The Nature of God

50 Christian Devotions about

God’s Love and Acceptance

Mona M. Hanna

The Nature of God

Copyright © 2011 by Mona M. Hanna

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION® NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society®. Used by permission of International Bible Society®. All rights reserved worldwide.

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Table of Contents

God Knows Me

Relationship

No Matter What

The Nature of God

He Just Wants Me to Be Happy

How We Pray

Faith

His Love Is Personal

Protecting Me

God Is in Control

Not Alone

Small Things

Our Sadness

Letter to God

Always Listens

Jesus Loved Us First

God Holds Onto Us

God Has a Plan

Tell Him Everything

God Has His Own Goals

He Wants to Heal Us

We’re Not Trapped

The Real God

How Good He Is

Jesus Owns My Life

Nothing Can Separate Us

Putting God First

God Will Carry Us

God’s Love Is Genuine

God Accepts Us

We’re Here with a Purpose

Be With Him Out of Love

God Gives to Us

We’re Not Failing

Only God Can Make Me Love Him

It’s God’s Job to Change Me

God Eases the Pressure We Feel

God Sees Our Pain

God Will Help Us

When God Is Quiet

God on Our Side

God Is My Strength

Taking Care of Others

Feeling Guilty over Our Focus

God Is Only about Love

The Loveliness of God

We Don’t Have a Divine Duty

When We’re Lonely

We Belong Here

We’re Doing What We Can

About the Author

God Knows Me

God knows every inch of me.

He made me. He created me. He made my mind. My heart. My soul. My talents. All of me.

He knows everything I worry about, and looks at me with love and compassion.

He sits with me always, right beside me, protecting me.

I don’t have to struggle alone, waiting until I’m “good” or in a “place of understanding about God” to pray.

I can talk to him anytime. He wants to hear from me. He loves me. I don’t have to wait to talk to him — I can talk to him now.

He’ll never leave me, loves me more than life itself. I am not alone.

Relationship

At times I feel an ache, an inner loneliness that cripples me.

But I forget about God. I forget that God loves me, and actually wants a relationship with me.

A Christian friend of mine told me that God has emotions. Not that he’s defensive and unstable, but he loves me and is sad when I turn away from him. He feels sadness when I’m hurt, and feels love and joy at my happiness.

I matter to him. He isn’t an emotionless deity, watching from afar and not caring. He doesn’t go about his plans without caring if I’m involved. What I do matters to him. What I say matters. How I treat him. If I spend time with him.

He loves me, and just as I would be hurt if someone I love rejected me, he’s hurt when I reject him. Just as I feel sad when someone I love is sad, or I’m in pain when they’re upset — God’s the same. He aches when I’m upset. He actually loves me. He cries when I cry. If only I could see it. Any pain I feel would be diminished in light of God’s love. He cares about every part of me. If only I could see it.

No Matter What

I often feel that God’s love is fallible — that if I do the wrong thing, or make a mess of my life, he’ll love me less. I tell myself yes, God loves me, but he won’t accept me if I do something awful, or continually make mistakes. If I don’t understand him, and fail, he’ll look away.

But if we look at the Bible, we see even the greatest people, who God loved and changed the world through, made some terrible mistakes. Look at David. God loved him with all his heart, and was enormously proud of him. But David fell down, and committed adultery and murder. He had many great insights about God, but even he didn’t always see God clearly. Yet God still loved him. He didn’t look away from him. He didn’t reject him. And David went on to be one of the greatest people in history, because of the works God performed through him.

In our own lives, it’s okay to make mistakes and be confused, anxious and stressed. It’s normal and God still loves us. He’s with us no matter what — no matter what we do, even if we feel foolish and ashamed. He doesn’t see us the way we see ourselves. He’s with us even if we don’t understand him, and totally fall apart. It’s not a requirement of our relationship with God to never fall down. Jesus died to connect us to God despite our failures, and there are no barriers we could possibly create that could break that bond. God will always love us. No matter what.

The Nature of God

One of my biggest struggles with Christianity is feeling that God is upset with me.

When I first became a Christian, I didn’t understand God at all, so naturally my faith was very limited. All I knew was that I wanted to be in a relationship with him. I did my best to not give up, and I took very small steps to grow closer to him. Eventually, over many months, he showed me he loved me, and taught me to love myself.

In my current relationship with God, when something goes wrong, I can become confused and upset. I can feel he led me somewhere only for me to get hurt, or I can be confused by the messages I feel he’s giving me. But the intense pain I feel during this time is partly because I feel by doubting God, I’m causing a huge rift that even he can’t repair. I feel if I don’t understand God perfectly, he loves me less, and is no longer protecting me.

But this isn’t true. God loves each of us more than we could possibly know, and a loving father would never be angry with us for having doubts. In those initial months of being a Christian, when we didn’t understand him at all, was God mad at us? Did he expect us to completely understand him, and become angry with us for being hurt and troubled? Of course not.

Just because our relationship with God has become more mature, it doesn’t mean we aren’t going to doubt, and God understands this. He still loves and protects us, and will be right by our side while we work through our conflict with him. He hears our every prayer. We feel ashamed for doubting him and for being ungrateful, but God knows our nature. He’ll never look away from us, and is always at work in our lives, even when we can’t see it. God loves us. There’s nothing a human could do to change the nature of God.

He Just Wants Me to Be Happy

I had a moment, in which I glimpsed the depth of God’s love for me. All my preconceived notions were wiped away.

I saw that God is sweet and kind, and truly wants me to be happy, because he loves me. He isn’t trying to teach me certain lessons because I should go through them, and he’s demanding them. He just wants me to be happy. It’s not about fulfilling a certain number of tasks, or “proving my faith” — he loves me like a parent loves a child, and wants me to be happy and content inside.

He doesn’t judge me, and think I’m “bad” for maybe being selfish and not thinking of him first or exactly right. He doesn’t frown upon me for praying about a certain thing, even if I pray a lot — even if I feel stupid. He loves me to talk to him. He listens every time. He cares about me more than I could ever know, and his loves fills me up like nothing else can.

Even if I can’t find a man to love me, God will, and his love is all I need. He’ll be with me every moment, and understands all my heartache.

In no way does God judge me the way I judge myself. In no way does he place that pressure on me. He loves me. He loves me.

How We Pray

We pray to God as if he’s judging us, and has specific rules and guidelines for us to follow. We don’t pray to him as if he’s a loving father, who only has our best interests at heart. We pray to God with an image of him in our heads — negative images made up of our own judgments of him, and the words and writings of others who tell us what God expects. We feel closer to a friend of ours who is loving and accepts us, than we do to God. We can tell the friend anything. But God will judge us.

But we need to wipe this image of God out of our minds. God is kinder, sweeter, more patient, more loving, more accepting and more understanding than any person could be. God is a loving father, and our relationship with him is a relationship, not a servant blindly following their master. We shouldn’t see God as a concept — a set of rules and guidelines we should adapt because others tell us to.

God is your best friend — your confidant, your father, the one who truly knows you. You’ll never find a person who loves you as much as God does. Don’t fear he’s judging you. Don’t fear he’s upset with you. Wipe every harsh notion you have of God out of your mind. God accepts you more than any human on earth ever could. Pray to him as if he loves you so much, he would die for you. Just imagine he loves you that much.

Faith

Once, a Christian friend of mine said something to me about faith. She said the promises God has made to us are always true, no matter how we’re feeling. Unfortunately, this is something I find hard to remember.

God has said a great many things to me over the years since I became a Christian. He’s said my life is his now. He’s said he would take care of my entire Christian journey — he would do everything. He’s said that, even though he desperately didn’t want to go through with the crucifixion, he did it because he loves me so very, very much. And God has said he’s proud of me — not because I do everything right, or achieve great things, but because I try hard and I mean well.

And yet so often I feel sad and alone, and forget everything I’ve been told. I’ve struggled with depression since I was 17, and so frequently I have to deal with negative thinking and insecurity. I can feel that I’m completely on my own, and that my life has no direction or purpose.

