I am compassionate and merciful. When you cross the lines of sin, I am patient with you. When you struggle against Me, I stay with you—guiding, convicting, and transforming you through My spirit.
I do not constantly criticize you, nor do I hold a grudge.
I do not punish you for your sins as you might deserve. In my mercy, I temper justice with peace.
Can you measure how high heaven is above the earth? My wide, loving, kind heart is greater than that. Especially for those who trust in me.
You see, I take all your sins and failures—and I remove them. As far as the east is from the west, that’s how far I remove them from you.
A good earthly father expresses love for his children; it is no different with me, your heavenly Father;
I show my love and compassion to you.
For I know what you are made of; I know your frame is frail, and I remember that you came from dust. But you are mine, and I love you.
Psalm 103:8-13 inspired by the Voice version, written from the Lord’s perspective.
>>>new podcast episode
This week we’re reveling in all of God’s benefits (part 2). If you need some encouragement, this 20 minute episode will strengthen your heart!. Listen here: pressing in podcast
>>>mini-retreat webinar is next week!
Are you longing to connect with God’s heart, but struggle to make it happen? Join me on Saturday, August 5th from 10am-12pm (pacific time) for a 2 hour mini-retreat online. We’re not going to just talk about spending time with the Lord, we’re going to do it, together. You can sign up here: webinar registration
In Revelation 3:20, we hear the voice of Jesus saying, “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and dine with that person, and they with me.” What a beautiful invitation! We have the opportunity to fellowship with Jesus and connect with him as though we were having a cup of coffee or dinner with a dear friend.
For many years, I did not have this kind of close fellowship with the Lord. It can be challenging to connect with His heart.
Do you need a little help opening the door to God and experiencing his presence more? This is WHY I am hosting a free mini-retreat webinar on August 5th….to help people who love Jesus connect more with Him. We are struggling to overcome the barriers that keep us from connecting to His heart! Join me for the During the mini-retreat I will share some helpful insight and practical tips to experience a deeper connection with God.
>>> register for the mini-retreat webinar on Aug 5th
In this week’s episode, we spent some time in Psalm 103, reveling in the generous benefits that our Father bestows on us. Be encouraged by all that God wants to share with you! Listen here: Pressing In podcast
>>>”What’s keeping you from the heart of God?” series
A few weeks ago I started a series on Instagram and Facebook about the barriers that keep us from feeling close to God. So far I’ve shared videos about three things that cause us to feel far from the Lord:
The first thing that comes to mind when I ask the question, “What is keeping you from the heart of God?” is some form of shame. Many of us have core beliefs about ourselves that are rooted in shame. Deep down, we might think that we aren’t good enough for God. We’ve been taught that our sin separates us from God, which is why Jesus went to the cross… but I think we hang onto this idea that every time we sin or fail to do certain things, it separates us from God again. This is not true! The Holy Spirit dwells in us, so there is never any distance between you and God. Shame causes us to be disconnected from the awareness of His presence, but this awareness can be renewed by calling out to Him.
The second thing that I think causes us to feel far from God is that we do not have enough experiential knowledge of the love of God. Remember in Eph 3:14-19 when Pauls prays for the people to experience the width and length and depth and height of Christ’s love? He says that the result of this deeper revelation of His love results in being filled with all the fullness of God. To experience Him more, we need to understand his love! We know about his love, and we can preach it to others, but when it comes down to it, we think His love has limits, don’t we? We aren’t “fully convinced” of his love. But we can ask for a tangible revelation of His love.
The third thing that I think causes us to feel far from God would be old hurts that we hold against him. Maybe we don’t outright blame God, but we don’t understand why He didn’t prevent some of the painful things in our lives from happening. This affects our ability to trust Him and open our hearts to him. When working through my own hurts, I found two things very helpful. First, someone counseled me to ask God, “Where were you when this happened?” It took some time, but the Holy Spirit gave me eyes to see Jesus in some of the most wounding moments of my life. This started me on a quest of asking the Lord what I call “the hard questions”. I found Psalm 77, where the writer poses several hard inquiries to the Lord and this confirmed that God wanted me to wrestle out these questions with him. The other thing that helped me was recognizing that God has given us free will. Though he tries to guide me and you, he does not outright stop us from sinning against him or anyone else. I had to come to terms with the fact that he gave free will to the people who hurt me. If you want to understand God’s role in your hurts, it’s ok to ask Him hard questions .
I will be sharing two more barriers in this series! Check out Instagram or Facebook over the next two weeks.
>>>Free Mini-Retreat Webinar!!
You may have already registered for the webinar that will complete the “What’s Keeping You” series! We’ll explore barriers that keep us from feeling connected to God’s heart and then practice techniques to overcome these barriers during the webinar. My goal is to help you grow in intimacy with God. If you haven’t registered yet, you can sign up here: Webinar Registration
>>>Podcast Episode 2.7 // Pressing in to Mark 5 & the call to meet Jesus face-to-face
Join me as we press in to Mark 5:24-34 and discuss the familiar story of the woman with an issue of blood. Let’s take a closer look at the way Jesus drew her into a face-to-face encounter that was far more than she asked for. Click here to listen: Pressing In Podcast
