Like buses...

When you open up to God, He has an uncanny ability to communicate with you...funny that...


Bearing the last post in mind (which I posted little over 40 minutes ago), I have been back to surfing the net and quite randomly came across this 'inspirational letter'...(I find that term very american and empty but the content is excellent!)

It has to be more than a coincidence...

Dear Child:
I just wanted to remind you today of how beautiful you are because there is a father of lies who will try to deceive you. He will try to tell you that you are not good enough, not attractive enough, not thin enough, not strong enough, not smart enough, not righteous enough, and that you are simply unimportant to Me.
He will try to tell you that you have broken one too many promises, that you have fallen one too many times, that you have lived one too many lies, and that you’ve been going in the wrong direction so long that it is pointless to turn back now.
But guess what?
YOU DO NOT BELONG TO HIM. HE IS NOT YOUR FATHER.
I AM.
You see, you are My creation. My workmanship. You have been borne of My thought, every part of you placed together by My hands. You have My thumbprint upon you. You are a princess, did you know that? You are My child, the child of THE King!
I look at you and see a precious, priceless pearl. There is no ocean I would not swim, no mountain I would not climb, no price I would not pay to have you and to be with you and call you My own.
I already have.
I have done all that I could, given all that there is. I desire to be with you every moment of every day. How I long for you to talk to Me every day. My love for you never grows cold. My promises are never broken (contrary to what he might lead you to believe). My character never changes.And you, my child have been made in My image.
I love you dearly, unconditionally and completely. I understand every emotion that you have. I’ve been there. I count every tear that you cry. I know every hair on your head.
And do you know what?
I even know your weaknesses and your failures and your fears. I know those hidden parts of you that you wish would go away. Those dark corners of your world that you stuff deep down, praying that no one will ever see. I have already seen them and they will not change my love for you.
Nothing will.
I love your heart and I desire all of it.
I just wanted to remind you today of how beautiful you are and how precious you are to Me.
With Unmeasurable Love,
Your Heavenly Father

Wow.

Pressing on...God delivers...

Last night I was challenged to start to actively seek what God wants for me and to hear what God thinks of me. To confront the fact that God loves me regardless of what I may think of myself.

This has obviously been playing on my mind because I have been up for hours and it is only just 9am. I woke up with a headache and a feeling of tension. After procrastinating for a while watching documentaries on the 'net, I bit the bullet. What was supposed to be a prayer to God to say...well...I'm not sure - I just felt like I should pray...became a cry for help. Through the prayer I realised that I cannot come to accept God's love in my heart (my head got it ages ago) in my own strength, because the part of me that says I am not good enough, or worth it, is far stronger than the part of me that wants what God wants for me. I have to rely on God's strength...

With this knowledge I took my first baby steps...and allowed a few tears...and I felt God say 'Ephesians 3'. Just for the benefits of the skeptics out there, I have no idea what Ephesians 3 says (and would by nature be inclined to look at an even number as I don't like odd numbers - so I know that I didn't choose the scripture). I read it and found this jumping out at me: (bold emphasis added by me)

¹⁴ For this reason I kneel before the Father, ¹⁵ from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. ¹⁶ I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, ¹⁷ so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, ¹⁸ may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, ¹⁹ and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.  ²⁰ Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, ²¹ to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

Now, it is possible that I am reading into this passage but when you consider that there are 1189 chapters in the Bible and that they cover all sorts of topics, most of which would be irrelevant to me at this moment in time...I think it would be more foolhardy to think that this is just a coincidence, although I do still leave room for the possibility that some will think this. I am CHOOSING to have faith that God gave me the passage.

What the passage says to me (the bold bits in particular) is that God is bigger and better than my situation. He is able to deal with what I cannot. That His love surpasses all the knowledge that I am currently trying to deal with. And that Christ can only find a home in my battered heart, if I am faithful. I need to suspend my earthly thinking and simply trust God.

I have a feeling that there may well be more tears to come...acceptance is a hard pill to swallow.

Rejoicing in death...strange...

So today brings the news that Osama Bin Laden has 'finally' been killed by American forces. There is so much to say on this topic, not to mention the conspiracy theories that are now doubtless doing the rounds.

More than anything I am more concerned with the unabated joy of people all over the world...status upon status on facebook reads like a victory call 'Osama is dead - today is a good day' etc. Now I am not in any way condoning the acts of atrocity that Osama Bin Laden has taken 'credit' for, I still remain disgusted at the events of 9/11. But I am also reminded of the swell of hatred incited from the pictures of people celebrating the demise of the Twin Towers...I am sorry to say that the West's crowing about his death is likely to have the same effect in reverse.

It is difficult to claim a victory over a man who fears nothing - even death. In fact his death now make him a martyr in his followers eyes...it is possible that he will become more powerful in his death than he ever was alive.

I remain worried for the mentality of a world where death is a cause for celebration - no matter how evil the person's actions may have been. Especially when the death will have little effect on the cause he stood for...or worse, may inject fire into the minds of those who twist the words of their faith.