God’s Promises of Love

30 Christian Devotions about

God’s Love and Acceptance

Mona M. Hanna

God’s Promises of Love

Copyright © 2012 by Mona M. Hanna

All rights reserved. No part of this literary work may be reproduced in any form or by any means — electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other — without the prior written consent of the author, except for brief quotations used in reviews.

Table of Contents

Even if I Do Something Wrong, on Purpose

We Don’t Need to Have Perfect Faith

God is Always With Us

We Can Be Weak

God Doesn’t Judge Us

We’re Not on Our Own

What God Has Done With His Love

God is With Us, Even if We Feel Badly

Jesus Controls Our Pain

Comfort When We Fail

We’re Forgiven

God Isn’t Disappointed In Us

We Don’t Have an Obligation

God Sees Every Part of Me

God Wants to Heal Our Relationships

God’s Expectations

Why It Has to Rain

Jesus Sees Everything That’s Good About Us

The Question of Church

God Doesn’t Pressure Us

God is Only About Love

God is Our Closest Friend

Jesus Sees Us as Blameless

We’re Acceptable Because of Jesus

Jesus Understands Our Sin

God is Proud of How We Work

God Controls Our Lives

Jesus Will Always Forgive Us

How Much Jesus Loves You

God Will Change Our Lives

About the Author

Even if I Do Something Wrong, On Purpose

I keep thinking there’s a standard of behavior I must reach. Now that I’m a more mature Christian, and I write about God, I must be a super Christian who does everything right. It’s all about rules and standards.

But God accepts me as I am. Even if I make a million mistakes. Even if I do something wrong, on purpose. I keep thinking that God won’t love me unless I’m completely pure inside — completely pure of heart, and everything I do comes from the right place. If I did the wrong thing, I meant well.

But God loves me, even if my heart is black. He loves me. He won’t accept me only if I do the right thing, or mean well, or have a pure heart. He accepts me no matter what I do. He truly loves me. It’s okay if I’m a mess. It’s okay if I make mistakes. It’s okay if I do the wrong thing sometimes. God won’t accept me only if I make the right choices. He loves me, no matter what I do.

God loves us as if we’re children, and wants to hold onto us and protect us as if we’re his children. He doesn’t have the high expectations of us, that we have of ourselves. He wants us to be calm. He wants us to relax. Don’t push yourself too hard. It’s okay. God loves us.

We Don’t Need to Have Perfect Faith

There are times when God promises me something. I’ll feel quite strongly he’s saying he’ll take care of a certain matter, for example how I’ll pay for future expenses. I’ll feel that God is carefully managing my life, and, whilst my life will still be a struggle, it will be a struggle under his control. I’m not on my own, and don’t have to worry about how I’ll afford everything, or get by. God will supply things. He’ll help me get by. He’ll take care of me.

There’s a problem with this scenario, though. When God promises me he’ll take care of something, I feel I need to have perfect faith — it’s an enormous sin to doubt or try to plan for things myself. It’s a betrayal to God if I try to budget, or manage things on my own. If I try to “take over.” I need to be perfectly still, and allow God to work, or I’ve failed him. He’ll be disappointed and angry with me.

But God doesn’t look at me this way. He wants me to have faith that he’ll provide for me, because he doesn’t want me to worry — it’s not that he’ll punish me if I don’t believe in him. It’s not about demonstrating a strong, pure faith, and being “dutiful” — God wants to provide for me because he loves me. He won’t punish me if I doubt him, or try to provide for myself.

We only need to be ourselves, and do what we think is right. God won’t be angry with us. We can’t ruin any plans he has for us. His plans are controlled by him, and will work out the way he intends. The only thing we can do against God is leave him altogether. As long as we stay with him, he forgives and controls everything in our lives. God loves us. God manages our faith in him. Don’t blame yourself for doubting. God loves us, as we are.

God is Always With Us

I forget God manages my life. I keep thinking he’s only in charge if I think of him properly — as if his control is bound to how well I behave. That doesn’t make sense. Control isn’t control if we have to behave perfectly, or God’s unable to act. As if God’s power is reliant on our behavior.

I’ll work hard and get a lot done, then when I rest I’ll think, “Okay, God, take over.” He was in control the whole time. He managed my highs and lows. My stresses and deep anguish. The problems that tortured me, and the painful paths I had to walk.

I feel I fail constantly, and if only I were closer to God, or looked at him better, then I wouldn’t be in pain. I wouldn’t be suffering. But God’s in control of our suffering. It’s not as if we were “stupid” or “wrong,” and that’s why the path we traveled was so painful.

God is with us when we’re failing. When we’re in turmoil. When we feel confused and lost and alone — when we feel everyone hates us. God is with us when we feel badly. It’s okay to feel awful. It doesn’t mean we’re doing anything wrong.

God’s control isn’t measured by if we feel “connected” to him. He just is in control. He makes a promise to take over and heal our lives when we become a Christian, and he’ll do that. But the difficult part is we’ll still suffer, in order to be led to greater healing. We’ll still suffer, so we can learn something we can teach others.

It’s not how much we do that determines God’s presence in our lives. He’s always there, and always active. All we need to do is not blame ourselves when things go wrong, and not hate ourselves for our mistakes. Try and stay with God, even when everything seems hopeless and miserable. He has a higher purpose for us. A plan. He doesn’t leave us alone. He doesn’t leave us at all. God’s in control. He’s always with us.

