A Love Worth My Pursuit

What if I told you that I knew exactly who you were destined to marry? 

What if this person, the one God has divinely chosen for you, were sitting beside me right now? Would you take a moment to enjoy the excitement that this statement brings and then move along with your day, or would you do everything in your power to learn more about the one who has become your fate? I know that if the tables were turned on me, I would want to know every little detail you could muster for me. What is he like? Optimistic?  Moody?  Comical? Strong-willed?  What are his interests? Where is he from? Most importantly, how deeply does he love the Lord?

This is exactly how we should respond to God… He is our Creator and any hope that we have in a future. He is our fate and yet, too often, we go about our lives as if it doesn't matter whether or not we really know Him. Let's assume we pray every day -and I mean really pour our hearts out to God. What does that leave us? Relieved? Yes, we should cast our cares on God, but what are we learning about Him in doing so? Our culture has taught us how to analyze ourselves, to solve our own problems, and to discover what makes us happy. Here's the ironic thing... God already knows all of this about us and more. In fact, He knows more about our hearts than we, or any other human, will ever discover. One of His many names is Counselor, which means that He is all-knowing, with a solution to every problem and compassion deeper than any pain. He knows everything about you from the hairs on your head, which He has numbered, to the toes on your feet. What's lacking in this relationship isn't what God doesn't know about you... it's what you don't know about Him.

Isaiah 54:5 says “thy Maker is thine husband…” If you are in Him, you are tied to Him in every way imaginable. He is your future. The love He has for you is stronger than death and sweeter than life. Does this leave you in awe of Him in even the slightest bit? We are all too often jaded by the world to truly see God for who He is, or to enjoy Him to the capacity that we are allotted as humans. 

What should we do about it?

 Worship. 

The realization of who God is, when I’m blessed enough to have it hit home, rocks me to my core and leaves me breathless. There is nothing left to do but to worship. 

In worship today, I journaled a little bit about who God is and what He has done:

“The only Holy One. The Great I AM. You took darkness and MADE light. 

You took nothing and made everything. You took sin and created holiness, righteousness, purity.

You took a forsaken, hell-bound people and crowned them with Your glory.

You took children of the world and gave them Your inheritance.

You took the record of every sin I’ve ever committed and with Christ’s blood, erased it all.

Though my life is like a flash in the night, You delicately hold my future in Your hands.

You care enough about Your people to tame the oceans, which tremble in fear at Your voice and immediately obey.

With one breath, You fill my lungs with life everlasting.

You took an unfaithful wretch seeking earthly lovers and made her Your bride.

King of kings, You came here to wash our feet. 

Most glorious of all, though beautiful and majestic, You were killed in the most gruesome of ways. On Your hands are the names of the men whose hands nailed Yours to the cross… not to condemn them, but to save them. 

You took the bitter, cold, solemn grave and made it jubilant, peaceful, and sweet. You took Satan’s last weapon- death- and brought us victory through it.”

Praise Him for all that He is: a love worth our pursuit.

“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom.” –Psalm 111:10

Here Comes the Groom

Here Comes the Groom

November 24, 2010

So long have You been planning the day

When I would give my heart away.

Before I knew what love entailed,

For my love, You took 3 nails.

For Your last breath up on that post,

My “old man” could give up the ghost.

On the third day, You rose up for me;

And it was I who dropped to one knee.

Fearful and broken, I knew You deserved more,

But for a reason I’ll never know, You loved me to the core.

You took the record of my sin and nailed it to Your cross;

Gave me a white wedding gown and said there was no loss.

And I’m so in love; I’ll never look back.

You’re all I could want; there’s nothing I lack.

In the mirror, I lift my veil.

If there once stood a sinner, now I can’t tell

Because that mirror that I’m looking through

No longer sees me; it will forever reflect You.

Complete Your perfect work in my heart

And prepare me for our marriage to start.

I long for the day, and pray that soon,

I’ll be able to sing “here comes the Groom.”

Divine Romance... poetry-style

The 'lover' in this poem represents the world/satan and all that we follow when we're not following Christ. I hope this can create a picture of redemption for you!

"Divine Romance"

November 24, 2010

I knew of Your love and I turned the other way

I laughed at Your forever and accepted his “today”

I let go of Your passionate gaze and took hold of his hand

He offered to be my rock, which was firm as sand

Empty promises and sweet nothings did he whisper in my ear

Your powerful voice announced a warning that I chose not to hear

Out of the light, I ran away into the shadows

Mysterious and luring, he led me straight to the gallows

The sand under my feet started sinking, pulling me in

Over and over, I was cut by knives of my own sin

I had no one to lean on; my lover ran away

Why had I taken the hand of one who would lead me astray?

“Father! Father!” I called out, but my sin disgusted You

So You sent Your perfect Son, who immediately came running through

I turned my head away, couldn’t see the disgust on His face

But when I looked up, it was filled with passion, love, and grace

The only way to save my life was for Him to die

And as He marched up to the cross, I began to cry

Surely He didn’t know about me; this could never be true

But before He took His last breath, He said, “Meredith, this is for you.”

Immediately, my bloody gown turned white

And God in Heaven loved me with all of His might

Three days did I cry and mourn, my heart heavy with guilt

When suddenly, Christ walked in and broke the barrier death built!

