give God glory before we see any results. When you read through the New testament what does Jesus say the most? He praises people for their faith. For believing before they even see. For trusting that he's in the boat when the storm is all around. Jesus loves when we believe him.

So, this morning instead of crying my prayers, I stood up, raised my hands and I praised him. I smiled and expressed gratitude that he is in control of everything! I thanked him that I don't have to worry because he has a plan! I felt the rhythm of my heart change immediately. Then, I realized, this is what we are supposed to be showing and telling the world! That he overcomes our fears and our worries. That he is faithful and good. He is just and his timing is perfect. That not only is he mighty and powerful but he is kind and gentle, all-knowing, all-loving, all-present! How can others see Christ in us If all we're showing the world is our worrying instead of our believing!

Let's encourage each other to take the focus off of ourselves and put it on him. He will heal us, he will work things out for our good, he will comfort us, he will go before us and fight for us, He will work in the lives of those we love... All of these promises are written in The Bible! That's why it's so important that we read God's Word.

It says in John 15:5, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.”

If we are faithful to do that and to trust in him then our worrying will turn to praise. He will be glorified and others will see his greatness and strength in our weaknesses. And that's what being a Christian is all about. It's about taking the spotlight off of our worries (doubting, unbelief...) and displaying God's power and love in our life instead.

Worrying is doubt and self-pity. Whereas, trusting is believing and glorifying God. When God is glorified, peoples  lives are changed and souls are saved.

Ask God to clean out anything that is blocking his light from shining through you onto others.

Praise or Panic

"Worrying is worshiping the problem. You make your problem bigger than God. Trust, rest and be still as you wait for God to work things out. Stop sacrificing the peace that God gives you at the altar of worrying." 

When We worry We Are putting everyone's attention on us and our feelings. God wants us not to worry and to trust him. That way everyone's attention is on him and he receives the glory. Not only does that bless those around us when we go through something hard but it also blesses us when we praise instead of panic. Praising God before the blessing is the faith that he wants others to see in us and it's the joy and peace that he wants us to live in. We are partakers of our Fathers blessings, not beggars.

Matthew 6:25-27 NIV

[25]  “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? [26] Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? [27] Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?

1 Peter 5:7 (NIV): "Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you."

Psalm 55:22 (NIV): "Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be shaken."

Free Flowing

God does not call us to give so much of ourselves that we end up empty! He calls us to let him flow through us so that we are never empty.

Luke 6:38, "Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

In the Waiting

I've been really affected by the weather as Winter lingers and Spring teases. This morning in my devotional the first sentence was, " The winds of March are often cruel and blustery. " That really hit me. So, I spent the morning asking the Lord to shake me out of my weather funk. I had to quit letting these outside circumstances affect me. It seems like all I've been doing is waiting for these winds to stop and for the sun to kiss the earth again. On the other hand I also realized that this weather has kept me inside and I've been doing so much reading, writing and drawing near to God. That has been the blessing of it and I need to be thankful for that. I need to stop complaining about the weather and be thankful for this time of rest. My anxious desire for birds chirping and flowers blooming will come in God's timing. It says in the book of Job that the Lord opens and closes the store houses of rain and snow. (Job 38:22).  I'm aware that how much rain we get in the spring determines what fall is going to look like with its beautiful colors. I'm also aware that God sends the wind to aerate these waters that fall. He knows how much to give and when to pull back. He knows what the earth needs. He knows what we need.

Our anxious thoughts can ruin the blessings that God wants to bring us. When we take our eyes off him and focus on the things around us, we actually allow our minds to become like the violent winds.

The winds outside may be violent but because I turned to God, I now have a heart that is still and at peace. A heart that is full to overflowing with gratitude and has hope for what's ahead instead of anxiety in the now. 

Job 38: 36-38 "Who endowed the heart with wisdom or gave understanding to the mind? Who has the wisdom to count the clouds? Who can tip over the water jars of the heavens when the dust becomes hard and the clods of earth stick together?" 

I encourage you to read, " Job, chapters 38-42. You will never be the same. 

After Easter

Holy week has happened. Jesus has victoriously risen from the grave and conquered death. Now what?

Now it's time to remember. As we go through life there is nothing that we will experience that he has not gone before us and felt. Betrayed by a friend? He knows how you feel. Suffering in pain? He knows how you feel. Does darkness seem to envelope you? He knows how you feel. Is it an extraordinary season in your life with celebration and joy? He knows how you feel. Do you have to experience separation from a loved one or family member? He knows how you feel. 

There is nothing that you can go through that he has not experienced. And he wants to go through all of it with you. No matter what you've ever done in the past or maybe how things are right now, he wants to go through it with you. When it seems like the whole world is against you, he will stand with you. When you bow your head in shame, unable to even be your own best friend, He will stand with you. There's no darkness that can ever drive him away. 

Inviting him into your life is inviting light into your darkness. A friend into your loneliness, life into what feels dead. Plenty where there is empty, fullness where it is hollow... 

Romans 8:31-39 says,

"31 What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? 33 Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. 34 Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written:

“For your sake we face death all day long;

    we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”[a]

37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,[b] neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Whether you need a shoulder to cry on or someone to share in your joy, Jesus invites you (Matthew 11:28-30), “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

Jesus isn't just for Easter. 

He has Risen!

Matthew 28:6 NIV

He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay.

Holy Saturday

Jesus tasted death as a man, yet he conquered death as God. 

Because it was Saturday, Jesus's physical body laid in the tomb. He couldn't be prepared for burial until Sunday. During this time his soul descended into the realm of the dead. I'll let you study that more on your own. He went and proclaimed victory over death to those in the realm of the dead.

