I have been privileged to grow up in a world of love. Not many can say that.
I was checking out a non-profit organization called "To Write Love On Her Arms" (http://www.twloha.com), and was reading the stories about the depressed, hurt, and lost individuals who found Hope again. These stories of redemption inspired me to write this particular Daily Bread.
There are so many people out there who are alone and hurting. Maybe it is even you. And while I cannot offer you all the answers that you seek, I can direct you to One who can: Jesus. He wants to be your Valentine. He wants to give you Love. But not just for one day. He won't be the guy who is there for you one day, and gone the next. He won't be the girl who says she loves you and then dumps you for someone else. He won't abuse you, He won't abandon you, He won't hate you, or cause you pain. He is Love, and He is Hope.
How do I know you ask? Well to be honest I haven't experienced the same painstaking stories as so many individuals out there, but I have experienced a Gift that would change my life forever. And this gift is for everyone.
Gift, you ask me? Flowers? Chocolates? Oh goodie you think.
No, this is not a worldly gift that only satisfies for a moment. It is not the kind of gift you only get once a year on the world's version of Love Day. Nor is it a gift that leaves you feeling even emptier inside. This is a gift that cleanses your heart, your mind, your spirit, your life. We can't erase from memory what we have done in our past. But we can be made new again, with a new purpose in mind, and grow from the hurt and pain we have experienced into beautiful people of God.
If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting mens sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 2 Corinthians 5:17-21
This gift is True Love. Jesus gave it when He died on the cross for you. For all of us. He gives it day after day as more and more are drawn to Him. He gives it 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. He gives it to all of His loved ones, because He loves us. He loves you.
God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8
This love is so true, so holy, so genuine, that you want it to fill you up forever. You want to it to overflow and you want to drink it up.
So while some of us may not have experienced such soul-wrenching feelings as many out there have, we often find ourselves drifting away from Him regardless. Not drinking in the Love anymore. Why? How could we stop? Is it because we are not as "lost" as others? Phishtosh. The reality is, we are all lost.
We all need His gift of Love. There is hope for all of us. So if you are searching for something, and you don't know what it is, come to the Father right now, and He will give you what you seek. He will fill you up with the fire and love that will heal you and restore your broken pieces.
He restores my soul;
He leads me in the paths of righteousness
For His name's sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil;
For You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. Psalm 23:3-4
The question is now, what are we going to do about it? Will we take His gift? What will we do with it? Will we take Him as our loved one? He did. And He is ready when you are ready to come to Him.
For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:38-39
So if you fear you are lost, and that no one cares for you, and all you want to do is make it all go away, just remember that there is One who will always hold you in His arms and tell you how much He loves you. It's not a fluke, it's genuine. Once you experience it, His Love will help set you free from the shackles holding down your soul.*
Feeling the love,
Whitney
