Accepting God's love
Melanie - August 9, 2010
On Saturday I took my daughter Caroline and a friend to the pool. And since we have officially reached a new milestone, I was able to sit in a lounge chair and read a book while the girls played in the pool.
That sound you hear is the Hallelujah Chorus.
Anyway, I've been reading Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller and came across a thought that pretty much sums up one of the things I struggle with the most.
"Self-discipline will never make us feel righteous or clean; accepting God's love will. The ability to accept God's unconditional grace and ferocious love is all the fuel we need to obey Him in return. Accepting God's kindness and free love is something the devil does not want us to do. If we hear, in our inner ear, a voice saying we are failures, we are losers, we will never amount to anything, this is the voice of Satan trying to convince the bride that the groom does not love her. This is not the voice of God. God woos us with kindness, He changes our character with the passion of His love."
I needed the reminder that I cannot will myself to be good enough or to do all the right things. The discipline of reading my Bible every day merely becomes a discipline if it's not about my love for Him. And, most importantly, about His love for me.
Melanie
Melanie
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Sophie
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Comments (1)
Oh how I needed to be reminded that the voice of condemnation is not my Father’s voice but my enemy’s. Some days I want to shout to drown out the voice of the deceiver his refrain is so insistent. And yet, if I am very still and quiet, my Father’s voice will silence the voice of Satan.
I allow myself to be an easy target, I suppose, because of how some of the most important people in my life have treated me, even though I know I am who God says I am and that I have all of His love, not just part of it. He has always loved me and always will; His love is everlasting (Jeremiah 31:3). That means there has never been, never will be, a time when my heavenly Father has not loved me.
Reading the quote you shared caused me to remember what God told me a while back when I was especially grieving the loss of my father. I was really missing his presence even though he had died several years before. As I wept, I heard His still small voice saying, “Your relationship with your earthly father has ended, but no one can keep you from having a close relationship with Me, but you, Susan.”
Thanks for helping me remember that sweet moment.
Posted on August 10, 2010 3:08 PM