Right now, I'm thinking about when we finally get to heaven. We will have times of sitting around, listening to Jesus as he tells us all the details about this story and more. I can just imagine all of the "porch stories"  and "campfire tales of truth" ...  An eternity of having the secrets of the universe described to us and shown to us by the King of the Universe!! Jesus has conquered death! Hallelujah 🙌🏼 Praise his glorious name✝️ Tomorrow, the stone will be rolled away 🙌🏼

Good Friday

Skipping details that you can read on your own in the gospels. I'd like to pick up the narrative as Jesus stands in the presence of Pontius Pilate. Pilate asks the crowd to choose who he should pardon, as was the custom. The crowd, through lies and coercion screams out, "Crucify him!, Crucify him!" Pontius Pilate washes his hands of it and orders Jesus to be flogged. Again he is mocked and tortured while the guards use a nine-tailed leather whip with lead balls on the ends, to tear his back open down to the bone. The splintered rugged wood of the cross is heaped on his raw back. 

Reaching Golgotha, they pierced his hands and feet with nails the size of railroad ties and raise the cross up as he hung there bearing a humiliation and level of pain that we couldn't even imagine. 

Hebrews 12:2, "For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame..." Do you know what that joy was that made him endure the cross? It was you, it was me, it was his love for all of us. When he hung on that cross it wasn't just a crucifixion like any other. Heaped upon Jesus was the sin of the world. Past, present and future sin of every person who has ever lived, was living, and would ever live. He bore the sins of the world. 

Darkness covers the scene for 3 hours as Jesus hangs there. He has to use his pierced feet and hands to drag his raw back against the rugged wood to take each breath and to speak each last word. 

The Seven Last Sayings of Jesus

"Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." (Luke 23:34) - Word of Forgiveness

"Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise." (Luke 23:43) - Word of Salvation

"Woman, behold your son... Behold your mother." (John 19:26–27) - Word of Relationship

"My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" (Matthew 27:46; Mark 15:34) - Word of Abandonment

"I thirst." (John 19:28) - Word of Distress

"It is finished." (John 19:30) - Word of Triumph

"Father, into your hands I commit my spirit." (Luke 23:46)

Because the Father is Holy, he cannot look upon sin. So, for the first time in eternity the Father had to look away from his son Jesus because our sin covered him. For the first time in eternity Jesus felt utterly alone and cried out, "Father why have you forsaken me!"

The earth shakes and the curtain in the temple is torn! No longer is there a barrier between us and God. Jesus gave his life to become that bridge. Our conduit to God is Christ Almighty! Because of his blood, our sins can be covered! Because of his sacrifice, we can be released from the debt of our sins. Death is conquered!Remember the two choices that I pointed out in yesterday's account? Mary and Judas. Although Christ paid the price for our sins on the cross. We have a free will whether to believe and accept that or to reject it.

The Roman soldier pierces his side and then Christ is taken down from the cross. He is buried in a tomb that is sealed by a large stone.

In closing I want to point out the story of the 10 lepers in Luke 17:11-19. They cry out for Christ to have mercy on them and heal them. He does heal all of them but only one returns to thank him. When it comes to Holy Week and what Jesus did for us, please don't forget to thank him.

To invite him into your heart to be your personal Savior and Lord, simply say this prayer: Father in heaven, I believe that your son Jesus died on the cross, and by his blood I am saved. I admit I am a sinner and I need a Savior. I invite you into my heart and my life. In Jesus name, amen.

Maundy Thursday

Jesus met with his disciples for the last supper. He washed their feet, teaching them the lesson of humility. He gave them a new commandment, to love one another as he has loved them. He reveals that he will be betrayed... He then leads them to the Mount of Olives to the garden of Gethsemane. That is where Jesus asked his three dearest friends to stay awake and pray for him. But three times he found them asleep. Alone, distressed to the point that he sweat blood, He cried out to his father.

As condensed on line, (In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus experienced intense emotional and spiritual agony, grappling with the weight of his impending crucifixion and the sins of humanity. He prayed earnestly for the "cup" of suffering to pass, ultimately submitting his will to God the Father before being betrayed and arrested. 

Key Aspects of the Experience

Deep Emotional Distress: Jesus was "deeply distressed," "troubled," and described his soul as "exceedingly sorrowful, even to death".

Physical Suffering: His mental agony was so intense that according to Luke 22:44, his sweat became like drops of blood falling to the ground.

Spiritual Struggle: Jesus faced a severe temptation to avoid the cross, but ultimately chose to submit to God’s will, a moment often referred to as the "agony in the garden".

Loneliness and Abandonment: His closest disciples—Peter, James, and John—fell asleep three times instead of supporting him in prayer.

Betrayal and Arrest: The scene ended with Judas Iscariot identifying him with a kiss, leading to his arrest by a armed crowd. 

Significance of Gethsemane

The "Oil Press": The name Gethsemane means "oil press," symbolizing the immense pressure Jesus felt.

Voluntary Submission: The events show that Jesus was not forced into crucifixion but voluntarily accepted it as a sacrifice for humanity.

Divine Support: Despite his pain, accounts mention an angel appeared to strengthen him. 

The events in Gethsemane are primarily recorded in the synoptic gospels: Matthew 26, Mark 14, and Luke 22.)

I encourage you today, to read the gospel accounts of what happened from the Last Supper to Jesus standing before Pontius Pilate. Isaiah 50:6 prophesized, "I (speaking of Jesus), gave my back to those who strike, and my cheeks to those who pull out the beard; I hid not my face from disgrace and spitting." The betrayal, the arrest, the interrogation, the beatings, the mocking... In The gospel of Mark14:65, "They all condemned him as worthy of death. Then, some began to spit at him, they blindfolded him, struck him with their fists, mocking him. The guards then took him, stripped him, placed a purple robe on him and pressed a crown of thorns into his flesh. They slapped him, taunted him and beat him about the head with a stick. Silent was the innocent Lamb of God as they accused and tortured him for what he wasn't even guilty of. Jesus, the light of the world came to his creation offering love and salvation, yet, they rejected him and sentenced him to death by crucifixion.  John 1:11.

