I just love this quote! And isn't that what my sunrise picture looks like? The "burn of His passionate heart" spreading warmth from the very start of our day? Even though He is an all encompassing, all powerful, majestic God who created all things and is above His entire creation, He still stoops to affirm His love to us. Why? Because we were created to love Him. It's like a parent and a child~~that never-ending kind of love that lights up the heart like no other. No matter what, that love never wavers and it is a downright pleasure to show them~~~not an obligation, but an affirmation that they are special. Our prayer is that they love us back.
Sure, there are times when we may not "like" our children and they may not like us, but always, that deep love is there. I can't say as there was ever a time when I didn't "like" God~~~but there was a long time when I didn't know Him. Kind of like a child that is so involved with their own world that they forget their parents are there~~~until they need money or something! Well, I didn't turn to the Lord because I needed money, but I guess the need is kind of the same in a sense when it starts out! I found myself with a need for something that I couldn't find any other way. I really didn't even know what I needed for sure, but there was a definite need.
I've seen toddlers that were so tired that they couldn't sleep! Sounds strange, but it's true. They get so overtired that they don't know what they want. They are restless and wander aimlessly about, whimpering and unsettled. When they finally turn to their mom or dad for comfort and are held close, they fall into that beautiful baby slumber. Maybe I was kind of like that? When I finally found the Father, and accepted His unconditional, unwavering love that was there all along, I wanted to be close~~~I mean in-His-arms-snuggled-to-His passionate-beating-heart close. Because just knowing He was real and He was God was not enough. Like that toddler, I would be still wandering aimlessly if I didn't get the connection. Just knowing about Him had to change to knowing Him intimately.
But how can we understand someone's love for us and really love them back without knowing them?It was not until I really started reading the Bible and studying with a group of passionate Christian ladies, that I started understanding that love in a deeper way. Because you know what? It wasn't about finding out why He loves me, it was about understanding why He shouldn't love me.
In the beginning, He created all things perfect~~~there was Light~~~but there was also dark. And mankind chose to step away from what was good, and dabble in the tempting dark of deception. And then everything changed. Once darkness was allowed to enter in, it became part of our existence and there would be a constant battle from that point on.
Nothing has changed since the beginning when man fell. God is still our Father, and we are still His children, but we still fall to sin and the darkness separates us from Him. The solution? The connection? I mean, someone had to take the consequences of that darkness because that's just how God works. Darkness doesn't touch Him. But He knew all along that man would do what he did~~~so in His all-knowing wisdom, mercy, grace and love for us, He had a plan for redemption. He knew a way to forgive the children that had gone so far into the darkness. But it was a huge sacrifice. He sent His one and only Son as a sacrifice for what we had done as mankind, so there could be forgiveness. So that gap of dark could become Light.
Jesus took the punishment for our sin. Not just a supernatural unseen punishment~~~it had to be an earthly punishment that fit our earthly depravity. So Jesus, the being of God, came as man to receive that horrid, brutal punishment so that we could run into that gap and beyond, to get to the arms of our Father. That gap of darkness is filled with Light for those who are brave enough to step out~~~~for those who recognize why He shouldn't love us, for those who acknowledge the darkness in their lives and accept His forgiveness. And then everything changes.
We find our way to the Father's arms and let Him hold us and as we lay upon His chest, we hear the never-ending beat of His passionate heart~~~~and we finally REST. And we LOVE HIM BACK.
Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest~~~Matthew 11:28
For God so loved that world that He gave His one and only Son, that all who believes in Him will not perish, but will have eternal life. John 3:16
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