This blog is for you, my #1 fan... I have had you on my mind ever since this weekend. I don't think you realize how much I love you, and how much my heart cries out for you. I see your tears. I know you hate to see me hurting, and just the same I hate to see you hurting. I see years of pain buried deep inside of you that I want so badly to fix. You are my sister, you have been there my entire life. Not too many people know me like you know me and not too many people can understand your pain like I understand you. I love you and I want to take away the damage that has been done but I am at a loss for words. Still, I will try my best to speak the Lord's words, not my own.
I know you believe in Jesus as your Savior and I know you know about God's love, but do you know about His forgiveness? Do you know that He DOES love you? Do you know that He has forgiven me of all my sins and He will forgive you too? I want you to forget about choosing to be lukewarm, hot, or cold. Get that sermon out of your head. My sister, you have made many wonderful choices in your life too. We all stumble, we all have our weaknesses, and we all struggle with surrendering our lives to God. But that is why Jesus had to die on the cross for us; we NEEDED someone to save us because our sin's were too great for us to carry on our own. God knows this, He knows your deepest secrets; He knows more than your husband knows about you, and He still loves you more than your husband could ever love you. He wants you to trust Him. Our God is not a hateful God, He longs to have the life that He created be saved. Therefore, He does not make it an obstacle coarse in order for us to obtain salvation. It's very clean cut and easy. With faith the size of a mustard seed, the Lord will save anyone with a willing heart.
"For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son." John 3:17-18
I know you believe, it is very obvious. You wouldn't be hurting so much if you did not believe. You have been made to feel as though you need to live a perfect life FIRST in order to be saved, I was made to feel that way too. But my sister, God showed me that I can not come close to perfection until AFTER I am saved and place my faith in Him. Even then, you know I am definitely not a perfect Christian but I strive to be more and more, day by day. No man, no relative, no pastor can judge you. They have no rule under God to tell you if you are saved or not. Only God has that authority. But we can counsel one another and encourage each other to lift our hearts up to Jesus.
"There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you, who are you to judge your neighbor?" James 4:12
The Lord does not judge our actions as much as he judges our heart.
"Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts." Psalm 139:23
"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such there is no law." Galatians 5:22-23
You are all of those things; I see your fruits and I believe God see's them too. God knows your heart, my sister. He knows what you truly desire, where your heart finds peace, and it is NOT His will for you to feel unworthy to come before Him. Technically, we are all unworthy of His love but that is the awesomeness of our Lord and Savior, that even a murderer could turn to Him and be saved. Amen. If that is true, then you are definitely nothing short of being saved and to be perfectly honest, I do not know that you haven't already been saved. Only the Lord knows. But what I do know is that UNINTENTIONALLY you have been made confused just as I was for many years. That does not come from God, He is NOT the author of confusion (1 Corinthians 14:33). Our Father in Heaven does not want you to be confused about His love for you, He wants you to open up to Him and see that He does love you and He does care about every little thing you go through in life. He wants to laugh with you, be joyful with you for your beautiful children, be the shoulder you cry on in times of need, and He wants to answer your prayers. His love is the greatest love you could ever know and you are just as capable of experiencing it as I have been.
I hope that this blog finds happiness in your heart. It is never my intention to burden you more, but to help you carry your burdens. I just love you so much and it breaks my heart to see you the way you were the other night, but I understand how much pain and confusion there is behind each tear. I've been there before, and I can tell you there is so much relief on the other side. Nobody is telling you that you have to change your life, your actions, etc. That is between YOU and GOD. If you put your faith in Him, He is faithful to give you the convictions you need in your own heart. You will not be able to miss them, He will make them evident. And likewise, He will shape your heart to WANT to hear His convictions. But it is not up to anyone, including yourself, to decide what is right and what is wrong for your salvation. That is something that comes from God with a growing heart. It is not fair for anyone to expect you to change immediately, and I'm not sure that there is much you need to change at all; you are a wonderful person. Again, let God be the judge of that. He will not lead you astray.
I do not want to force God upon you and I will not. But you know that I love you and I am here for you. If ever you want to talk, even if hurts to talk about it, it is good to have a friend to let it go to. You know I am here no matter what you need. I am grateful for all that you've been to me, and I pray that I can return at least half of the favors you've done for me. I love you and I hope you don't mind that this blog is for you.
---
UNTITLED HYMN
by Chris Rice
Weak and wounded sinner
Lost and left to die
O, raise your head, for love is passing by
Come to Jesus
Come to Jesus
Come to Jesus and live!
Now your burden's lifted
And carried far away
And precious blood has washed away the stain, so
Sing to Jesus
Sing to Jesus
Sing to Jesus and live!
And like a newborn baby
Don't be afraid to crawl
And remember when you walk
Sometimes we fall...so
Fall on Jesus
Fall on Jesus
Fall on Jesus and live!
Sometimes the way is lonely
And steep and filled with pain
So if your sky is dark and pours the rain, then
Cry to Jesus
Cry to Jesus
Cry to Jesus and live!
O, and when the love spills over
And music fills the night
And when you can't contain your joy inside, then
Dance for Jesus
Dance for Jesus
Dance for Jesus and live!
