Saturday, December 24, 2011
Saturday, December 3, 2011
beloved.
One thing is for sure: I want to go home. With a mixture of being in bed sick/missing the people i love most, its been one of those weeks where I have found myself longing to be with those who know me best. There are MANY days that I am thankful that I struggle with being lonely while away at school. (I can hear my mom say "hard things are good things!") There are many hikes and talks, and much growth that would not have happened with my Savior this semester, had I not been forced to run to His open arms. However, even though I recognize this, I often find myself running to other places searching for love and security. Where can I run to find freedom- from my sin; my longing to be loved; my desire for something secure. These are the questions my heart wants to know.
I am His beloved.
So often, I choose to reject Jesus' tender voice. I run from places where I can be alone with Him. And I find that this is the single most important reason that I choose to forget His truth. When we choose to be alone with God--to talk, listen, or just BE in His presence, we are able to sit and listen to the voice that says, "You. you. you, child. You are my beloved!" This is the place where we are most known-the pretty and the ugly; the place where Jesus touches our core and speaks to the deepest part of our being and says, "i know you perfectly and you are my beloved daughter, you are my beloved son." When we are not claiming that those sweet words belong to us, we cannot walk freely in a world of brokenness. I am certain that many of us, myself included, are not free in the way that Jesus intends. we search. we look. we beg. We want love-someone, somewhere to fill us, and satisfy this longing...but we just don't know where. So we live our lives, begging for affirmation and praise. We are far too proud of our success, hoping that others will notice; and we are far too destroyed by our failures, terrified that others will see our weakness. Our identity is not that "we are His beloved," rather our identity is wrapped up in some person or thing that temporarily fills this void; until we have to move on to find another. This world screams, "Impress me. Show me that you are really worthy of love." In the midst of the crowd yelling out to "crucify him" Jesus chose to listen to the voice of His father. He didn't live on earth to impress, people please, or have his followers "like" him. He already knew that He belonged to His Father; and He knew His father was delighted in him. Unlike Jesus, so often my freedom is not rooted in claiming my belovedness. His voice is always whispering, "you don't have to prove anything, you don't have to search or look or wander. You are already mine."
I love that I am His beloved. I love that He loves His people with a never ending-never giving up love. I love that in a world that is full of people seeking praise, love, and attention, the beautiful thing about being His beloved, is that I am already loved; my worth and value are found in Him. It frees me to stop looking for love in all the wrong places.
It frees me to rest that I am loved deeply.
I am His beloved.
So often, I choose to reject Jesus' tender voice. I run from places where I can be alone with Him. And I find that this is the single most important reason that I choose to forget His truth. When we choose to be alone with God--to talk, listen, or just BE in His presence, we are able to sit and listen to the voice that says, "You. you. you, child. You are my beloved!" This is the place where we are most known-the pretty and the ugly; the place where Jesus touches our core and speaks to the deepest part of our being and says, "i know you perfectly and you are my beloved daughter, you are my beloved son." When we are not claiming that those sweet words belong to us, we cannot walk freely in a world of brokenness. I am certain that many of us, myself included, are not free in the way that Jesus intends. we search. we look. we beg. We want love-someone, somewhere to fill us, and satisfy this longing...but we just don't know where. So we live our lives, begging for affirmation and praise. We are far too proud of our success, hoping that others will notice; and we are far too destroyed by our failures, terrified that others will see our weakness. Our identity is not that "we are His beloved," rather our identity is wrapped up in some person or thing that temporarily fills this void; until we have to move on to find another. This world screams, "Impress me. Show me that you are really worthy of love." In the midst of the crowd yelling out to "crucify him" Jesus chose to listen to the voice of His father. He didn't live on earth to impress, people please, or have his followers "like" him. He already knew that He belonged to His Father; and He knew His father was delighted in him. Unlike Jesus, so often my freedom is not rooted in claiming my belovedness. His voice is always whispering, "you don't have to prove anything, you don't have to search or look or wander. You are already mine."
I love that I am His beloved. I love that He loves His people with a never ending-never giving up love. I love that in a world that is full of people seeking praise, love, and attention, the beautiful thing about being His beloved, is that I am already loved; my worth and value are found in Him. It frees me to stop looking for love in all the wrong places.
It frees me to rest that I am loved deeply.
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