We Can Be Weak

We don’t have to do an exact “right” thing. As if there’s a rule, or a principle, or a standard to reach. We only need to be ourselves. If something seems horrible and too difficult, we don’t have to do it.

I expect God to be standing over me, saying, “Be good.” As if, God couldn’t bear to be with me if I wasn’t trying as hard as I could, or my intentions weren’t perfect. As if it’s a deep, deep sin not to be “good.” Not to be presentable and moral and innocent.

I keep thinking I can’t just be myself, with my weaknesses, and be fallible and ordinary. I can’t just be myself, and make mistakes. God wouldn’t dare accept me if I were less than I should be.

But it’s not like that. God made us, and he knows we’re weak. He sees our sins. He sees them, and is still with us, no matter what we do. God loves us, and doesn’t look away. There’s no exact way to behave, exact way to live. We just need to try, and do what we can. God is our parent, so he accepts our faults, and helps us through our lives. Life is difficult, and messy, but we just need to try. God is with us. He loves us. He’ll always be with us, no matter what we do, or how weak we are.

God Doesn’t Judge Us

I’ve felt for years that God is disappointed in me. I feel God has rules and principles, about everything, even my daily tasks. He’s watching over me, with a strict objective of how I should behave. Even in his love, there’s disapproval.

But God isn’t like this. If we think of Jesus as someone who truly loves us, to the point that he would die for each and every one of us; that he loves us so much he would be killed, even though he was blameless — then things are different.

Jesus died for me. Me. Would he really stand next to me and say the following? “You’re not working hard enough. You didn’t write that properly. I expect you to write more often, and perfectly, and not let me down. I have an expectation of you. You owe me this.”

Jesus doesn’t talk to us this way. It’s the expectation we have of ourselves, and what others tell us, that makes us think God judges us. He doesn’t. If we were barely getting by, not trying very hard, not doing all we could — Jesus would still love us. He wants to carry us. He wants to take care of our lives.

Jesus doesn’t become angry with us for not “giving” ourselves enough to him. He won’t be upset with us for not surrendering to him enough. He just loves us. No rules. No expectations. No standards. No judgment. He loves us, individually, and is so proud of us.

We find it hard to understand Jesus’ love, because it’s perfect. No human could love us this way. If only we could truly see God’s love. We would be healed. We would be saved. We would be calm. We would be at peace.

Jesus truly loves us. He’s working in our lives, even if all we feel is pain, and we don’t understand him. He loves us, and doesn’t judge. God isn’t upset with us if we fail. He’s with us, if we ask him to be. And that’s all we need do.

We’re Not on Our Own

God knows everything that happens in our lives. There’s nothing we can do that will make him turn away from us. We can’t surprise him or disappoint him. He created us. He knows our thoughts before we think them. He knows everything we do. Everything we’ve done, or will do. He’s not surprised by us, or unprepared for what happens in our lives.

God doesn’t have high expectations of us, wanting us to do more or think perfectly. He’s not upset if our thinking is confused, or we’re constantly anxious and worried. It’s normal to worry. It’s normal, and God isn’t disappointed in us.

It’s God’s power that enables us to do what we’re meant to do. We’re not on our own with our work, relying entirely on our strength. It’s not our strength at all. God will enable us to do what we’re meant to do. It’s his strength, and his will. We’re not on our own, even if we feel alone and are filled with anxiety. God’s carrying us, and is in control of our lives.

We can be at rest. If we worry, it’s God that will ease our concerns. If we’re upset, it’s God that will warm our hearts. If we doubt him, it’s God that will give us more faith. We’re not on our own. We’re not supposed to do everything on our own. We can be calm, and relax. But it’s okay if we’re upset. God will take care of us, and make us feel better. Do what you can to get through your life. You’re not alone.

What God Has Done With His Love

My heart aches, and I’m dragged down by the pain of my life. The trials, the troubles, the problems. Stress gets me down. Failure gets me down. I’m not good enough. I’m not doing enough.

I wonder what can make up for everything that’s wrong in my life. For everything I do wrong, and everything I can’t do. I wonder what could possibly heal my years of pain, and make up for all the bad things that have happened to me. I’m a failure, as a person. I’ve been left behind. I’m no one.

It’s all well and good to say God loves us, but that doesn’t make up for the pain. That doesn’t take away the years of scarring. I’m still a failure. Someone loving me doesn’t make it so the bad things never happened. Doesn’t give me amazing strength, to overcome what I can’t do. I still can’t do anything. I’m still no one.

But Jesus doesn’t just offer love. Love is, of itself, astonishing, but he doesn’t just offer love. That wouldn’t be enough.

Jesus says: “I’ve died for everyone’s sins. I’ve paid for the sins of the person that hurt you. The parent that abused you. I’ve died for their sins — died as punishment, because what they did was so wrong. Someone has been blamed for the scars you bear. I’ve paid for them. Your scars aren’t disregarded. I’ve shed blood for the sins against you.

“And I’ve shed blood for your sins. For everything you do wrong, and everything you can’t do. I’ve taken on the burden of your life, and all of your trials. I’ve taken on the difficulties, the stress, and the weight of what goes wrong in your life. I’m your center. When someone hates you, I feel it. When someone wrongs you, I suffer. I’m your very core, because I died for you, and now your life is owned by me.

