I am writing this letter to you as part of your walk. I hope that you are enjoying yourself and growing closer to the Lord during this time of respite. Sometimes a time away is exactly what we need.
Several months ago I wrote something from a Max Lucado book on a small piece of paper and taped it to the mirror in my bathroom this is what it says:
God’s love never ceases, Never! Though we spurn him, ignore him, reject him, despise him, disobey him, He will not change!
Our evil can not diminish his love. Our goodness can not increase it.
Our faith does not earn it any more than our stupidity can jeopardize it.
God doesn’t love us less if we fail or more if we succeed.
God’s love never ceases!
One thing I think every Christian woman needs to understand right down to her core is how much God really loves us! As His creation we rejected him, abused him and ignored him – you did all of these things. If you think back over your life before you were a Christian you can recall times when god called out to you and you ignored His voice, times when you mocked Him, times when you rejected Him and anything He had to offer. He still loved you – despite all that – in spite of everything you have ever done – He loved you!
Not only did He love you, but when the time came for you to give your life to Him it was Him who chose you.
One of my very favorite verses in the Bible is this John 15:16
“16 You didn’t choose me. I chose you….”
I would like to say that I understood that verse since the day I became a Christian, but I did not. I wasn’t until I had to forgive someone, who did not chose me, that I understood that verse. I can not tell you how hard and how painful that was – but I can tell you that it made me understand just how much Christ loves me – and how deeply I had hurt him with my sin. In fact Ezekiel describes our sin in just these terms
Ezekiel 16:4-34
4 On the day you were born, no one cared about you. Your umbilical cord was not cut, and you were never washed, rubbed with salt, and wrapped in cloth. 5 No one had the slightest interest in you; no one pitied you or cared for you. On the day you were born, you were unwanted, dumped in a field and left to die.
6 “But I came by and saw you there, helplessly kicking about in your own blood. As you lay there, I said, ‘Live!’ 7 And I helped you to thrive like a plant in the field. You grew up and became a beautiful jewel. Your breasts became full, and your body hair grew, but you were still naked. 8 And when I passed by again, I saw that you were old enough for love. So I wrapped my cloak around you to cover your nakedness and declared my marriage vows. I made a covenant with you, says the Sovereign Lord, and you became mine.
9 “Then I bathed you and washed off your blood, and I rubbed fragrant oils into your skin. 10 I gave you expensive clothing of fine linen and silk, beautifully embroidered, and sandals made of fine goatskin leather. 11 I gave you lovely jewelry, bracelets, beautiful necklaces, 12 a ring for your nose, earrings for your ears, and a lovely crown for your head. 13 And so you were adorned with gold and silver. Your clothes were made of fine linen and were beautifully embroidered. You ate the finest foods—choice flour, honey, and olive oil—and became more beautiful than ever. You looked like a queen, and so you were! 14 Your fame soon spread throughout the world because of your beauty. I dressed you in my splendor and perfected your beauty, says the Sovereign Lord.
15 “But you thought your fame and beauty were your own. So you gave yourself as a prostitute to every man who came along. Your beauty was theirs for the asking. 16 You used the lovely things I gave you to make shrines for idols, where you played the prostitute. Unbelievable! How could such a thing ever happen? 17 You took the very jewels and gold and silver ornaments I had given you and made statues of men and worshiped them. This is adultery against me! 18 You used the beautifully embroidered clothes I gave you to dress your idols. Then you used my special oil and my incense to worship them. 19 Imagine it! You set before them as a sacrifice the choice flour, olive oil, and honey I had given you, says the Sovereign Lord.
20 “Then you took your sons and daughters—the children you had borne to me—and sacrificed them to your gods. Was your prostitution not enough? 21 Must you also slaughter my children by sacrificing them to idols? 22
23 “What sorrow awaits you, says the Sovereign Lord. In addition to all your other wickedness, 24 you built a pagan shrine and put altars to idols in every town square. 25 On every street corner you defiled your beauty, offering your body to every passerby in an endless stream of prostitution. 26 Then you added lustful Egypt to your lovers, provoking my anger with your increasing promiscuity. 27 That is why I struck you with my fist and reduced your boundaries. I handed you over to your enemies, the Philistines, and even they were shocked by your lewd conduct. 28 You have prostituted yourself with the Assyrians, too. It seems you can never find enough new lovers! And after your prostitution there, you still were not satisfied. 29 You added to your lovers by embracing Babylonia ,[a] the land of merchants, but you still weren’t satisfied.
30 “What a sick heart you have, says the Sovereign Lord, to do such things as these, acting like a shameless prostitute. 31 You build your pagan shrines on every street corner and your altars to idols in every square. In fact, you have been worse than a prostitute, so eager for sin that you have not even demanded payment. 32 Yes, you are an adulterous wife who takes in strangers instead of her own husband. 33 Prostitutes charge for their services—but not you! You give gifts to your lovers, bribing them to come and have sex with you. 34 So you are the opposite of other prostitutes. You pay your lovers instead of their paying you!
I want you to know God’s grace. Not just salvation – if you confess with your mouth and believe in your heart you are saved – but many many many Christians struggle to understand grace. God loves you! Out of His great love for you He gave His son to die – even after you had been unfaithful, even after every sin, every short coming, every flaw – Jesus chose you.
Ephesians 2:1-10
1 Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins. 2 You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil—the commander of the powers in the unseen world.[a] He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God. 3 All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature we were subject to God’s anger, just like everyone else.
4 But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, 5 that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!) 6 For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus. 7 So God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of his grace and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us who are united with Christ Jesus.
8 God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. 9 Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. 10 For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.
Grace, He keeps no record of wrongs, He treats you as if you had never sinned, He gives you the same standing as He gives His Son. Grace recreates so that we can accomplish the good things God planned for us long ago – knowing we would sin, knowing we would fall – God planned only good things and has only goodness towards us – that is true Grace.
I love you my sister in Christ,
Amanda
