These lyrics basically sum up a lot of my thoughts throughout the day. A lot of what God's done in me, especially in past few years. With every new day these words have more and more meaning to me, and these truths are felt and believed deeper and deeper in my heart.

"At the cross I find the beauty of Your matchless grace.
At the cross I see a King who died to take my place.
It's the moment that You made me clean and pardoned my soul.

Amazing grace that I would be allowed unto Your throne.
Not by my own will but solely by Your will alone
I'm unworthy of this love You have shown to me.
I see my desperate need.

The beauty of the cross is that there's One who has redeemed my soul.
The beauty of the cross is that I'm finally free and letting go.
The beauty of the cross is that Your grace has found me just as I am.

Not by my own works that I may boast or I may come.
But simply through your Son, the sinless and Exalted One.
Only through the cross that I'm made clean to draw near to You.

Saved so that you would receive all glory due Your name.
Everlasting God, from age to age You never change.
A true love story remains for all eternity.
That all the world would see:

The beauty of the cross is that there's One who has redeemed my soul.
The beauty of the cross is that I'm finally free and letting go.
The beauty of the cross is that Your grace has found me just as I am.

My sinful soul could only be
Redeemed by the blood of a sinless King.
So You came to the world that You had made,
Conquered sin on the cross, and You rose from the grave.

   

The beauty of the cross is that there's One who has redeemed my soul.
The beauty of the cross is that I'm finally free and letting go.
The beauty of the cross is that Your grace has found me just as I am.

The beauty of the cross is that there's One who has redeemed my soul.
The beauty of the cross is that I'm finally free and letting go!
The beauty of the cross is that Your grace has found me just as I am.

Ya, just as I am.


That's the beauty of the cross."

-"The Beauty of the Cross" -Johnny Diaz

My mom.

My mom.

      My mom is who I've grown to be most thankful for, appreciate most, and look up to most, especially during this last year.

       Giving all of her time, all her all, to her family. To taking care of us, every day of her life.

I think about all the time and energy she puts into making our birthdays special, into preparing meals, into looking into our needs, taking care of us when are sick and when we are healthy, into taking interest in our lives, in our days, and into just showing us gentleness, patience, warmth, the true love of a mom.

... And it goes so so much further than that...

My mom is probably one of the most well-respected, most admired, and most loved by students professors on campus. She is a doctorate who went through school to get her PHD while we were kids! Yet... none of this ever shows in the way she gives her all to us at home. She still comes home and cooks us amazing meals, takes time to care about our lives, to talk with us, take care of us completely and totally. Abundantly.

She's told me a few of the special prayers she says from her heart to God, and they've really touched my heart. One was something like, "Lord, please help me, somehow, through everything I do and say to my students, to show them God's love through it."

My mom is a woman filled with God's peace and patience.

She always puts others before herself.

And she just loves.

There is nothing I could possibly possibly do to thank my mom for all she has done, is doing, and will do. Nothing will ever compare. 

... It just blows me away.

I really want to be more like my mom.

Shepherd

Every day, week, season, God is doing different things in my heart. Opening my eyes to different lessons that I needed to hear and learn.

God has been hitting me hard lately some beautiful verses/message. Every time I read the Word I pray to God asking Him to give me whatever I need to hear. Then I keep praying and open it to whatever it opens to. I truly believe God gives me exactly what I need to hear time and time again. In the past two weeks I've opened to different passages on the topic of being a Shepherd four or five times. Plus, it's exactly what the Priest talked about and the Bible verses he used on Sunday!

So here are some of the verses on one of the many things I've been meditating on in the last few weeks...

John 10:

⁷ Therefore Jesus said again, “Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. ⁸ All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them. ⁹ I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture. ¹⁰ The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life,and have it to the full.

¹¹ “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. ¹² The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. ¹³ The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.

¹⁴ “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— ¹⁵ just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep.¹⁶ I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd. ¹⁷ The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again. ¹⁸ No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father.”

¹⁹ The Jews who heard these words were again divided. ²⁰ Many of them said, “He is demon-possessed and raving mad. Why listen to him?”
²¹ But others said, “These are not the sayings of a man possessed by a demon.Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?”

