Your name is spoken before the throne of God!

I've been thinking a lot about love lately. Well, I guess I would be since I'm a romance novelist.  Of course in a novel or movie, people fall in love and everything always works out. They sail off into the sunset to live out their dreams in wedded bliss. Real life isn't that way, is it? Even the best of relationships have their difficulties. The rest sort of muddle through in mediocrity.  Why? Because human love is flawed, deeply flawed. The love of even the most wonderful person is, at its core, selfish. If you disagree with that, then you haven't a clue about human nature. God tells us that our best actions, our finest acts of love, are like filthy rags.

I'm not saying that people can't sometimes commit unselfish acts of love. Of course they can, and they do. All I'm saying is, that if we are honest with ourselves, most of the time there is a selfish motive lingering behind the love. The only human love on earth that even comes close to being unselfish and unconditional is the love of mother for her children. It really wasn't until I had kids that I began to get a glimpse of God's love for me.

People who love us will sometimes let us down. They will sometimes put themselves ahead of us. They will hurt us and disappoint us, and we will do the same to them. It is inevitable with our fallen selfish human natures.

God is not like that. The trouble is, most of us have a hard time not relating "human" love to how God loves. I'm guilty of this every day. I think God must surely be disappointed with me. Things aren't going well in my life, so He must not love me. He's grown tired of my faults and has moved on. I don't measure up. He's bored with me, tired of my rambling prayers and whining, sick of me repeating myself. Surely there are others who He'd rather focus on, better Christians, prettier Christians, younger Christians who are exciting and who don't make so many mistakes. Isn't that what the world teaches us? That if we want love, we have to look, act, and be a certain way?

Why is it so hard for us to really grasp the love of God? We all know that He loved us so much that He sent His Son to suffer and die, so that we could have a relationship with Him.  I don't know a single person who would put their child through such torture to save a bunch of rebels.

That's why we must think of God's love as something extraordinary and not of this world. It is so far above our human thinking, that we can't fathom it. We must only feel it. And believe it.

A pastor was riding on a train and it stopped at a busy station. As he was looking out the window at all the people hurrying here and there, he asked God, "What do you think of all these people?"  And God replied. "Some are wicked, some are ignorant, and others are exceedingly precious."

I don't know about you, but being called "exceedingly precious" by the God of the universe really touched me. The truth is, we are exceedingly precious to Him. We are bought and paid for with a Huge price. No no pays such a huge price for junk.

I could list a bunch of Scriptures here that tell you that God knows the number of hair on your head, keeps all your tears in a bottle, commands angels to watch over you, formed you in your mother's womb, never leaves you, protects, provides, heals, delivers, listens, loves, cares, nurtures, but you probably already know that in your head. It is our hearts that need to believe it

Let me leave you with something a friend of mine said recently. He said to picture the throne room of the Creator of the Universe, the hosts of angels standing around singing praises, the 24 elders, the cherubim and seraphim, the sea of glass, the golden throne on which the Almighty sits, and beside Him, Jesus sitting on another throne. Picture angels  reporting on the business of the Kingdom and God issuing orders and sending them forth. 

Now picture Jesus turning to God and saying. "I want to talk to you about _(Insert your name here)__ . She's having some trouble lately." God replies. "Yes, I've heard her prayers."

And then the two of them continue talking about you, consulting on the best way to answer your prayers, the best way to help you, to keep you walking in the light. Angels are listening and a hush comes over the throne room while your name is spoken.

You think that can't happen? Of course it can! And it does. (Biblical example found in Job) 
You are valuable! You are a child of God. And like a loving parent, He is concerned about every detail of your life. Yes, your name is indeed spoken in great love in the throne room of God. You are discussed, your life, your struggles, your successes, your needs. Why? Because you are precious to Him. His love is not dependent on anything you have done or anything you will do. He will never leave you, turn His back on you, reject you, hurt you, or disappoint you.. He is never too busy, too late, or too distracted. He always listens and never interrupts.

Satan's biggest lie is that God doesn't love you and that you are a nobody. If he can convince you of that,even a little, he'll keep you down, depressed, and anxious, unable to fulfill your God-given call.

Next time you feel unloved, picture the throne room of God and listen for your name. Listen to the loving tone of God Himself discussing how He can best answer your prayers. It's happening! Listen hard and maybe you'll hear how much your Father in Heaven loves you. 


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