Holy Wednesday

Holy Wednesday juxtaposes two different heart postures. On one hand you have Mary, the sister of Lazarus, who Jesus raised from the dead. On the other hand, you have Judas, who is the one that will betray Jesus.  Mary breaks open her alabaster box that holds a very expensive perfumed oil. She pours it over Jesus's feet and washes them with her hair. She knows what lies ahead for him because her heart is fixed on him. Judas sees this act and becomes indignant that the money could have been used for the poor and she just wasted it! He storms out yet Mary stays at his feet. Just like many other examples in the Bible where it shows us that we have two choices. To stay and follow the Lord or to turn and go our own way. You can stay at the Lord's table or you can walk away. Those decisions though, also determine our eternal life. Will you open your eyes and your heart to God's great gift of his son? Or, Will you shake your head, and close yourself off as you turn away from him and go do things your own way? Mary had her eyes fixed on Jesus, whereas, Judas had his eyes fixed on self. Where you focus is where you'll be. 

Holy Tuesday

Holy Tuesday/Fig Tuesday 

Imagine a scene where you knew you didn't have much longer to live. You would want to be around your loved ones, your conversations would be more on the serious side. You would want to tell them so many things that you learned in life and about how to handle things that are to come. This is the shift that has happened between Palm Sunday, a time of celebration, to the week before our beloved Savior goes to the cross. You can pick up on the sense of urgency when he speaks about the fig tree which represents Israel. I encourage you to look up the story of the fig tree and what it means. 

But, for today I want our eyes to be on how much passion Christ had about having to leave his beloved followers, especially his disciples. His words toward them are still instructive yet with much more intensity. His eyes are fixed on each of theirs. He knows each of them so intimately, their quirks, downfalls,  weaknesses, strengths etc. I can imagine his heart in constant intercessory prayer to the Father for them.

With Christ being "all God"  he knows that he's leaving the Holy Spirit to be with them, to guide them. However, with Christ also being "all human", he doesn't want to leave his buddies. Their hearts are connected. This is his crew. His closest friends. The human part of him does not want to leave them. The human part of him knows what's coming in a few days, yet, if not for his Father holding him together, I think his heart would have just burst open right then and there.

And we can't forget about the protagonists in this story. The Pharisees and the other chief priests.  They were out for Jesus and trying every trick in the book to trip him up. However, his words to them are hot, fiery arrows meant to pierce their cold and ruthless hearts. He calls out their greed, wickedness and pride, publicly. Which makes them want to kill him even more! 

This intensely emotional saga of the week before Jesus's death is too much to bear if you allow yourself to feel it. I think about what it might be like to lose my dearest friend or my husband. As debilitating that thought is to me it doesn't even compare to Holy Week for Christ.

Holy Monday

Holy Monday. The area where the merchants were was the area where gentiles and foreigners were supposed to be able to come to God. But the greedy Jewish elite took that space and set up booths to sell the sacrifices like sheep and doves. They took the space that was meant for everyone to be able to come to God and occupied it with greed. By Jesus flipping those tables, he was telling the world that no one would ever be able to do that again because he would be the ultimate sacrifice. Everyone would be able to come to God through him!

Palm Sunday

Rescue Heart

I was just thinking about those special people that save animals. They not only do the easy rescues but they have the special gift where they can be patient while an animal is terrified or they'll even let an animal bite them or scratch them. They'll still stay there until they can rescue them. That's how it is with Jesus. Some just swing the door of their heart open to him and they are so grateful that he's offering to save them. Others, are sometimes paralyzed to even be able to move toward him but he will not leave. He will stay until you feel safe. Then, there's the ones that kick and scream, bite and scratch. They dig their heels in and fight. But our loving Lord will wait as long as it takes. He will let them act out but he will never leave them. He never gives up on any soul. In the end we all have to make our choice whether to let him in or to reject him. All he wants to do is love you. And, all the things that you're afraid that he's going to take away or make you do, are just lies from Satan. I used to blame God for all my troubles. Now, I put the blame squarely where it belongs and that is on Satan. He causes everything that's bad because of the sinful world that we live in. Instead of blaming God, I thank God for being the one who is there with me through all of this pain and suffering. Because my hope is in him and his promises. To all those people who rescue those animals that even bite you. I just want you to know that I see God in you. You are a special breed and so needed in this world! I pray that whoever reads this, would soften their heart and accept the free gift of love through the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. We will all be re-homed one day and you have a choice of where you will go. May you choose wisely. ❤️🙏🏼❤️

For Such a Time as This

The book of Esther in the old testament is a story that should open our eyes to the sovereignty and goodness of God. He sees the beginning of time, the end of time and all that is in between. Most importantly he sees the hearts of all people. He works his perfect will out as he uses people in fantastic ways. 

I'm not writing today's post as a teaching about The book of Esther but rather I'm using it as an example of how God works things together for our good. (Romans 8:28),  "²⁸ And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who^[a] have been called according to his purpose." I do encourage you to read the book of Esther on your own. To glean the insight of how God works in all situations.

This morning during my Bible time I began to think about my life and how God has used me. The Holy Spirit began to fill my mind with moments from my past. Don't get me wrong I have made a tremendous amount of mistakes. However, God turned what Satan meant for evil into good (Genesis 50:20). I'm not going to focus right now on the things that I did that were not good. I am going to put the spotlight on how God used a broken young woman to bring about eternal things. Just like all of the broken and flawed people that God chose to do his work through in the past (Moses, Gideon...). To this day he continues to use those of us that are imperfect to bring about his will.

One of the ways that God used me was to be a legacy changer in my family. I was such a young Christian and so unaware but he used me to share my faith with my family. First, my mom and my sisters and then my dad and my brother. All of them came to accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior and were baptized. It changed the trajectory of my family in an eternal way. I think about the hundreds and hundreds of people that I have shared Jesus with and how I know God is working in their lives and the lives that they've touched also..

The Holy Spirit kept bringing to my mind all of these little moments in my life where he used me to intercede for people. Moments that I don't even know how they worked out but I know that God used me and he is continuing the process. We cannot even fathom the breadth and depth of God's hand in the lives of Christians.