1 Peter 5 

To the Elders and the Flock

5 To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow elder and a witness of Christ’s sufferings who also will share in the glory to be revealed ² Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, watching over them—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not pursuing dishonest gain, but eager to serve; ³ not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. ⁴ And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away.

⁵ In the same way, you who are younger, submit yourselves to your elders. All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because,

“God opposes the proud
    but shows favor to the humble.”

⁶ Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. ⁷ Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

⁸ Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. ⁹ Resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that the family of believers throughout the world is undergoing the same kind of sufferings.

¹⁰ And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast. ¹¹ To him be the power for ever and ever. Amen.

I feel so blessed by my job. 

So blessed with the opportunities I have right now to be a shepherd. To help care for the kids at Hope, family members, and friends. 

And I am so blessed by the many others who have been and are shepherds to me. My parents. My grandparents. Sisters. Friends. Other family members. ... All the people out there who are shepherds to me. I am so thankful for them. I need them.

But most of all, I am thankful to my Good Shepherd. For taking His life even though I deserve to be the lamb slain.

I don't deserve anything good at all, yet He teaches me, guides me, cares for me, and He calls me by name.

...

"Shepherd me Oh God, beyond my wants, beyond my fears, from death into Life..."

what we need.

I feel like I have been bombarded by the message of people's need for the Word everywhere I go lately.

As my friend Emma said,

"People don't need my words, they need His Word."

As they said at the concert last night, "What this world needs is not opinions, not more self-help programs, not medication, drugs, or anything else, what this world needs is Jesus. What this world needs is the Truths found in the Word of God."  

As the Priest said it on Saturday night while I was at church with my family... 

 

 

"How are we supposed to know Jesus, love Him, or follow Him without reading the Bible? Jesus is the Word. In order to know Him, love Him, and follow Him we need to spend time with Him by reading our Bibles."

We can get tons of opinions and advice from others, we can get tons of love and help in a million different helpful and beautiful ways, but underneath it all what every one of us, the broken people we all are, need is Jesus. And we can know Him and find Him through the Word of God. 

 When we want to help others we can remember that this too is what they need more than any opinions, advice, love, or help... maybe the best remedy is straight from Jesus: God's Word.

 

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it." -John 1:1-5

"And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." -John 1:14

"Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path" -Psalm 119:105

"The grass withers, the flower fades, but the Word of our God stands forever." -Isaiah 40:8

Don't look at me.

If there's anything that's been on my heart in the past year and that I know I do a terrible job at actually expressing with my life it's this...

Please don't listen to,  follow, or trust me, but trust the Word. Follow and listen to Jesus.

As my friend Emma once told me, "People don't need my words, they need His Word."

And as Stacie Orrico sings, "Don't look at me, look at Him."

 

 (been on my wall all year... something to pray about for me.) 

They don't  need my words or movement but His, yet He may want to work or speak through me. We are His body. Made to share His love with the world. We just have to trust Him and not ourselves. Step back, and let Him move and not us. He is the only One who can bring changes. ... And He will.  Prayer is powerful. We must not forget that. Our God is powerful.

 Moving. Active. And alive.

what does it mean for me, for you, to love Him?

I think "love the Lord with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength" means something different for each of us since all of us are so different from one another, with such unique hearts and minds.  I think it's interesting to ponder that.

To ponder what loving the Lord with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength might mean for you considering who you are, and who God made you.

Also so amazing and interesting to ponder different things it might mean for those around us. All so different, formed by God.

Different parts of the body of Christ.

Of course no one truly know what it means for anyone else, and maybe not even fully for themselves. I think is something each of us can ask God to help reveal.

"What does that mean for me, God, to love You with all my heart, soul, mind and strength?"

I find it amazing that God created each of us so different. He knows the number of hairs on our heads. He, and only He knows each of our unique hearts.

He and only He deserves to be the Judge of all of us.

And that is a very scary but also beautiful thing.

So thankful for the cross.

His everlasting, neverending, boundless love and grace for each and every one of us. Despite our sinfulness, weakness, confusion, and despite all the things we make life about instead of Him, despite how mixed up and far from the Truth we are, He wants us. He wants to cover it all, already DID cover it all with the cross. All of this just makes me want to bow to Him. And I wish I could stay bowed forever. I don't really know anything or what I'm talking about or what's good or right. The only thing I know and believe is the Truth, the Word of God. And so that is what I will keep going back to. And how I will find hope to keep pressing on in life. Even though I am just confused and don't know much, He still covers me in love and grace. The cross is the forever proof of that. Thank the Lord!!!