But everything God has ever said to me is still true. I am not alone. God does love me. Jesus himself is guiding my Christian journey, and will never leave me, or look away.

Even if I’m lost and understand little else, I can hold onto God’s promises. Where I stand with God is not based on how I feel. I can’t assume that God loves me less, or is protecting me less, if I feel awful or am going through a difficult situation. And, most importantly, God doesn’t keep his promises to me based on how “good” a Christian I am, but because Jesus died for my sins, and paid for everything I do wrong.

So I need to hold onto the beautiful things God has said to me. He will never let me down. I need to have faith.

His Love Is Personal

I learned something about God’s love a while ago, when I was having a difficult time at work. He said to me that I couldn’t do my job any better, because I was dedicated and I meant well. I was doing my best, so that’s all I could do. It was as if God was smiling at me, and proud of me.

A wave of love washed over me. I realized that God’s love for me is personal — he cares about me as an individual. He doesn’t love me because he has to. He loves me like a loving parent would — is proud of me when I’m trying, and is moved when I truly say sorry. His love is not neutral, as if he sees all people the same way. He sees every aspect of my life, right down to the last detail.

I usually think God is ashamed of me and can’t look at me because I’m a “bad Christian.” But God cares about me and what I do. He’s sad when I’m upset. Just because I don’t hear him straight away when I cry out, doesn’t mean he’s not upset and feeling for me. He’s truly loving, and there are no rules or laws that can ever separate us.

I’m not alone anymore, and fighting the world on my own. I finally have someone who loves me. And he always will, no matter what I do, even if I don’t understand him. He gave up his life for me. Personally.

God holds onto me, and will bring me where I need to be. He’ll heal my heart, far beyond my attempts to heal myself. It’s alright when I’m hurting. He’s holding me, even if I’m not looking at him and can’t see it.

God asks so little of us. We only need to accept Jesus as our savior, ask him to be with us, and make small steps to slowly include God in our lives. What he gives us will always far outweigh what we could ever give him. God’s love is personal, for everyone. He cares deeply about every single person, not based on how good they are, or what they’ve done — but because God is love. Just ask him to be with you. It’s all he wants.

Protecting Me

It’s God. It’s God who’s protecting me. He knows what he’s doing! It’s God himself. He doesn’t do things badly. He doesn’t “drop the ball.” He doesn’t do things less because I’m a “bad Christian” or I don’t believe. He is in control. If I were out on the street, he’d be with me. He’d protect me. It’s God. He doesn’t love me less or care for me less because I make mistakes. He has a plan and I’m part of it, and he doesn’t look away or become less active. He loves me just as much as he loves anyone else. He loves me.

So trust him. I love him. He’s perfect.

God Is in Control

I will take heart. I will be at rest. God is in control of my life. Even if bad things happen, he’s with me. Even if I don’t know what to do, he does. God will guide me to where he wants me to be, and he’ll guide me to do what he wants me to do.

Part of this journey may involve pain and suffering, and feeling lost and anxious and afraid. But God is with me in all those moments. I don’t feel “bad” because I’m far from God or failing him. My pain is part of my journey, and God is in control of that too.

I don’t have to decide every facet of my future. I just have to keep going, and God will give me things to do. I may come to realize what to do after a time of confusion. I may still be confused and just try to do something — anything — to move forward. The path will eventually lead to God. He’ll control that — not me.

My pain is in God’s control. My anxiety is in his hands. Seek help for your pain — don’t suffer alone if someone can help. Seek out the help of others. But I’m watched, and held, and treasured. I’m protected and part of a plan, and nothing can break that plan. I’m safe and in the mind of God himself. I’m loved, with a love that’s greater and more powerful than death itself. I don’t have to understand that God’s holding me, for him to be doing so. And he is the one who’ll teach me.

Not Alone

Is everything okay?

Is everything alright?

Is nothing so bad it can’t be beaten?

Is the darkest pain, the deepest scar, the coldest day, still in the light?

Is the light brighter and stronger than anything? Than death?

Is he better than anything? He speaks our language. Understands our hearts. Our needs, desires, temptations, evils.

He’s so great he saw our evil, our wrong, our separation, and sent his Son to die in the most horrific way, for us.

For us. Can anything be overcome? Is anything beatable? Is there anything else we can look at? No. Not love of another, not romance, not career, money, pleasure. Everything can be taken away. Everything can die, go, leave. But not that. Not that. Nothing can take that away, or supersede it. He sees us as we are, our deepest hearts and souls, our evils, our wrongs, and he died for everyone. No matter how bad, or small.

If we ever wonder if there’s a point, if there’s any point to our lives — if there’s any point in being alive. There’s that. He will never leave you, loves you more than life itself. There’s nothing he can’t do, but he’ll only do what’s good. Let your heart be full. Believe. You’re not alone. And never will be.

Small Things

I don’t think Christianity is about suddenly being an extremely good person who does everything right, or thinking perfectly or thinking exactly right about God.

I think it’s about taking a step of faith and being willing to have a relationship with God, then doing small things, like reading about him, to encourage that relationship. God will do the rest. But we have to do something.

Our Sadness

Our sadness doesn’t come from the bad things that are happening to us, or our mistakes.

Our sadness and emptiness comes from not believing we’re loved and accepted. When we truly see that God totally loves and accepts us, we feel complete and healed and whole. The answer to every problem lies with him. The healing of every heartache lies with him, not anything else. We don’t fix our problems by dealing with the situation on our own, and trying to force an answer. We deal with our problems effectively by turning to God, who offers love and truth and acceptance. Be with God. He will heal you.

Letter to God

Dear God,

Thank you for making me. Thank you that you love me despite my bad thoughts, despite my bad behavior, my anger, my lies, my failures. Thank you that you listen to my every word, no matter how dark or woefully unworthy of you. Thank you that you love me, even though my heart is black. I want to see the truth, live in the truth, not the dark. See the brightness. But not for my pleasure — not so I can feel good and then forget. There’s something far brighter and better than my little soul can handle, and I throw my soul away on nothing.

I don’t want to do that. I will forget — I will screw up. But the truth will not go away. Help me to always find the truth. In books, in words, in music — however you want to show it to me. I’m deeply selfish and always out for myself, but that’s a bad way to live.

Help me to see you, and not myself. Help me to never give up. For you, and not myself. You’re brighter than the darkest of days. We’re here for you. We should be here for you. We owe you everything. You gave us breath, then made a way for us to be rescued when we descend to madness. You love us more than anything. It would be the best thing in the world for me to live how a human was created to live. The true way. I’ll fail a million times. I’m failing as I write these words.

I’m sorry. Thank you that you love me. I’ll try to love you. I’m sorry if I fail.

Always Listens

I often think God hasn’t heard me when I’ve prayed. When it seems like I haven’t gotten a response, I feel like God hasn’t listened, or he doesn’t think my prayer is important enough. If God truly heard me, he would do something, or say something to me.

But God hears us every time we pray. When he doesn’t reply immediately, it doesn’t mean he hasn’t listened, or we’ve done something to “distance” ourselves from God. It’s not as if he’s upset with us, and that’s why he’s not responding.

God will respond to our prayers when he thinks it’s right, and will act in our lives at a pace designed with his love for us at heart. As much as we’re concerned for our circumstances, or distraught over the life of another — God is just as concerned, and aware of every detail. He cares more than we ever could, and feels more strongly than we ever could feel.

At all times, God’s reasoning for his actions is based on his immense love for us, and his true love for those around us. Remember, when God doesn’t respond immediately to our prayers, it’s not because we haven’t prayed “properly,” or that we’re separate from God. He hears every word, and will act at the right time. God loves all of us very deeply. Pray to him as much as you can. He always listens.

Jesus Loved Us First

During my years of being a Christian, I’ve slowly learned about who Jesus is. I’ve had moments of immense joy, in which I received a glimpse of his love and grace. I’ve started to appreciate how great a gift his death on the cross is. But there are other times when I feel separate from Jesus, and fearful he’s judging me.