So many of us spend so much time dragging the past along with us, worrying about the future and thinking about how inadequate we are when we should be thinking about how God uses flawed people to his glory. It's not about us, it's about him working through us. His strength being implemented through our weaknesses (2 Corinthians 12:9). It's not about how we do anything. It's about him getting all the glory for working all of these Divine moments together for the glory of his name and the expansion of his eternal kingdom. What an honor it is that the God of the universes works through our imperfect lives to bring about eternal glories.

I want us to stop and think about how much of the past we drag along into the next day and how that burden weighs us down. How much worry about the future bears down on us each day because we invite it into our minds?? How much of our inner dialogue tells us that we're not worthy or that we are not important enough for God's work? How many thoughts do we entertain about being useless or not meant for great things? 

Surrendering our day to God and learning how to be present in the moment is freedom and blessing. Knowing that in the most unnoticed ways God is using us if we ask him to. Then, there will be those times when we know that he used us! We realize how much worth we have in him and what a privilege and honor it is to be used and to work beside the Lord of Lords. Sometimes, it's not about one big moment that God uses us. Although, that may be the case, we have to also acknowledge that he is using us all the time. I think back on times when I overheard a conversation in a store and I never forgot what one of those people said and what a profound influence it had on my life. I also recall moments of kindness that were shown to me that changed me as a person and I passed it forward. It says in Matthew 10:42, "And whoever gives to one of these little ones [these who are humble in rank or influence] even a cup of cold water to drink because he is my disciple, truly I say to you, he will not lose his reward.” I've told this story before but my sister who lives in California was sitting in the backseat of their car on an extremely hot day with her handicap son. They were waiting for her husband who ran something into the store to return. Across the alley was a drinking water truck delivering water. The man brought over some bottles of water because he saw my sister sitting in the car. He did exactly what that scripture above says. My sister and I have never forgotten that act of kindness. We tell so many people about that and how amazing God is. He works through people to bless others. That's just one example. I have hundreds of those stories but I think you know what I'm talking about.

So, every one of us was knit together in our mother's womb and God knew us before we were even born (Psalm 139). He has a specific purpose for each of our lives. The Bible says when we draw near to God he draws near to us. Draw near to him today and invite him to work through you. There is someone out there who needs a cup of water. There are people who are so close to giving up and your one act of kindness can turn their life around. You can be a legacy breaker in your family, a person who takes the lead on a project when no one else will step up, a person who brings a smile and a good word with them as they go through their day. Making others feel seen and heard. The list goes on and on regarding how God can use you.

You were born for such a time as this. You are here for a reason and if you feel unsure about that, God invites you to draw near to him. Be sure that you have invited him into your heart as your Lord and Savior. Ask him to forgive your sins and to move you forward into his purpose for your life. Spend time reading your Bible, getting connected with other Christians, doing Bible studies and devotionals etc. You were meant for something that has amazing eternal value because God created you. Go to him with boldness and confidence to find the reason why you're here on this earth for such a time as this. 

1st Corinthians chapter 13 reads, "If I speak in human and angelic tongues^* but do not have love, I am a resounding gong or a clashing cymbal.^a

2And if I have the gift of prophecy and comprehend all mysteries and all knowledge; if I have all faith so as to move mountains but do not have love, I am nothing.^b

3If I give away everything I own, and if I hand my body over so that I may boast but do not have love, I gain nothing.^c

4^* Love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous, [love] is not pompous, it is not inflated,^d

5it is not rude, it does not seek its own interests, it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury,^e

6it does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth.

7It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.^f

8^* Love never fails. If there are prophecies, they will be brought to nothing; if tongues, they will cease; if knowledge, it will be brought to nothing.

9For we know partially and we prophesy partially,

10but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away.

11When I was a child, I used to talk as a child, think as a child, reason as a child; when I became a man, I put aside childish things.

12At present we see indistinctly, as in a mirror, but then face to face. At present I know partially; then I shall know fully, as I am fully known.^g

13^* So faith, hope, love remain, these three;^h but the greatest of these is love.

Love=Charity

In 1st John 4:8&16 it says, "God is love." Just as it says in 1st Corinthians chapter 13, we can do acts of kindness but unless they're done in love, which means in the name of Jesus, they are nothing but a clanging symbol. 

Good deeds do not get eternal wings unless they are done in the name of Jesus.

Shameless Audacity

How then should we pray? 

Luke 11:5-11, [5] Then Jesus said to them, “Suppose you have a friend, and you go to him at midnight and say, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread; [6] a friend of mine on a journey has come to me, and I have no food to offer him.’ [7] And suppose the one inside answers, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children and I are in bed. I can’t get up and give you anything.’ [8] I tell you, even though he will not get up and give you the bread because of friendship, yet because of your shameless audacity he will surely get up and give you as much as you need. [9]  “So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. [10] For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. [11]  “Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? 

[13] If you then, though you are unrighteous, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”

God does not want us to be timid children who are afraid to ask him for anything. This scripture makes it so clear that he wants us to have a shameless audacity when we come to him.  It also says in Hebrews 4:16, believers are encouraged to approach God's throne of grace with confidence and without fear to receive mercy and find timely help. 

God loves bold faith!!! 

Another attribute that he loves is tenacity. Which is told in the story of the widow and the Judge. The Parable of the Persistent Widow (Luke 18:1-8) is a story told by Jesus to encourage believers to pray consistently without giving up. A persistent widow repeatedly asks an unjust, godless judge for justice against her adversary, eventually forcing him to grant her request to avoid being worn out by her. (I love that🤣)

Boldness, faithfulness, persistence, unrelentlessness, audaciousness, expectance, pure childlike belief... When we pray, the Lord expects us to come before him and have a heart that sees him as our loving and generous Father, who lavishes upon us the good things his heart desires for us. 

I have learned to come boldly before my Father in the name of Jesus, filled with the trust that the Holy Spirit gives me to lay my request before him. I joyfully expect him to answer My requests in his way and in his timing as he knows what is best for me. I do end every prayer with, "If it be your will my Lord.", because there are things that I may ask for, but, he has a better answer to give me than what I even expected. Knowing that he may alter my request because he knows what is best doesn't stop me from boldly going before the throne of God with my requests. Also, as we mature in our faith our prayers begin to align with his will, so we can pray more boldly.

