Waking Up Me!

Extravagant. I keep hearing this word in regard to Jesus' love. Last night it was in a book I was reading called, Loved, by Rebecca St. James. Casting Crowns has a song. Your Love is Extravagant . I thought it must be written in the Bible for this particular word to be the one chosen to describe His love. It's not used in the Bible directly, though many use the story of Mary in Bethany using expensive perfume to anoint Jesus' head (Matthew 26:7, Mark 14:3) and feet (John 12:3). The disciples felt that was wasteful to do that when it could have been sold to give money to the poor. Instead, Jesus told them to not fret about it and to know that it was a beautiful thing she had done for Him. Her love for Him and desire to be with Him was always extravagant. If you look up extravagant , so much of how it is defined is so true of the love Jesus has for us as well:  Lavish; Profuse; Exceeding reason and necessity; Lacking in moderation and restraint; Excessively el...

In Paul's second letter to the Corinthians, he speaks about his dependence upon God: ...to keep me from becoming proud, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment me and keep me from becoming proud. Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong. 2 Corinthians 12:6-10 (NLT) Some might think God arrogant or unloving to allow such a thing to happen. We forget that it was the choice in the Garden of Eden that unlocked this sin. Our willful and wanton nature was our own undoing. We all have hardships that occur in our lives. Being born again, saved, a Christian or whatever term you relate to once you accept Jesu...

All day today--and for so long before this that I can't even tell you when it first began--God has been trying to get me to let go. To trust him. To turn to him. To embrace his Truth. Lysa TerKeurst who is the President and co-founder of Proverbs 31 Ministry as well as the NYT Best Selling author of Made to Crave which is a book I am reading about "satisfying your deepest desire with God and not food", writes things that speak to me. I have read her book "Becoming More Than a Good Bible Study Girl" (which I am ALL about!) and "What Happens When Women Walk in Faith" (okay, I didn't finish this one because it required work my heart wasn't yet ready to do and my mind wasn't ready to wrap around it yet). Lysa speaks with honesty and truth--from the Bible and her real life. She isn't perfect and doesn't pretend to be. I like real because I can relate. It reminds me that I don't have to be perfect to live by God's grace and mer...