Jesus’ death on the cross means he’s taken the blame for all the things I do wrong in my life, and God won’t make me pay for my sins. Jesus has paid the penalty, and I can be free to have a close, loving relationship with God.

But sometimes when I read the gospels, I see Jesus criticizing people, and feel he must be criticizing me also. I forget about his love, and only see words of judgment. I do so much that’s wrong. How can Jesus not be frowning upon my dark thoughts, and my many mistakes?

This troubles me, and I feel there’s a wall between me and Jesus. But I’m not seeing the truth. I do make a lot of mistakes, and will do so for the rest of my life. I deserve to be judged. But Jesus doesn’t frown upon me; he looks at me with love, and warmth, and kindness. For every bad thing I do, Jesus sees the pain that caused me to do it, and longs to heal me. He sees every difficult thing I’ve been through, and tells me I’m doing the best that I can. He reassures me when I fall down. He tells me I’m not abnormal. And he even listens to me when I scream at him that my life’s unfair.

Jesus loves me, and it’s not a love dependent on me doing the right thing, or being a good person. He hears my every dark thought, and loves me anyway. He sees every bad thing I’ve ever done, and loves me anyway.

His love for me can be defined by one thing. He died for me. Someone who loves me that much will never leave me. He loves me so much he won’t judge me, and he died for me so I won’t be judged. But he loved me first. Jesus loved us first.

So I shouldn’t be upset when I read the Bible. There isn’t a wall between me and Jesus, no matter how I feel. He’s eternally with me, and loves me with all his heart. I will be safe and protected by his love. He loves me.

God Holds Onto Us

In my walk as a Christian, I often feel I have to understand God perfectly. As much as I can only progress in my Christian journey at the pace God designs, I still feel that I need to understand him extremely well, and sometimes try to “force” concepts of him into my head. I become stressed if I’m unclear about Christianity, or where I am with God.

But a friend once told me that sometimes we can only hold onto God by the smallest amount. She said even if we’re just barely holding onto God, that’s okay. God holds onto us.

Sometimes we can become confused and overwhelmed in our lives, and find being a Christian very difficult. We admonish ourselves for not doing more, and feel we need to meet a standard of behavior. But God just cares that we try. If we’re trying to be with God, but sometimes can only barely hang in there, he understands this. His love covers us completely. All he asks of us in our dark times is to not give up. He won’t reject us, or fault us for not doing enough. He sees that we’re trying, and loves us for staying with him.

God does so much in our lives, without us even knowing or asking. It’s not as if we need to be completely clear about our Christianity, for God to be at work. God will act in our lives according to the plan he’s laid out — a plan he’s lovingly designed for us individually. We don’t have to earn or deserve his love. He’ll do things for us because he loves us, and is eternally connected to us because of Jesus’ loving sacrifice.

So just do what you can, as a Christian. Even if all you’re doing is not giving up. God asks for a commitment, but this can be small, and fragile. God will never ask more of us than we’re able to give. He’ll hold onto us in our relationship with him, and will bring us to a place of greater understanding in his perfect timing.

God Has a Plan

I’m not alone. God has a plan for me. He doesn’t ask that I know everything. He doesn’t ask that I don’t make mistakes. He just asks that I try in my life, and try to be with him.

I feel despair at my circumstances; at my endless failures and seemingly hopeless situation. I feel anxiety and fear and doubt — I feel so very afraid and hopeless. I feel I’ve failed, and am doing everything wrong. But my future is not lost. My future is not in my control — it’s controlled by God. If I make a million mistakes, the plan for my life isn’t ruined, because it’s designed by God, and he knows what he’s doing. He’s planned every step, with who I am in mind.

God loves me. My life is carefully managed by him. All he asks is I try, no matter how I feel. I can feel horrible, and still be doing the right thing. God just asks that I try, and try to believe in him. He loves me. I know he loves me. He always has. He always will.

Tell Him Everything

God doesn’t care how much we pray to him about something. We can pray about the same thing a hundred times, and he doesn’t mind. He’s not upset with us for not having enough faith. He just wants to hear from us. He’s happy for us to talk to him about anything, anytime. He doesn’t want us to be fake with him, and not ask questions because we feel he’s told us the answer already, or we should know better. It’s okay. Don’t be concerned your faith isn’t strong enough — God knows how strong your faith is, and in fact only he can develop it further. Tell him everything. He’s not upset with you. He loves you.

God Has His Own Goals

I forget that God is real. That Jesus is real. I hold onto a thought — “Please God, let this happen.” As if, if what I want doesn’t happen, God has let go of me. As if God’s with me less if I don’t get a job when I’m unemployed.

But God is real; he’s holding me, and he has his own goals. God’s goals for me are his own, of his choosing. He may want me to be unemployed for a while. He may want me to move. I can trust in the things he’s told me — the eternal things. He’ll never leave me nor forsake me (Deuteronomy 31:6). He died for me. I’m valuable to him. Jesus died for me — so he’ll never forget me. I matter to him, so much, that he gave up his life for me.

So when I panic over my circumstances, I know that God is still with me, and still in control. I ache over hardship, but God’s not with me any less if bad things happen. He hasn’t let go, or looked away, or deviated from his plans for me. God’s holding onto me, and has an eternal path laid out. I don’t need to be afraid. I matter to God. “I will not forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands” (Isaiah 49:15–16).

If I’m going through hardship, God is still with me, and will guide me to the right place for him. My entire Christian journey is in Jesus’ hands. God loves me, and will protect me, even in death. I need not worry. I’m where God wants me to be. I’m with God. And I always will be, forever.

He Wants to Heal Us

I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.

— John 10:10

Jesus cares about us so much, he won’t “half” take care of our lives. He won’t “half” help us. He gave up his life for us — bought our lives with his — so he’s profoundly devoted to us. His goal is to heal us completely. He’s very serious about our lives, and taking care of us. He sees our whole lives, and has planned great things. He sees every inch of pain, and wishes to heal all of it, thoroughly and completely. He doesn’t cast a blind eye over our pain. If we’re suffering, he’s allowing this only to the measures he decides. He hasn’t forgotten our suffering. As if we’re far from him, and that’s why we’re in pain.

He cares about us, and he cares about others. He has planned great things. He’s in complete control. He’s with us when we’re sad. When we’re struggling, or feel guilty and ashamed. We may feel badly, but he’s in control of and managing our pain. Our pain is not our fault. Cope with it as best you can. He’s with us every moment we ache, and he’s in control of our healing — not us alone. He walks with us every step, and will never look away. He has carefully planned our lives, our journey. He loves us. He loves us.

We’re Not Trapped

One of the most important things I’ve learned about Christianity is that what God has promised us is always true, no matter how we feel. We can feel awful, and full of dread, and that God isn’t with us. But this doesn’t match up with the Bible, or God’s true nature. We can feel completely alone, and that we’re bound to the things that are wrong with us, or wrong in our life. We can feel guilty and ashamed and trapped. But God has said so many things against this. He’ll never leave us (Deuteronomy 31:6). He frees us from sin (John 8:34–36). He’ll bear our burdens (Matthew 11:28–30). And he loves us so much, he died for us, to make up for all we do wrong.

It’s not about feelings. How we feel is not an indication of how things actually are. It’s not as if God doesn’t love us, if we don’t feel loved. He does. He always has, and always will. The real truth and meaning of life doesn’t change based on how we feel. Have faith in this. Give thanks and be grateful, because we have an amazing gift — the gift of God. Remember — be aware. Never forget. The real truths are always true. Our feelings don’t change that.

The Real God

God is always far lovelier and sweeter than we think. Our minds are filled with negative images of God — images of judgment, harshness, and of needing to “be good” to please him. We feel inadequate and are very unkind to ourselves, telling ourselves we’re not good enough for God. Our hearts ache with pain and loneliness. We feel alone, even with the love of God surrounding us and always being there.

But God, the real God, is kind, gentle, and caring. The barriers we feel between ourselves and God are not caused by him, but by our own thinking. If we saw, even for a second, the depth of his love for us, all of our pain would be wiped away.