And now I am going to ask Him to keep leading, to show me, show me in all the confusion, how to love Him more. What it all means for me.

I feel like even as I say this, God is telling me, ha maybe the Holy Spirit or something? I don't know I am just filled with this huge sense, like "Abby, don't be silly. You already know this, the most important thing for you is to just rest, rest in Me, in the cross, in My grace. And trust Me." I feel like what I've been personally learning lately is to give my all to Him by loving Him with all I do, but even more importantly, WAY more importantly than all of that, just to constantly rest in Him and know, it's not about me or what I do but about Him. And what He did. I'm going to constantly mess up, be confused, not understand, let others down, do things I'm tempted to regret, etc. But through it all I have to remember, I'm forgiven. And just thank Him for that. And trust Him to help me, lead me, and cover everything in grace.  It's hard, but He's showing me. Helping me to live for Him with all I do and also to do what's hardest: just rest in Him, know I am forgiven. And trust Him. It's hard, but beautiful, and amazing. How can I not thank Him for this crazy love?

I feel this is the only way to show others His love and grace too. To rest in His grace myself first.

That's just a little of what is constantly on my heart as I question what it means to love Him. What to do... what to do with my time... 

And here are some related Truths that I think about as I question what it means for us to love Him...

"Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give..."

-2 Corinthians 9:7

But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." -1 Samuel 16:7

 I'm really curious to hear from you. I would love to hear any answers to any of these questions: What do you think it means to love Him? Do you think it's different or the same for every person? What Truths do you turn to about this? What has God taught you about this? What ways do you feel called to love and serve Him? What are your other thoughts about all this?

...

Last night I read something amazing. Well, I read many amazing things because I just kept reading the Word and didn't want to go to bed. But I found this in John Chap 4, the story of "The Woman At The Well." It's so crazy how every time I read the Word, it's new, no matter how much read before, I forget, or my eyes are opened to new things. This will happen forever. 

JOHN 4 THE WOMAN AT THE WELL

1 Jesus realized that the Pharisees were keeping count of the baptisms that he and John performed 2 (although his disciples, not Jesus, did the actual baptizing). They had posted the score that Jesus was ahead, turning him and John into rivals in the eyes of the people. 3 So Jesus left the Judean countryside and went back to Galilee.

4 To get there, he had to pass through Samaria. 5 He came into Sychar, a Samaritan village that bordered the field Jacob had given his son Joseph. 6 Jacob's well was still there. Jesus, worn out by the trip, sat down at the well. It was noon.

7 A woman, a Samaritan, came to draw water. Jesus said, "Would you give me a drink of water?" 8 (His disciples had gone to the village to buy food for lunch.)

9 The Samaritan woman, taken aback, asked, "How come you, a Jew, are asking me, a Samaritan woman, for a drink?" (Jews in those days wouldn't be caught dead talking to Samaritans.)

10 Jesus answered, "If you knew the generosity of God and who I am, you would be asking me for a drink, and I would give you fresh, living water."

11 The woman said, "Sir, you don't even have a bucket to draw with, and this well is deep. So how are you going to get this 'living water'? 12 Are you a better man than our ancestor Jacob, who dug this well and drank from it, he and his sons and livestock, and passed it down to us?"

13 Jesus said, "Everyone who drinks this water will get thirsty again and again. 14 Anyone who drinks the water I give will never thirst - not ever. The water I give will be an artesian spring within, gushing fountains of endless life."

15 The woman said, "Sir, give me this water so I won't ever get thirsty, won't ever have to come back to this well again!"

16 He said, "Go call your husband and then come back." 17 "I have no husband," she said.

18 You've had five husbands, and the man you're living with now isn't even your husband. You spoke the truth there, sure enough."

19 "Oh, so you're a prophet! 20 Well, tell me this: Our ancestors worshiped God at this mountain, but you Jews insist that Jerusalem is the only place for worship, right?"

21 "Believe me, woman, the time is coming when you Samaritans will worship the Father neither here at this mountain nor there in Jerusalem. 22 You worship guessing in the dark; we Jews worship in the clear light of day. God's way of salvation is made available through the Jews. 23 But the time is coming - it has, in fact, come - when what you're called will not matter and where you go to worship will not matter.

