LOVE BEYOND COMPARE

As I sat by the noisy hotel pool talking with an amazing woman of God I just met, with a rocky past similar to mine, I was reminded just how precious each and every one of us are to the Lord! His desire is for every single one of us to have a deeply intimate relationship with Him! His plans for us are so amazing that they're completely beyond our understanding! It's so awesome that despite all that we have gone through, we can see how He was right there comforting and encouraging us every step of the way. I frequently hear people having the same mental struggle that I once had...if God loves me so much, why did He allow me to go through the things I went through?! The answer, though it alludes many, is quite simple. God is a gentleman! He does not force Himself upon anyone! This includes the people who have hurt us in the past, and the damage we have done to ourselves! When I was in abusive relationships in the past, God was not absent, nor was He egging on the men abusing me! He was shouting into their ears to stop, while He was whispering comfort in my ear to help me remove myself from what was happening! The problem lies in whether or not people choose to listen to His voice! He has never once abandoned me, just like He has never once abandoned any of His children! Unfortunately, so many don't know the Father's voice! The only voice they know, and the only voice they have ever listened to, is the voice of the liar. This voice echoes in their ears that what they are doing isn't so bad. "Its not like you're hitting her with a closed fist or killing her." "She wants this just as bad as you do." "She should have known better than to mouth off to you." We can always tell what voice people are listening to by the words that come out of their mouths. When someone is speaking words of hate, fear, condemnation, selfishness, and the like, we know that they are listening to the liar. It may not be their fault though. They may have never come face to face with their true identity. They may have never had someone be bold enough to share the love of Christ with them, and tell them how amazing they are. They may have never been able to discern between the voice of the liar and the Voice of Truth because the world speaks so much louder. The world tells you that if it feels good, do it. The world tells you that if you're not hurting anyone, that what you're doing is ok. The truth is that you could be hurting YOURSELF very much in the long run. When I first started dating an older man involved with gangs I thought to myself, "This will be fun! He always has a different fun car, all the drugs and alcohol I want without paying, never being told what to do, fun parties, lots of money, and I get street rep! What could possibly go wrong?" Before I knew what I had gotten myself into, I was stealing cars, jacking old ladies, selling drugs, robbing my friends, getting so high and drunk I couldn't remember what happened, getting gang banged, getting smacked around, and getting choke slammed against walls! When I finally realized how deep I had gotten, it was too late...or so I thought. The truth is that it is never too late to turn your life around. You are never too deep, too dirty, or too messed up for God to come in and change your life around! He is always pursuing you! Always waiting for you to accept the offer of salvation through His Son! And even though the religious spirit tries to make it seem like a long drawn out process...IT'S NOT!  Once you fully surrender your life to Christ the old is gone, and THE NEW HAS COME! The only "process" is growing in intimacy with God, and moving from glory to glory! There is no more "struggle"! Does this mean that you will never have tough circumstances in your life? Of course you will! The difference is that now you know the Voice of Truth and He guides you into ALL righteousness! He gives you such amazing joy and peace that nothing in this world can take it away! You see people through eyes of love, not self-seeking! You pray for people from a place of deep desire for them to experience the sublime joy that you yourself have, not from a place of making your life easier/better! It's a total surrender though! You can't be both of the world and live for Christ! Does that sound hard? If your answer was yes, then you are holding onto a false sense of control and a life that you were never created for! The harder is to keep living two lives like you have multiple personalities. It is a huge struggle to hold onto "yourself"! I know! I did it for 6 1/2 years! I would preach the gospel while getting drunk or high with my friends. They all saw me for what I was...a hypocrite! Unfortunately I left a bad taste for God in a lot of people's mouths. I have many, many friends that have since died of overdose, suicide, drunken driving, etc that could have known Jesus and be living today if I had only taken Him seriously! Now don't get me wrong...I am not living with any sense of guilt or condemnation, which is exactly what the enemy would love to have me stuck in. If I had known then what I know now, they would still be alive. I am confident in this claim, and I boast that confidence in the Lord! The difference now is that I have determined to never hide my light again! My love for Christ will shine so brightly that it will be a beacon of hope to every single person I encounter for the rest of my time on this earth! Jesus is desperately in love with you, and I promise you will never, ever find a better offer anywhere! Won't you quit this silly charade of making excuses and just give Him your life today?! I promise it will be the best decision you have ever made! Jesus loves you, and so do I!!!