As fast as my feet would carry me, I ran into His arms

Gone were satan’s accusations; demolished were his charms

My tears covered Christ’s feet as I fell on my face

I washed them away with my hair; I’d never known such grace

I am my Beloved’s, and my Beloved is mine

Nothing could ever pull me away from a romance this divine

Divine Romance

Have you ever noticed how the most romantic scenes are those in nature? You’ve heard the old clichés… a picnic in the park, a walk on the beach, a starry night, fields blanketed with snow, etc. Maybe that’s why honeymooners typically head to the most naturally beautiful places in the world, which are also places of solitude. For that week, all they want to focus on is each other and the newness of true love.

            A few weeks ago, I found myself overwhelmingly lost in romantic feelings when I took a stroll in the park after a long, peaceful run outside. When I sat by a creek to rest, I couldn’t help but to get sucked up into the romance of nature. I lay there on the soft ground beneath a canopy of limbs, leaves, and vines and watched birds soaring through the air and squirrels dancing on branches as the sun’s rays gently caressed my skin. The melody of running water flowed to my ears and the smell of honeysuckles and cedar was intoxicating. This was romance at its finest.

            That’s when I realized something… I was love drunk, but I was by myself. More than that, I was smelly, sweaty, and unappealing to any onlooker close by. I didn’t feel beautiful or attractive by the world’s standards. Still, the smile that had grown on my face could not be removed and the joy in my heart danced with no intentions of stopping. I was in love and it had nothing to do with the fleeting, selfish, skin-deep love that the world practices daily. I was in love because I was being romanced by the very One who created all of the images and senses that I was enjoying.

            You see, the world’s got it all wrong. Before God transformed my heart and mind on the issue of love, I would have thought, “This moment would be so romantic… if only Mr. Right were here with me…” When I did share romantic experiences with subjects of my affection, I felt less than satisfied. In fact, I was always left disappointed and dejected. Whoever I was with never seemed to fully get what was so romantic about mountain scenery, star gazing, or why I would want to go for a walk in the park… just because. I always seemed to blame this on men, concluding that they just weren’t romantic or thoughtful when, in fact, I was the one looking for romance in all the wrong places.

            The truth of the matter is that as a society, women look to men to fulfill all of their dreams and desires. Whether we admit it or not, we want to a man to come riding in on his white horse and scoop us away. We want someone who will protect us and make us feel comfortable enough to lay our armor down, making ourselves vulnerable for him. We want true, deep, passionate, undying love that will last forever. We want someone to look deeper than our surfaces to see the real beauty within… beauty that will only become more radiant with age. We want to find that one man who will persevere to jump all of our hurdles and go through fire to be with us, and then appreciate and respect us for as long as we live. Our hearts ache to be cherished, to have someone sneak glances at us when no one is looking and to do all that they can to figure out all of the little things that make us who we are. Here’s the catch… there IS a man who does each of these little things every single day. Jesus Christ’s love was so deep, passionate, and true that He would have laid His life on the line for us. In fact, that’s exactly what He did. He died so that we could be with Him forever. Christ will never get tired of or grow out of your beauty because the beauty He sees in you is the very beauty He gave you (1 Sam 16:7, KJV).

            Every romance contains some sense of mystery and the adventure of discovery. This one is no different. The Bible refers to Christ’s love and this unique relationship as a mystery many times (Matt. 13:11, 1 Cor 2:7, 1 Cor 15:51, Eph 5:32). Just like in most romantic relationships, this love changes you. As Christians, we become so amazed at God’s “love letter” (the Bible) that we read it over and over again, dying to know more about what He likes, doesn’t like, how He feels about us, what makes Him happy, when we’ll get to see Him again, etc. The funny thing is this: as perfect as our Lover is, He cares enough to want to know about us, too! Of all that He has created, He sees us as precious and actually wants to spend time with us. Over and over again, God tells us that He wants us to come to Him and tell Him how we feel, what we think, what we care about, etc. (Heb 4:16 and Phil 4:6).

The book of Hosea describes God calling us back to Himself, or romancing us to be with Him, in verse 14 of chapter 2 when he says, “Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably to her.”  I fully believe that this is exactly why God made nature so beautiful and serene; it is attractive to us and invites us to spend time alone, which leads us to being “in the wilderness,” or away from the world, with God. My heart was so engaged in the nature walk I mention previously because that’s exactly what God’s purpose was. He created nature to capture our attention and leave us standing in awe at the works of His hands so that we would be drawn to Him and praise Him.

Whenever God addresses a woman in the Bible, He speaks to her tenderly and affectionately, which is why I believe that one of His purposes in creating nature so beautifully was to bring romance to the relationship between Himself and the women of His elect. In the Song of Solomon 2:10, part of the love song says, “…Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away.” God is calling us to Himself, not as a group of people, but as individuals. He specifically tells us to “…Rise up…” and “…come away (KJV).” How many times have you sat in your room wishing for something more? I challenge you to take a walk outside by yourself and pray. Pay attention to the smells and sounds of nature and to the beautiful scenery that God has blessed you with. Take a blanket outside on a cool night and lay under the stars talking to God. There is no doubt that the more time you spend with God, the more you will fall in love with Him. There is absolutely nothing to lose, but everything to gain. Jeremiah 29:13 says that “…ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.”

            Stop waiting. Stop wishing. Start falling in love with your King.