It's who you are and the way you live that count before God. Your worship must engage your spirit in the pursuit of truth. That's the kind of people the Father is out looking for: those who are simply and honestly themselves before him in their worship. 24 God is sheer being itself - Spirit. Those who worship him must do it out of their very being, their spirits, their true selves, in adoration."

25 The woman said, "I don't know about that. I do know that the Messiah is coming. When he arrives, we'll get the whole story."

26 "I am he," said Jesus. "You don't have to wait any longer or look any further." 27 Just then his disciples came back. They were shocked. They couldn't believe he was talking with that kind of a woman. No one said what they were all thinking, but their faces showed it.

28 The woman took the hint and left. In her confusion she left her water pot. Back in the village she told the people, 29 "Come see a man who knew all about the things I did, who knows me inside and out. Do you think this could be the Messiah?" 30 And they went out to see for themselves.

This passage just wows me, a lot. And every day I am just filled with thankfulness that I am blessed in this life to get to do what I love most: just love my family and friends and give my all to loving them and also to loving people at my job and to doing my school work so that I can help and love people in the future. It is so fun to just do everything I do for the Lord. And... reading the Word reminds me that He sees that. He knows when I'm doing stuff for Him and when I'm doing stuff for me. It's just always amazing to me that He loves me the way I am. That He is always leading. When I go astray or start heading in a direction that He doesn't want, when I make mistakes or no matter what happens, He always leads me back to His better plans. It is crazy and amazing. So, what all of this calls me to do is just let go.

Do all I do for Him. Love Him with all my heart, mind, soul, and strength. And love others as myself. And do it in the unique way He made me to. To be me, because only then will I be the part He wants me to be in the Body of Christ. I'm thankful He made me the way I am and feel so blessed to do all the things I love most every day: just love Him and others and give my all. That's always been super important to me every day of my life: to give my all. Thankful He carries and gives me strength. I couldn't even give a single thing or breathe without Him. He is my only strength, my only Hope, my Savior, and even though I don't deserve any of it, He carries me. He leads me on.

Thank the Lord for that.<3

right here.

Each day is hard. Each day is painful in its own special ways.

But at the end of the day, when I look at it all, after all the complaints about schoolwork or not feeling well, after all the times of being anxious about all I want to get done, after all the times of wishing so bad I just had more time to love people...

at the end of the day, I'm amazed.

There is nowhere I'd rather be. No place I'd rather be in life. God has led me through everything perfectly right up to this very second.

Every bit of pain, every struggle has been beautiful, leading me back to humbling my stubborn, sinful self before Him.


And, wow, golly-gee, to infinity-and-beyond!!!, am I blessed to be where I am at MSUM. In a place where I spend so much of my time loving my family and friends every single day. It is my greatest joy to do this. To be here. With so much time in the world it's not even funny to just love people. I've never been this blessed as I am in my life.


And this is something I should and can thank God for every second. He always knows, always works, always holds.

Thankful He leads me to the right place always.
Even though I am the most stubborn person on the planet, always trying to go my own way.
God still somehow breaks me and leads me.

How weird?...
How Amazing.


Thanks be to Him.

another unexpected find as listen to my old CDs

                    

I really like this. To me it describes and brings to life through song a daily fight in my heart and mind well. <3

my only hope.

Man, there are multiple times throughout each day where I am anxious, restless, filled with stupid thoughts that I can't shut off.

Just a restless, anxious heart.

It's at those times when I can't even do anything else, I'm too filled with anxiety, in too much pain, too low to really do anything, anything but open the Word

praying for it to be whatever God wants me to hear or turn on music praying the same thing.

 It's at those times that I am just hungry for it, I need it...

And the sound of His voice, the Word, the Truth is better than anything else in the world.

The only thing that calms this restless heart.

His grace and His help are my only hope.

I need to surrender. 

Let His mercy and grace cover everything.

And just trust Him.

The Truth is better than anything...
He loves us.

Driving home from work this song made me cry as I belted it. I want to live like that.

What is most important to you?

What is most important to you each day??

What do you want each day to be?

What to you are the most important things you want to include in each day?

These are things I think about a lot.

I am often not good, and it is often a struggle for us in this life, to actually put what we want to first.