“I’ve paid for every bad thing that has happened to you, and that will happen. I’ve obliterated those sins. And I’ve destroyed yours. You’re not alone anymore. There’s nothing you can do that will make me leave you. Nothing can separate you from me. We’ll always be together. I’ve paid for every bad thing you’ve done, and will do. And I’ve paid for all of the sins of the world. I’m in control of it all. You need to remember that, even when you’re in pain. I’m always with you. And there’s no pain I can’t handle.”

It takes Jesus’ blood to take away our pain. Love isn’t enough. Love doesn’t make up for the sins of the world. It’s what Jesus has done, because of his love. I wouldn’t be with God if he were an inactive God. If he loved, but took no action to heal the world. I’m with him because he’s active, and is doing something for my life and pain. I’m with him because he heals me. Because he offers answers. Because he’s real.

God’s love is enough. Because of what he’s done with it.

God is With Us, Even if We Feel Badly

Our lives can be difficult, dragging us down and making us feel weary. We can feel trapped by sadness and pain, and become so upset. Things can be awful. Life can be so hard.

At these times, I think, I’m sad because I’m not close enough to God. I should read more about him. Dwell on him more. Pray more. I’m sad because I’m letting Jesus down. It’s my fault. Jesus isn’t saving me because I’m not doing enough for him.

Jesus wouldn’t be a very good savior, if we had to save ourselves. If he could only heal us if we were doing the right thing. If he could only take away our misery, if our mind and heart were in the right place.

A true savior saves — rescues us, when our life is a disaster. Helps us up, when we can’t lift ourselves. Jesus doesn’t come into our lives, then only act if we’ve “proved” ourselves.

Jesus comes into our lives, as they are, and dwells within us. He experiences everything we do, and offers love, and truth, and peace. He holds onto us closely, and never looks away. He’s always with us.

The difficulty is, we won’t always feel God’s love. In fact, we may rarely feel it at all. Jesus’ love for us, and his work in our lives, isn’t measured by how good we feel. Just because we feel badly, doesn’t mean Jesus isn’t at work, or that we’re not doing enough for God. Sometimes, we’ll feel badly. Sometimes, we’ll feel badly for a long time.

Our pain isn’t a sign that God is absent, or that he’s disappointed in us. He’s not standing back, waiting for us to “behave better,” before he can act. He’s not standing back at all. He’s with us from the moment we ask him to be, and never leaves.

God is with us, even if we feel badly. He’s always at work in our lives. We’ll be sad sometimes, and go through struggles and tough times. It doesn’t mean we’re alone, or haven’t matched up to how we should behave. There’s no exact way to behave. Just be yourself, and speak to God as if he’s your best friend. God is with us, even if we feel badly.

Jesus Controls Our Pain

Jesus experiences everything we do. He feels what we feel. Goes through what we go through. Suffers what we suffer. He lives within us, and experiences all of our trials. Our pain is his. Our problems are his own.

When something horrible is happening to us, we wonder if God will help. The exact same problem is happening to Jesus. He’ll take care of the outcome. He won’t let the situation go by, without managing what will happen. Let the bad situation occur, until the problem is beyond what we can handle. Jesus will never give us more than we can handle. We can rest. Jesus won’t let the bad things go by unchecked. He won’t let things become out of control.

Our lives will be awful sometimes, and we’ll suffer. But there will be an end point. There will be a limit. It may be beyond what we think is fair. We may think God should have stopped the pain sooner. But he’s in control, and knows exactly what he’s doing. He only has our best interests at heart. The pain we go through has a higher purpose, and a higher meaning. God doesn’t let things happen by accident. He doesn’t let things happen without being in control of them.

Jesus experiences everything we do. He’s just as upset about our loved one being sick, as we are. He’s more upset. He’s more distraught over the pain of the world than we’ll ever be, and is completely aware of the dark things in our lives. The dark things in the lives of those around us. He’s completely aware of the problems of the world, and knows how to fix them. He’ll give us work to do, and help us to cope with these things. He won’t burden us too strongly.

We don’t need to worry about how to fix our problems. Jesus will. We don’t need to worry about what we should do to help those we love. Jesus will tell us. He loves us, and those around us. Nothing is out of his control. Jesus controls our pain.

Comfort When We Fail

I try to find happiness in my failures by looking at measurable things. For example, looking at what I’m doing right, or telling myself people like what I do. This isn’t wrong, in itself. But I should try to find my happiness in God.

God loves me, and he’ll stand by me no matter what. He loves me despite my failures. Jesus loves me even if I make a lot of mistakes. He has a plan for my life. He won’t let go, or look away if I do things incorrectly. He loves me as I am.

I should derive comfort from this, instead of looking at myself and what I do right. I’ll only feel empty inside, if I try to find my happiness in my own strength and abilities. I fail all the time, and even when I succeed, doing well at something isn’t where true happiness comes from. True happiness comes from within — from being loved, and feeling love inside of us. From knowing that God loves us, no matter what we do, or who we are.

Even if we lose our job or fail at our business venture, God stands by us. He has a plan for us. God has a path laid out, and he’ll lead us down that path. We don’t have to do everything perfectly, or behave exactly right. Say and do all the right things. We just need to be ourselves, and try.