In that second, we would see complete acceptance, and a deep, profound love. We would see forgiveness, kindness, and a God who wants to take our burdens from us, and carry us to a place of peace. He wishes to hold us, and calm our fears. He wants to ease our anxiety and take away our pain.

God is always far lovelier and sweeter than we think. He’s astonishing. We would feel no pain, if we truly knew him. That’s not to say our pain is our fault — God will bring us to a place of healing and understanding in his own timing. But our goal should be to truly know and love God. To be safe in his arms. To be protected. He loves us. We just need to know it.

How Good He Is

God is amazing. He is in control, and his plans can’t be altered or stopped by anything. It’s not how much we do that gives us protection by God. It’s how much he does. We’re not safe because we do the right thing or are good people; we’re safe because God is protecting us, because we have a relationship with him through Jesus. We can’t alter God’s plans if we don’t do enough, or fall down, or do something wrong. God doesn’t let go of us — ever. Our relationship with him remains. He controls our lives and looks after us because of how good he is, not how good we are. As long as we remain with him, he protects us. He’ll always protect us. Our lives can be in a bad place, but we’re still loved, watched, and cared for by God. He manages every step we take. He holds onto us, and doesn’t look away. It’s about how good he is. And he’s perfect.

Jesus Owns My Life

I always take far too much ownership and responsibility for my life. Jesus owns my life. My life belongs to him. He’ll do everything.

I criticize myself for not doing enough, but truthfully I could never do enough for God. I criticize myself for not being completely pure of heart, and not caring enough about something, but my heart could never be pure enough for God.

God is in control of where I go, what I do, how I feel, what happens to me. If I worked very hard and did a million things right, it would be nothing without Jesus. It’s because Jesus stands before me, that God can accept me. What Jesus does with my life is what will bring me closer to God. It’s not me alone — it does not rest on my shoulders. God cares that I try, but if I don’t try hard enough I won’t be breaking a rule and letting God down.

It’s not on my shoulders. My path, my journey, my direction, is out of my hands. It’s not about meeting a perfect standard, or being “good” enough. I’ll never be good enough. Jesus is doing everything — he’s controlling my pain, my struggles, my situation. It’s he who takes me where I need to be. It’s him. I’ll never be good enough. I’m loved, and cared for. Jesus owns my life. My life belongs to him.

Nothing Can Separate Us

God understands when we do the wrong thing. He’s not ashamed of us.

When I do the wrong thing, like lose my temper and snap at someone, I usually imagine God looking at me and disapproving. I’ll think he still loves me, but I’ll imagine God standing from afar, wishing I would obey the Bible and behave properly. He’s separate from me, and there’s a wall of the “righteous” way to behave between us.

But when I see Jesus more clearly, I know this isn’t true. Jesus shows me that he understands when I make mistakes — he understands my behavior, and shows me other people can behave that way too. He’s not saying it’s okay to, for example, lose my temper, but he stands beside me and says, “I know why you did that.” He teaches me lovingly that other people can behave that way too, and I shouldn’t hate myself and think I’m abnormal.

Jesus is amazing. When we think he’ll judge us, he loves us — truly loves us. He longs to show us his love, and teach us to love ourselves. He’s not ashamed. He’s patient and kind, and sweet and understanding. He doesn’t stand from afar in judgment, but sits right next to us, and wants us to be happy. He desires closeness, with no barriers or walls.

Jesus died to take the place for our sin, and bring us close to God. Do we think anything we do could break that bond? Could be so bad the sacrifice of God himself would not be enough to make up for it? There’s nothing that can separate us from God. Nothing we do or don’t do. Not our mistakes, not if we don’t go to church, not if we’re not “godly” enough. There’s nothing that can separate us from God. He loves us.

Putting God First

I’m often very hard on myself about putting God first, and not letting my own desires get in the way. About letting God have control, and not deriving happiness from the “wrong” things.

But God isn’t upset with us if we don’t always put him first, or if we don’t think of him properly all the time. He’s very patient and forgiving, and will correct us in his own, loving, perfect way.

God is extremely forgiving about us trying to take control. What we need to remember is that he’s in control of being in control of us. We don’t have to think exactly right or behave exactly right for God to be in control. He just is. We can’t take away his control, unless we leave him altogether.

It goes without saying that we’ll think and do the wrong thing sometimes. God is forgiving of this. He’s so kind and sweet. We can think the wrong thing and be selfish sometimes, and he still totally loves and accepts us.

Don’t fear your own mind and heart, as if you’ll betray God. He’s not that precious. He forgives all. Live, try, and be yourself. Ask for forgiveness when you fall down. It’s not about never falling. It’s about him lovingly picking us back up.

God Will Carry Us

I usually think I need to have an enormous amount of control in my life. I feel deeply responsible for my life and journey, and feel I have to make careful, thorough steps to ensure I’m following God properly, and doing things properly.

But God has me, and expects far less from me than I do for myself. That’s not to say God doesn’t care what we do, but he’s in control — we don’t have to do everything right to ensure our lives work out. That’s his job. Even if we just barely got out of bed and just barely did some things each day, that’s okay. God isn’t upset with us if we do things badly, or only just get by.

Our lives working out or heading in a certain direction is based on God’s strength, not our own. He wants us to relax and not feel pressured. We just need to make small steps, and God will do the rest. He’ll take care of the big picture, and of guiding us. We only need to do things a bit at a time, and day by day.

Don’t plan too much and don’t stress. God will manage things. He’ll make up for what we lack. He’ll fill in what we leave out, and carry us to a better place. It’s not on us. It’s not all on us. It’s God’s job to manage our lives, and his wish to do this. He loves us, and wants us to relax. He will carry us.

God’s Love Is Genuine

I sometimes go to a dark place, where I look upon myself as being inherently bad. I think that because of God’s concept of being with everyone who turns to Jesus, I’m acceptable to him. But I’m an ugly, black soul, who is only okay because of a concept.

Yes, it’s true that God is with us because Jesus died for us. I believe very strongly that God accepts me because of this, not my own merit. However, I turn God’s love for me into an obligation on his part, in which he doesn’t like me but loves me because he has to — he’s God and he loves everyone. He loves me only because Jesus died for me.

But God loved me first. God loved me before I became a Christian. He’s loved me my whole life. He sees my good qualities — my heart, my soul. He loves me like a parent loves their child, with affection and a genuine concern and compassion for me.

And Jesus? He didn’t look at me with disgust, then go through the horror of his death because he had to. He did it for me, out of love. He loves me so much that he paid the penalty for what I do wrong, to allow me to be close to God. There’s no disgust, or obligation, or anything about rules in Jesus’ love for me. He truly loves me.

God likes us. We’re treasured. We’re smiled upon. Jesus loved us first, before his sacrifice. God loved us first, and accepts us without us needing to be perfect, and no matter what we do. God loves us. He likes us.

God Accepts Us

God doesn’t care if our prayers aren’t perfect. It’s easy to think our prayer isn’t deep enough, or our heart isn’t pure enough when we pray. However, God hears our words, and sees the smallest amount of good intention as being beautiful. He doesn’t care if we’re not consumed with grief over the other person. He takes our small prayer seriously, and is so pleased we’re talking to him.

God doesn’t care if our intentions aren’t perfect, or we’re not trying as hard as we can. Our importance as people isn’t based on merit — on how hard we work. God judges people differently from this. He loves us, with a love so pure and strong that nothing on earth can touch it.

There’s nothing on earth stronger than God’s love. We won’t always see this clearly, and often have to take our steps in life with a cloud of confusion hanging over us. God loving us doesn’t mean there won’t be trials, and pain, and disappointment. But the one thing that we can trust as eternal, the one thing that will always be true, is that God loves us.

He loves us if we do badly — if we fail — if we lose our job or make mistakes in our relationships. His love isn’t based on what we do, or feel, or achieve. He just loves us, as we are.

He loves us if we do the wrong thing, or aren’t as honorable as those around us say we should be. He loves us if we don’t love him, or think of him. He waits for each one of us every day, if we’re separate from him.