For me: I just want to love. 

God and my family first. And my dear friends. Then everyone, my neighbor.

And to live each day as my last.

Pray for me to do these things more and more.

Cuz, honestly, nothing is a greater joy to me than doing these things out of love and thankfulness to God and love and thankfulness to my family and friends.

Just pray I actually do put my priorities first through my actions.

... But this post was more because I am curious to know YOUR answers. If you feel like responding, give them as detailed or undetailed as you want. :)

I am curious: 

What is most important to you?
What do you want each day to be?
What is on your heart?

haha, this song...

this song makes me chuckle, cuz it definitely talks of something close to my heart and at the heart of some of my thoughts or struggles each day.

I just want to love and please God and others but never know how.

...



What do you think about what the song says??
I would really appreciate others' thoughts and wisdom.

need to face the facts.

I will always be an Amazing sinner.
Nothing more, nothing less.


That's why I need an Amazing Savior.





My falling short, my screwing up and sinning to a degree that scares myself that I could even sink that low, it opens my eyes, shows me,


shows me His grace and love for me is more Amazing than a song or any words could ever describe.




Help me throw down my mirror.
Please.

















I want to throw all my mirrors down until all I see is the Cross.
Jesus.


the Amazing Savior.
Amazing Grace.

what is Ash Wednesday?

"For Christians ashes are a symbol of being sorry for the things they've done wrong that they want to get rid of forever. Ashes are a reminder that we all come from ashes, and to ashes we all will return. Using ashes to mark the cross on the forehead symbolizes that through Christ's death and resurrection, all believers can be free from sin. Ashes are a reminder that God is gracious and merciful to those who call on Him with repentant hearts."

Questions for YOU:


What are your thoughts about lent and/or Ash Wednesday?

What do you like or dislike about lent? Do you see it important to practice??

Do you have any Easter traditions?

What do you like about Easter?

 

Food for thought

If proverbs are food for the soul, than I am starving.
... And I believe they are. :)


Here are a few that caught my eye as I read proverbs before bed.

They are ones I am particularly bad at putting into practice and want to reflect on often, more and more. Of course it's the practicing and not preaching that matters. And, boy, I could use prayer each day for all of these and to do all of what God wants, to just simply love Him and others first.





... I think all of these are beautiful. Reading the Word is truly my favorite part of the day, an incredible blessing to read about His love and heart. And to read how I can love and thank Him and others more.

God is good. ... A God of compassion, grace, and peace.







"Watch your words and hold your tongue;
you'll save yourself a lot of grief."
*Proverbs 21:23

"Sinners are always wanting what they don't have;
the God-loyal are always giving what they do have."
*Proverbs 21:26

"If you fall to pieces in a crisis,
there wasn't much to you in the first place."
*Proverbs 24:10






"You're addicted to thrills? What an empty life!
The pursuit of pleasure is never satisfied."
*Proverbs 21:17





"If you stop your ears to the cries of the poor,
your cries will go unheard, unanswered."
*Proverbs 21:13






"Whoever goes hunting for what is right and kind finds life itself---glorious life!"
*Proverbs 21:21






"Dear child, I want your full attention;
please do what I show you."
*Proverbs 23:26

"Simpletons only learn the hard way,
but the wise learn by listening."
*Proverbs 21:11

"Mixed motives twist life into tangles;
pure motives take you straight down the road."
*Proverbs 21:8






"Careful planning puts you ahead in the long run;
hurry scurry puts you further behind."
*Proverbs 21:5

"Do not eat the food of a stingy man,
do not crave his delicacies;
for he is the kind of man
who is always thinking about the cost.
'Eat and drink,' he says to you,
but his heart is not with you.
You will vomit up the little you have eaten
and will have wasted your compliments."
-Proverbs 23:6-8
(I can be very very stingy, so this caught my eye )

"The wicked get buried alive by their loot
because they refuse to use it to help others."
*Proverbs 21:7







"Clean living before God and justice with our neighbors
mean far more to GOD than religious performance."
*Proverbs 21:3

"Dear child, if you become wise,
I'll be one happy Parent.
My heart will dance and sing
to the tunefull truth you'll speak."
*Proverbs 23:15-16

"We justify our actions by appearances;
GOD examines our motives."
*Proverbs 21:2









"Humility and the fear of the LORD
bring wealth and honor and life."
-Proverbs 22:4

"Do your best, prepare for the worst---
then trust GOD to bring victory."
*Proverbs 21:31

*I was reading from "The Message" Bible just for fun, so most of these came out of that translation. I've also been comparing them to the NIV and other versions as I read. It's fun and interesting.
-I also put a few from the NIV Bible translation.

being real again.

