Surprise!

God is so good!!! My heart is squealing with excitement as it jumps for joy.

The Lord tells us that if we earnestly seek Him with all our hearts, we will find Him (Jer. 29:13). But what's even more amazing are the ways He finds us when we're not even looking! These kind of surprises are glorious and leave me awestruck every time.

Last night, I was reading a (Christian) book, and though I'd heard all of it before, I found myself continually pausing. I had some worship music on in the background, and I would end up singing, journaling, and searching through the Bible for the verses on my heart.

I am so desperately in love with how God reveals more of His truth to me in new ways every single day, often multiple times a day. I'm not a naturally excitable person. If I do get excited about something, it fades fairly quickly; I get over it. But the grace presented to me in Jesus Christ is the exception to that rule; in fact it is the only exception. The minute I think about it, my heart comes to life once more. God really knows how to break through all of our walls and reach the hardness of our hearts, no matter how much our sin and love of self has controlled our lives.



I wrote this prayer last night:
God, You truly amaze me. Your love leaves me absolutely dumbfounded. Earlier tonight, when I was reading, I kept stopping because You have such a hold on me, Lord. It's like nothing else I've ever felt! It's incredible to think you would come down here for me. Your one and only precious Son lived a perfect life amidst and entire world of incredibly imperfect people who looked everywhere but at You. And then He died. He died for our sins. He died to save the very people who spat in your face, who mocked and beat You. I thank You for bringing me to the cross right now, not just with my head, but with my heart. I thank You that through Jesus,I can be real before Your throne. And I can't talk about Calvary without the resurrection; I mean wow! What a way to show who's really in charge! Without Jesus, we'd all fear death. But You showed us the Way. You gave us life, and demonstrated your absolute authority over everything. I thank You, Abba Father, for coming down as Jesus to meet humanity in the broken sinful place we all are. And I thank You for Your Spirit that has come tonight to meet me where I am. Your love is shown by its daily renewal in my soul; it's never old, never boring, never overdone. God, I just love being here with you. I love You so, so much, Lord. You are my everything.
In Jesus' Name, Amen.

Come near to God and He will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will lift you up. James 4:8-10