I know this topic can be confusing but like I said above, don't let anything stop you from the shameless audacity of going boldly before the throne of your Father with your requests. After leaving them there, we have to trust that he knows what's best, that he cares deeply about our feelings and our requests and that he hears us and will act according to our best interest. 

Remember that it is God's invitation to you through the word to come to him with shameless audacity, boldness, relentlessness, tenacity etc. 

James 1:6, describes a person who lacks faith as unstable, double-minded, and easily tossed by circumstances. Just as wind-driven waves are constantly changing direction and unsettled, a doubting person lacks firm conviction and should not expect to receive answers to prayer. 

God loves you and cares about you more than you will ever understand. So take your request to him like a bold little child with a believing heart, and trust him that he will do what's best for you.

Faith is something that will give you the strength to keep going when everything else tells you to stop. 

Philippians 4:6 (NIV) Do not be anxious about anything, but instead, use prayer, petition, and thanksgiving to present your requests to God in every situation. 

You are a child of the most high King, not a beggar and it would serve you well to remember that.

It's Laundry Day

Do you ever wonder why certain thoughts roll around in your head over and over, day after day, month after month... It seems like they just won't go away. I believe this is God's way of helping us process injustice. 

Nothing in life hurts more than rejection and unfairness. They seem to stick stronger than any glue in our minds and prove to be the hardest to resolve. 

In my prayers this morning I was addressing this topic with the Lord. He put in my mind a vision of a washing machine and spoke to me that these thoughts that roll around in our head can be cleansed through his Holy Spirit. Our mind is like the washing machine and the Holy Spirit agitates these thoughts. (Jesus is the detergent). Allowing God to begin a healing process. The more we surrender any bitterness, resentment, unforgiveness etc., the faster the washing cycle goes. These thoughts roll around in our head because we, in our spirit of "self",  have a hard time trusting God to bring justice to these situations. The act of us holding onto these thoughts and toying with them is our prideful instinct to think that we can get justice somehow. That we can rush the process along because we just simply want to feel better. We don't want to feel the pain of the situation any longer than we have to. It's all about him, not we or us or me. We only have the ability to be tormented by our thoughts. Whereas, he is fully able to renew our mind.

God, in his great wisdom, patiently waits for us to wear ourselves out. Then, when we have exhausted ourselves and we finally turn to him, he will release the pause button and continue the wash cycle. The sooner we surrender the quicker he cleans that stuff out of us. 

What torments your brain, then,  vexes your heart and then, cripples your purpose. Surrender is the key that unlocks the door to freedom. 

Galatians 5:1, "For it is for freedom that Christ has set you free! Stand firm then, and do not let yourself be burdened again by a yoke of slavery." 

In my prayers this morning I asked God to remove pieces of flesh, my selfish flesh from my heart and to replace it with the flesh of his heart. I basically am so tired from battling these thoughts. It's such a relief to just fall into his arms. 

Do you trust him to catch you?

Let's Meet for Coffee

As I was reading and memorizing a scripture this morning, I became overwhelmed by the Holy Spirit at the realization of what a precious moment I was sharing with the God of the universe. I have never viewed memorizing scripture this way before. But this morning I realized what a sacred moment I was spending with Him.

In the gospel of John chapter 1 it says, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. HE was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it." In verse 2 the word "He" refers to Jesus. In verse 1 it says that he was the word, and the word was with God, and the word was God. When we spend time in the scriptures we are spending time with God, literally. 

Taking time to memorize scripture is a treasured time where we sit with our Savior and absorb him. It's the time of transformation when we go from frightened caterpillars in a dark cocoon to becoming beautiful moths or butterflies. 

This insight could be something that everyone knows and I just had a late epiphany this morning. However, the realization hit me profoundly that our time in the word is not just a time of reading. The active living God through the Holy Spirit is actually present with me. The Rabbi (teacher) is instructing me and equipping me. This time that we spend in the word of God should promote an image in our mind of us sitting at the feet of our Lord. An intimate time of learning, questioning and being honest with the one who gave his life for us. The One that we will spend eternity with. We are not here on this earth alone trying to muddle through, he walks with us, talks with us and he teaches us along this journey. It's a time of preparation and like it says in the book of James,  "If we draw near to him he will draw near to us." 

In my devotional this morning there was a verse in a poem that stuck out to me. It read, "Our burdens are our wings; on them we soar to higher realms of grace; without them we must ever roam, on planes of undeveloped faith." God does not want us roaming around with undeveloped faith. We are his children and he wants us to sit with him so that he can equip us for what life brings.

As a moth or butterfly has to press, squeeze and struggle to emerge from a cocoon, it is that pressure and burden that enables it to fly. It is that adversity that makes it strong.

2 Corinthians 4:17, "Our current, temporary hardships are creating an eternal weight of glory that far outweighs them." 

I urge you sisters and brothers, to read your Bibles. To sit with the Living Word, which is your Savior Jesus and let him instruct you so that when hard times come you will be prepared. This world is getting crazier by the day and we have to begin to see our hardships as times that draw us near to him so that he can strengthen us and prepare us for what is to come. Don't view your time reading your Bible as a chore but think of it as spending time with Jesus on sacred ground. A time where the God of the universe wants to sit with you and have an intimate conversation. Oh, how he longs and looks forward to that moment when we turn and say, "Can we spend some time together?" 

Take the living word into your heart today and memorize it, so that you can recall it and use it as part of your armor of God. The word of God is your sword. When attacks or hard times come, you can unsheath that sword and use the memorized word of God to take down any attack. Ask him in your quiet time to teach you these precious insights.

John 1:12, " Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God."

There are those on this earth that roam aimlessly searching for some meaning and direction. Then, there are those who know to whom they belong, why they are here and where they are going. Some are foolish and others are wise. God is our treasure map to eternity. However, the best part is that he wants to be with us on that journey.