Honestly, something I've realized about myself is I can't not be real no matter how much I try. God only knows the truth of this. I apologize for it, but I also know and believe He truly works through it. Somehow, His power really is made perfect in weakness.


...


What I woke up filled with thinking this Valentine's day:


From the highest mountain top to the bottom of the ocean floor, I would not change a thing about any of what I've gone through in my life. The past school year, or whatever time frame I'd want to look at, each year, each season, has been really hard. Filled with scary times of depression and anxiety. Times of being scared for my life. Times of unbearable guilt, shame, and hatred for myself. Times filled with paralyzing anxiety of fearing what people think or of feeling like a horrible failure to them.

anxiety every day about what to do with my time.




oh man...

I am so thankful for all of this.


Fighting the horrible guilt and shame again and again each day with the Truth, with His love and grace for me, a long with fighting to know I believe Jesus Christ and the cross are my only Hope, has helped me more than anything in the world. The warfare has really strengthened my faith and hope in Christ.

I've grown way way more than ever before in the ability to do whats hardest for me: accept His grace and love for me. Forgive myself. Trust that He's in control. That He made me the way I am for a reason. Trust that He loves me just the way I am, which is the hardest thing for me to believe.

Everything I've gone through has helped me grow in confidence and excitement to love, encourage, and just love my family and girlfriends in the way God created me to until I die.

It has made me determined to fight through every bit of guilt and shame and hatred toward myself and let His grace be where I find rest and hope. Because it's only then that I am filled with His joy and filled with excitement to show others His love and grace. Show them He loves them just the way they are.


This Valentine's day I am excited to remind others me and Jesus love them just the way they are.

a tiny piece of His love letter

Jeremiah 31 will always be one of my favorite chapters of the Bible. I see it as God speaking to and referring to every single one of us when He talks about Israel, His people. I am the unfaithful Daughter that He for some reason loves the way He does. Could never ever deserve a speck of this.



This is the best love love letter I've ever seen... Well a tiny piece of the best love letter I've ever seen: the entire Bible.

Jeremiah 31

¹ “At that time,” declares the LORD, “I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they will be my people.”

² This is what the LORD says:

“The people who survive the sword
will find favor in the wilderness;
I will come to give rest to Israel.”

³ The LORD appeared to us in the past, saying:

“I have loved you with an everlasting love;
I have drawn you with unfailing kindness.
⁴ I will build you up again,
and you, Virgin Israel, will be rebuilt.
Again you will take up your timbrels
and go out to dance with the joyful.
⁵ Again you will plant vineyards
on the hills of Samaria;
the farmers will plant them
and enjoy their fruit.
⁶ There will be a day when watchmen cry out
on the hills of Ephraim,
‘Come, let us go up to Zion,
to the LORD our God.’”

⁷ This is what the LORD says:

“Sing with joy for Jacob;
shout for the foremost of the nations.
Make your praises heard, and say,
‘LORD, save your people,
the remnant of Israel.’
⁸ See, I will bring them from the land of the north
and gather them from the ends of the earth.
Among them will be the blind and the lame,
expectant mothers and women in labor;
a great throng will return.
⁹ They will come with weeping;
they will pray as I bring them back.
I will lead them beside streams of water
on a level path where they will not stumble,
because I am Israel’s father,
and Ephraim is my firstborn son.

¹⁰ “Hear the word of the LORD, you nations;
proclaim it in distant coastlands:
‘He who scattered Israel will gather them
and will watch over his flock like a shepherd.’
¹¹ For the LORD will deliver Jacob
and redeem them from the hand of those stronger than they.
¹² They will come and shout for joy on the heights of Zion;
they will rejoice in the bounty of the LORD—
the grain, the new wine and the olive oil,
the young of the flocks and herds.
They will be like a well-watered garden,
and they will sorrow no more.
¹³ Then young women will dance and be glad,
young men and old as well.
I will turn their mourning into gladness;
I will give them comfort and joy instead of sorrow.
¹⁴ I will satisfy the priests with abundance,
and my people will be filled with my bounty,”
declares the LORD.

