People like to say God’s timing is perfect. And I’m sure it is. One of my memories from freshman Bible is an "aha" moment I experienced when I learned Jesus came to earth at just the right time. The instructor explained how everything in the universe had to come into the proper alignment so all the prophecies concerning Jesus would be perfectly fulfilled.

Paul spoke to the Galatian church about sonship and being in slavery to the world. In verse four of chapter four he says, "But when the time had fully come, God sent his son, born of a woman, born under law (verse 5), to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons" (NIV throughout).

Jesus was born when the time had fully come—when, as the King James Version says, "the fullness of the time was come."

The planets and the stars. The cultural and educational systems. The technology or lack of it. The governments of the earth, especially that of the Romans. "It was a time when the pax Romana extended over most of the civilized earth and when travel and commerce were therefore possible in a way that had formerly been impossible. Great roads linked the empire of the Caesars, and its diverse regions were linked far more significantly by the all-pervasive language of the Greeks. Add the fact that the world was sunk in a moral abyss so low that even the pagans cried out against it and that spiritual hunger was everywhere evident, and one has a perfect time for the coming of Christ and for the early expansion of the Christian gospel" (The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, Frank E. Gaebelein, General Editor).

All these elements came into play as God chose the exact moment to begin his sojourn as a human being and his journey to the cross.

What an incredible convergence of events. One might think of the members of an orchestra learning the individual parts of a symphony. The night of the concert, all the parts, played skillfully and beautifully, come together in brilliant harmony. The conductor lifts his hands to signal the final crescendo. The timpani drums sound and the building tension is released in a triumphant culmination.

Jesus is that culmination, the summit, the apex, the apogee of the wisdom and power of God! "For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form" (Colossians 2:9).

In the fullness of time, Christ who is the fullness of God, came "so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge" (Colossians 2:2-3).

Hallelujah and Merry Christmas!

Have you ever wanted to do something for someone, when all you could do was be there for them? Some trials have no solutions. Sometimes a person has to do the hard things themselves. But one thing we can do is perform the ministry of presence.

I first heard the phrase "ministry of presence" at a meeting of women who minister to women in ministry. They were discussing a visit to South Africa to help a group of women who wanted to reach out to their communities. They asked for help to get organized and to increase the unity and cohesiveness of their group. One of the women remarked that their need wasn’t so much to be shown what to do but for the ministry of presence.

Many people think they have no ministry. They feel they have nothing to offer others in service to Christ. But as long as you draw breath, you have at the least, your presence. Sit with a sick person. Hold the hand of someone going through a difficulty. Call someone or send a card.

The presence of a caring person is a powerful thing for someone who is hurting or in distress. Your presence conveys love, compassion and a feeling of togetherness in suffering.

God also does a ministry of presence. You’ve probably experienced a time when it seemed your prayers weren’t being answered. No solutions were forthcoming. The only answer seemed to be "wait." But during that time of waiting, you felt the presence of God and received his comfort and peace.

God made a promise in Deuteronomy 31:6 that he will never forsake us, and it’s repeated in Hebrews 13:5. He doesn’t say all our problems will go away, but he does promise to be with us through every step of our lives.

Moses trusted in God’s presence. In Exodus 33, God told Moses his Presence would go with him into the Promised Land. Moses replied to him in verse 15: "If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here. How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?" (NIV throughout).

In the same way, Jesus promised he would be with us through the Holy Spirit as we journey toward the promised land of heaven. "And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever – the Spirit of truth" (John 14:15-16). "I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you" (verse 18).

How beautiful and glorious is the presence of God in our lives! Let’s remember to help others by bringing his presence and glory into their lives by the ministry of our presence.

Faith. We talk about having it, not having it, strong faith or faith as small as a mustard seed. Some lose their faith and some keep the faith. Some have faith in the system and some don’t.

Some have stronger faith than others. In Luke 7 we read of a Roman officer who asked the Jewish leaders to go to Jesus and ask him to heal his slave. When Jesus arrived at his house, the officer sent friends to tell Jesus not to trouble himself even to come in the house, but just to say the word from where he was and the servant would be healed. He didn’t even talk to Jesus in person. Jesus told the crowd he hadn’t seen faith like that in all the land of Israel. [Note: The officer seemed to be extremely sensitive to Jewish religious protocol in this instance. He was a gentile and realized the Jews considered him unclean. He knew for Jesus to come in his house would have made Jesus unclean in Jewish custom and belief of the time. Yes, it took strong faith on his part.]

