I am utterly thankful for the goodness and mercy of God. I have been granted a personal relationship with God through the sacrifice of His Son Jesus upon the cross. I speak with God on a daily basis and He answers, although not always in the ways I want or anticipate, and sometimes like a rebellious little child I put my hands over my ears to stop from hearing things I do not like or wish to obey. But, He always, always is there loving me regardless.
You see His love is not rooted in the things I do, or do not do, the boxes I check, the tasks I perform, or the sins I avoid. His love is rooted in the redemption and sacrifice He made through His Son to rescue humankind from sin and guilt. "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus." (Romans 3:23-24, NIV)
It is because of this lavish gift of love, this undeserved redemption that I can now stand in the presence of God and commune with Him. I am washed clean of my sin by the blood of the Lamb, shed for me on the cross. It is not anything I have done, but what God has done for me that allows me access into His presence. Only by faith and repentance am I able to receive this wonderful gift. Only when my heart is pierced though, illuminated by the conviction of the Holy Spirit, that I can truly recognize how much I sin against God and others, and can stop justifying or making excuses for my sins.
Only when the morning rays of light reveal this glorious truth, “I have been crucified with Christ; it is not longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now life in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me” (Galatians 2:20, NKJV), can I step forward into this new life and rejoice that I am loved by God and have a home with Him forever. #givethanks
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