¹⁵ This is what the LORD says:

“A voice is heard in Ramah,
mourning and great weeping,
Rachel weeping for her children
and refusing to be comforted,
because they are no more.”

¹⁶ This is what the LORD says:

“Restrain your voice from weeping
and your eyes from tears,
for your work will be rewarded,”
declares the LORD.
“They will return from the land of the enemy.
¹⁷ So there is hope for your descendants,”
declares the LORD.
“Your children will return to their own land.

¹⁸ “I have surely heard Ephraim’s moaning:
‘You disciplined me like an unruly calf,
and I have been disciplined.
Restore me, and I will return,
because you are the LORD my God.
¹⁹ After I strayed,
I repented;
after I came to understand,
I beat my breast.
I was ashamed and humiliated
because I bore the disgrace of my youth.’
²⁰

Is not {insert your name here**] my dear child,
the child in whom I delight?
Though I often speak against you,
I still remember you.
Therefore my heart yearns for you;
I have great compassion for you, my child,”
declares the LORD.

²¹ “Set up road signs;
put up guideposts.
Take note of the highway,
the road that you take.
Return, Virgin Israel,
return to your towns.
²² How long will you wander,
unfaithful Daughter Israel?
The LORD will create a new thing on earth—
the woman will return to the man.”

²³ This is what the LORD Almighty, the God of Israel, says: “When I bring them back from captivity, the people in the land of Judah and in its towns will once again use these words: ‘The LORD bless you, you prosperous city, you sacred mountain.’ ²⁴ People will live together in Judah and all its towns—farmers and those who move about with their flocks. ²⁵ I will refresh the weary and satisfy the faint.”

²⁶ At this I awoke and looked around. My sleep had been pleasant to me.

²⁷ “The days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will plant the kingdoms of Israel and Judah with the offspring of people and of animals. ²⁸ Just as I watched over them to uproot and tear down, and to overthrow, destroy and bring disaster, so I will watch over them to build and to plant,” declares the LORD. ²⁹ “In those days people will no longer say,

‘The parents have eaten sour grapes,
and the children’s teeth are set on edge.’

³⁰ Instead, everyone will die for their own sin; whoever eats sour grapes—their own teeth will be set on edge.

³¹ “The days are coming,” declares the LORD,
“when I will make a new covenant
with the people of Israel
and with the people of Judah.
³² It will not be like the covenant
I made with their ancestors
when I took them by the hand
to lead them out of Egypt,
because they broke my covenant,
though I was a husband to them,”
declares the LORD.
³³ “This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel
after that time,” declares the LORD.
“I will put my law in their minds
and write it on their hearts.
I will be their God,
and they will be my people.
³⁴ No longer will they teach their neighbor,
or say to one another, ‘Know the LORD,’
because they will all know me,
from the least of them to the greatest,” declares the LORD.
“For I will forgive their wickedness
and will remember their sins no more.”

³⁵ This is what the LORD says,

he who appoints the sun
to shine by day,
who decrees the moon and stars
to shine by night,
who stirs up the sea
so that its waves roar—
the LORD Almighty is his name:
³⁶ “Only if these decrees vanish from my sight,”
declares the LORD,
“will Israel ever cease
being a nation before me.”

³⁷ This is what the LORD says:

“Only if the heavens above can be measured
and the foundations of the earth below be searched out
will I reject all the descendants of Israel
because of all they have done,”
declares the LORD.

³⁸ “The days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when this city will be rebuilt for me from the Tower of Hananel to the Corner Gate. ³⁹ The measuring line will stretch from there straight to the hill of Gareb and then turn to Goah. ⁴⁰ The whole valley where dead bodies and ashes are thrown, and all the terraces out to the Kidron Valley on the east as far as the corner of the Horse Gate, will be holy to the LORD. The city will never again be uprooted or demolished.”

-Jeremiah 31:1-40

"For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him. 18 Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son."
-John 3:16-18


"If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. 11 As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.” 12 For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, 13 for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
-Romans 10: 9-13

"But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. 6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast."
-Ephesians 2:4-9

 "I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
        -Romans 8:38-39