A Friend like no Other

I accept you as you are
I believe you are valuable
I care when you hurt
I desire only what is best for you
I erase all offenses

Words I believe reveal the heart of God for us. I was reading through a little booklet I brought for a friend and I came across these words. Words that were written down for a friend but words that I could feel God speaking to me. Words that brought comfort and showed me once again that Jesus truely is a friend like no other.

I love the fact that God accepts us as we are. We are broken, weak, sinful, imperfect, doubtful, and questional human beings and yet God says thats okay because He has made us this way. Made us this way to realize how deep and wide and long God's love is for us.

In God's eyes we are valuable. Not because of the job that we have that has made us sucessful in the world's eyes. Not because we are in perfect shape pysically or even because we have nice clothes and wear the lastest trends but because He has made us valuable by creating us in His image.

Caring for us when we are hurting. That's the kind of God we serve. We often at times we can wonder does God really care that I'm hurting or having a hard time? You bet He cares more than we could try to imagine. God is there to pick us, bring us into His safe embrace, and reassure us over and over again that He cares.

Desiring only what is best for us. Something that can be hard to see when life makes us feeling like we have been kicked in the gut. Here's the wonderful thing though that God does in those times He gives us the grace we need to catch our breath again. While at the same time repeating His promise that will always remain true. The promise that God has plans to give us a hope and a future and all things He will work together for good. If I can remind myself of that and believe it then I think I can lay my head down knowing that God wants what is best for me.

God erasing all our offenses. I'm so thankful for this. Jesus bore it all for us on the cross because He did not want us to have to carry the weight of this world on our shoulders. Instead to lay everything down at His feet and on Him. God is strong enough to carry that load that wears us down. Maybe you read this thinking to yourselve thats great everything that I did and said and everything I will do and say was nailed on the cross that day but my past is too ugly, too shamful, and leaves my full of guilt and shame. Let me first say the God of the universe knows what shame and guilt feels like. Then let me tell who the Son has set free is free indeed and all things God makes new in Him. Not just some things, a few things, or things that aren't as bad but every single detail of your past is made new in Him. God has buried and covered your past so you may rise in the freedom of God.

May you come to know the heart of God for you through these words. Go rest in the love God has for you beloved. God accepts, believes in, cares for, desires, and forgives you. The best part God wants and likes us just as we are. May you come to find that He truely is a friend like no other.

Thankful for my faithful friend,
Bridget