good news

You hear the gospel being referred to as the "good news". And, it is!

Last night at small group, I realized something. It's a simple thing that I already knew, but for some reason, it became so clear....

I'm in LOVE.

I am so in love with my creator. I love to spend time with Him. And why wouldn't I? If you get to know Him, I will GUARANTEE you will love Him too. How can I guarantee such a thing? Because, He IS LOVE. He doesn't just show love, give love, accept love....no....HE IS LOVE. There is nothing in the world like it.

As humans, our capacity for love is limited. It is often earned or contingent on performance or behavior.

But, when you go to God with an open heart, ready and willing to accept His FREE GIFT OF LOVE....you receive it. Bam! That's it. He loves you. No deals or bargains or promises. He extends love as a free gift. Now, your response is up to you.

I, for one, am thrilled to love Him in return and therefore honor Him as my Lord and worship Him and ask His advice and try to obey Him. But...just to be clear....I don't do ANY of that to earn his love. He is love. He loves. He couldn't love me any more or less than he does right now. I worship and obey him because I LOVE HIM!!!!

We talked in our small group about getting to know Jesus and how to do that. We even gave ourselves a rating on a scale of 1-10 on how we thought we were doing seeking him. Well, I am not a fan of those stupid 1-10 scales, but, this time I was able to answer pretty high. Not because I am good at obeying or reflecting his character, that is a whole different subject.

But, when it comes to seeking Him....I'm THERE!

Here's the thing. Why wouldn't I crave and desire to hang out with the most powerful force in the world...the one who spoke creation into existence? Yet, with the same power, He focuses right on ME and LOVES ME in a way that I could never experience from any other source! He looks me right in the eye, affirms me, tells me I am wonderfully made, promises to NEVER let me down, NEVER leave me, NEVER stop loving me, NEVER give me a reason to stop trusting him. The bible tells me that he sings and dances because he loves ME so much!

But, here's another thing....I BELIEVE HIM. I truly believe His claims and promises and love for me to be TRUE. I didn't always believe those things, so spending time with him seemed like a waste of time and energy.

So, I guess what I am saying is: Stop trying harder and start SEEKING and BELIEVING and TRUSTING. When you experience the love that Jesus offers you...when you truly experience that depth of love and honesty and truth, you will crave it. You will be so excited to hang out with him and to worship him and to obey him and to take a look at your own character and try to make changes to be more like him.

I even admitted in small group that sometimes I am excited when going to bed at night because I know that when I wake up in the morning, that is my quiet one on one time with God. That is my time to be showered with love and truth and purpose and grace (undeserved love and forgiveness). Who wouldn't be excited about waking up to that?!

Please don't get me wrong. When I say that I am doing good on this scale...it measures my SEEKING. And, I am so in love, that I am high on the seeking scale. But, the truth is, the more time I spend in His presence, the more he will convict me of my shortcomings. So, I would not rate myself so high on how well I am doing at obedience and reflecting His love to others. I desire to do those things, but I fall short because I am struggling against my sinful and selfish nature. So, I am not bragging about myself at all...I am simply letting everyone know....

I'M IN LOVE! And that is GOOD NEWS!