God takes the small steps we make, and transforms our lives, and the lives of those around us. We only need to make small steps, and he’ll carry us the rest of the way. He’s pleased with us when we talk with him, and treasures every moment. God accepts us, as we are.

We’re Here with a Purpose

God carefully puts us in our position. Even if it’s a difficult and scary place. He places us where we are, with a purpose and a reason, and with meticulous planning. God won’t let us slip out of his grasp, and have us fall into a bad place he’s not in control of. As if by our own error or because we didn’t look at him properly, that we ended up where we are.

God is in control of every moment of our lives — every situation, every hardship, every relationship, every interaction, every issue. He sees every single detail, and knows what to do. He’ll never give us more than we can handle. We’ll be pushed and feel the ache, but God won’t let go of us. He knows everything.

We need to go out there and try to find the answer, but God is in control of our journey. We can pray to him about anything, and he’ll hear and help us. It may not be how we expect. But he’ll help us, and do what’s right.

God loves us very dearly, and loves those around us. Do what you can, but don’t lose hope, because he’ll protect you. We can’t say, “I believe in God so this will happen.” But we can say he loves us and will protect us. Pray for strength. Pray for hope. Pray for love. He hears you.

Be With Him Out of Love

I feel as if I need to look at God exactly right. As if he’ll “slip away” if I’m not looking at him properly. I feel I need to have a very strict focus on God, not letting other things shift my view from him. Where I am with God needs to be very clearly, strictly placed in my mind. It’s not about living my life and turning to God out of a desire for love and nurturing; it’s about having a clearly defined focus on him, or I’ll be betraying him and my entire Christian walk will fall apart. I feel our relationship is a servant-master one, and I’ll fail in my duty.

But this isn’t right. Jesus is truly loving and accepting of us. There isn’t a criterion for interacting with God. It’s about love. We can live our lives, and get absorbed in our work and loves. We should be with God because we love him.

I worry I’ll start to turn away from God and not love him anymore, but if I hold onto him by the smallest amount, he’ll keep a firm grasp on my life. God won’t let go of me! He loves me! It’s not about structure and rules. It’s not about having a clear image of God in my mind. I just need to love him.

Pray. Cry out. Be with God in a natural way. He’ll hold onto us. He has a plan for all of us, and he doesn’t get distracted from that plan. It’s not even up to us to fulfil certain criteria, for God’s plans to work. It’s about his strength, and his will. God is gracious and forgiving and kind. Be with him out of love. It’s why he’s with us.

God Gives to Us

God gives to us even though we’re completely undeserving.

I usually feel I have to earn God’s love. That he loves me because I’m kind. He loves me because I work hard. He loves me because I have a good heart. But if I think this way, it means if I’m unkind, or don’t work hard, or have a cold heart, then God doesn’t love me.

God doesn’t love and accept me because of what I do or feel. God loves me because I’m me, and he accepts me because Jesus died for me, to make up for all I do wrong. God loved me from the moment I existed. But he’s able to accept me and give to me because Jesus died for me.

It’s terrible when I behave badly or have hatred in my heart, but God isn’t with me less because of this. As long as I stay with Jesus, in whatever way I can, God stays with me.

We can’t say that if Jesus didn’t die for us then God wouldn’t love us. He’s always loved everyone. But what Jesus has done is so significant, that God will never look away from us. We will do the wrong thing, and deserve to be punished. But Jesus has paid our penalty.

There’s no wall between us and God. No standard of behavior to reach. No requirement of us to do the right thing all the time, for us to be with him. All we have to do is ask Jesus to be with us, then stay with him. Ask for forgiveness when we do the wrong thing. What Jesus has done for us wipes out our sin, and we’re acceptable and clean. God gives to us even though we’re completely undeserving. His love is that great.

We’re Not Failing

Jesus wants us to spend time with him, not because he’s upset with us for “failing in our duty,” but because he loves us and wants to reassure us. He wants to tell us he loves us, warm our hearts, and calm our fears and worries.

Jesus died for us. He doesn’t stand over us in judgment, disappointed because we’re not living up to a standard. What he gives us will always outweigh what we give him. He wants us to be with him because he loves us. He wants to hold onto us and help us throughout our lives.

Being with Jesus is always about love. Pure, real love, not judgment or harsh rules and standards. Don’t fear you’re failing God. He doesn’t look at you that way.

Only God Can Make Me Love Him

Recently I was plagued by thoughts of God judging me. I was going through a difficult time in my life; then when I became upset with God, I felt he was standing in the distance, frowning upon me and saying I should know better. He’s God and he’s perfect, and I’m a lowly human who is wrong and foolish.

There seemed to be a great divide between me and God, a divide in which I was struggling to cope with hardship in my life, and all I felt from him was judgment — he wanting me to have perfect faith, and not sympathizing with me at all. Usually I feel God crossing the divide between us with great love and acceptance, acceptance enabled by the loving act of Jesus’ sacrifice; but this all seemed to disappear because of my feelings of rejection and admonishment by God.

I now feel close to God again, but not because my situation improved. Despite my anger and despair with God, Jesus came to me and said he’s not judging me. He said he accepts me; his sacrifice breaks down all walls, and any burden on me to do the right thing or have a strong faith to be with him is obliterated. He eased the pain and rejection I felt, and held me close. He looked at me with love.

I realized Jesus’ love is stronger than all my worries, anxiety and fear. Most of all, I realized it’s not up to me to believe in God perfectly, or even have a deep love for him, for our relationship to last. God controls our relationship lasting. He holds onto me. Only he can give me a heart that can love him. My feeble, doubting heart, is not the measure of my relationship with God. It’s God’s strong, powerful heart. His love. His love.

The experience I went through was difficult and painful. There will always be pain in our Christian walk. But I know God loves me, strongly and truly. I know he’ll rescue me. I know he’s in control of all I go through. I pray he brings me peace.

It’s God’s Job to Change Me

God is in control. I feel inadequate and jealous of others, as if I’m behind and worse than other people. I feel as if I desperately need to catch up to others. But God holds me and says he’ll carry me to where I need to be. I don’t need to struggle and strive and feel ashamed of where I am. It’s not on my shoulders to transform myself, as God will change me, in his time and in his way. It’s not my fault I haven’t reached a further point in my life. It’s not my fault — it’s God’s job to change me.

God will make me love him. God will enable me to understand him. God will develop my faith, and heal my heart. I don’t need to feel so responsible. It’s not as if, if I don’t feel love for God, then God isn’t with me and our relationship halts. My relationship with God is controlled by him, and his unwavering love for me.

I can fall apart and be weak; feel anger and hatred toward God and others. God still loves me, and is still in control of healing and changing me. I can only be real with God. Be honest. If I feel anger or fear; hatred or worry, God knows already. I can’t pretend to be someone I’m not. I can only be myself.

God is in control of my life. Of changing me, and my emotions. Of what I need to do and where I need to go. Of my responsibilities toward others. God will control it all, and enable me to be who I’m meant to be. I don’t need to go to a place deep inside to find an inner strength. God is my strength. Just hold onto Jesus, by the smallest amount. Feel weak and frail and worried, as you can only feel how you feel. God is your strength. He’ll rescue you and make you strong. Just be yourself. It’s all you can be.

God Eases the Pressure We Feel

I’m going through my day, trying to complete my tasks and feeling a great deal of pressure. I’m trying to be responsible and ethical and hard working, and am very concerned about doing things properly.

Then I feel for a moment what God is like. God doesn’t place this pressure on me. He wants me to be calm and to relax. He wishes to bear my burdens. I don’t have to worry about doing things perfectly to succeed — whether I succeed or not is based on God’s strength, and his wishes and desires. God looks at me with such love, and tells me to calm down and not to worry. I’m not on my own, with my problems and my situation. I’m with God.

Even if I’m overwhelmed with a dark situation, and feel as if I’m doing the wrong thing — God doesn’t reject me because of this. He’s still with me, with me in the situation, and offering his love just as much as if nothing were wrong. He loves us. His love isn’t conditional on us doing the right thing. His love is eternal and bound to us.