Hands of Love

Nahum 1:12, "Tho I have afflicted you, I will afflict you no more." 

The afflictions that God allows are soaked in grace. I don't think God is necessarily asking us to rejoice about the trial, but to rejoice about his presence in the trial. Rejoice in the knowledge that the trial has immense power and purpose because he is in it. We are only mounds of clay, slabs of marble, blocks of wood, seeds in the darkness, coal in the depths. Without his precision and holy craftsmanship wielding the tools, we are hopeless, shapeless, without meaning or purpose. Being his child means trusting our Father (Abba) to not only push us beyond our limits for our own good and for his glory. But, to also have complete and utter faith in him that he knows exactly when to withhold and withdraw the heated process. Humans love comfort. However, God, in his loving wisdom knows we need to be pushed out of our comfort zone for our full potential to bring him glory. The process is what makes us who we were intended to be. He loves us too much to leave us untouched by the master's love and skillful hand. Only he knows who we were truly meant to be and what purposes we were meant to fulfill. 

Romans 12:2, Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then, you will be able to test and approve what God's will is, his good, pleasing and perfect will.

"The Book of ______"

Every year when I read through the book of Exodus I'm tempted to just skip over all the details that seem redundant. But a few years ago I found the beauty that God wanted me to see in the book of Exodus. What I gleaned was how detailed God was and how he blessed and equipped through the Holy Spirit people that were called to do specific things to bring him glory. Two specific men are mentioned in Exodus chapter 35, Bezalel and Oholiab. Every project needs a project manager that can head and direct all the workers to achieve one goal. God chose Bezalel and through his Holy Spirit he gifted him with everything that he would need to be the head craftsman for the building of the tabernacle tent. Similar to how God gave Joshua as an assistant to Moses, God gave Bezalel, Oholiab.

You can read Exodus 35:30-35 or all of Exodus 35 or all of Exodus to more deeply understand God's precise plans and how he provides for those plans to come to fruition. When we look at Exodus it provides a blueprint of how God works. As detail oriented as he was with the building of the tent, That's how detailed he is in how he  blesses you with specific gifts and how he provides from all kinds of sources for you to do the work that he calls you to do. 

Not one person is born without a purpose from God. It may be as simple as serving others in the mundane of daily life to choosing to glorify him on a stage rather than pleasing the world from that platform. Some of us are gifted with artistic abilities, some with crafting. Some have a small quiet area of service while others might be leaders and delegators. Some may be called to be foster parents of 12 children where someone else could be called to mother one child. Some are called to be married and some are not. Some are called to build families and some have not been given that ministry but are called to minister to others by understanding their disappointments and pain, called to comfort and council. Some are called to cook meals and serve in their community where others may be called to other countries to bring the gospel to those who have not heard it. 

Large or small, noticed or unnoticed, we all have gifts that we are called to use for God's glory. Whatever gift we are given he will surely bless us with the abilities that we will require through his Holy Spirit. He will also provide all resources that are needed.

I encourage you to do this assignment. Sit down with paper and pen and write your book of the Bible. Title it the book of ______. Put your name in the blank. Ask God to help you write the story of what he has called you to do and how he's gifted you to do it. What he wants others to read and glean from your story. How is he being glorified in your life through your gifts that he gave you. 

When our lives are over and we stand before the King, he will ask us one question, "What did you do with the gifts that I gave you?"

Visual eyes

Psalms 94:18-19 NIV

[18] When I said, “My foot is slipping,” your unfailing love, Lord, supported me. [19] When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought me joy.

I used to judge people that had a fear of heights. I would say to them, "What if your child was at the edge of a cliff and they were going to crawl off?! You wouldn't have a fear of heights then would you?!" I had no concept of that kind of anxiety so I had a very hard time empathizing. Until, we were on one of our yearly trips to the High Sierras to go hiking. We had to go up Tioga pass which is a very narrow two-way road that was carved into the side of a sheer cliff. After doing it year after year, this one particular year my heart started to pound! I had seen a larger view from the car of exactly where we were and realized if one rock came loose it would pop us and the car into oblivion. The fear became so overwhelming that I felt paralyzed. Like I couldn't move, but the inside of me was a storm of anxiety. Ever since that day I have had that reaction to heights. 

As I read today's scripture it made me think of that memory. I have formed a habit of closing my eyes after I read certain scriptures and putting myself into a situation in my mind that would make me experience that Scripture on a full level. I was stuck climbing once and I was slipping. All I could think of was falling to my death or that I would be paralyzed the rest of my life. I remember those moments of fear before I found a steady place for my hand to grab on to. 

While reading the scripture I pictured myself on a high, sheer cliff. The kind you see mountain goats on. So incredibly high that you could almost see the rest of the world from it. My heart was pounding and the anxiety was so great inside of me because I couldn't find a place for my foot to go and my hands were getting so tired. Then, I envisioned Jesus cupping his hand under my foot. Oh, that feeling of relief and support. The comfort of knowing I wasn't alone with that horrible feeling and situation. The exhale of relief. He securely stabilized my foot and lifted me to a secure place. He came up beside me and secured his arm around my waist. He supported me when I couldn't support myself. Each step we took he encouraged me and consoled me. 

After arriving at the top of the mountain we sat together. We talked for a long time and I knew that I would never be the same. I knew that whenever I was afraid I would know that he was there. That, in the future when I had great anxiety he would console me and comfort me. What joy I felt knowing how precious I was to him. Through those times of suffering he built in me endurance, character and hope. (Romans 5:3-5). And through those times of trusting him with all my heart, I learned how to stop trying to control everything and to trust him in all my ways. (Proverbs 3:5-6), "Trust in the Lord with all your heart,

    and lean not on your own understanding;

6 in all your ways submit to him,

    and he will make your paths straight." 

When you read scripture, try this visual exercise. Close your eyes and picture yourself in a situation where you would be feeling those feelings. Then, see your Savior doing exactly what he promises in his word. It's a very powerful experience that cements his word into your brain cells. You may not recall that scripture but you will recall his faithfulness and goodness. You will never forget the experience or the lesson that he taught you through it.

