To Love Him and Be Loved By Him

Would I call today a first date in my pursuit of falling in love with Jesus? I don't think so. I would be more apt to call it reading his bio before saying I would like to meet him. Now, do not get me wrong, I am not trying to be mocking of what I already have found in Jesus, my salvation and peace, I want to have a fresh view of Him, to really love him, People say we become like what we love, I want to be like him.

For my quiet time I read Matthew 1 and Mark 1. At first, I found myself approaching these familiar passages with assumption. You know, like I  already knew how God was going to teach me through them. Maybe that is why I am where I am with the Lord, assumption about him. After all, when we think we know all there is to know about our spouses, we tend to stop pursing knowing them. The result is dry relationships. I don't know, maybe that is carrying this parallel to far. Anyway, I began to see that Jesus was from a lineage of healed wounds. Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, Bathsheeba, and Mary. Each were culturally inappropriate and religiously unacceptable, each had a deep need of redemption in their circumstances. They each had to demonstrate faith in receiving the great grace awaiting them.

Both of these chapters include fulfillment of prophecies about the messiah found in Isaiah. God always keeps his word. Always! Beautiful! I can count on His faithfulness always.

Mark 1 is not about how Jesus arrives on the earth, through a virgin birth, by the power of the Holy Spirit. It is about the birth of the ministry of Jesus. He is announced, anointed, and tested in this first chapter. He then gets busy and I am amazed already. He heals the sick, frees the demon possessed, and teaches with great authority. He is compassionate, he get alone in the early hours of the morning to pray. He does not seek fame, in fact he moves in its opposite direction. He is not derailed by the horizontal demands placed on him, but he stays focused on his vertical mission. He engaged with the religious, the sick, and the outcast.

Mary and Joseph named him Jesus in obedience to what the angel of the Lord had told them. (Matthew 1:21) Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins. They called him Immanuel, which means, "God with us".

I desire to say with full confidence and great affect that I love this Jesus and am walking in the complete confidence of his love for me. I press on...

Psalm 31:16
"Let your face shine upon your servant; save me in your unfailing love."

Finding New Love

"Gathering the scattered' is not only a reference to the weekend fun of 9 friends reuniting, it also refers to a "coming together" of all my scattered thoughts.

I want to invite you to take a 40 day journey with me. Where? You ask. The question should really be: To whom? You see I have found myself in a place I never imagined I would be, a place of great brokenness and blurred vision.

I have a need. I need a fresh view of God, a victory over deep hurt and lifelong habits, and a vision of how my story fits into the overarching story of God's redemptive plan for mankind.

Philip, one of Jesus' disciples, asked Jesus to show the disciples the Father and that would be enough for them to believe. Jesus answered; "Don't you know me, Philip (Tara), even after I have been among you for such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'?" (John 14:9) The only way for me to get an accurate view of God is to know Jesus from the scriptures.

For the next 40 days I will be reading about Jesus in Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and Acts 1:1-11.
I want to have his heart for the Lord and the world. I want to fall deeply in love with him.

I will also be rereading, "The Burning Heart Contract" by Becky Tirabassi. (www.beckytirabassi.com)  I will also be praying for revival for our nation, my family and my life. (www.annegrahamlotz.com)  I want to be less distracted by what all I see around me and focus on the one who loves me most, Jesus.