We can breathe easier. We don’t need to be stressed. God has us. He’ll protect us. He’ll manage all our situations. He’ll control what will happen. If we ask for forgiveness, God wipes our slate clean. He loves us so strongly. He has us, and will control our lives.

God Sees Our Pain

God smiles upon me and understands all I go through — all the things that trouble me, and all the stresses I feel. He doesn’t frown upon me for being upset, or frustrated. He doesn’t look at my dark thoughts and judge me, but instead completely understands where I’m coming from.

God doesn’t see a dark thought and label us as “racist,” but instead sees the pain behind that thought — every experience, every hardship, every difficulty. He understands what we’re going through. God in no way supports racism, but he won’t stand over us and judge us for having difficulty with a multicultural situation.

Only acceptance brings about healing. We won’t learn to love others, unless we feel loved and accepted ourselves. Only God being next to us, saying he loves us, can heal the dark part of our hearts, which judges and despises. It’s not about us being “good” — never having a dark thought, or never feeling hatred or acting badly. It’s about realizing we’re totally loved and accepted, as we are, and our every thought and feeling originates from somewhere understandable. We’re not broken. We’re normal.

God sees us, and will heal every dark part of us. Don’t hate yourself, for feeling how you feel. For judging how you judge. Sometimes we’ll be wrong, and the person before us will be doing nothing wrong. But at all times, God sees our heart, and knows the pain that brought us to where we are now. It’s not about not feeling how we feel, and never making a mistake. It’s about realizing God totally loves and accepts us, then we can be complete and healed and whole. It’s all about God’s love. It always was.

God Will Help Us

I often think that God helps me based on my level of faith, and how close I am to him. How much I obey him. I think he helps me based on where I am in my relationship with him.

But God helps me because of how good Jesus is. Jesus has bought my life; paid for my sins with his death. My life is owned by him. When God sees me, he sees Jesus standing before me, wiping out all my sins and carrying me through my life. Making up for everything I lack, and everything I can’t do. God sees Jesus before me when he looks at me, so any plans he has for my life are based on how good Jesus is, not how good I am.

God plans great things for me and blesses me; he answers my prayers and eases my pain. He is gracious to me and forgiving; he carries me through my troubles and heals me. He loves me — always has — but he helps me based on how good Jesus is.

So when I’m praying for God to help me or a loved one, I needn’t feel guilty or ashamed or unworthy. I’ll always be unworthy. But God sees Jesus before me, blotting out my sins and shame, and helps me because my debt is paid. God will help me because he loves me, and can help me because I’m washed clean.

It’s not how strongly I believe in God which will lead him to help me, or if I’m a good person; have behaved well recently or spent hours praying. Whether my mind and heart have been clean. I’m flawed. Always will be. But Jesus is perfect, and he died for me. Nothing can take that away. So God can, and will, help me. No matter how sinful I am.

When God Is Quiet

We go about our lives and measure it by our successes — the big things we can point to that make us who we are. We feel we need a constant stream of important moments in our lives, otherwise we aren’t succeeding. Our lives aren’t amounting to much. We’re failing.

Our lives can have just as much meaning, and be progressing exactly how they’re meant to, in the quiet times. The quiet times that build patience, that stretch our being, that give us time to grow and mend from the prior times of adversity. Life is hard, and difficult, and painful; we only make it harder on ourselves if we feel we must be constantly succeeding, when it can be a blessing to not be suffering. We have high standards for ourselves. Patience means so much, and the quiet doesn’t mean we’re failing.

The thing to remember in our quiet is that God plans every moment of our lives — the good, the bad, the rest. I can feel if I’m not getting words from God — if I’m not feeling his presence on a daily basis — that I’m far from him. That I need to be more diligent and work harder to be closer to him. Sometimes this may be true. But God isn’t with me any less when I don’t sense him strongly. God gives me so much when I don’t even ask for it, and haven’t earned a single thing. Do I think that, when I’m not hearing from him, that he’s disowned me? That I’m not doing enough for him? Does God love me less?

Of course not! If he loves me without me deserving it at one time, this applies at all times. God isn’t with me less if I don’t hear from him. He’s perfectly capable of acting in my life, and doesn’t need permission from me to bend my life to his will. He’ll do that, regardless of how “good” I am. God’s truths hold firm, no matter what we’re going through, even if what we’re going through is the monotony of everyday life. Be grateful for the quiet. It’s God giving us a rest, and exactly what we need at the time. He loves us. Nothing can change that.

God on Our Side

Commit your way to the Lord;

trust in him and he will do this:

he will make your righteous reward shine like the dawn,

your vindication like the noonday sun.

Be still before the Lord

and wait patiently for him;

do not fret when people succeed in their ways,

when they carry out their wicked schemes.

— Psalm 37:5–7 TNIV

I get so frustrated when people treat me unfairly. I become completely heartbroken, anxious and upset. I worry for my pain, and, if someone I love is hurting me, I’m distraught for them — concerned for their happiness and their heartache. It’s some of the worst kind of pain.

God has given me hope over this situation from the above psalm. God will always protect those who are with him, and see that we receive the best that we deserve in the end. People will treat me badly and be completely unfair, but God will always stand by me. God will always stand by me. God is totally, wholeheartedly, completely on my side, at all times. He always sees my point of view. Always sees my side. Always sees my heart. He’s just as offended when I’m treated unfairly as anyone who loves me would be. He completely cares for me, and my welfare.

God will always stand by me. With God on my side how can I lose? How can I really lose, in the end? God sees the good in my heart and soul, and has told me I’m okay as I am. He loves me. He’ll support me, and ensure that things will work out.

Being treated unfairly can cause so much pain, but we need to believe in God, not that the situation will be rectified because of something we do to control things. God will fix things. We don’t know what will happen, but in the end God will look after us.

I try to look at things in too grand a manner sometimes, and wonder how God can be on my side, and on the side of every other Christian at once. But I don’t need to think this way. This kind of thinking stems from insecurity. I just need to be present with God, with him in the moment, and trust the things he says to me. If God says he’ll protect me, then he will. If God says I’m okay as I am, then I am, no matter what anyone says. God loves us. He’s on our side.

God Is My Strength

Throughout my life I have faltered and become distressed, feeling insecure over my mistakes. My inner strength has been weakened when people tell me I’m not good enough. I’ve become very sad and hurt, and felt all alone. I have so much negative self-talk, and have felt small and unloved.

But now, very slowly, I’m developing a stronger inner self; where who I am is not about me, and whether I do everything right. It’s about who God is.

God is my backbone and who I lean on. God is my heart and my soul. God reassures me and comforts me, and, even when I feel terrible, I know God hasn’t changed and still loves me. God is always with me, and my core is strengthened by his unchanging, magnificent self.

I’m not alone. I’m not alone, with my insecurity and my negative thoughts. God stands next to me and holds me up — he holds onto me, and says I’m alright. God holds my head up, straightening me and making me look ahead, not down in misery. Jesus is with me. He’s my heart, and my life.

So much can change in our lives: our circumstances, the way people treat us, our health, and even our feelings can constantly change. But God will never change. He’s the one thing that is forever constant, forever the same, and we can hold firm to him. He controls everything that happens — has controlled everything that has ever happened, and nothing is out of his hands. Nothing will escape him, or ever be missed by him. He sees everything.

When we feel hurt; when we’re inundated with trial after trial, God is there. He’s there even if we’re angry at him. He’s there even if we blame him. He’s there at all times, in every moment, and we need not feel alone or afraid.

Life can hurt, so much, but Jesus sees all of our pain. He died to obliterate every bad thing from the world. His pain heals our own. His suffering takes ours away. Our pain is designed to bring us a greater joy, and Jesus is the source of that joy.

God is my strength. I’m becoming who I’m meant to be because of him. I can’t do it on my own. I can’t change on my own. God is my core, and my center. He’ll keep me strong. He’ll keep me safe.

