10.18.11

I hate that when I start writing it doesn't stop. I mean, that's also like me talking so I don't know why I'm shocked when I bypass the 1,000 word mark in under 10 minutes of typing. Sheeesh, I used to send like 1,000 texts a day when I had my blackberry. Touch screen texting is just miserable though. It takes longer, isn't convenient when you're trying to drive and shift gears. . . . It just sucks.

Oh yeah, I just had the impulse to write because this week I have felt like God has been so present in my life that it would probably be wrong of me NOT to give a little praise.

I think that it is absolutely incredible that the more we open our hearts, the more He chooses to come in. He truly understands the concept of meeting us halfway, of answering when we call, opening when we knock, and appearing when we are searching. Why does He make us such a priority??

Because we are His children, created out of love, with the sole purpose of bringing Him pleasure. He didn't need us to make the universe complete, but He wanted us. How amazing is it to know that we were not an unplanned accident, but something that God's heart desired and that He takes delight in. We are like that first child that loving parents pray for, plan for, prepare the baby room for and wait expectantly for. They give everything of themselves for that child, then follow it attentively around when it begins to walk, they give it everything it requests and make sure it has the best of the best. That is us and God. He is a Father who can't think of anything more rewarding than time with us, granting our requests and being near to our hearts.

I have been learning so much about God lately, and He has been teaching it to me through the people He has placed in my life. This week has shown me that despite the issues I have with living here in Yuma, this is where He has placed me. He is a God who knows what is best for His children, and He has a path for me that begins here in the middle of the desert. But the atttribute of God, other than love, which we all know is a HUGE thing for me right now, that I am discovering is His Justice.

Not Justice like commit the crime, do the time kind of thing. But justice as in what is RIGHT. Justice and Righteousness are the foundation of the throne of God. I have been seeing that the more I know God the more I find situations around me to be a source of actual grief for myself. I see people with broken lives and situations that are just all wrong and my heart aches. I realize that desiring justice isn't about wanting revenge or anything of the sort, instead it is the need for wrongs to be made right.

The fact of the matter is, our entire world needs justice. We live in a world that is broken and torn appart and destroyed by the enemy. As I seek God's heart I find that my perspective is changing. Where I was completely self centered and asking God to give me this, give me that, do this, do that, I am finding that as we know Him, we are given a capacity to see outside of ourselves.

My obsession with the beatitudes hasn't gone away.

 ³ “God blesses those who are poor and realize their need for him,
      for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.
    ⁴ God blesses those who mourn,
      for they will be comforted.
    ⁵ God blesses those who are humble,
      for they will inherit the whole earth.
    ⁶ God blesses those who hunger and thirst for justice,
      for they will be satisfied.
    ⁷ God blesses those who are merciful,
      for they will be shown mercy.   
   ⁸ God blesses those whose hearts are pure,
      for they will see God.
    ⁹ God blesses those who work for peace,
      for they will be called the children of God.
   ¹⁰ God blesses those who are persecuted for doing right,
      for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.

I don't even have anything to say after that passage because the Word is so powerful. As we know Him we are changed. As we read the Word are hearts and minds are transformed and renewed. Our patterns change, and what we value changes. I am in this place of transition right now where I feel everything just changing. What I care about is changing, how I spend my time is changing, and even my sense of what is right and wrong is becoming aligned with what is actually right and wrong. I love that noone has forced me to be different but that truly God's Spirit has done its work inside of me.

I always explain it that when light shines into darkness, the darkness has to leave. The more light we shine into our lives, the more darkness leaves until eventually we are transparent and are able to allow His light to shine out through us. I wouldn't begin to claim that I am there yet, but I am finally in a place where I am confident to say that He is doing a good work in my life.

He is the Creator, and in Him we live and move and breath. He is the Author, the Finisher, the Perfector of our Faith. And even in moments when our faith is small, fragile, weak, barely there, He is strong and mighty and ready to move on our behalf.

Because He is a God of justice He seeks to right wrongs. He seeks to heal wounds, to mend broken things, to straighten things that have been twisted. . . He restores that which as been taken, He strengthens the weak, He gives new beginnings, He ressurects that which has been dead, He fills the empty and He finds the lost. This is My God.

I am out of words today, because I am in awe of the Glory of the One who created everything we have, who watched humanity fall into sin, created a path of redemption and who patiently waits for hearts to turn to Him. That He would know MY name. That He would hear My call. That He would LOVE me. I am so blessed.

<3 Emma