'Love this SO much!'

I’m not a huge Facebook user, but every so often I’ll post something I’ve found, a quote or a thought or a scripture verse.

Sometimes I’ll preface it by writing: “I love this SO much!”

As I contemplate the year that just ended and the one that’s already begun, I want to share with you some of the things I’ve loved SO much this past year:

“Now then, stand still and see this great thing the Lord is about to do right before your eyes.” — 1 Samuel 12:16

Note to self: stand still more and keep your eyes open.

“I have loved you at your darkest.” — Roman 5:8

To this I added: “God and sinners reconciled are my favorite words to sing at Christmas.”

“But God.”

I love this two-word phrase SO much. I’m good at thinking of worst-case scenarios and this always pulls me back from the edge of doom.

“Religion says: God will love us if we change. The gospel says: God’s love changes us.”

A recent similar thought: “Religion shames people for having dirty feet. Jesus kneels to wash them.”

This thought was written on a photo of a sweet little lamb: “Grace embraces you before you prove anything and after you’ve done everything wrong.”

“Keep held, my soul, in the grip of God, keep stayed in Him; for it’s never He who lets go first, but I in my pursuit of lesser longings.”

“We wander, God pursues and reconciles. We stumble, God forgives and restores. We stress, God loves and revives with life sustaining grace.”

Love, love, love this.

“When we see the face of God we shall know that we have always known it.” — C.S. Lewis

Love. This. So. Very. Much!

“If you believe in a God who controls the big things, you have to believe in a God who controls the little things. It is we, of course, to whom things look ‘little’ or ‘big.’ ”

Guilty of this!

“...And then God stepped in.”

Probably one of my favorite Facebook memes.

“flawed. & (still) worthy.”

If I had a tattoo, I think this would be it.

“I don’t pray because God will magically fix my problems. I pray because He reminds my heart: You are loved. And I am with you.”

Except, I pray hoping God will magically fix my problems.

“Worry is believing God won’t get it right.”

Again, guilty!

“We are clean even when we go back and wallow in what used to bring us false comfort. The blood of Jesus is THAT powerful.”

I so love this one.

“God smiles on us. He says, ‘Good job,’ even if our best isn’t all that great.”

I love this because we are accepted by God solely because of Jesus. Period. Yay!

And finally:

“The good news of the gospel is this: For those who belong to God through faith in Christ, not only is there no condemnation (Romans 8:1), but there’s no whiplash, no being jerked around, no emotional abuse, no need to shed our blood trying to gain God’s approval because we already have it and nothing or no one can ever take it away.”

I really, really love this SO much.