And with your final heartbeat
Kiss the world goodbye
Then go in peace, and laugh on Glory's side, and
Fly to Jesus
Fly to Jesus
Fly to Jesus and live!
I know you believe in Jesus as your Savior and I know you know about God's love, but do you know about His forgiveness? Do you know that He DOES love you? Do you know that He has forgiven me of all my sins and He will forgive you too? I want you to forget about choosing to be lukewarm, hot, or cold. Get that sermon out of your head. My sister, you have made many wonderful choices in your life too. We all stumble, we all have our weaknesses, and we all struggle with surrendering our lives to God. But that is why Jesus had to die on the cross for us; we NEEDED someone to save us because our sin's were too great for us to carry on our own. God knows this, He knows your deepest secrets; He knows more than your husband knows about you, and He still loves you more than your husband could ever love you. He wants you to trust Him. Our God is not a hateful God, He longs to have the life that He created be saved. Therefore, He does not make it an obstacle coarse in order for us to obtain salvation. It's very clean cut and easy. With faith the size of a mustard seed, the Lord will save anyone with a willing heart.
"For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son." John 3:17-18
I know you believe, it is very obvious. You wouldn't be hurting so much if you did not believe. You have been made to feel as though you need to live a perfect life FIRST in order to be saved, I was made to feel that way too. But my sister, God showed me that I can not come close to perfection until AFTER I am saved and place my faith in Him. Even then, you know I am definitely not a perfect Christian but I strive to be more and more, day by day. No man, no relative, no pastor can judge you. They have no rule under God to tell you if you are saved or not. Only God has that authority. But we can counsel one another and encourage each other to lift our hearts up to Jesus.
"There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you, who are you to judge your neighbor?" James 4:12
The Lord does not judge our actions as much as he judges our heart.
"Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts." Psalm 139:23
"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such there is no law." Galatians 5:22-23
You are all of those things; I see your fruits and I believe God see's them too. God knows your heart, my sister. He knows what you truly desire, where your heart finds peace, and it is NOT His will for you to feel unworthy to come before Him. Technically, we are all unworthy of His love but that is the awesomeness of our Lord and Savior, that even a murderer could turn to Him and be saved. Amen. If that is true, then you are definitely nothing short of being saved and to be perfectly honest, I do not know that you haven't already been saved. Only the Lord knows. But what I do know is that UNINTENTIONALLY you have been made confused just as I was for many years. That does not come from God, He is NOT the author of confusion (1 Corinthians 14:33). Our Father in Heaven does not want you to be confused about His love for you, He wants you to open up to Him and see that He does love you and He does care about every little thing you go through in life. He wants to laugh with you, be joyful with you for your beautiful children, be the shoulder you cry on in times of need, and He wants to answer your prayers. His love is the greatest love you could ever know and you are just as capable of experiencing it as I have been.
I hope that this blog finds happiness in your heart. It is never my intention to burden you more, but to help you carry your burdens. I just love you so much and it breaks my heart to see you the way you were the other night, but I understand how much pain and confusion there is behind each tear. I've been there before, and I can tell you there is so much relief on the other side. Nobody is telling you that you have to change your life, your actions, etc. That is between YOU and GOD. If you put your faith in Him, He is faithful to give you the convictions you need in your own heart. You will not be able to miss them, He will make them evident. And likewise, He will shape your heart to WANT to hear His convictions. But it is not up to anyone, including yourself, to decide what is right and what is wrong for your salvation. That is something that comes from God with a growing heart. It is not fair for anyone to expect you to change immediately, and I'm not sure that there is much you need to change at all; you are a wonderful person. Again, let God be the judge of that. He will not lead you astray.
I do not want to force God upon you and I will not. But you know that I love you and I am here for you. If ever you want to talk, even if hurts to talk about it, it is good to have a friend to let it go to. You know I am here no matter what you need. I am grateful for all that you've been to me, and I pray that I can return at least half of the favors you've done for me. I love you and I hope you don't mind that this blog is for you.
---
UNTITLED HYMN
by Chris Rice
Weak and wounded sinner
Lost and left to die
O, raise your head, for love is passing by
Come to Jesus
Come to Jesus
Come to Jesus and live!
Now your burden's lifted
And carried far away
And precious blood has washed away the stain, so
Sing to Jesus
Sing to Jesus
Sing to Jesus and live!
And like a newborn baby
Don't be afraid to crawl
And remember when you walk
Sometimes we fall...so
Fall on Jesus
Fall on Jesus
Fall on Jesus and live!
Sometimes the way is lonely
And steep and filled with pain
So if your sky is dark and pours the rain, then
Cry to Jesus
Cry to Jesus
Cry to Jesus and live!
O, and when the love spills over
And music fills the night
And when you can't contain your joy inside, then
Dance for Jesus
Dance for Jesus
Dance for Jesus and live!
And with your final heartbeat
Kiss the world goodbye
Then go in peace, and laugh on Glory's side, and
Fly to Jesus
Fly to Jesus
Fly to Jesus and live!
Powerful words my friend. Scripture says in Revelation, "They overcame him [Satan] by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony", and this is how it starts. Write on sister, and spread His love and truth.
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