Teenage Feelings

When I was a teenager, before I committed my life to Christ, before I was a believer in the Biblical sense of the word, I remember thinking about loving God. I remember saying I loved God. Oddly enough, this many years later I remember feeling rather neutral about God. I didn't
FEEL love for God; I just knew I was supposed to love God. I believed in Him, I never doubted His existence (I tried once, and ended up having a panic attack). I believed that Jesus was God's Son and that He died on the cross for sins. I knew God was transcendent (far). 1 Kings 8:27, "But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain You. How much less this temple which I have built." Or Jeremiah 23: 23-24, "'Am I a God near at hand,' says the Lord, 'And not a God afar off? Can anyone hide himself in secret
places, so I shall not see him?' says the Lord." I saw God as out-there somewhere, sitting a His throne. I had no idea that He was (and is) also immanent (near). Acts 17:27-28, "so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope; that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and have our being..." It is God's immanence that enables us to have relationship with Him. It was when I realized that God wanted relationship with me, that I began to understand love. Over the years, as I have come to know God more personally, more intimately I have fallen more and more in love with Him.

When I pause to consider Jesus, a sense of peace washes over my mind and body.

1 John 4:19, "We love Him because He first loved us."

Your challenge for today is to dwell upon His love for you. Remember, He wants fellowship with you.

Diane