We’ll fail, sometimes. But God won’t let go of us. Everything that happens to us is managed by God. Our highs and lows. Our mistakes and troubles. The pain of everything that goes wrong. God manages all of this, and is guiding us to where he wants us to be.

We should lean on God heavily, for our comfort and peace. We shouldn’t try to be happy based on what we do, or how far we get in life. That’s not what life’s about. Life’s about love. And real love comes from God. He’ll comfort us, no matter what happens in our lives. He’ll be by our side, even if we make a lot of mistakes. God loves us, as we are. He’s our true comfort.

We’re Forgiven

We’ve been forgiven everything. We’ve been forgiven everything.

Every bad word. Every bad thought. All of our mistakes. Every time we’ve let someone down. Every time we haven’t done enough. Haven’t done what we should. Every part of ourselves that is lacking. Every error. Every mistake. Every fault. Every sin.

We’ve been forgiven everything. Completely. We’re not held at fault, for everything that’s wrong with us. We’re not held at fault, for everything about us that’s not good enough. That’s less than it should be. Jesus has forgiven us, and looks at us with a love so great that it wipes out all of the pain and misery in our lives.

It’s not that Jesus doesn’t see our problems; our mistakes and faults. He does. But he loves us so much, that he took the blame for everything that’s wrong with us, and wrong in our lives. He died for us. He loves us so much, that rather than have us suffer alone, and pay for our sins ourselves, he died to pay for them.

He wants to give us a gift — the gift of life. The gift of love. He couldn’t bear to see us struggling, and suffering alone. So he took responsibility — the blame, for every dark thing in our lives. In the world. He wiped the dark things out. We’re debt free. We’re sin free. We’re free.

Never forget you’ve been forgiven. That you’re not alone, with the problems that plague you. With the negativity that keeps a hold of you. You’re not alone. You’re not abandoned. You’re not by yourself. And you’re forgiven.

God Isn’t Disappointed In Us

God’s heart bursts with love. He feels such compassion, such love, grace and mercy. He can’t wait to help us. He’s desperate to look after us, provide comfort, and be by our side. God loves us so much. We’re treasured, and smiled upon.

The thing that breaks God’s heart, is that we feel he’s upset with us. He’s heartbroken that we feel guilty or ashamed in his presence — that we feel he’s angry with us. God loves everyone with a strong, pure love, and is always by our side.

God’s greatest desire is not that we become pure beings, who never sin. God’s greatest desire is for us to know the depth of his love. For us to be happy, and free, and at peace. He wants us to feel comforted and safe.

The greatest barrier between us and God is thinking he’s disappointed in us. That he expects us to behave differently, or give certain things up. We think he’s angry if our focus isn’t constantly on him. We feel he’s upset we’re not completely filled with love for him at all times.

God would have to be terrible to think of us this way. He just feels love. He’s not ashamed or disappointed with everyone. He’s not ashamed. He sees the good in us, the good that we never see. We judge ourselves far more harshly than God ever would. He’s only about love. He loves us.

Rest in the peace of God’s love. Know he thinks the best of you, no matter how you feel. He sees you as precious. If you feel that God is judging you, it’s not from God. He doesn’t judge. He loves you.

We Don’t Have an Obligation

Sometimes I feel God makes certain things happen in my life. Once, when I was unemployed, I got a job right when I was about to run out of money. Everything came together at once, and I felt very strongly God had placed me in that position. I felt he wanted me to have that job, and it was important for me to be there.

It was good, at first. Then it was awful. Low pay, too much responsibility, no help, and employers who were extremely critical. It was so difficult, and made me miserable. I didn’t know what to do.

The obvious answer was to try to get another job, but I felt conflicted. I felt God had placed me there — wouldn’t he expect me to stay? Wasn’t I meant to wait for God to fix things? Wasn’t I supposed to have faith God would lead the situation where it was meant to go? I felt I was supposed to stay. I felt very upset that God had given me a job in which I became miserable. It caused a big conflict between me and God.

In the end, things became really bad, and I was fired. On one hand, I can see important things I learned about life and myself while I was there. I can see how I was meant to be in that job, for a time. But I tortured myself over whether to stay in a job, that I was going to lose anyway. The pain I felt over whether I had to stay in the job to please God was really hard to deal with.

I’ve since learned that God doesn’t have specific standards for what he wants us to do. There’s no invisible set of rules, no obligation for us to behave a certain way, or else God will be disappointed in us.

God loves us. Even if he leads us somewhere for a specific purpose, it doesn’t mean we can’t leave if we feel we should. That specific purpose could have been fulfilled in the first week. We don’t know God’s reasons, or his timing. He brings us where we need to be, but we shouldn’t feel we’re doing something against God if we leave. It may be God’s intention for us to leave at that time. We just don’t know.

We should follow our heart, and our mind. Do what we feel is right. God won’t be angry with us. All he wants is for us to be happy. All he wants is to love us. Being a Christian can be very confusing. Try to remember God loves us at all times, and will never be angry with us for following our heart. He loves us.

God Sees Every Part of Me

I go through my life, and find so much of it a struggle. My emotions go up and down. I worry and stress about so much. And I always feel God is upset with me.

The separation I feel from God hurts the most. I feel I’m so broken; I feel that my thoughts are so horrible and wrong, that even God would reject me. I feel God stands back, disappointed in me. He doesn’t see what’s truly in my heart — if he did, he’d hate me.