Taking Care of Others

God is sympathetic with us. Sometimes in our lives we have to take care of another person long term, whether they are elderly or seriously ill. We take on the enormous responsibility for looking after someone, and all the self sacrifice this entails. It can be very hard work, and we need to be constantly available and focused on the other person. One of the most difficult aspects of this is the emotional burden we feel.

As Christians, we can unfortunately think of God as standing over us, commanding we love others and be completely selfless at all times. We expect if we fall short of that, then he’ll be disappointed in us.

God does value love and giving, but he’s entirely understanding of us, and knows the burden we feel when we look after others. He knows that caring for another person is difficult, and we’re going to feel upset, hurt and weary.

Thoughts of wanting to be alone sometimes, and wanting our old lives back; of wishing we could just rest and enjoy all life has to offer — God understands these thoughts. He doesn’t think badly of us for thinking this way. God understands our need to be selfish sometimes — needing to have our own identity, and not have our entire life be about caring for another person. We’re doing something tough, exhausting and selfless, and can often feel stretched to our limit and worn out.

Jesus feels our pain. And he’ll give us rest. He’ll reward us for our hard work. God sees it as the ultimate act of beauty and love to sacrifice our life to look after another, but we can’t tell ourselves we shouldn’t find this difficult. Of course we will. Christ stands by our side, helping us, and he’ll reward us for our hard work. Hold fast to him, and have faith that your life is where it should be. Not just for the person you’re caring for, but for you. God cares for your life, and has great plans for you. Your heart will be eased. You are, and always will be, loved.

Feeling Guilty over Our Focus

I was working hard redesigning my website — spending a great deal of time transferring my work and refining everything — but was filled with a huge sense of guilt. Even though my website is about God, and the point of my words is to bring people closer to him, I kept hearing a voice inside me saying: “You’re not spending enough time with God. You’re ignoring him. You have an obligation to spend a lot of time with God, and feel whole and centered with him. If you don’t feel close to him, you’re doing something wrong.”

This is a dilemma we often face. I’ve read countless words, people saying what we really care about is what we’re spending time on. Admonishing us for living, for working, for experiencing life, if our heart isn’t totally focused on God at all times. Our heart, our soul, and our center, need to be always in the “right” place. We can’t just be ordinary people, who work hard, and are focused on what we’re doing. We have a duty to fulfil. God will be disappointed in us.

The guilt we feel for not always focusing on God isn’t from him. God isn’t upset with us for working hard. He looks at us with love, and is pleased we’re trying to be responsible. God doesn’t stand over us and think: “You don’t love me enough. You’re not thinking of me and looking at me enough.”

God says: “I love you. I’ll always be here for you. I want you to know I accept you as you are, and don’t think badly of you. I can see into your heart and soul, and my only desire is to heal and help you. When you’re working, I’m with you, holding onto you, even if you can’t see me. I’m with you every step you take. My only desire is to love and care for you. I died for you, so you would never have to suffer alone. I’m with you. I’m proud of you. Be with me out of love, not out of feeling forced or guilty. I love you, and will always wait for you. I’m always with you.”

God loves us. Remember that, not the guilt. God doesn’t give us guilt — it’s not from him. He covers us with love. When people go to Jesus in the first place, it’s about his love, and promise to heal and help us. If we go to God because of his love for us, then guilt is not what should keep us with him. Be with him out of love. He’ll always hold onto us. No matter what we’re doing.

God Is Only About Love

When I’m reading about God, I often become very sad and upset. While there’s some good information out there, a lot of the time Christians write about God with an air of what we “should” do; the things we ought to do, the way we ought to think, the ways we’re failing God.

The attitude seems to be that God loves us, but we must turn away from how we live our lives — give up who we are, and everything we know. We must be completely different, always being vigilant, constantly remembering God and his words, or we’ll turn away from him. We have to wash ourselves clean of who we are, or we’ll get lost in a sinful life.

It’s heartbreaking that this seems to be the attitude often projected onto Christians and non Christians alike, to represent our relationship with God. It’s not true. None of it.

Jesus is completely loving. You could spend a thousand years dwelling on his love, and still not comprehend the majesty of it all. He loves us, more than the most loving, kind, accepting person ever could. More. He accepts us at all times. When we do the wrong thing. When we feel ashamed of ourselves. When we’ve acted out in pain and frustration. He’s the kind voice in our heart, telling us he understands why we did what we did, and holding us in his arms.

He’s with us if we hate him. If we’re mad at him. If we blame him for how hard our lives are. He’s with us every moment, comforting us and telling us we’re alright. Even if it takes years to hear him, he’s there. He’s always been there. He’ll always be there.

We don’t need to change our lives so Jesus can accept us. Jesus accepts us, so we can change our lives. If we need to. He’ll always love and accept us. He bore our sins on the cross, not because he thinks we’re awful, but so we can be accepted by God, without ever being punished for our faults and our mistakes. It’s all about love.

So don’t listen when people say you’re not good enough as you are, and need to turn your life upside down to be with God. God’s already turned the world upside down, to be with you. He’s all about love, and that’s the only message you need to know about him. Spend your time being immersed in words of his love, as a true knowledge of God’s love is all you’ll ever need to stay with him. Not giving up your life, or forcing yourself to behave a certain way. Be you. Feel how you feel. Tell God how you feel. Tell God everything. He knows already. And he’s waiting for you.

The Loveliness of God

Jesus is very kind and sweet. He’s not angry with us, when we’re angry with him. He doesn’t expect from us, the huge amount we expect from ourselves. He’ll bear our burdens. Truly. He’ll take away our pain. If it takes a long time, it’s not because we’re not doing enough. It’s all part of his plan.

We truly need to do very little in our relationship with God. We need to stay with him, and try; but Jesus does almost everything. Even if we’re upset with God, if we just stay with him, Jesus will bring us closer to him. It’s not entirely up to us to heal our relationship with God. Jesus will do that.

When we feel overwhelmed in our troubles, and feel ashamed of our mistakes — God doesn’t see us this way. It’s not up to us to behave perfectly, for Jesus to rescue us from the things that trouble us. From the bad situation we’re in. We don’t have to “earn” his help. He’ll help us anyway, no matter what we’ve done, because he loves us. Jesus doesn’t hold us accountable, the way we hold ourselves accountable. His love is pure, and real, and strong. He doesn’t blame us. He’ll help us out of love, not because we’ve met certain criteria, or behaved well.

Jesus is very kind, and sweet. He’s beautiful and lovely. He’s God. He loves us, and always will.

We Don’t Have a Divine Duty

We think of God as being separate from us, only concerned with the higher purpose of saving people, and having people evangelize about him. He’s up in heaven, dealing with life and death, and as Christians we need to be perpetually worried about life and death too. It’s all about the mission. We have a mission to fulfil.

But God cares about our daily lives, and our work and loves, the way we do. We think of him as being extremely serious, but God cares about our happiness, not how we can save the world for him.

God cares about how we’re doing at school and work. He cares about the projects we’re undertaking. He cares about our relationships with our friends, and when we’re in love. He’s with us in every detail of our lives, and he sees those details as precious.

We get absorbed in our projects and feel guilty, as if we’re doing the wrong thing by not focusing on God. But God’s pleased we’re working on something. Just like a loving parent, he wants to see us do well, and is happy we’re using our gifts. He’s so happy we’re working hard, and making something of our lives. He’s invested in us doing well, because he wants us to be happy and satisfied. He doesn’t frown upon us if we’re not working on something to do with Christianity.

We need to stop thinking of God’s relationship with us as one of obligation, in which we have a part to play, and a fixed, religious duty to fulfil. It’s not like that. Our relationship with God is an individual one, between us and him. We only need to focus on loving him, and receiving his love. Trying to love him in our own, personal way.

If God has a job for us to do, he’ll lead our lives in the direction to do it. It’s not about us placing pressure on ourselves, to fulfil a “divine duty.” Ignore that pressure. Just focus on an intimate, personal relationship with God. Hold onto his love tightly, to get you through your life. Lean on him. Talk to him. Cry out. He cares about you, and every minute aspect of your life. He loves you if you never perform any “Christianly” duties for him. He loves you for you, as you are.

