Now all of us can come to the Father through the same Holy Spirit because of what Christ has done for us. Ephesians 2:18
ALL OF US are welcome! There is absolutely no one on this earth who is “too far gone”. No matter what you believe, no matter how much (or if) you love God, He loves you infinitely. Picture the person who loves you the most in this world, the one who would do anything for you, always believes in you, always wants the best for you. God loves you 100 times more than they do! And his love is truly unconditional. It’s not our human understanding of unconditional, but an absolutely perfect love. There is nothing you could ever do to stop God from loving you, no matter how hard you try (look up Romans 8:38-39). You are loved.
It’s so simple, just let Him love you. You don’t have to do anything other than to allow him into your life. He just wants to be invited into your mess. Let him in and he’ll do the rest. He’ll clean you up, he’ll take out your “trash”, he’ll declutter. Everyone on this earth is entitled to His love. We judge and struggle to love, ourselves and others, but God IS love. He can’t do anything else because love is what he is (read the book of 1 John). This is so hard for our limited human brains to fathom. That’s where faith comes in. Realize that you will not understand fully until you get to heaven. Your part here on earth is to surrender.
Wow, that is not what the world tells us to do. The world says “stand on your own two feet”, “never give up”, “be strong”, “be independent” . Now, that is not all bad advice, but it will only get you so far on your own. Learn what to give up and what to stand strong in. Lesson number one is to give up the enemy’s lies, shame, regret, pain, anger, and whatever else is holding you down. Don’t be so “strong” that you push those things down and seal them up inside. That was me before I learned to be strong enough to give them to Jesus. They will weigh you down in your inner being. Just acknowledge them (yes, you have to dig them out first), and give them away. That takes true strength. When Jesus takes them for you, you can fill that space with peace, and light, and JOY!
You won’t find peace, light and joy by going out and looking for them. Go out and look for Jesus, he’ll bring them to you. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and he will give you everything you need. Luke 12:31 I’ve heard that verse thousands of times, and I didn’t really believe it. I thought I could work hard and create those things for myself. If I could just do enough good things I would be worthy of His love, His peace, His joy. God told me to pull back from “doing” and to just “be”, to focus on getting to know him and building a relationship with him. Guess what? His plan was better than mine. I spent almost 2 years just getting to know Him, and this is what I now know for sure. He loves me and accepts me…and I am filled and overflowing with peace, light, and joy.
So many good things here! I love how you say Jesus will declutter our hearts when we let Him in deep. And that, yes, we do have to go deep and give Him those things we’ve pushed down and tried to deal with on our own. Amen, sister! Two years just sitting at Jesus’ feet learning and listening and giving yourself to Him. THEN, He shows you want to do next—share with the world what He’s shared with you. Praise God! -DuAnne