Psalms 94:18-19 NIV

[18] When I said, “My foot is slipping,” your unfailing love, Lord, supported me. [19] When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought me joy.

Don't just read God's word, experience it.

The Joy of Hope

Genesis 37-50. 

When it came to Joseph's heart, reconciliation and reuniting with his brothers and family was more important to him than holding a grudge or punishing them. Joseph said, "What Satan intended for evil God worked out for good." (Genesis 50:20). Joseph saw the bigger picture and looked forward not backward. Jumping into forgiveness with both feet was the vision he had for those relationships. His heart was not stubborn or revengeful. It was THE JOY OF HOPE that he trusted in through all of his struggles. The joy of family ties being mended and restored. 

If you're having problems in a relationship whether it be friend, family, spouse... I encourage you to quiet yourself before the Lord and ask him what he wants to change in YOU first. Humble yourself before him. Let him point out the areas in you that he wants to work on. Before you try to work on any other relationship you have to give God permission to work in you. Whatever relationship is suffering let it just set on the back burner until you are right with God. You need to trust me on this one. When you sit before God and ask him to be honest with you, he will reveal things by speaking the truth in love that you need to hear. (Proverbs 13:24, Hebrews 12:6, Proverbs 12:1) ⬅️ Read these.

Then, start praying for those that are involved. Pray that God would humble their hearts and heal them of any control issues. Pray that they would find Peace in forgiveness and humility in their stubbornness. 

When God sees that those involved have let him work in their lives he will draw them together with soft hearts and new attitudes. Reconciliation can bloom and forgiveness lovingly given. All Hearts will have been submitted to God and desiring to be obedient to his definition of love (Corinthians chapter 13), not ours. 

So many relationships today are fractured. It's as if some people are standing on one side of a great ravine and others are standing on the other side. Everyone's yelling at each other, turning their backs or walking away. The only bridge is Jesus Christ. He is the example that we should all follow. Talk less, forgive more and trust God to change all hearts involved. Only he can do the changes that need to be done. Humility, forgiveness, reconciliation and healing are only possible when you know the love that he showed toward us. Stop trying to fix things. Give God full control over the situation. We cannot bring about those changes with human effort. His love needs to penetrate deep into our pain and change us from the inside out. Building his character and attributes in us. Blessing us with his wisdom, knowledge, understanding, discernment, insight... He needs us to ask him to do great works in us through his Holy Spirit. To replace our emotions with the Spirit of God. 

What is broken, He can repair, what is crooked, he can make straight, but we must step aside and not shadow the work that he wants to do. Find your peace with God before you try to find it with another human being. Pray that they would seek healing with God before they try to fix things with you. 

We can do nothing apart from the vine. (John 15:4-5) If we want to see good fruit in our life, we must let him flow through us. That's the only way other people will see the goodness of God in our lives. And if we are up against someone who is stubborn and prideful we must forgive them and pray for them fervently. That they would humble themselves before God. God wants there to be "glory stories"  that bring hope and wisdom for other people that are going through such circumstances. 

Lastly, I encourage you to praise God before the blessing. Thank him and praise him for hearing your prayers and for answering them. Changing people's hearts takes time, so be patient. God can do it in a second but he has to work with stubborn hearts and that's what makes it take so long. Be patient, be still and know that he is God. (Psalm 46:10). Stand on his promises (read your Bible and keep a journal of his promises), rejoice in him no matter what the circumstances. The fervent prayers of a righteous person availeth much. (James 5:16).

Think about small children. There are some that have such a spirit of stubbornness that they make life hard for themselves and those around them. Then, there are children that love to crawl up on your lap as you tell them a story. Both can have the blessings of God to their fullest but one will have a harder path than the other. Which kind of child of God do you want to be? Will you dwell in your emotions while you kick and scream that things aren't fair. Or, will you sit on the Father's lap and humble yourself to listen to his instructions. 

And the little children came to him and he blessed them.

Matthew (19:13-15), Mark (10:13-16), and Luke (18:15-17).

 

Note: I was a little bit of both. I was stubborn and emotional but at the same time I knew that God had a plan for me. I made a lot of lessons harder than they had to be. But, finally I learned to stop blaming God and realized that all he wanted was to bless me. I came to realize that growth comes through pain. SEEDS have to die before they can live, they are put into the cold dark soil and they have to fight to break into the light. Pearls, sea glass, diamonds... All have to suffer constant aggravation and pressure to shine. If you're feeling that your heart is stubborn before God, then, I encourage you to surrender. There is such peace when you don't have to control everything anymore. Trust in God's timing and rest assured that he hears your prayers and wants to bless you. When we are blessed he is glorified! So, ask him to work on you first. Pray for the others that are involved. Then, rest, knowing that he has everything under control.

All things work together for good for those who are called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28)

Proverbs 3:18, Wisdom: She is a tree of life for those who take hold of her; those who hold her fast will be blessed.

AI Overview

The Book of Proverbs emphasizes wisdom as crucial for a blessed life, starting with fearing the Lord (Proverbs 1:7, 9:10) and valuing it above riches (Proverbs 3:14-15, 16:16), as wisdom brings long life, peace, and success (Proverbs 3:16, 8:18). Key scriptures highlight that wisdom involves seeking understanding, listening to counsel, and applying knowledge for righteous living, contrasting it with foolishness (Proverbs 4:5-6, 12:15, 19:20). 

Shalom, Shalom

Hope. A poem by Dee Hartmann

No storm or darkness looming, will shift my eyes from thee, you know the road I'm walking, for you walked Gethsemane. 

Whether Joy or sorrow, I never will forget, you wait for me with open heart, on the hills of olivet.

My hope is in the light of you, that shines beyond the clouds, To be with you forever, among the heavenly crowds. 

Yet while I wait to see your face, shining brightly as the sun, I'll tell of your great glory, and the gift of your precious son.

Earth's pain and sorrows will melt away, no longer to remain. I will be with you sweet LORD, as we laugh, dance and praise your name!

