Jesus gave His life on the cross so that we may join Him one day in heaven - knowing full well the worries and joys of all of our hearts. He still wants to give to His children, though. If I gave the ultimate sacrifice, I think I'd be set on being generous for a long while. He loves us all so dearly that He wants to keep giving to us constantly. How amazing!
The thing Sarah writes about here that our Lord wants to give us is His peace, which we've learned a lot about in this book. She said, "To increase your intimacy with (Him), the two traits you need the most are receptivity and attentiveness." We need to be able to receive Him with our hearts focused on His peace, glory, presence, power and generosity.
Lord - THANK YOU for knowing our hearts. Thank You for still wanting to give us Your perfect peace even when we are no match for your love or glory. Thank You for being unpredictable - we may think we know where our lives are going but You can turn them in another direction so quickly. Thank You for having our truest best interests at heart - we know we're in good hands. Thank You for Your strength! You are beyond all boundaries we may surround You by here on earth, You can accomplish anything. Thank You for being a God of Love, not punishment. Thank You for my family and the amazing environment You have put me in. I love You, Lord! Thank You for being extremely generous and thank You for the gift of Your son that You gave all of us. We love you!
Love to all!
Dearest Katie!
ReplyDeleteI love you! This was so awesome. The same exact things stood out to me in this entry. I was challenged by the two things that increase intimacy with the Lord. Receptivity and Attentiveness. I looked up the last verse she provided and was so moved by it!
Isaiah 26:3
"You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts you."
It seems so simple- but it forced me to recognize the concrete ways in my life my mind does NOT focus on the Lord- Bravo TV anyone??? :)
That's the attentiveness that I'm lacking! I can't be attentive when I freely choose to watch, listen to, talk about, or think about things that are so of this world! Because usually what follows a day or an hour that is not focused on the Lord are unfortunate things like insecurity, doubt, worry, or complaint!
SO I've chosen with the Lord's help to be MORE receptive to His goodness and LESS attentive to the lies of this world!
AMEN!
LOVE YOU!