In another instance, Jesus told the crowd they lacked faith (Matthew 17:17). A man had asked the disciples to cast a demon out of his son, but when they couldn’t do it, they came to Jesus. "You didn’t have enough faith," Jesus told them. "I assure you, even if you had faith as small as a mustard seed you could say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it would move. Nothing would be impossible" (Matthew 17:20-21, NLT).

A mustard seed is quite small. You probably think you have that much faith. I think I do. But I’ve never moved a mountain, have you?

Hebrews 11:1-2 (NIV) says faith is "being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see."

Ah, that’s the problem. We can’t see what we believe in. Hebrews 11:3 says, "By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible." The earth and everything in it – the things we can see – came from God who cannot be seen. We take that on faith, because we can’t even imagine how all things came into being. Even those who don’t believe in God have to practice faith! It probably takes more faith to believe everything is an accident than to believe in an intelligent Creator!

Philip Yancey in his book Reaching for an Invisible God says, "The life of faith consists of living in the past and in the future." He goes on, "Relating to an invisible God involves certain handicaps: with no sensory evidence in the present, we must look backward to remind ourselves of who it is we are relating to." We see who he is and what he has done by looking at the Scriptures and at our own lives.

We practice future faith by continuing to hope in the resurrection of Christ. He conquered sin and death and all humanity will be redeemed because of his sacrifice and resurrection.

So we look back – to remember God’s goodness – and we look forward – to the hope of the resurrection. But just as Paul didn’t dwell on the past, but pressed forward toward the goal, so we press on. We have past faith that God is who he says he is and future faith that he will do what he promises.

When I go to the office or meet people for business reasons, I dress up a little. On the days I stay home, I wear everyday clothes. I’m sure you have them too—the jeans with some fraying, the shirts with the stains.

When you think about giving glory to God, do you think in terms of dress-up clothes or everyday clothes? If giving him glory is something we do all the time, we need to think of it in everyday terms.

Think of the tasks that make up an ordinary day: driving to work, school or the grocery store. Cleaning the house. Mowing the lawn. Taking out the trash. Checking your e-mail. None of these are out of the ordinary and most don’t require fancy clothes. When it comes to giving God glory, he doesn’t hang out a "No shirt, no shoes, no service" sign. He accepts our obeisance on a come-as-you-are basis.

I’ve noticed some ways I glorify God, and I’ve also realized I feel the most content when I consciously seek to glorify him. Some examples from my life: taking time to acknowledge his sovereignty over me and praying for others. Seeing others from God’s perspective and treating them accordingly.

Fulfilling my responsibilities in my family and home. Eating right, exercising and getting enough sleep (my body is the temple of the Holy Spirit). Turning my problems and my transformation over to God and trusting him for the outcome. Using the gifts he’s given me for his purpose.

Do you give God everyday glory? Or is it something you save for the times you "dress up"? Does it happen only when you go to church?

If you haven’t heard of or read Practicing the Presence of God, I highly recommend it. Brother Lawrence was a monk who lived in the 17th century and learned what it meant to give God glory in the ordinary events of everyday life. He spent a great deal of his life working in the monastery kitchen. He found great joy and fulfillment there—a good example for me when I’m grumbling about cooking or cleaning the dishes!

I love the prayer he said before beginning his work:

"O my God, since you are with me, and I must now, being obedient to what you have commanded, pay attention to this external work, I ask you to grant me the grace to continue in your presence. With this goal in mind, may my work prosper with your help. I give it all to you, as well as all my love."

He said of his kitchen work: "These busy times are no different for me than prayer times. In my kitchen’s noise and clatter, while several people are all calling for different things, I possess God just as peacefully as if I were on my knees at the altar, ready to take communion."

Let’s practice the presence of God no matter what we are doing and give him glory in the everyday things. Even while doing the dishes.

"What if God was one of us?
"Just a slob like one of us?
"Just a stranger on the bus, trying to make his way home."

These are the words to the theme song of the TV show Joan of Arcadia (written and performed by Joan Osborne). The premise is that God can appear as any human, and he or she does this regularly to a girl named Joan. Sometimes God is a Cute Guy, sometimes an old woman. Joan must be on the lookout because she never knows who he/she will be. God gives her advice about situations she encounters with her friends and family. She doesn’t always understand what’s going on, but as it’s TV, it works out in the end.

