Post 2 The journey is starting well...

I'm going to be honest and say I rarely end these challenges as well as I begin them... I'm not much of a finisher I suppose. Lots of things in our house are almost finished but still need that last coat of paint or need one more picture hung... I seem to have a real aversion to completing anything. But I'm not going to explore that today ;) or maybe I am...

So I have a lot of favourites. It's just who I am. I love a lot of different things and my Top 5 lists usually have about 15 things on it. I enjoy loving all kinds of stuff. So I have a different favourite colour everyday though truth be told I really do gravitate to the darker shades of pinks and reds... I have 1000 favourite songs depending on my mood an I have more favourite stories than I can count. My reading today though took me to two of my very favourite passages of Scripture and allowed me to look at them in a way that I usually don't and so today I will share both cause I can :)

The first comes from Hebrews and it has been crossing my mind quite often since I preached a couple of weeks ago. Much like Psalm 139, it paints a picture that for me seems contrary but I am coming to realize it perfectly captures our relationship with God.
Hebrews 4 says this '12 For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires. 13 Nothing in all creation is hidden from God. Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes, and he is the one to whom we are accountable.
14 So then, since we have a great High Priest who has entered heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we believe. 15 This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin. 16 So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.'

How is it possible that God knows everything about me and still encourages me to come to Him and come to Him BOLDLY? This doesn't make sense to me or at least it didn't for a long time. I just don't get why God wants us when we as a people seem so determined to shut Him out of our lives But in the same way I go knocking on a surly teenage daughter's door when she is so angry with me or when I know there is something she needs to tell me (even though I'm not gonna like it), God reaches out to us, HIS CHILDREN, asking us to trust him and to come seek his mercy. God never fails to grant mercy when we come with a repentant heart. He knows He isn't going to like what he hears either but He loves us and wants to help us grow into the person he has designed us to be. I'm OK with that actually. Being WITH God isn't so scary anymore as I've discovered through the years that his grace is always available and that he understands me and just wants to be with me.

The second passage is truly my favourite, it holds the #1 spot always. Romans Chapter 5:1-11 brings me peace and hope and makes me grateful every time I read it. It is my favourite representation of the Gospel message. While I was still a sinner and an enemy of God, He chose to send his Son to die for me. I am so grateful that God didn't await my realization that I needed saving for I'm not sure I would have ever come to that place. I get this is where the Gospel gets tricky for some who think it's all foolishness but for me? This is the heart beat of my faith. The friendship of God, the life and death and resurrection of Jesus. There is a completeness about the Gospel that I know I could never achieve on my own. 

I get that I live in a world that feels it has very little need of God, a higher power, or any thing greater than ourselves but I cannot live that way. The truth of Jesus is rooted into my very soul and I cannot live without the completeness of the Gospel message.

Those are my thoughts for today, they may not make sense to anyone but me but I'm still not sure I'm going to share this blog all that publicly as this exercise is really just for me but I suppose if my journey helps someone along the way, that's OK too. 

 

 


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