God doesn’t really know what’s going on in my life. He couldn’t possibly understand. All of his promises are for a purer person. All of his promises are for someone who’s good. I don’t feel I’m good. I feel I’m awful.

But God knows every inch of me. He sees every part of me — everything that’s going on in my life. He sees every single aspect, good and bad. He promises to be in control. And he is in control, no matter how I feel, no matter what I’m going through, no matter how dark I feel inside.

Sometimes in life, we just have to keep going, despite feeling terrible. We can feel we’re horrible people, and there’s so much that’s wrong with us. We can feel we’re not coping, and doing everything wrong. But God sees all of this. God’s promise of love and healing, doesn’t mean we won’t feel any pain. It doesn’t mean we’ll feel good, or even accepted. All we can really hold onto is that his promises are true. And try to keep going.

The peace I feel in times of turmoil is knowing that God sees all of my pain and darkness, and is still guiding and leading me. I may feel awful, but God is in control of my life. He sees all of my problems, and is carefully managing everything. My problems aren’t because I’m a bad person, or a stupid person. Everything that happens in my life is controlled by God. God’s even in control of my relationship with him. All I can do, is keep going. That’s all I can do.

God loves me, even when I don’t love myself. God loves me despite the darkness inside of me. He’s in control of my life, no matter how terrible I feel. He’s managing everything. All I can do is keep working, and hold on. Hold on.

God Wants to Heal Our Relationships

What does God expect of us in our relationships? I feel I need to behave well, and be insightful about my relationships. I need to understand everything properly, and do the right thing. Things need to be okay.

God embraces us with a pure love, which covers our lives and makes us whole. On our own, we’re sad and broken. On our own, we’re relying on our own strength. It’s up to us to fix everything. It’s up to us to heal ourselves, and others.

But God wishes to heal us. Jesus sits beside us, holding our hand, taking care of everything in our lives. He wants to heal our relationships. He wishes to calm and reassure us — to change our hearts from sadness and bitterness, to love and peace. God wants to take care of us. God does take care of us.

The peace offered by Jesus isn’t bound by rules or expectations. He doesn’t expect us to think or behave a certain way, to help us. We just need to be with him, even by the smallest amount. Jesus embraces us. He rests a hand on our shoulder, telling us things will be okay. He wants us to feel calm. He wants to love us.

It’s not up to us to fix everything. Release your burden to Jesus. Don’t feel you need to carry the weight of your problems on your own. Jesus holds onto you. He’s with you. He won’t leave you alone, to manage your pain by yourself. He carries us. He carries us.

Release your burden to Jesus. You don’t have to heal your relationships on your own. You don’t have to take care of everything on your own. Just be with God; pray to him, hold firm to him, and remember he completely loves you. Jesus loves us. He’ll take care of us. He’s always with us.

God’s Expectations

I keep thinking God expects a lot of me. I think that, in my troubles, God wants me to think very clearly, and do all the right things. Manage everything well. I believe God wants me to act carefully, and be completely responsible. Be the best I can be.

I’m underestimating God’s power, if I think he can’t rescue me from my troubles, unless I’m behaving properly. I’m reducing how powerful he is in my mind, if I think his actions to heal me are based on my actions.

Whilst I do believe God wants us to make an effort, he won’t ignore us or step back from us if we’re not doing enough. I tell myself I need to be some kind of super woman, who follows up every lead and does everything possible to heal my situations. I tell myself I should take care of EVERYTHING, and if I haven’t, then maybe I haven’t done what God wanted. Maybe I let him and those I love down. If things go horribly wrong, it’s my fault.

But God’s much sweeter than that. He’s much more generous and loving than that. I don’t need to be a super woman. I don’t need to be perfect. God’s actions aren’t based on my actions. I’m allowed to fall apart. I’m allowed to be ordinary.

No one can do everything exactly right; we can’t tell ourselves we need to manage everything perfectly, or else the consequences are our fault. We’re only human. Do what you can. But God won’t stand over us, not helping unless we’ve met certain criteria.

God will help us, and have a plan for us, on his own. He’ll help us on his own. God is in control. He doesn’t need us to do all the right things, to help us. We can fall apart. We can be ordinary. We can sit in our room and cry, overwrought with all of our problems. God doesn’t want us to be more than we are. He’ll take care of us. We only need to relax, and be ourselves. God will look after us.

Why It Has to Rain

There are certain types of problems for which the answer isn’t doing a specific thing. It’s not about us behaving a certain way, thinking a certain way — in fact, there’s nothing we can do. The situation is just terrible. There’s no clear answer, and sometimes removing ourselves from the situation isn’t possible. The only solution is the problem being rectified by something beyond us. Something big has to happen, which we can’t manage.

In my life, it’s God who stops my pain. My faith is quite small in my troubled times, and I don’t see how God can fix things. I don’t believe very strongly that he’ll make the situation better. I’m distressed, almost beyond what I can handle.

But God does rescue me. It’s his power that makes things improve. I wish, very sincerely, that God would help me sooner. I become very sad, and wish I wasn’t pushed to my limit. But God does rescue me. It’s God who saves me. I can’t save myself. I just can’t. It’s God who saves me.

What can I say to those who suffer, with no end in sight? I feel your pain, and know what it’s like to be angry with God in these times. He’s our savior, yet he makes us wait. The waiting is horrible.