I watched this program once and didn’t enjoy it. I’m not entertained or intrigued by the notion God could be just like us. Because he isn’t. He’s not at all like us, and he’s definitely not a slob.

People (and I include myself) sometimes get funny ideas about God. A woman who works on a major college campus said one of the students asked her if God might be arrogant because he wants us to worship, adore and glorify him. I was a bit stunned someone could think this of him.

If we were to take a class titled The Nature of God 101, we would learn two things about God. The first one comes from his own mouth, as stated in Isaiah 55:8-9 (NIV): "’For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,’ declares the Lord. ‘As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.’"

God is not human. He is not like us in any way, shape or form. We cannot ascribe human characteristics to him, such as arrogance, hubris or selfishness. He is not immature or on a power trip. He doesn’t do things on a whim or just to see us squirm.

The second thing we learn about him is he is love, and everything he does is motivated by love (I John 4:8). He cannot act against his nature. We, however, are rarely motivated by love. Our nature is at odds with his (Romans 7 and 8), so how can we even begin to think God is like us?

We sometimes go so far as to believe we understand what God thinks about things. This is how so many religions can be right and so many churches can have "the truth." "We dare not ascribe to God opinions He does not ascribe to Himself," says Bob Kauflin of Sovereign Grace Ministries. When we do this, it is we who are arrogant and full of hubris (your word of the day – it means exaggerated pride or self-confidence).

Job received an A+ in The Nature of God 101. It might do us all a world of good to review Job, the textbook for this class. Then we will be able to say, with Job, "Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know (Job 42:3, NIV). We would never need to wonder, "What if God was one of us? Just a slob like one of us?"

I needed to buy the pair of shoes - they were on sale and they match the dress I bought last week. I had to speed on the freeway because the cars behind me were going fast and making me go faster. I ate that piece of cake because it was the last one and I needed to make more room in the refrigerator. I had to lie a little bit so I wouldn’t hurt my friend’s feelings.

We’ve all done it. We start when we’re children and continue as adults. We do it when we do things we know we shouldn’t. Things we should feel guilty about but don’t because we feel we have a good reason. We had a need that made what we did seem necessary, at least at the time, and it didn’t seem to hurt anyone.

It’s called self-justification and most of us do it without even noticing. It can become a habit, a way of thinking that can keep us from accepting responsibility for our actions. I frequently practice self-justification when I open my big mouth and say something unkind or critical.

Yes, I do say unkind things from time to time. The tongue is difficult to control. Justifying myself (almost) removes my guilty feelings and makes me feel satisfied that I helped the recipient of my comments learn something and grow spiritually.

Self-justification does several things for us. It can help us feel superior to others. It can take away our guilt. It helps us feel we are in the right and what we did was OK. It can give us a sense of security that we won’t experience any negative consequences. Right? Wrong.

Self-justification doesn’t make us right. It doesn’t do anything but give us a false sense of getting away with bad behavior. But there is a justification that makes us right. R. C. Sproul says: "Justification may be defined as that act by which unjust sinners are made right in the sight of a just and holy God."

When we through faith and faith alone receive justification from God, he declares us free from guilt and acceptable to him. It’s not like self-justification wherein we try to make ourselves not look guilty because of our so-called good reasons for sinning. True justification comes by Christ alone. It is his righteousness God imputes or attributes to us, not our own.

If we are truly justified by a living faith in Christ, we will no longer feel the need to self-justify. Again Sproul says, "Justification depends on true faith, which in turn will inevitably lead to works of obedience." Obedience to Jesus as Lord will cause us to recognize and own up to our responsibility in such circumstances as mentioned at the beginning of this article. We will acknowledge our motives, take accountability and repent.

True justification does not give a false sense of security, but real security. We won’t be right in our own eyes, but right in the eyes of God. And that’s a much better place to be.

June - More Sugar, Less Spice

A newspaper headline reads, "For These Girls, No Tears, Just Fists." A 13-year-old girl, encouraged by her mother, and along with her mother and other women and girls, beat up a 12-year-old girl when the first girl’s boyfriend kissed her on the cheek. They beat her so savagely she was left in a coma.

Another group of girls participated in a hazing so brutal several girls were hospitalized with broken bones. The girls were merely expelled.

The incidence of violence among girls has risen in the past few years. Boys still have the edge, but according to the Associated Press, arrest statistics show the ratio has increased from 10 to 1 to 4 to 1. More incidents occur without arrests.

