"He is proud of You"

MORNING PRAYER: Almighty God, I bless you from my heart, O Savior of the World, God of God, Light of Light, you have destroyed the power of the devil, you have overcome death, and you sit at the right hand of the Father. Be today my light and peace and make me a new creature, through Christ my Lord, Amen.

Psalm 102, Ezekiel 34:11-31, Hebrews 8:1-13, Luke 10:38-42

¹⁹ “The LORD looked down from his sanctuary on high,
   from heaven he viewed the earth,
²⁰ to hear the groans of the prisoners
   and release those condemned to death.”
-Psalm 102: 19-20

  Not too long ago, tonight, me and my mother were in the kitchen cutting up a watermelon and she said, "Ya know, your dad is very proud of you." WHAT? I'm gonna just go ahead and point out that that is by far the sweetest words I have ever heard in my entire life. The sweetest, but most humbling words I will ever hear. But, isn't this what we all truly want to hear? How much greater would it be to hear it from our Master?! I have so much to learn, and the only thing that I am doing is trying, but that opened up some part of my mind that I haven't ever accessed before. It's given me a new kind of drive to try even harder to be the person God wants me to be, because He is showing me that when you live by His commands your life will display just that. I don't think I ever really knew exactly what that statement meant until now... I still don't fully understand it. It is amazing to me how He looks after us! This week, for some reason, I was feeling more down than usual and especially unnoticed. Yet another reason why what my mom said is blowing me away. The God that I serve notices me. In fact, there is never a second or millisecond when He is not thinking of me. There is never a time when He doesn't see and feel me as His child. How lovely is that? He see me when, ⁴ "My heart is blighted and withered like grass; I forget to eat my food," (Psalm 102:4) as well as when ⁷ I lie awake; I have become  like a bird alone on a roof". (Psalm 102:7)

The most amazing part about this is the fact that He loves me still. On KLOVE one day this week, Kelly and Scott were on and they were reading the Sarah Young devotion for the day, which, by the way, I have to buy ASAP. It is written as though God is speaking directly to you, and the one for this particular day had Jesus saying that He could easily just step right in and save us, but that He loves us much more than that. He goes on to say that He is waiting, longing for us to step in His direction and give Him our all. Once again, WHAT? This is some crazy stuff to think about. Not only do we "have such a high priest, who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, ² and who serves in the sanctuary, the true tabernacle set up by the Lord, not by a mere human being," (Ezekiel 34:1-2), but He longs for us. In all of His glory and majesty that could never be fathomable to us, He loves us. He loves me. Never will I understand this kind of love, but I plan to continue to strive to live a life worthy of spending the rest of eternity giving praise to the one who notices me. I LOVE YOU GOD.

EVENING PRAYER: Father, accept my imperfect repentance, show compassion for my infirmities, forgive my faults, purify my motives, strengthen my weakness, and let your good Spirit watch over me, and your love ever rule my heart, through the mercies of Jesus, I pray. Amen. 

 "For in the darkness and ignorance of this life, he is the light which enlightens the lowly of spirit; he is the love which draws us; he is the sweetening presence; he, the man's approach to God; he, the love of the loving; he is devotion; he is piety."
     Quote from The Mirror of Charity by William Thierry