All of a sudden, your words fell. They fell silently on my heart like the first drop of a soft rain. It was just a gentle nudge. A still small quiet voice in my head answered back, “You are mine.” My heart was humbled and full all at the same time. Did I hear that right? You were really listening God? You really care about me and my heart’s ramblings? And the thing that matters most to you God, more than all these roles and areas where I serve you, is just that I am yours?
UNHURRY HACK: When our soul is dehydrated, stop drinking what makes us thirsty.
FIRST READ: Psalm 42
No wonder I’ve been panting Lord, I am thirsty for you. Psalm 42: 1-2 (NIV) paints this kind of thirst beautifully, “As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?”
The Message Bible translates this verse, “I want to drink God, deep draughts of God.” Here I’ve sat wondering about the how and the what that you have wanted for my life, and all the while the thing that you wanted most was (and what you continue to want is) my heart. You want to quench my thirst. May I take in gulps of your love today Father. Being your child is the only role that fills me with your living water and leaves me thirsting no more. Let me just bask in this knowledge today. I am first and foremost your child. That is my greatest role. “Being yours” is and will be my greatest accomplishment here on this earth.
Lord, I want to gulp down your love today. I want to drink in so much of you that it runs out of the corners of my mouth. I am honored to be your child, your creation. You created me with limits, but you are the almighty. There are no limits to your strength and power, and love. You alone can fill my needs and the desires of my heart. When I look at my body and my skills Lord, the world might tell me I don’t have what it takes. You tell me I have the only thing it takes. When I say I don’t know who I am supposed to be, You tell me “you are mine.” Thank you Jesus. May I bask in this truth today. Amen.
Wondering how to know for sure that you belong to God? Wondering if you belong to God? Yes, well maybe…I’m not really sure. Does that express your heart? Would you like to know for sure? Put to rest once and for all that aching question? Perhaps your life is like mine was-a puzzle with a missing piece.
Think about your answer to these questions ? If you died today, where would you spend eternity? Do you know with 100% certainty that you would go to heaven? Can you remember where you were when you made Jesus your personal Savior? If not, then it may be time to do so.
Perhaps you remember asking Jesus to be your Savior, but you have walked far away from him. He’s never left you, your salvation is never lost, but you want to rededicate your life to Him. It may be time to do so.
Jesus was my missing piece. When I said yes to Jesus, I became whole-and I became HIS. The bible tells us in Romans 3:23 that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” From the best to the worst, every one of us is a sinner by nature and in need of a savior. That sin is what separates us from God. Jesus Christ is our only savior. Romans 3:24, tells us that all who believe are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. Friend, when Jesus died on the cross, he did it for you. He did it for me. He did it to save us from the penalty of sin which is death and an eternity apart from him in hell. That is how much God loves you! His salvation through Christ is a gift he extends to us, and we can receive simply by saying yes.
How? Just pray and ask. There are no magic words that will convert you. It is between your heart and God. Your prayer might be something like this:
Dear God, I come to you today. I acknowledge that I am a sinner in need of a Savior. I believe that your son, Jesus Christ died on the cross to save me from my sins. Only by your grace am I saved, nothing I am or do will save me. Father, on this day (today’s date), I want to receive Christ once and for all. Come into my life Jesus. I put you in charge and make you Lord of my life. I want to follow you all the days of my life. Thank you for your gift of salvation.
If you just prayed that prayer, then welcome to the body of Christ! Friend, I am excited for you! This is a big day! The heavens are rejoicing and you can put to rest the uncertainty of your eternity. The bible tells us that we can never lose our salvation (Revelation 3:5) and so begins a life of fellowship with God. I encourage you to write down this day, as a special memory. When doubt creeps in, you can pull out this memory and doubt no more. Your missing puzzle piece was found and put in place for all eternity.
What next? Followers of Christ need to spend time with God in prayer and study the bible in order to grow that relationship and fellowship with God. Find a church home so that you can surround yourself with believers who will love, support, and disciple you, and where you can worship and learn about the bible through the pastor’s teaching and guidance. An outward expression of your inward change is to follow through in believer’s baptism, just as Jesus did. It is important also to remember that we are still going to mess up and life is still going to be hard sometimes. Go to Jesus with everything. Seek him in all of your ways.