God is Love

Since my DTS last year I’ve been craving deeper intimacy with God. I want it all the time. On my DTS I think the characteristic I really understood deeply was God’s faithfulness. He is so faithful. He’s always there. Always dependable, always loving, always has a plan. I saw his faithfulness everywhere… you can trace it thru my life. He has blessed me in so many ways.

For the past 7 months God has been teaching me a new part of his character. I have been so captivated by his love. During the January DTS I really began to understand more of the fatherheart of God. He loves us so much as his children. I’ve felt God’s heart break when a student says they don’t feel his love, or don’t want him. He loves us so much that we honestly can’t understand it… to understand his love would be too much for us to handle. It’s so incomprehensibly huge. As I see evidence of it all around, I am so blown away. What a blessing to have a God that loves us… who wants relationship with us more than anything else… we don’t have to strive for his love… he reaches out and gives freely. It’s hard to feel worthy of that kind of love. I know I’m not deserving of love from such a powerful God and creator, yet he wants to love me!!!! The more I understand this, the more I want to share it with anyone and everyone. God craves that relationship with each person! As I began to understand more of the fatherheart of God… I began to see my worth through his eyes. His is the only opinion that matters! As I look through the Bible… it’s easy to see what he thinks of me… to see his love. It’s so much more powerful than any other kind of love I’ve ever felt!

When I was traveling in East Asia, I was having a few really tough weeks. I was so discouraged. I know eventually I am to move to Asia, and the thought of going by myself was so scary. I want someone else there with me to encourage me and push me when I’m ready to quit… who I can verbally process everything with. I asked God to speak to me about this… to give me assurance or direction. He not only confirmed that I would be moving to Asia, but he also gave me something so much better than I could ever have imagined. For the next few days I saw God’s love for me in a whole new way. He was romancing me. As I went about my day, things would happen that brought so much joy to my heart. For example: we went to a university and there was a beautiful little overgrown courtyard tucked away but somehow I found it. It was something I’d seen in my dreams but this was real! Everyone else thought it was cool, but I literally started crying. It’s hard to explain exactly what it meant to me, but it showed me that God knows me better than anyone else ever could. He knows my hopes and dreams, and he will provide. It was such a tangible reality of his love. As we continued walking, there were many more things like that. It was honestly overwhelming. I realized that God has so much more to offer than anyone on this earth. He will always give me what I need, but He’ll also give me that joy. I know it may not make sense… writing it is so difficult to describe, but I KNOW beyond a shadow of a doubt that God loves me more than anyone on this earth ever could. Later on that day, we walked down this small path that was literally covered with my favorite flower, daphne. It was planted all around us and even draped over us like a canopy. It was beautiful, it smelled like heaven, and I knew once again that it was God. I picked a small bouquet of them and still have them pressed in my journal to this day. It’s such a beautiful picture of God’s love.

Now as I read 1 John, I love his words. Everything he says is dripping with love. He experienced God’s love! I feel like I have had that happy experience also. I could never explain it in words, but I pray that more people will seek that love. God gives it so freely and it is the most joy I’ve ever felt in my life.

Song of Songs has also captured my heart. It's a love message… “All beautiful you are my darling, there is no flaw in you.” God loves us so much that he looks past all of our flaws. His view of us is so much better than anything we could ever imagine!!!

I'm so in awe of His love, his grace, the hope he brings. His love endures forever.