You Are Loved

You are loved.

Not because you get straight A’s or don’t get straight A’s in school.

You are loved.

Not because of your athletic abilities or lack thereof.

You are loved.

Not because of the good things you have done, or because of your past.

You are loved because you are His.

When you accept Jesus Christ as Savior of Your life and invite Him into your heart, you are His. And He loves you just as you are, the way He made you. Never forget that.

You are His masterpiece, and when He looks at you, He sees perfection. He sees a princess [or prince]. I know this can be hard to understand and even harder to really let seep into your soul, but just rest in the truth right now. You are loved, not because of what you have done, but because of whose you are. You are His.

~An excerpt from You Are Loved: Embracing the Everlasting Love God has for You, by Sally Clarkson & Angela Perritt

Sights of the Season

For everything there is a season,
    a time for every activity under heaven.
A time to be born and a time to die.
    A time to plant and a time to harvest.
A time to kill and a time to heal.
    A time to tear down and a time to build up.
A time to cry and a time to laugh.
    A time to grieve and a time to dance.
A time to scatter stones and a time to gather stones.
    A time to embrace and a time to turn away.
A time to search and a time to quit searching.
    A time to keep and a time to throw away.
A time to tear and a time to mend.
    A time to be quiet and a time to speak.
A time to love and a time to hate.
    A time for war and a time for peace

God has made everything beautiful for its own time.

~Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, 11

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Unashamed Because of Mercy

Yesterday I did something that I was ashamed of. I felt discouraged, frustrated, angry, and embarrassed. But as I look back on the incident and on how things worked out, I see that God wanted to teach me a lesson.

I had been hearing a song by Big Daddy Weave on K-Love (my favorite radio station) for several weeks, called “Overwhelmed.” The music is beautiful, but it was the lyrics that really had me thinking:

God, I run into Your arms
Unashamed because of mercy
I’m overwhelmed, I’m overwhelmed by You

I know the power of Your Cross
Forgiven and free forever You’ll be my God

All that You’ve done is so overwhelming
I delight myself in You
In the Glory of Your Presence
I’m overwhelmed, I’m overwhelmed by You

The phrase “unashamed because of mercy” stuck in my head, and I meditated on it for the next few days. Little did I know that God would give me an opportunity to experience the shame that comes from messing up and then the grace and mercy that flow from His heart when we confess and turn back to Him.

I just wanted to encourage you today–if you’ve messed up; if you’ve done something that you are ashamed of; if you’ve sinned in such a way that it feels like you can’t be forgiven–REMEMBER. God loves you. He forgives you when you admit your sin to Him (1 John 1:9). He longs to show you His overwhelming mercy and grace.

Come into His presence with boldness and thanksgiving (Hebrews 4:16), and don’t be ashamed. God’s mercy is great enough to cover all of our sins.

Praise Him!