I go to what might be one of the most amazing churches ever. We meet in a skating rink that is rented out to us on Sundays. Our motto is "no perfect people allowed". Everything about it is so real and genuine and I absolutely love it.
Last week our pastor talked about how God is constantly trying to talk to us we just usually aren't paying enough attention to hear him. He said one of the ways we hear from God is through scripture. I thought "Yeah, okay, that's like a thousand years old. A preacher can apply it to my life but I can't if I just read it." After thinking that to myself I was just like wow, I call myself a christian yet I don't see the point in reading my Bible? At that time I realized it's time to stop being such a hypocrite and give this "quiet time" every one talks about a try.
So after that I decided I would wake up 30 minutes earlier to read one chapter out of my Bible. The first day I read through the book of Matthew and came home and read more that night. It was like God spoke to me through every passage. It was so amazing.
This morning I was doing my daily reading and opened the Bible to Genesis 12:
"The Lord said to Abram, 'Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father's family and go to the land that I will show you. I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others. I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. All the families on earth will be blessed through you.'"
As I read this I just began weeping uncontrollably. How dare I think it takes a pastor to make the Bible apply to me. Even the very first book in the Old Testament directly applies to me. Granted, maybe not all of it, but definitely the call to leave your relatives and go to a foreign land. As I was crying, words of praise just began spewing out of my mouth. It is so amazing to me that I continuously make mistake after mistake and God continuously show me his love and tells me it's ok. His downpour of grace is so underserved but he does it anyway. That will never cease to amaze me.
The God I serve is such a loving God. No matter how filthy and disgusting and disobedient I've been, he sees me as a beautiful child of his and loves me unconditionally. That's the point I feel he wants me to get across to people on this mission. No matter the sin, God forgives. No matter how incomplete you feel, God makes you whole. No matter how far you stray, God is waiting with open arms.
I love you all and pray everyday that the downpour of love and grace God has given all of us, you will open your hearts and minds and see how amazing a gift it is as soon as your willing to receive it.
