For the First Time...

"The Spirit and the bride say, 'Come.' Let anyone who hears this say, 'Come.' Let anyone who is thirsty come. Let anyone who desires drink freely from the water of life."

--

Revelation 22:17

 

 

Waiting...

 

 

As Believers we are the Bride of Christ. We are waiting for our great Lover to come and take us away to be with Him forever. Jesus' love for us is so strong and crazy and absolutely beautiful. We have never seen Jesus, but we love Him. Our Lover has whispered His love into our hearts and that is why we have given our all to follow after Him. We may feel nervous and hesitent to welcome that long awaited day when we will see Jesus for the first time. What will He look like? What will He do? Will He be boring? Will He be too busy to take notice of us? Will He be handsome? Will He be friendly? Will I do sometHing stupid when I see Him? Will I be afraid when I see Him for the first time? Will I faint? What will He think when He sees me still so sinnful? Will He talk about all my sins? Will He rememeber how I have failed? Will I know what to say when I see Him? What if I cannot even think of words to say? Will I still be me? So many questions swirl around in our heads I am sure. They do in mine.

 

I have been blessed with such a wonderful perspective on this, though because Fidele and I fell in love before either of us had met in person. Before I had ever even seen Fidele, His love had captured my heart, and I knew I would one day marry Him. We waited and waited for the day to come when we would finally meet in person, and at times it seemed it would never arrive. However as we waited, Fidele and I had such a wonderful time getting to know each other better as we skyped, talked on the phone, and emailed. We didn't get to see each other in person, but we learned to know each other's hearts. We talked about the day we would meet for the first time and it seemed like a dream too good to be true. I remember even now as I boarded the airplane on my way to Cameroon, somewhat in disbielf that I would actually be seeing my dear Fidele. And then as I landed in Yaounde and made my way through Customs, I felt my heart fluttering and wondering what in the world is going to happen! Will I be afraid? Will I run the other direction when I see Fidele? What will He do when He sees me? Will it be very awkward? But do you know what? As soon as we saw each other, we just ran into each others arms! And it was the most wonderful time in my life! It didn't feel strange at all. All the questions that had filled my mind before had melted away because all I knew at that moment was that my Fidele loved me sooo much, and nothing else mattered.

 

I think the same will be true of our Lover Jesus when we see Him for the first time. Can His love be anything but absolutely crazy and beautiful?! Jesus' love is so deep that He died so that we could be His Bride. He took our filthy rags and gave us beautiful robes of His righteousness! When we see Jesus for the first time, I think we are going to be so caught up in His amazing love that everything else will fade from our view and we will be focused on our Lover.

 

With this perspective, I joyfully echo what the verse above says: "COME LORD JESUS!" May you also be filled with this same excitement and joy as we wait for our Lover to come.

5,550 Miles

Two Hearts... Joined together...Forever

As I sit here in my room at work, looking out into the dark night sky, I am encouraged that even though my dear Fidele is so far away (about 5,550 miles!!!!) we are always close together in heart. I realize that it does not matter if I am 5 miles, 50 miles, 500 miles, or 5,550 miles away from Fidele; His love does not change. This time apart is difficult and so very challenging, but one day soon we will be reunited, and the joy we will feel will be beyond words!

These thoughts also help me see more clearly my relationship with Jesus. How easy it is to think that Jesus' love has changed or diminished when I feel that His presence is so far away . Sometimes I feel like I might have done something that has caused my heavenly Lover to turn away from me. The great distance I feel between Jesus and I just seems to swallow me up, and the farther I feel from Jesus' presence the more I doubt whether His love can reach me still. You may also feel these same struggles at times, but I want to offer you some wonderful hope!

Did you know that no matter how far away Jesus may feel to your heart, His love never changes?! This is true! Jesus loves us with an everlasting love! His love shines brighter than a blazing fire...it is more powerful than a hurricane....it is constant and unchanging. We may feel like Jesus is so far away, but we can always be sure and confident that He loves us. Clinging to this hope, we can look forward to the day when we will be united with the Lord! The joy we will experience when we are joined with our heavenly Lover, I think is beyond our imagination! I think it will be like an explosion of JOY!

But how do we apply this to our lives now while we wait for that day to come? Well, as I wait for Fidele to come, I find great joy in calling him on my phone each day and skyping with him on my days off. I wake up each morning thinking, "Four O' clocks coming! Then I can call Fidele!!" I treasure the moments we spend together no matter how long or short, and I long for more time with my Fidele. Also as I wait for my Fidele to come, it is a good thing for me to find ways to serve others so that I do not become overcome with self-pity and loneliness. I also find joy in preparing for Fidele's coming by practicing my cooking skills, cleaning skills, and money managing skills (and I have a bunch of other things I am working at too).

So for us Lovers of Jesus, I think we should be doing some of the same things while we wait for His coming. We should treasure each moment we have with our Lover whether it is long or short. Our desire should be to know Jesus better each new day. We should also find ways to serve those around us. As we enjoy time with Jesus and spending time serving others, we should also be investing our time in preparing for our Lover's coming so that we are ready when He comes. How do we do this? Love one another, use the gifts and talents He's given us for His glory, and the list goes on. Add a little creativity and you will have no end to the things you will come up with!

And always remember today that Jesus loves you forever...remember that you are the Bride of Christ...You are dear to His heart!

"And may you have the power to understand, as all God's people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep His love is. May you experience the Love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully..."

   --

     Ephesians 3:18-19a

 

10 O'CLOCK THANKS

"Seek first the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and He will give you everything you need."

--

Matthew 6:33

 

Count Down until Fidele comes: 180 days!!!

 

 

As this day comes to a close, I take a moment to look to Jesus and thank Him for so many wonderful blessings. I do not want to forget my Savior and His kindness to me.

 

 

So thank you Jesus for...

 

-Warm sunshine

-Each verse in the Bible

-Providing me with food to eat and lovely peach tea to drink!

-Fellowship with other Believers

-Prayer meeting and Bible study at church

-Dirty pumpkins that I can clean!!

-Friends to spend time with

-My legs that allow me to walk all over Eastport

-Roses that smell absolutely delicious

-Little jobs that keep me busy like doing the laundry, washing dishes, folding clothes, and baking cookies

-The opportunity to take college classes

-Your constant presence

-Your great faithfulness

-Your unfailing love

-My fiance Fidele!!

-Skype...so that I can hear and see My Love!

-Making Fidele and I wait all these months to be together because it makes us rely and trust in you more deeply

-Giving me a man who is set on living exclusively for Your glory!

-Your peace that guards my heart and gives me strength to press on

-Being in charge of my live, and having every detail in your control

-Your grace that has sustained me today

 

Wow!! The Lord has truly blessed me tooo much today!!! As I look back I see His faithfulness is great, His mercies are new, and His love never fails.