Tight Grip

Do you have a sound mind? Are your emotions rooted in God's Word? Do you take your emotions and thoughts captive unto Christ or do you let them push you around? Dr Phil has a saying, "Do you have uncontrollable impulses or do you have impulses that are uncontrolled?" There are many conditions such as traumatic brain injury, intellectual disabilities, tourette's syndrome, cerebral palsy... That cause uncontrollable impulses. Yet, this world is full of people that do not have to struggle with those physical or mental problems and they walk around all day with impulses that are not being controlled. By the lack of peace that we see in this world it's evident that most people are just out there everyday re-acting from pure emotions and not keeping themselves in check. 

Let me give you a few examples. There's the impulse not controlled of fearing to move forward. The fear will then trigger more impulses not controlled such as,  making excuses, isolating, arguing with others, or developing control issues... 

Another impulse not controlled is to retreat. That will trigger a domino effect of other uncontrolled impulses such as depression, isolation, panicked behavior, acting like a wounded cat or self pity... 

A third uncontrolled impulse is to rush forward. To live and make decisions based solely on feelings. Giving them no thought or reason. Not seeking wise counsel, rushing ahead impulsively.

I know I'm throwing around the phrase "impulses not controlled"  a lot. But if you go all the way back to the beginning you will see that when a situation happens, we have an initial choice. The choice is whether we will react with impulses uncontrolled and display the behaviors of an angry, frightened, needy person or control those initial impulses and be a person who sets a healthy trajectory, elevating themselves to the light rather than the darkness. 

When we live with bad choices it's inevitable that we will live a life with more problems. And those deep internal problems always manifest themselves outward as well. Some of the outward impulses that are not controlled are negative facial gestures, gossip, slander, verbal manipulations and abuse, a hysterical need for control, outbursts of anger, physical ebullition where your blood boils with fury and you become an offensive blowhart, flatulating out noxious, angry, hurtful words. Pretty much a person that no one wants to be around. 

Or, we can take a deep breath, go sit with the Lord and read his Word as we talk to him and journal what he says back. By doing that we can have a sound mind from which to begin developing a plan or strategy of how we want to deal with the situation in a healthy and mature way. 

My emotions controlled my life for many years and most of my regrets in life are from impulses that I did not control. God wants to help us change but he needs something from us first. He needs us to muster up a little bit of courage to stand up and tell him that we WANT to change. He needs us to show him that we WANT to let go of our old behaviors that hurt not only other people but us as well. I started by praying fervently that he would begin to make me want to change. I showed him that I was serious by spending my mornings with him, reading my Bible and doing devotionals. I began journaling and as he spoke to me through the word of God and through his Spirit I feverishly noted everything that he told me. When he saw that I was serious he immediately began to meet me where I was at and started helping me grow. Once I made that commitment and started spending time with him I can think of no other place that I want to be. He has turned my sickness into health and my depression into Joy and Hope! 

Philippians 1:6, 

Being confident of this very thing, that he who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Jesus Christ:

Philippians 4:13, 

 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

I don't know if someone reading this thinks that they are too far gone for God's love but that is a lie from the enemy and you need to call it out as that! You are loved unconditionally and he wants to lift us up out of our mess and clean us up. It doesn't make him love us anymore after we're cleaned up just as it doesn't make him love us any less when we're messed up. When you can come to the knowledge of how much he truly loves you, your whole life will change. So, grip tightly with determination to the promises of God. Show him you're serious. He honors a persistent and fervent desire and prayer for his will.

The Ball in the Bowl

During my devotional time with the Lord this morning I told God that if I could have one prayer it would be that every heart would be softened, every eye opened and every ear loosed. That every soul would be able to experience the love of God. That deep intimate love, where we are able to sit with him so comfortably. Then, a vision entered my mind. It was a simple vision of a bowl with a marble in it. It reminded me of those little handheld games that we would get at the five and dime when we were little. You would try to tip the game to get these little balls to go into indentations. No matter how hard you tried to hold it still the little balls would just keep rolling around. It was the same in my vision with the ball in the bowl. The marble never got any rest, it never achieved anything, it had no purpose and it was just driven by the slightest movement. That's how most people live their lives. The bowl is like their everyday life and whatever comes along is where they roll and what they react to.

Like the child's game I mentioned above, accomplishing tasks throughout the day would be like trying to get the little ball into the indentation so that there was some feeling of accomplishment. There's more to life than flailing around though. Being so busy, doing so much, but never feeling deep fulfillment. I just made a lot of very big changes in my life recently. During this vision it became very clear to me that the only reason these changes happened is because I asked the Lord to be my strength and my guide (every day). If we ask God to lift us up out of the bowl of our emotions and natural desires, we can see them from a higher perspective. We will see how much more he wants us to have. His desire is to incorporate joy and purpose into our existence. He wants us to truly and deeply understand that he is working ALL things out and we can rest knowing that.

Slow down a little bit and ask God to show you how much he loves you. Spend time with him by reading your Bible and sitting with him and talking to him. You'll begin to see him as your daddy and not someone that you have to be afraid to approach. He created us to have a relationship with us. He is a relational God. That is shown by the fact that he is a triune God. Father, Son and Holy Spirit. He wants to spend time with us. He wants a deep and intimate relationship with us. His son Jesus died to make us clean before him so that we can come boldly before the throne of God and sit with him and talk about anything. Begin to see yourself as his beloved. He loved you so much that he sent his only son, Jesus, to die on the cross as he carried the sins of all mankind upon himself. That is a love that we should all want to know. 

1 John 3:1-2, See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God.

Matthew 6:33, Seek ye first the kingdom of God and all these things will be added unto you.

Isaiah 43:1, I have called you by name, you are mine.

Hebrews 4:16, Let us therefore come boldly before the throne of grace, that we may find Mercy and Grace in times of need.

The other day I was thinking about this handful of people in my life that no matter what I've ever said or done they have remained true and loyal friends. That is a rare and precious gift. That is our God.