I Am So Grateful for God

By Toni Weisz/Spiritual Disciplines       

Scriptures: Romans 5:5, 1 John 4:7, Ephesians 3:17-19, and Zephaniah 3:17

Romans 5:5
Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

1 John 4:7
Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.

Ephesians 3:17-19
That Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and the depth and height- to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Zephaniah 3:17
The Lord your God, in your midst, the Mighty One will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, he will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.

I want to share my journal entry from November 30, 2024. The Holy Spirit speaking to my heart said, “I will never make you grovel or beg for help; My love is extravagant.”

“Yes, it is Lord, and I am so grateful for that.”

The Lord said,
“My love is perfect.
My love is gentle.
My love is kind.
My love is compassionate.
My love builds up.
My love blesses others.
My love encourages.
My love is eternal.”

So many of us have a distorted view of God’s love because of the treatment and/or abuse we have received, especially from those closest to us; those who were supposed to love, nurture, and protect us. We attribute these characteristics to God, and therefore, we think He is angry, harsh, abusive, and unapproachable, but that could not be furthest from the truth.

I believe our distorted view of God’s love causes us to look for it in other places, from all the wrong people; because as children, we are not mature enough to understand how fundamental love is in our emotional, physical, and spiritual growth and development. It affects every aspect of our lives. We feel we are unworthy of love and that we are flawed and unlovable because of the way others have treated us in our past. The evil one wants us to believe that God does not love us.

So how do we replace our distorted view of God with the truth? 

1. We must be born-again; we must be a Christian, a child of God, because it’s the Holy Spirit of God who helps us to know God and the truth from His Word. 
2. We have to spend time with God in prayer and the reading of His Word. Just like any other relationship, it grows deeper with time spent together. 
3. We must believe that God’s Word is truth and that He is love, and not like our unkind or abusive family member. 
4. We start meditating on His Word and the Holy Spirit helps us to start believing that truly we are precious in His sight and that we are His beloved children.
5. We connect with a safe and loving community to walk with us on our healing journey.
6. We need an accountability partner to help keep us on track and encourage us when we need it.  

Once we receive God’s love into the innermost part of our being, we are changed forever.  We no longer doubt that we are truly loved by God. We no longer look for another person to validate and affirm us because we are secure in God’s love for us. We don’t have to perform or be perfect in order to be worthy enough to receive His love. We are loved simply because He created us and we are His child.

Questions to take to heart:

1. Did you grow up feeling loved and secure in your home of origin?
2. Did you grow up believing God loves you?
3. How old were you when you received the gift of salvation through Jesus’ death on the cross for your sins?
4. Was it hard for you to receive God’s love?  If so, why?
5. How can we pray for you?

Dear One, I pray you too will receive God’s love in the inner most part of your being.  He loves you more than you can comprehend. He rejoices over you with gladness, He quiets you with His love, and He rejoices over you with singing (Ref. Zephaniah 3:17).

Please reach out if you need to talk. Feel free to email me: toni@myashestobeauty.com.

You are loved,
Toni