When We’re Lonely

When I become very lonely, my first thought is that people will criticize me. I imagine even God will criticize me, telling me I’m not being sociable enough, and I brought this on myself. I imagine God will tell me I need to meet a suitable standard of being with people, or else I’m not good enough as a person. I need to go out there and make friends, or else I’m lacking and not doing what I should.

God doesn’t speak to us this way. He accepts me as I am. He smiles upon me, and reminds me that he completely, totally loves me, and would give up anything for me. He spends every moment of every day with me, and is by my side in everything I go through. He’s always with me. I may become very lonely at times, but God doesn’t stand over me and judge me, telling me I’m a loser and not good enough. He loves me.

God reminds me his love is all the love I’ll ever need. Only a cold, harsh person would criticize someone for being lonely, and put pressure on them to be different, saying they’re not good enough. God says he loves us, we’re good enough as we are, and we’re not alone. He’s with us. We’ll never be alone again, while he’s with us. He’ll help us grow. He’ll help us become happier.

Feeling lonely doesn’t mean we’re alone. We have someone by our side, who holds onto us, and cares about every aspect of our lives. God forgives every bad thing we do, and reminds us of the goodness inside of us. We’ll never be alone again. We’re loved. We’re watched over. We’re cared for. We’re safe.

We Belong Here

As Christians, we’re often told we need to be separate from everyone else. We need to live as if we don’t belong here. We are not of this world.

But Jesus created this world. God created it, and sent Jesus to reclaim the earth and all of its people for him. As Christians we are of this world — we live here with Christ, in a relationship with God.

Being a Christian doesn’t mean living separately from everyone else; it just means enjoying life the way it was meant to be. Enjoying life by having a loving relationship with God, and going through everything with him by our side. We’re allowed to be happy, and free.

Life can be extremely difficult, and Christians face the same trials and pain as anyone else. But we tell ourselves we should expect more. There is a difficulty in being a Christian — the difficulty of trying to understand God, and trying to live our lives with him. But this is the same difficulty as with anything we do that’s worthwhile and meaningful. Being a Christian can be hard, but we make things worse by thinking we can’t fully enjoy our lives, and need to suffer.

There will be times of pain. But God will control them. We don’t have to think about pain, as if we should expect more of it, and almost be joyous when we’re suffering. I’m not joyous when I’m suffering. I’m miserable. I get through tough times by trying to be strong, and remembering God’s still with me, even if I don’t understand him and hate everything in my life at that moment. I just try to be myself, and get through things any way I can.

God doesn’t expect more of us because we’re Christians. God doesn’t expect from us, anywhere near what we expect from ourselves. God loves us. He wants us to be happy, and enjoy life. Things will be difficult sometimes. There will be times of pain. But this applies to everyone. We don’t need to be separate from the world. We just need to be.

We’re Doing What We Can

God once told me it wasn’t my fault — my guilt, my isolation, the other ways I turned out. He said I’ve done what I could with what I had.

When I was a kid, I didn’t do anything special. I wasn’t doing brilliantly at school or making a special effort to make friends, or going to therapy to deal with the negativity in my life. I was just me. I didn’t think perfectly, deflecting all negative thoughts, so the darkness wouldn’t get to me. In fact, the darkness did get to me. Severely. I just lived, barely got by, and coped badly. It was a mess. It was all a dark, horrible mess, and I was incredibly scarred.

I have a lot of problems, as an adult. I constantly feel I’m a bad person. I can become quite isolated, and withdraw from life. I’ve struggled with depression for many years, and carry a huge layer of guilt with me at all times.

But God said it wasn’t my fault. How I turned out. He said I did what I could with what I had. He didn’t look over my past and say I should have worked harder to get rid of my negative thoughts, and should have made more friends. He didn’t blame me at all, for how I turned out.

In my life now, I feel I need to think and act perfectly. I’m not allowed to be sad — I need to manage my negative thinking, so I don’t get depressed. I’m not allowed to be alone — I need to have people around me so I can think correctly and more positively, and not be in my own world. I have to work hard, doing everything correctly, and meeting the right standards. I can’t let myself down in any way, or the negative consequences are my fault.

But God doesn’t think this way. Imagine if he’d thought that way about how I grew up. God looks at me and says: however I’m coping, however I’m feeling, however I’m doing, it’s okay. It’s not my fault. The same rules apply now as when I was a kid, when I wasn’t coping and it all fell down around me. I did what I could with what I had. Right now, I’m doing what I can. If I’m upset, lonely, overwhelmed, feeling negative, or even getting depressed, I’m doing what I can. I’m doing what I can, because however I’m doing is okay. I’m okay, no matter how I’m doing, because I’m okay as I am.

It’s not about meeting a standard. It’s about being ourselves. We’re okay if we have no friends and are confused and scared and doing the wrong thing; if our lives are falling apart and we’re depressed. We’re okay, as we are. God doesn’t frown upon us and say we’re only doing okay if we’re coping well. He loves and accepts us as we are, and will never leave us. We don’t need to think and act perfectly. We don’t need to be coping. We don’t need to be happy. We just need to be ourselves. We’re doing what we can. God doesn’t ask any more of us. He loves us, as we are.

About the Author

Mona M. Hanna is the author of the books The Nature of God and God's Promises of Love. She has been a devotional writer since 2008, creating the blog Mona Hanna Devotions, focusing on expressing God's love, acceptance, and compassion. She has a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of South Australia, with a sub major in professional writing. She has worked in the private and public sectors, and is now committed to communicating the lessons she learns from her personal walk with Christ.

monahannadevotions.com

Books by Mona M. Hanna

The Nature of God

God’s Promises of Love

Devotional Collection

You Deserve Love

Table of Contents

God Knows Me

Relationship

No Matter What

The Nature of God

He Just Wants Me to Be Happy

How We Pray

Faith

His Love Is Personal

Protecting Me

God Is in Control

Not Alone

Small Things

Our Sadness

Letter to God

Always Listens

Jesus Loved Us First

God Holds Onto Us

God Has a Plan

Tell Him Everything

God Has His Own Goals

He Wants to Heal Us

We’re Not Trapped

The Real God

How Good He Is

Jesus Owns My Life

Nothing Can Separate Us

Putting God First

God Will Carry Us

God’s Love Is Genuine

God Accepts Us

We’re Here with a Purpose

Be With Him Out of Love

God Gives to Us

We’re Not Failing

Only God Can Make Me Love Him

It’s God’s Job to Change Me

God Eases the Pressure We Feel

God Sees Our Pain

God Will Help Us

When God Is Quiet

God on Our Side

God Is My Strength

Taking Care of Others

Feeling Guilty over Our Focus

God Is Only about Love

The Loveliness of God

We Don’t Have a Divine Duty

When We’re Lonely

We Belong Here

We’re Doing What We Can

About the Author

Table of Contents

God Knows Me

Relationship

No Matter What

The Nature of God

He Just Wants Me to Be Happy

How We Pray

Faith

His Love Is Personal

Protecting Me

God Is in Control

Not Alone

Small Things

Our Sadness

Letter to God

Always Listens

Jesus Loved Us First

God Holds Onto Us

God Has a Plan

Tell Him Everything

God Has His Own Goals

He Wants to Heal Us

We’re Not Trapped

The Real God

How Good He Is

Jesus Owns My Life

Nothing Can Separate Us

Putting God First

God Will Carry Us

God’s Love Is Genuine

God Accepts Us

We’re Here with a Purpose

Be With Him Out of Love

God Gives to Us

We’re Not Failing

Only God Can Make Me Love Him

It’s God’s Job to Change Me

God Eases the Pressure We Feel

God Sees Our Pain

God Will Help Us

When God Is Quiet

God on Our Side

God Is My Strength

Taking Care of Others

Feeling Guilty over Our Focus

God Is Only about Love

The Loveliness of God

We Don’t Have a Divine Duty

When We’re Lonely

We Belong Here

We’re Doing What We Can

About the Author