What’s happening? Doesn’t sugar and spice and everything nice still describe girls? Girls are starting to act more and more like boys. They have role models in the movies showing them the way: Lara Croft, the cyborg from Terminator 3, Trinity in The Matrix and the X-Men movies.

Other factors contribute to violence among girls: less religious influence, more broken homes, fewer mothers at home during the day and a coarser, more violent society in general.

Betsy Hart, the author of the above mentioned article states: "When the virtue of women as a group degenerates in a culture, it weakens the culture as a whole and it’s a dangerous thing. In every successful society, women are the ultimate keepers of virtue. They are the civilizing influence on the men and the culture around them." Women have typically been the gentling factor of society.

One of the definitions of gentle is "free from harshness, sternness or violence." Another is "considerate or kindly in disposition; amiable and tender."

When one thinks of gentleness, a mother with her baby comes to mind. Women are supposed to be gentle, tender and kind. But as with most other moral virtues, being gentle isn’t cool. It’s better to stand up for yourself and fight back.

Gentleness isn’t mentioned a lot in the Bible, but the few verses in the Old Testament that use the word gentle (in the King James Version; other translations use various words with similar meanings) point to the gentleness of the Father. Second Corinthians 10:1 speaks of the gentleness of Christ. Galatians 5:23 says it is a fruit of the Spirit. God in the fullness of the Trinity is gentle.

Even though 1 Peter 3:4 admonishes wives not to let their beauty come from their physical appearance, he seems to be speaking to all women. Our beauty "should be that of [our] inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight," (NIV). A gentle and quiet spirit is one who knows God, trusts him and lives in the security of his love.

Gentleness toward others shows respect and consideration. It shows an understanding of the value of each person to God.

Gentleness shouldn’t be an old-fashioned virtue. As one of the fruits of the Spirit, it applies to every Christian—male or female. It should be taught to our daughters to help keep our society strong. It should be modeled for our sons and practiced in our daily lives.

Gentleness is part of who Jesus is, and as he lives in us, our gentleness will be lived out for others to see and feel.

A country song talks about looking for love in all the wrong places. It could easily say, Looking for self-esteem in all the wrong places. Most of us, at one time or another, struggle with our self-concept, our sense of worth, our self-esteem. Should we take the advice of psychiatrists and go searching for healthy self-esteem in our inner selves?

Or should we take the approach of some religious philosophers and have God-esteem, not self-esteem? How do we find a balance acceptable to ourselves, and more importantly, to God?

Many of us, especially when we are young, can go through a crisis of identity as we start to break away from our parents, learn who we are and discover how we fit into society. But that society we struggle to fit into has already defined how we should measure our self-worth.

The first mark on the world’s self-esteem ruler is appearance. God may look on the heart, but humans look on the outward appearance, and how we feel about our looks plays a big role in how we value ourselves. Even though employers are not supposed to base their judgment of a future employee on looks, it does happen.

Retailers bank on it, because the search for a pleasing appearance keeps the economy healthy. Advertisers create ad campaigns to convince us that unless we buy their appearance-enhancing products, we won’t be successful. And plastic surgery is not only for the rich and famous anymore. Everyone seems to be having something done.

The next mark on the self-esteem ruler is male-female relationships. Women especially have a tendency to base their self-worth on whether or not they have a significant other. If there is one, they depend on the compliments, affection and attention they receive as a source of self-esteem. This works until the loved one leaves or fails to deliver. If there is no one, the search can become an obsession, leading to trouble and heartache.

The last mark on the ruler is accomplishments. We define ourselves by what we do. Perhaps men are more prone to this than women, although it affects us all. For some, losing a job means losing his or her identity, and possibly, the will to live.

The self-esteem ruler could also be called the opinion-of-others measuring stick. If our appearance, relationships and accomplishments don’t measure up to what others think of us, surely we must not have much value to them or ourselves.

But whose opinion really counts? The only measuring stick that means anything is God’s. The only source of self-esteem, self-worth and value is Jesus. The only place to find it is in an intimate relationship with him. And the only way to that relationship is by sitting at his feet and listening to his voice.

We all desire a healthy self-esteem, for our children and ourselves. Looking for it in the wrong places results in self-defeat and self-condemnation. Let’s look in the right place—to Jesus—and use the right Ruler on ourselves and others.

Last month we discussed the first step in the transformation process – the first step in our part of the process, that is. The Holy Spirit does the real work of transformation. We in our weakness are helpless to change ourselves.