But he will rescue us. It’s not about us — our power. Our strength can’t take this pain away. It’s not about thinking exactly right, or doing all the right things. As unfortunate as it may be, sometimes we need to suffer in our lives, but God is in control of every moment of our suffering. We can’t take it away ourselves. We’ll be in pain as long as is necessary, as long as God has designed.

I’ll always stay with God, and try to remember everything I go through has a higher purpose. God does love us, and wants what’s best for us. If a thousand sunny days was best for us, God would provide that. But sometimes it has to rain. No one likes the rain. But without rain, nothing can grow.

Jesus Sees Everything That’s Good About Us

Jesus loves me. I had a dream, in which he said he was proud of me. He viewed me as strong, and independent, and capable of looking after myself. He said I was able to figure things out on my own, and that’s why he didn’t spell things out for me all the time. I was able to cope with many things, and, even in the darkest of situations, I would be strong and able to manage. He was proud of me, and thought well of me. He was proud of me.

I forget Jesus views us individually. I think Jesus looks at all people the same, and doesn’t see our individuality and strengths. We’re all the same to him. We’re just meant to be used for his good. We all blend in as one.

But Jesus looks at each person separately. I think Jesus can’t look at me too closely, because he’s blotting out my sins. If he’s not seeing my sins, then he can’t see my strengths, either. If he doesn’t see the bad, he can’t see the good.

But Jesus does see our faults and sins — all of them. He sees our sins, then lovingly forgives us. His forgiveness is not like an automatic response, because he has to. He looks at us kindly, and gently, and softly, and tells us he forgives us. He doesn’t become angry with us. He knows why we did what we did.

Just as he looks at us closely to forgive us, he also closely sees our strengths. He sees everything that’s good about us — any time we’ve been kind, any time we’ve coped with something difficult, any time we’ve persevered through failure. He sees all of our good points. He loves us for who we are, not because he has to. Jesus’ love is no less individual or specific for us, just because he loves everyone. He would have died for you, if you were the last person on earth. His death was for you. He’s here for you.

Jesus sees everything that’s good about us. He loves us.

The Question of Church

I’ve seen it written many times that you can’t be a Christian unless you go to church. People say, repeatedly, that you can’t be an effective Christian unless you’re part of a group of Christians, and quote Bible verses to reiterate this. They make it sound as if, if you don’t go to church, you’ll be separate from God. God won’t be with you. You won’t be able to grow as a Christian.

But I don’t go to church. I have, in the past, many times, but I stopped going a long time ago. And I’m with God more now than I ever was before.

I’m not saying no one should go to church — it helps a lot of people. If people can find joy, and love, and learn something there, great. But I’m fiercely against the notion that if you don’t go to church, you can’t be a Christian. It doesn’t make sense. It goes against everything God is about.

God is about love. I stopped going to church because, no matter which one I attended, the sermons were rarely about God’s love and acceptance. The sermons were often about how to obey God better, and admonished people for not living up to a Godly standard.

I stopped going to church because, despite the fact that I’m shy and find it hard to talk to people, I was thrust into an environment where I was expected to be friendly and outgoing. I was frowned upon if I just wanted to sit by myself and listen quietly.

Churches often place rules and expectations on people. You must be friendly. You must love others. You must love God. You must obey rules. You must follow principles. You must give, even when you have nothing to give. You have to be in a certain place with God, emotionally and intellectually. You have to do the right thing. You have to do the right thing.

But I’ve learned, over many years, that God expects none of this. God just wants to love us, as we are. Broken, lonely, alone, miserable. God’s with us, and takes us as we are. Even if we never set foot in a church.

What matters is where our heart is. Do we want to be with God? All God wants is for us to be with him, even if we do very little. All God wants is for us to stay with him, and try. He just wants us to try.

I’ve grown close to God over the years, because God has brought me close to him. All I’ve done is stay with him, and I have gotten through my struggles and challenges as best I could. I’m by no means a perfect Christian, but I try, and I know God loves me and is proud of me. God truly loves and accepts me, no matter what I do.

I’m not saying to avoid church. Try it, if you’ve never tried it before. You may find it leads you to become closer to God, and feel less lonely. But if it goes against your heart and soul to go there — if you hate the thought of going — you don’t have to go. Be with God in your home, in your own way. Learn about God the way you’d learn about anything you want to know about. Read about him, talk to him, write about him — whatever you want to do.

There’s no exact thing to do. No exact way to be. Read the Bible sometimes. Read it to learn about God, not because you feel it’s your duty. Be yourself. God would never want you to try to follow him in a way that makes you uncomfortable. All God wants, is your heart. And to love you.

God Doesn’t Pressure Us

I remember feeling very uneasy when I first became a Christian. It wasn’t just that it was new and confusing — I felt a pressure, as if God were watching me and expected me to behave a certain way. I felt as if I couldn’t just live my life as I had been — study the course I was in, go home, talk to my friends. I felt a pressure. I was supposed to think or feel differently.

To an extent, I still feel that pressure. I’ve learned a lot about God, and how much he loves and accepts us. I’ve grown a lot as a Christian. However, I still feel God is watching me, expecting me to meet certain standards of living. I can’t just relax, and be me.

