God, Fully Involved in My Life

Today, I had to cross two people off my Prayer For Healing prayer list. Not because they were healed, but because they had passed away.

I have had a really rough couple weeks on the inside in my heart of hearts, and it just didn't seem like it was getting better. It isn't because I'm upset that God didn't heal them, or even that I'm discouraged or baffled. I'm just sad. I'm sad about a lot of things in this world.

I'm sad that evil wins a lot. I'm sad that holiness and righteousness in on the decline. I'm sad when I realize that I am just one small person who probably isn't going to be able to change the world. I know this may sound awfully negative, but the sadness I feel cannot even compare to what God must feel.

What must our Father in heaven feel? He hates sin, sickness, and disease, surely He is upset when the righteous pass on due to it. Surely He hates when wicked people mistreat the just. The boiling of His anger and sadness I cannot begin to try to comprehend. I use to think the president of the United States was a busy guy flooded with all the problems of the nations, think about what our Father in heaven is flooded with. and yet He continues to stay involved in my life.

He is so involved in the details of my life, it's not even fair how He cares for me. It's so underserved that He paid a price for me at all. Even today, I reflect on all the tiny details of my life He completely orchestrated. The miracle of it all...

Oh, His kindness. Oh, His Mercy.

"I Look into Your eyes of mercy... I remember that Your heart is for me..."

Jon Thurlow chorus

I just encourage you to tune into the OneThing Conference happening right now in Kansas City, you can watch for free here: http://www.ihop.org/onething/

-gina

The God Who Pursues Me

In meditating on His love, I can't help but see how He has always been the one who pursued the relationship. It absolutely blows my mind to think about the uncreated God of the universes planning on how He will win my heart from the foundation of the Earth!!

Have you ever thought on this? I mean, really contemplated this?

"He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved." Ephesians 1:4-6

He chose.

From the foundation of the world.

He actually waits for us to come to Him, like a Father waiting for his child to cross the street, His eyes fixed on His son. Watching his son, everything around him, eagerly anticipating him to come. In Jeremiah 7 God is speaking to the people of Israel saying:

"... I spoke to you, rising up early and speaking, but you did not hear, and I called to you, but you did not answer," Jer. 7:13

God is always speaking, always reaching out to us. I have lived many days of feeling like He wasn't there, wasn't listening, and certainly wasn't interested. This is why I have re-committed myself to finding passages like this, and confessing the truth about God, who He is, and What He really says in His Word.

One last good passage to meditate on:

"Therefore the Lord will wait, that He may be gracious to you; and therefore, He wil be exalted, that He may have mercy on you." Isaiah 30:18

He actually is waiting for me, drawing me to Him. Oh! I need to soak on this a little longer!

If you haven't heard this chorus by Jon Thurlow, it has really been soaking this theme of How God Feels About Me in.

I'm holding on to Your divine love

I'm holding on and I'm not letting go

It's not my zeal, it's that Your love is strong

It's not my strength, it's that Your faithful

Prayer for today:

Thank you Jesus, for Your unrelenting pursuit of me. Thank You that You never leave me or forsake me! (Hebrews 13:5) Your always with me, oh the comfort of knowing the Comforter. Thank You Father of glory, amen.

The God Who Wants Me

I've been meditating on how God, the God of the universe, the God who spoke everything into existence, greater than the stars, bigger than galaxies- that BIG ONE GOD, that HE looks at me with desire

Do you know what it is like to feel undesirable? To feel like you aren't good enough? Your maybe not the best singer, speaker, teacher, parent, leader, etc. You feel sometimes like you don't measure up? I feel like that a lot, yet, HE looks at me with desire in His eyes. He actually wants me.

"Oh my dove, in the clefts of the rock, In the secret places of the cliff, Let me see your face, Let me hear your voice, For your voice is sweet, and your face is lovely." Song of Solomon 2:14

That He looks at me, and desires me, is unthinkable. That the uncreated God of the universe looks at me, that He even gives me a glance with His eye, but more than a glance, He looks with passion and desire in His eyes. Oh "such knowledge is too wonderful for me, it is high, I cannot attain it!" (Psalm 139:6)

"...His eyes were like a flame of fire..." Revelation 1:14

The burning in His eyes, oh the burning in His eyes. Father of Glory, reveal Your Son, Christ Jesus, to me, the one who knows me, sees me, and desires me. Oh God, acquaint me with His passion and desire for me. Be real to me, amen.