Benjamin Franklin discovered this when he set about to make changes in his life. By his self-imposed deadline he found he was the same as when he started. He concluded it is impossible to do it yourself. Even though we cannot initiate or accomplish our transformation, we must do our part. Transformation is not only a process, it’s a partnership.

After the Holy Spirit shows us our need for change, he gives us the desire for change. Wanting to change can be difficult, because even though we may recognize the need to do it, staying the same is more comfortable. And it’s certainly easier!

Changing often requires asking and answering some difficult questions. A book that helped me is The Power of a Praying Wife. The first chapter makes you take a long, hard look at yourself, which is something we all need to do if we’re serious about letting God transform us. (Another book by Stormie Omartian that might be helpful for men is The Power of a Praying Husband. She has books for singles, too.)

Seeing the need to change and desiring it are followed by much prayer. We must continually ask for help to see our sin and for the daily desire to change. As we take our bad habits and behavior problems – our sins – to the Holy Spirit, he helps us become aware of trouble spots. He gives us opportunities to let him show us how we should think and act.

Transformation begins in our minds. The only way to keep from conforming to the world is to learn to think more like God. Gaining his perspective helps us hate sin as much as he does. He’ll help us see others as he sees them – as his beloved children, people whom he desires to have with him for eternity. As our thoughts align more with God’s, new behavior follows, and we will stop acting like those who have no awareness of God and no hope of the future. James said we shouldn’t merely listen to the Word, but do what it says (James 1:22, NIV).

The last step in this transformation un-formula is to keep at it. If we decide, after noticing some changes, that we don’t need to change anymore, we will stop praying about it and become complacent. Changing, growing and letting God transform us takes a lifetime.

Our little caterpillar in last month’s article didn’t have to do much to become a butterfly. He just crawled up the jar and attached himself to the lid. Nature did the rest. In a way we’re like the caterpillar. If we do our part by getting close to God and staying attached to him, he will do the rest. He will turn us all into spiritual butterflies.

When we were little girls, my sister and I found a caterpillar and put it in a jar. We punched holes in the lid, added a twig and some leaves and waited. The caterpillar crawled up the twig and attached itself. We watched it form into a chrysalis and change from its long, slender shape to a neat little capsule with a hat. We checked it every day for changes, wondering how long until something would happen. Gradually, the opaque green chrysalis became transparent and thin, and we could see the colors of the butterfly that would soon emerge.

One morning, my mother sent me to the freezer to get a loaf of bread. When I came back upstairs, the beautiful monarch butterfly was outside its temporary home, flexing its new, still-damp wings. I was so disappointed I had missed the moment of its "birth." The transformation of the caterpillar to butterfly has stayed with me over the years, and is still a marvel. What better evidence of the genius that is our Creator?

Christians go through a spiritual transformation when we accept Christ as Savior and receive the Holy Spirit. The change is not automatic, as it is with a caterpillar, and many times not as apparent. Don’t we wish it were that easy? But if it’s not automatic and easy, how do we go about this transformation? Is there a formula? Does God do it all for us or are there things we can do to help it along? How do we fulfill Romans 12:1 to 2, which tells us not to be conformed to this world, but to be transformed by the Spirit?

I’ve struggled with this over the years, thinking this is the way I am, and there’s nothing to be done about it. Then I found out about grace, as opposed to grace-plus. The reason I was unable to change is because I thought I was already doing everything right. My legalistic, self-righteous attitude prevented me from being transformed. The first step to spiritual transformation, for me, was recognizing the need to change. I was not perfect, could not obey God’s laws and this realization started me on the road to becoming a spiritual butterfly. My legalism baggage is still there, but it’s no longer checked. It’s now carry-on.

What about you? When you read Paul’s admonition do you think he’s talking about someone else? If you still have checked baggage, you may think you’ve already been transformed and have certainly not conformed to this world. But remember we will not complete the transformation to a butterfly until we have finished with this life. Until then, we are still creepy-crawlies, still in the process.

Recognizing the need to change is critical to being changed. Jesus often pointed out to the Pharisees their sins. But they didn’t get it. They knew they were keeping the law perfectly. As Saul (before becoming Paul) said, he kept the law from birth. He and his fellow Pharisees looked down their noses at the sinners who needed a Savior. They were clueless.

Let’s not be spiritually blind. Let’s realize our need for a Savior and our need to be transformed by the Spirit.

