His Love

Christmas is a time to spend with friends and family. A time to reflect and celebrate Jesus birthday. This Christmas I discovered that I missed spending it with 2 people, one of them being Jesus. As my family and I were watching a movie, I was thinking about the last few days of Christmas and my thoughts and feelings that came along with it when i stumbled to this conclusion. It then prompted this train of reasoning and this question

God, out of his love, sent his Son on Christmas to die for me so that we could have a relationship
God had that much love to give up his Son,
Go through all that pain to give me life AND!
Pursues me over and over again even though  I fail to maintain the relationship that he amazingly offered

If.... these things are all true... and I believe that they are... Then would he not also have the best possible plan for me?

God kindly answered that question

I was reading through the book of John and over and over again John writes that Jesus was sent by God. Jesus knew that he was sent to this world for a purpose.
Jesus was sent out of love. Every time John records Jesus saying that I think it was Gods way of saying

I Love You

God sent his Son out of love to rescue you us and to establish a self sacrificing love relationship with us. Now,what little I do know  about love  is that if you love someone this much you will desire to give them the  best, and will do what ever it takes to get it done. Now the way that God sent Jesus was not the most predictable, easygoing or layed-back way of completing the goal. I really don't think God operates that way. Sometimes life is hard, life sucks, and you have no idea why he is bringing you through the things that he has, but something that we can depend one that he does have our best in store;

If we choose to follow him

with no hesitations

with no reserves

He will give us the best

So this Christmas I missed 2 people, on being Jesus and another being someone that I am still waiting for, someone who I hope is missing me too. But no matter how long it takes, no matter the daily battles that I face I will wait. I continue to look forward to the Christmas day that we can spend together. I missed 2 people this Christmas but Jesus did not overlook me. He was waiting for me the whole time, sitting beside me, watching me open presents and waiting for me to receive his.

His Eyes, Not Mine

I am reading a book for a study break and stumbled across this quote. And hear are some thoughts about it.

"I needed to start looking at life through God's eyes instead of my own. Because God was in complete control, all of this loneliness, all this pain, all this patience, would one day pay off. One day it would all, hopefully, make sense."

Dear Jesus,

Please help me to do this look through your eyes right now. Remember that you placed passion for caring for others, that my care would be a channel to heal their hearts. That the tears that I cry would not go to waste and that the time of waiting would be a place to grow. Let me remember that you have place me here in this loneliness to rely on you more then anyone else and that my decisions, my actions, my dreams are to see that you are glorified and that you be recognized. Do not let me forget that it is through these times it is your strength that is getting me through and not my own. You have a story planned out for me and may I embrace it with joy knowing that out of it I may become more and more complete, the princess you created me to be. May the beauty that I portray simply be a reflection of your radiance shining through me and let me never forget that I am willing to go. That there are people who need to hear and that I am willing to tell. Obstacles of language, fear, distance, debt stand in my way but you are conquerors of all these things. In the mean time show me ways not to compromise who I am in you to reach people that are around me now. Let me see the common ground or help me make one to reach you lost children, let them see you through me.

Your Lover

~erika

Cast Your Burden

Challenging times always arise when someone close to you decides to denounce there faith. To stop believing in something that they have wrestled through for a long time, giving up on the fact  that there was no good answer or that answer was not good enough.

We know face the facts of why did God let this happen, how could this happen, especially if that person has been poured into so much. We might go even as far as did I say enough? Should I have said more, done more, been there more? and then God cares about his lost sheep and it burdens him to know that one has turned their back on him. And just as we are to care about what he cares about we become burdened as well. But how are we, in the midst of school stressors and exams supposed to carry this burden for the lost?

I don't think God intended for us to take that burden anywhere, carry it any where, he expected it to be laid at his feet. God never intended for us to carry it, move it, or live with it. He wanted us to recognize it and bring it before Him to lay at His feet. To cast a heavy load into a new place and it is often not at all easy. To cast your burden at his feet will take time. We must remember to stand before our King in His throne room and place our burdens at His feet. This encounter only happens through prayer. Take the time to unload your burdens of others before the King, he wants you to stop carrying them, stop moving around and to

Cast your burden on the LORD,
and he will sustain you;
-Psalm 22:55a

Let Him do what he wanted to do in the first place, to sustain you.

Declaration of Love

I have said this many times this year that I think Christmas is the most romantic time of the year. The time of year where things get all gushy  goshy with the loved ones and more importantly time with the family is spent together.

This time of year, the reason why we celebrate Christmas is the beginning of a beautiful romance that God has written out for each of us. Several friends and I were watching a movie and at the end one of them said " I want a man to declare his love to me!" The cool thing is, one already has. When Jesus came as a baby he was declaring his love for us.  He declared his stedfast, sacrifical love for us, and Christmas was the beginning.

 

So as I  celebrate Christmas this year and feel, hear, taste, and smell this wonderful season I am going to remember that this was a declaration of love.