The God Who Listens

"Lord, what is man that You take knowledge of him? Or the son of man, that You are mindful of him?" Psalm 144:3

One of the most profound ways the Lord has been showing me how He feels about me is in that He listens to me. We are mere men made from dust- sure we think we are great and glorious in our own works, but when we stop and look at the planets, the stars, the galaxies, and the universes yet to have been discovered, we are just dust. However, though we are dust, He looks at us! He actually bends low to listen!!

One of my personal pet peeves is when I have something that is really serious and important to me I am trying to share with someone, and I don't feel like they are giving me the attention the nature of the topic deserves. Not that for every time I am talking to someone about something, but I remember one time in particular, before my husband and I were engaged, and we were talking on the phone. We were at the stage of getting to know each other where we were sharing our childhood memories, etc. I was telling him of personal things that had happened to me as a child and it was a serious conversation. He interrupted with something menial, or off-topic, which made me feel like his mind was wandering while I was pouring my heart out!

After that incident, he knew how important it was to me to feel listened to. When I'm talking about something that is emotional to me, I want eye contact. I want "face time". T=I am not talking about menial chatter- I mean heart talks deserve eye attention.

Now you can understand why knowing God is listening to me is so important. It goes back to the age old question- "Why pray if God is going to do what He wants anyway?" If God was not listening, and not desiring human involvement in His creation, why do we have voices to cry out? Why couldn't "thought" prayer be enough? No, He wants us to talk, and He is there to listen!

Here are a few verses to pray:

"I waited patiently for the LORD; He inclined to me and heard my cry." Psalm 40:1

"Now I know that the Lord saves His anointed; He will answer from His holy heaven with the saving strength of His right hand." Psalm 20:6

"As for me, I will call upon God, and the Lord shall save me. Evening and morning and at noon, I will pray and cry aloud, And He shall hear my voice." Psalm 55:17-18

"But certainly God has heard me, He has attended to the voice of my prayer." Psalm 66:19

Here is a prayer for today:

Father, I am so thankful today as I remember how You love to listen to me. Though men get tired of my voice, you never tire. To you my voice is sweet, and my face is lovely. You have invited me to talk to You night and Day, and You love to hear me! Father I thank You that when I speak You listen! And today talk to You, the God who listens to me, and I am confident in Your attentiveness. Thank You Father for fellowshipping with me, looking at me, and giving me Your attention. Thank You oh God that Your eyes are ever on me! You look right in my eyes when I am talking, and Your mind does not wander! You perfectly listen to me! You incline to me, You bend down close to hear me! Oh God, thank You for how You have revealed Your loving kindness to me! In Jesus name, Amen.

Happy Thanksgiving,

- Gina

The God Who Loves Me

"Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so..."

Well, we have all heard that song, but where does the Bible really say that? I remember several years ago going through a dark time of depression when I thought to myself, "Lord, I know You love me, but I don't believe it right now." And honestly, I could not think of a scripture passage, other than John 3:16, that said God loved me, and even John 3:16 wasn't satisfying me - because it says He loves the "world", not me.

Years ago I began looking up passages for meditation on this issue, so that I could get it settled in my heart, that He really does love me. Have you ever felt that way? Maybe some people don't struggle with knowing how God feels about them, but for me it has been something I am finding I need to review very often! My list has really expanded, but for now, here are a few good ones for meditation.

“He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love.” Song of Songs 2:4

“But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8

“But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ.” Ephesians 2:4

The LORD has appeared of old to me, saying: “ Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore with loving kindness I have drawn you.” Jeremiah 31:3

Prayer For Today:

Father of Glory, today I receive Your love for me. I declare Song of Solomon 2:4 over my own life, that You have invited me to Your house, and You have put a banner of love over me. You have declared Your love for me! You are not shy in stating how You feel towards me, You have made it clear, that You love me, and You have invited me in. In Your eyes I am not a stranger or a servant, but I am Your daughter (son) whom You adore! You love me so much that You demonstrated Your own love toward me, even while I was yet a sinner, You died for me! I declare that You have loved me with an everlasting love, a love that will not quit, nor fail! You are fully committed to me!

