My God is a loving God
if i could italicize the word loving in the subject line, i would do so, the uppermost ends of each character bending so far over they darn near touch the imaginary line on which they are typed. no other way, besides using my life as an example, could i emphasize just how loving my God really
so, to use my life as an example, let see what makes me so convinced:
1. Josh and i not living together. i was terrified at first, but our relationship has gotten ten times better. it shouldn't have been so hard to love someone. i feel like i'm 20 and we just met. we even go on dates! once we put all of our trust in God that He would provide, He provided tenfold.
2. individuals anonymous, members of the worship team for which i now sing provided funds for me to break my apartment lease early and reinstate my license. tim and kim moved me out themselves while i was in NC, a trip for which my dad paid. my dad also provided funds for me to pay the tickets that were keeping my license suspended.
3. i am now living with and have established meaningful relationships with kim and tim (josh's mom and stepdad if you didn't know). they affectionately refer to Cadence as their grandbaby and to me as their future daughter-in-law. it's very important to me that i respect and am respected by the parents of my husband. we're not married yet, but when we are, this relationship will be compounded and it will be Glorious.
4. because i asked my God to make me smarter than i am, and to give me self-control with my finances, He has blessed me as such. i will now be entirely out of immediate debt (besides student loans) by June. this is far sooner than i expected or could have even hoped.
5. i still have not found a job, but it has allowed me to bond with my daughter in such a way that i didn't even think possible in this day and age. she is fourteen weeks old now. i have stayed home with her for almost four full months.
6. i received a pell grant allowing me to return to school full time this summer and also purchase all my books without any financial difficulty. this is another reason i believe God has kept jobs from working out for me because this is HUGE. i've asked to be placed on academic probation until i can prove it isn't necessary. even when i fail, my God tests me over and over again until i pass with flying colors. this is a test to see if i can break the destructive cycle i hate falling into but can't ever seem to avoid (enroll excitedly, succeed admirably, crash irrevocably, lather, rinse, repeat). if i fail any one of these classes, i'll ruin my chances of receiving further financial aid or entering the nursing program in the fall--or making a good life for myself and my daughter. like i said, this is HUGE.
7. kim and tim have agreed with my plan to return to school full time, even if it means i don't work full time and don't have much money, just as long as i help around the house (more than i am able... i owe them a lot, they have done so much for me) and actually work toward achieving some of the goals i've set for myself. they too see the bigger picture and understand what i am trying to accomplish. our God is the same God.
you may wonder why i keep using the phrase "My God." well he is just that--mine. Mine is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, not that of Islam or any other religion. i feel i need to make this distinction and make it now. My God is not a God of law and submission, my God is a God of love and compassion. My God would never tell me the only road to salvation involves killing myself; nor have followers of my God twisted and distorted His word to make way for their own prophets. My God does not lead people solely to steal the blessings of others as Ishmael's descendants have done, or attempted to do, of Isaac.
Some say "who cares what religion you are, it's all the same god." i am here to tell you, no it is not. Jesus Christ was against religion because religion is about laws. Christ is about relationships. there is nothing you or i can do to earn salvation, because Christ has already done it for us. all we need to do is believe. He knows we are imperfect. that is why He exists, because He was perfect, and for our past, present, and future imperfections, He was crucified, fulfilling the Old Testament prophecy.
no terrorist attack, no suicide bombing, no black veil is going to deliver us; no judgment we can pass that makes us look better than someone else will give us the keys to the gates of Heaven. people say Christians are intolerant, yet we are the only ones not tolerated. i ask you, would you tolerate a murderer in your bed or a knife at your throat? we must be intolerant, but of anything that stands in the way of sharing the truth--that ALL NATIONS will be blessed under Christ our Lord Jesus. not just white liars, or little sinners, or those of this land or that land. ALL NATIONS. all we must do is accept the gift; eternity, bought and paid for.
so, to use my life as an example, let see what makes me so convinced:
1. Josh and i not living together. i was terrified at first, but our relationship has gotten ten times better. it shouldn't have been so hard to love someone. i feel like i'm 20 and we just met. we even go on dates! once we put all of our trust in God that He would provide, He provided tenfold.
2. individuals anonymous, members of the worship team for which i now sing provided funds for me to break my apartment lease early and reinstate my license. tim and kim moved me out themselves while i was in NC, a trip for which my dad paid. my dad also provided funds for me to pay the tickets that were keeping my license suspended.
3. i am now living with and have established meaningful relationships with kim and tim (josh's mom and stepdad if you didn't know). they affectionately refer to Cadence as their grandbaby and to me as their future daughter-in-law. it's very important to me that i respect and am respected by the parents of my husband. we're not married yet, but when we are, this relationship will be compounded and it will be Glorious.
4. because i asked my God to make me smarter than i am, and to give me self-control with my finances, He has blessed me as such. i will now be entirely out of immediate debt (besides student loans) by June. this is far sooner than i expected or could have even hoped.
5. i still have not found a job, but it has allowed me to bond with my daughter in such a way that i didn't even think possible in this day and age. she is fourteen weeks old now. i have stayed home with her for almost four full months.
6. i received a pell grant allowing me to return to school full time this summer and also purchase all my books without any financial difficulty. this is another reason i believe God has kept jobs from working out for me because this is HUGE. i've asked to be placed on academic probation until i can prove it isn't necessary. even when i fail, my God tests me over and over again until i pass with flying colors. this is a test to see if i can break the destructive cycle i hate falling into but can't ever seem to avoid (enroll excitedly, succeed admirably, crash irrevocably, lather, rinse, repeat). if i fail any one of these classes, i'll ruin my chances of receiving further financial aid or entering the nursing program in the fall--or making a good life for myself and my daughter. like i said, this is HUGE.
7. kim and tim have agreed with my plan to return to school full time, even if it means i don't work full time and don't have much money, just as long as i help around the house (more than i am able... i owe them a lot, they have done so much for me) and actually work toward achieving some of the goals i've set for myself. they too see the bigger picture and understand what i am trying to accomplish. our God is the same God.
you may wonder why i keep using the phrase "My God." well he is just that--mine. Mine is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, not that of Islam or any other religion. i feel i need to make this distinction and make it now. My God is not a God of law and submission, my God is a God of love and compassion. My God would never tell me the only road to salvation involves killing myself; nor have followers of my God twisted and distorted His word to make way for their own prophets. My God does not lead people solely to steal the blessings of others as Ishmael's descendants have done, or attempted to do, of Isaac.
Some say "who cares what religion you are, it's all the same god." i am here to tell you, no it is not. Jesus Christ was against religion because religion is about laws. Christ is about relationships. there is nothing you or i can do to earn salvation, because Christ has already done it for us. all we need to do is believe. He knows we are imperfect. that is why He exists, because He was perfect, and for our past, present, and future imperfections, He was crucified, fulfilling the Old Testament prophecy.
no terrorist attack, no suicide bombing, no black veil is going to deliver us; no judgment we can pass that makes us look better than someone else will give us the keys to the gates of Heaven. people say Christians are intolerant, yet we are the only ones not tolerated. i ask you, would you tolerate a murderer in your bed or a knife at your throat? we must be intolerant, but of anything that stands in the way of sharing the truth--that ALL NATIONS will be blessed under Christ our Lord Jesus. not just white liars, or little sinners, or those of this land or that land. ALL NATIONS. all we must do is accept the gift; eternity, bought and paid for.