Most of us like to feel we are in control of our lives. We don’t want someone else to have the say over our homes, families or finances, even though it is convenient to have someone to blame when things go wrong. Feeling we have no control over a situation makes us uncomfortable and anxious.

I guess that’s why reading (in some translations of the Bible and certain books) that we must be under the control of the Holy Spirit makes me uncomfortable. I know in an overarching sense, God does have control of every part of creation. He has the power to do whatever he wants with everything. But does he "control" me?

If he does, then how does it work? My reasoning goes something like this: As I’ve accepted Jesus as my Savior and I’ve given my life to God, I’m under the control of the Holy Spirit and won’t sin again. But as I do sin, I must not be under his control. And if I’m not under his control then I must have an attitude problem. But I don’t really want to give up control of my life, so I do have an attitude problem. Sounds similar to the vicious circle Paul described in Romans.

Only a few translations use the word control. The others use wording similar to being led by the Spirit or walking with him. Several authors also discuss the Holy Spirit in terms of control. Not liking the disparity among translations, I felt I must get to the bottom of this. I asked my research assistant (my husband) to look up the Greek words for me. In Romans 8, verses 5 through 9, the Greek word for control isn’t even used! The Greek words are kata sarka (according to flesh) and kata pneuma (according to spirit) and have no implication of control. They rather contrast two groups of people – those who are focused on the flesh and do not submit to God and those who are focused on the Spirit and try to please and obey God. The Greek words in other verses I questioned also didn’t mean to control.

The Holy Spirit doesn’t control us and he never uses force. He gently leads and guides us as we surrender to him. The Holy Spirit speaks in a still small voice. It is up to us to respond.

We are in the Spirit if the Spirit of God dwells in us (Romans 8:9). This means we live according to the Spirit, walk with him, concern ourselves with the things of God, submit to his will in our lives and are led by him.

We have the same choice as Adam and Eve – we can choose life or we can choose death. God doesn’t want to control us. He doesn’t want automatons or robots. He wants us to choose life in Christ, and let his Spirit guide us through life. This is better anyway, because then when we blow it and sin, we can’t blame God. We have no one to blame but ourselves when the choice is our own.

I made a wonderful, joy-filled discovery during the past few years – God loves me! This may not seem like a startling discovery to you, but after years of believing God was a harsh judge, waiting to punish me if I messed up, it came as a revelation to me.

My relationship with God, if it could be called a relationship, started when I was a young girl. I remember reading the Bible and feeling some kind of connection with this mysterious supernatural Being. I had a desire to reverence him in some way, but didn’t know how.

My experiences attending church were not completely satisfying, although I did love to sing and joined a choir for awhile. I once attended a vacation Bible school at the invitation of a friend. At the end of the week, I went with one of the teachers to the chapel and listened as he told me about my need to accept Christ as my Savior. I remember saying I would, but I guess I wasn’t convinced because my confession remained only words. I still didn’t know who God was or how to relate to him.

Then when I began attending the Worldwide Church of God, my perception of God became that of Lawgiver and Judge. If I didn’t obey all the laws, I knew I would be in big trouble.

Then I heard a sermon that changed everything. The pastor talked about how God knew all about women because he created us. And how could he create us if he didn’t have the same qualities and characteristics within himself? Of course this applies to men too, but as God seemed so "male," I assumed he had made men more like himself and women were somehow different.

This one statement (and it’s the only thing I remember from the sermon) opened my eyes to a Creator who knows and understands me, and more important, loves me. He loves me on my bad days, my good days and when no one else seems to love me.

This love is not like any other kind of love I’ve ever known. I know my dad loved me, but I won’t see him again until we’re in heaven together. I know my mom loves me, but she’s now dealing with the realities of being a widow. I know my husband loves me, but he’s a human like me, and was not designed by God to fill all my needs. I know my children love me, but they will grow up and move away, and I’ll be someone they call once a week and come to see on holidays.

Only God loves me with unconditional, inexhaustible, incomparable, limitless, overflowing, intensely personal, more than wonderful, lavish and extravagant love! God’s love is amazing, and it’s big enough for the whole world (John 3:16), as well as directed specifically at me. It’s love I can wrap up in and live in. It’s love I can trust. It’s love that can change me. It’s love that gives me life. It’s love Jesus died for.

If you still think of God as I used to, instead of a New Year’s resolution, have a New Year’s revelation – God really loves you. It’ll make your whole year!