All of these thoughts — these worries, concerns, nervous feelings — come from not seeing how much God loves me. Not knowing what he’s really like. When I truly sense God’s presence — in those few, precious moments — I feel so much better.

I realize he’s my best friend. A best friend who sits by my side and tells me I’m alright. A best friend who always holds onto me, and never leaves me to struggle alone. I realize God is warm, comforting and kind, and never frowns upon me.

God wants me to relax and enjoy my life. It’s not that he’s upset with me if I become stressed, as if he’s disappointed in me for working too hard, and wishes I would calm down. He never frowns upon me. He isn’t disappointed in me, one way or the other — if I’m extremely stressed, or if I haven’t worked very hard that day. God loves me, as I am.

God doesn’t have a “checklist,” where he wants us to do certain things or think a particular way. He doesn’t stand over us, thinking we’re not good enough. He completely loves us as we are.

The overall goal of Christianity is not to think or behave a certain way. It’s to know God loves us, and feel accepted and nurtured. If we felt loved by God, we would naturally grow closer to him. If we grew closer to him, we would become more like Christ.

Don’t tell yourself the goal of your Christianity is to change as a person. Tell yourself all God wants is to love and accept you. He’d love you if you never changed at all. He’d love you if you did everything wrong, and were selfish and unkind.

God loves you, as you are. It’s thinking he doesn’t love us, that causes the problems.

God is Only About Love

Imagine if God stood by our side when we worked, and was pleased with how we coped with things. Instead of wishing we would pay more attention to him. Instead of frowning upon us for not focusing on him all the time.

He is pleased with us. He does stand by our side.

Imagine if God didn’t stand back from us, thinking we’re not pure enough of heart, telling us our intentions aren’t good enough. Telling us we should be good and kind and wholesome at all times.

God isn’t like that. He accepts us as we are.

And what if God thought well of us, and was pleased with us when we worked hard? If he was proud of what we did for a living, even if it had nothing to do with him? Was pleased if we worked well, even if we didn’t save people?

God is proud when we work hard. We don’t have to evangelize for him all the time. We can just be ourselves.

God is completely good. Completely kind. He loves us without judgment.

He thinks the best of us, like a loving best friend. He always sees our good side, and nurtures and reassures us.

He doesn’t have expectations, judgments, structures, rules. All he wants to do is love and help us. Love and help us.

God is only about love. He’s completely good and perfect. There’s nothing about God that’s judgmental or unkind. Nothing that’s disapproving or harsh.

God is only about love. We tell ourselves otherwise. We’re told otherwise, and believe otherwise. But if we try to believe the truth — try to find the truth — we’d discover a God who’s completely loving and kind, and only has our best interests at heart. He isn’t mad at us. He isn’t upset with us. He doesn’t think badly of us.

God is only about love. It needs to be said, over and over, until we can’t imagine otherwise.

God is Our Closest Friend

I’m an ordinary person. Sometimes I’m selfish and unkind. Sometimes I want to put myself first. When I work, I want to succeed, and my entire focus will be on my work at that time. I don’t always want to give. My heart isn’t always pure. I’m an ordinary person. And my heart is ordinary.

God isn’t disappointed in me, because of this. God looks at me fondly. He looks at me with love and kindness. He isn’t disappointed in me, wishing my heart were purer, wishing I was kinder and more selfless. God loves and accepts me as I am.

I’ve lately thought of God as a best friend, not just a loving parent. If you imagine a best friend, they sympathize with what you’re going through. They won’t say: “You should be more selfless. You should think about that differently. You’re not good enough.”

If your best friend spoke to you that way, you wouldn’t want to be around them anymore, because they wouldn’t be offering love and support. God isn’t like this. He sits with us, and, like a true friend, completely understands our heart and soul. He understands when we’re hurt and frustrated. He understands our desire to be selfish sometimes. He understands, and doesn’t judge us.

God loves us, completely. When we realize God is completely loving, accepting and kind — when we realize he loves us, as we are — we feel so much closer to him. When we feel closer to him, we naturally want to do things to make him happy. Becoming a kinder, more giving person doesn’t come from guilt, or being told we should be different. Becoming kinder comes from our heart. Comes from our heart, when it’s filled with love. God’s love.

Don’t ever feel God’s standing over you, wishing you would become more selfless and behave differently. God loves and accepts you as you are. He sees everything we’re going through — every single detail — and is completely understanding and sympathetic. Even if we’re going through dark things. Even if we’ve done dark things. God will never walk away from us. He never would, and never will.

God loves us, as we are. He understands. He forgives every bad thing we’ve ever done. He’ll never leave us. He loves us.

Jesus Sees Us as Blameless

Jesus doesn’t see us as flawed and a mess. He doesn’t hold things against us — he doesn’t look at us badly, for all of our errors, mistakes and inadequacies. His blood has washed us clean. He sees us as blameless, and beautiful; lovely and kind. He looks at us with love. He loves us.

Jesus doesn’t blame us for what we do wrong. He isn’t disappointed or ashamed of us. He doesn’t think of us badly, holding back his blessings because of our mistakes. He doesn’t frown upon us if we don’t do well enough, or fail, or are grossly behind other people. He’s completely happy with us, at all times, as he sees into our heart and soul. He loves us. He’s proud of us. He only wants to rescue and bless us.

