Thursday, February 24, 2011

Receiving Means Giving




For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh. This is a profound mystery — but I am talking about Christ and the church. -- Ephesians 5:31-32 


I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth. My life makes its boast in the Lord; let the humble and afflicted hear and be glad. O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together. -- Psalm 34:1-3


I will do my best to communicate what the Lord is showing me. It may be difficult to express, for I feel that I, myself, am only just beginning to catch a glimpse of all that is there for me to grasp onto and grown into.

This morning I finished reading One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp. The Lord is using this book to transform me and completely change the way that I think and see.

Through this book, God has been teaching me so many things. Some of those things are that if He is good, He is always good. That He loves me and wants me to be in union with Him. To be in union with Him, I have to accept His love and receive the ways He shows His love for me. I receive them, by seeing them, accepting them and giving thanks for them. I need to let Him love me.

The picture He gave me was of me standing in my kitchen working at getting supper ready for my family. This is a time that my husband likes to come up behind me and wrap his arms around me and burrow his face into my neck. He is showing his love for me. All he wants me to do is to accept it and respond in a loving, grateful way. He feels loved when I receive his love. But, the majority of the time, I shoo him away, telling him that I am busy and that he is keeping me from getting what I need to get done.

Was God trying to show me that all around me, every day, He is showing me He loves me, but was I rejecting His "advances" because I didn't like how He was showing me His love?
 
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD. -- Isaiah 55:8

Fortunately, God does not do things the way I think He should. And for now, while I am on this earth, I see things through a clouded glass. So, I do not always see how what He is allowing in my life is good, or evidences of His love. But He is ALWAYS good. He will never stop loving me. He works everything together for my good. He will never leave me. He will never forsake me. I am never out of His care.

I can trust Him.

How do I show Him love?

By giving thanks.

2 comments:

none said...

This is such a beautiful post and I feel I've found a wonderful treasure by coming across your blog. :-)

It can be difficult to accept God's love. Often we can feel unworthy of it or just don't give Him enough time. This post reminds me to receive Love and not push Him away, to not constantly point out my imperfections.

P.S. I'm a new follower to your blog :-)

Christa said...

Hi Jade! Thank you so much for your kind words and for sharing with me.