Deeply Engaged

There are times when I find myself deeply engaged in thoughts of God and my life in Him.  Deep thoughts that take me to new places and help me in beginning to discover more of who God truly is.  Today has been one of those days and I am choosing to share my ponderings in hopes that they will encourage you to think more deeply and to take time to discover anew all that God is and wants to be in your life.  In my writing, I do not mean to draw any sure or solid conclusions, but rather to simply share where my mind has been and would openly receive any of your reactions or thoughts on the matter.  

The phrase 'the unconditional love of God' has become cliche and is something I think we use all too often devoid of any real meaning, and it therefore loses its power and we end up with hearts that remain unchanged by its truth.  It is so easy to gain intellectual knowledge of God without allowing it to affect our hearts.  "Until the love of God that knows no boundary, limit, or breaking point is internalized through personal decision; until the furious longing of God seizes the imagination; until the heart is conjoined to the mind through sheer grace, nothing happens.  The wild, unrestricted love of God is not simply an inspiring idea.  When it imposes itself on mind and heart with the stark reality of ontological truth, it determines why and at what time you get up in the morning, how you pass your evenings, how you spend your weekends, what you read, and who you hang with; it affects what breaks your heart, what amazes you, and what makes your heart happy."  The thought that God loves me as I am and not as I should be requires a re-thinking and a readjustment of my thoughts of myself.  As I grow in my life of faith, I feel a shift in my images of who God is and who I am.  How radically my image of God is changed when I begin to take seriously how deeply and passionately and unconditionally He loves me.  And how radically I must work through my own self image as I try to accept myself as loveable by God.  Christ emptied Himself, cried out from His heart with nails in His hands, and poured out His blood for us that we might believe in His deep love for His children.  How is it that we have come to imagine that Christianity consists primarily in what we do for God?  Our Christianity should never begin with what we do for God, but should always begin with what God has done for us and what He has achieved for us in Christ Jesus.  In a moment of prayer to my Father this morning, lifting my hands to Him and declaring myself as belonging to Him, I felt myself being embraced in His loving arms and being given the desire to live in His smile and to hold tight to His every word as I continue engaging in the battle of letting go of myself and clinging to the one who loves me unconditionally and has come to claim me as His own!  Abba, I belong to You!