Father, I confess there have been times I have doubted Your love for me, I have not felt like I was a part of Your family, but an outsider. But today, I declare that I am Yours, I belong to You, and I receive Your love. It is my identity. Thank you, Abba, for Your strong love toward me, that You never give up, that You continually pour out Your love. Thank You for strengthening me today in Your love. In Jesus Name, Amen.

This is a fabulous song to play, sink, soak to, and just let it soak in! Have a great day!

-Gina

The God of Hope

As I began the journey of meditating daily on how God feels about me, I began to feel hope arise in my soul. Of course, a great resource for the 'hope' topic is Bob Hartley.

I watched some of his videos online and began creating my own prayer book this week.

In my prayer book, I am adding verses for meditation, prayers to strengthen my inner man, and names of God for Adoration just to start. I realized that I needed a tool of my own, that was uniquely me to help me Adore, Proclaim, and speak the passages about Who God is to me.

"Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." Romans 15:13

Have you met God as the "God of Hope"? I have seen Him as the God of Hope, and this is what I am meditating of today. Here is my prayer and a video for this weekend devotion. Pray this aloud too if you would like, and comment a hope filled story to share!

Father, Your word says You are the God of hope, that You fill us with all joy and peace by believing. Lord I come to You, my hope, and I confess I have lacked hope, I have lacked believing in You to come through for me. I have forgotten this "face" of who You are, the God of Hope. But today, I look to You and confess that You are my hope, that You are the only source of hope for all mankind. Abba, I thank You for never giving up on me, for always waiting for me, and being tender and patient with me. I thank You for the hope that You are and You bring.

I remember when I was in darkness and had no hope at all, I remember days when I couldn't see through the clouds and hope for my future, and You came and restored hope to my mind and reassured me that my life was not over, that You indeed had a plan and a purpose for my life. Father, I come to You once again and look at this face, the God of Hope, that my soul would be lifted up once again. Amen.

Journey into Love - PART Three

I recently went through my heart history in a fraction of a second, like a flashing before my eyes, when I heard Bob Fraser share his desire for a revelation of the love of God. My heart leaped out of its skin remembering how I too, have ached and groaned for a deeper understanding of God's love.

Throughout my Christian walk I have been told about God's love, and prophetically that I am some kind of "carrier" of His love. Well, yes, of course we all are suppose to be messengers of His love, but for me it has been spoken over me that it is some sort of life calling, or life message, of mine to deliver the love of God to others. The only problem with that, is that I don't feel like a very loving person. I struggle just to believe God loves me, let alone anyone else. How can I get filled with God's love enough that it overflows out of me?

This painting that I did (pictured above) is a visual of just that. That I know God loves me with my mind, yet my heart struggles to believe because my life doesn't reflect the truth that I believe- at least not most of the time!

But I want to become a carrier of God's love, I want to walk into a room and the watch the joy of the Lord increase! I want to do all things out of an overflowing love for God.

Recently, at our Marketplace Impact Conference at Convergence House of Prayer, Bob Fraser spoke about how when he was seeking this revelation of God's love. He shared that over a period of four months or so, as he meditated and proclaimed by reading verses that declare how God feels toward us, he began to have a great increase in this area. As he was sharing that, I remembered how when I first started meditating on scripture, about four years ago, I asked the Lord, "where do I start"? The Lord clearly revealed to me that I needed to have faith increase on this topic of "How God Feels About Me". In fact, the first children's curriculum I began to write was called, "How God Feels About Me"! What happened? I think I must have dropped the ball, got off into studying other things and left this important meditation behind.

I feel so urgently now that I need to gain great revelation of this, that I am going to go after this for the next two months, really going after how He feels toward me. If you would like to come along for the journey, I will try to post as much as possible from now until Christmas on the topic.

If you would like more resources on Adoration and Proclamation, here are a few good ones! Let the journey begin!

- gina

http://www.bobhartley.org/index.php?option=com_jhshop&shoppage=Hope-Books%2FAdoration-Prayer-Book&Itemid=350

http://www.bobhartley.org/index.php?option=com_jhshop&shoppage=ACTS-Scriptures-Devotional-Prayer-Guide-by-Bob-Fraser&Itemid=350

http://somethingelserecords.com/