We can fail, fall behind, look foolish before others; we can make a million mistakes and be confused, anxious and stressed. We can do badly and be hated by everyone, or feel terrible and as if we’re doing everything wrong. Jesus still loves us. Loves us, and sees us as blameless.

Jesus doesn’t see the darkness we think hangs over us. The deep shame we think follows us everywhere, because we’re flawed. Jesus doesn’t look at us that way. He doesn’t see that darkness. He’s sitting right beside us, loving and giving to us completely, no matter how horrible we feel.

There’s no barrier between us and God. There’s nothing we can do to separate God’s love from us. No matter how we feel, Jesus loves us. No matter what we do — how much we think we’ve ruined our lives — Jesus is still with us, seeing us as blameless, loving us completely. Jesus’ blood has washed us clean. There’s nothing we can do to separate ourselves from God. Jesus is always with us. Jesus will always bless us. He’ll always see us as beautiful. No matter how messed up we are.

We’re Acceptable Because of Jesus

It’s not that I’m okay if my sin is understandable, or I can compare myself to others and seem alright. It’s that I’m okay because Jesus has died for my sin — taken the blame for my sin — so I’m good enough because God makes me so.

It’s not that I’m good enough because I haven’t crossed a threshold of wrongdoing, and gone over into a “bad place.” It’s that I’m good enough because, no matter what my transgression, Jesus has died for it, and paid my penalty. No matter how dark my sin — no matter what I’ve done, Jesus has taken the blame for it, and washed me clean.

Jesus sees our sins before we do them. He anticipates them. He’s prepared for them. He’s already died for them — already suffered, and been physically tortured, for us. The intense pain he suffered, was for us. He’s already paid for our sins. All of them.

We’re not okay because we do okay. Our goodness, and acceptance by God, and relationship with God, isn’t based on our behavior. As if, if we aren’t good, it all ends. Our goodness, and acceptance by God, and relationship with God, is based on Jesus’ sacrifice and love for us.

Jesus has paid for every bad thing we’ve done, and will do. He’s paid for all of it. He’s paid for every bad thing we’ve done, and will do. His blood has washed us clean. We’re not alone any more.

Being good enough doesn’t rest on our shoulders — what we do. We’re acceptable because of Jesus. Not us. It was never about us. We couldn’t be good enough if we tried. All we can do is get through each day, and trust that Jesus is purifying and cleansing us as we ask for forgiveness.

Jesus sees our sins before we do them. He’s already suffered for them. We can’t surprise him. If we’re suffering — if we hate ourselves, and feel full of shame and misery, Jesus is controlling it. It’s not our fault. We’re only suffering to the measures he allows. It’s not on our shoulders to fix ourselves. It’s not on our shoulders to be good. Jesus controls that. He manages it.

Our goodness is controlled by Jesus. We’re okay because of him. We’re okay because he’s okay. And he’ll always be okay.

Jesus Understands Our Sin

I feel as if Jesus doesn’t understand the magnitude of what I do wrong. That, although he forgives me, he doesn’t get it. He doesn’t get what I did. How can his forgiveness make me clean? I feel so dirty inside. How can he have forgiven me? Doesn’t he get that I did something BAD? Doesn’t he get that I did something UGLY? He’s not with me, in the mess. He doesn’t feel what I feel. He doesn’t see what I’ve done. Just because he doesn’t hold it against me, doesn’t mean there still isn’t a black scar against my heart. My heart remembers. I hold it against me, even if he doesn’t.

But Jesus controls everything about us — everything we do, everything that happens to us, everything that goes wrong. It’s not that when we do the wrong thing, we’ve broken away from him, and we’re out of his reach. That because we did the wrong thing, we turned our back on him, and he can’t see us. He can’t look at us. We’ve broken the bond.

Jesus controls EVERYTHING in our lives, so, even when we do something horrible, he’s right there with us. Nothing is out of his control. Even the bad, ugly, terrible thing, is managed by him. He saw it before we did it. He saw our heart — our soul, our pain, our anguish — and was right there in the moment with us. He understands. He understood.

God loves us, as we are. He doesn’t condone wrongdoing — he takes sin so seriously, that it took Jesus’ death to make up for it. But, because of Jesus’ death, God doesn’t hold our sin against us. And, because of his love, he doesn’t think badly of us. God forgives our sin because of Jesus. But he loves us, and forgives, understands, blesses and treasures us, because we’re his children. Because he loved us from the moment we existed. Because he has always loved us, even before we were Christians.

God loves us, as we are. Because of Jesus’ sacrifice, he’ll control every single thing in our lives — what we do, and what happens to us. We’re not alone, anymore. We’re not alone anymore.

Nothing is out of Jesus’ control. He controls our sin, and the consequences; he controls our pain and misery. Our pain is not our fault. Jesus is controlling it. He’ll take it away, when it’s right for him. Our suffering is not our fault. It’s not as if, we feel badly because what we did was so horrible, that God has looked away from us. Jesus controls our sin, and our pain afterward. He’s managing all of it. Nothing is out of his hands.

God loves us. Nothing we can do could separate us from him. And he does get it. He made us. He gets it.

God is Proud of How We Work

When I’m working, all I can think about is what I’m doing wrong. The tasks I’m not achieving. The standards I’m not reaching. The goals and milestones I’m nowhere near. All I can think is, If only I could work better. If only I were smarter, more capable, and could do everything the way the others do. Everyone seems to be doing better than I’m doing.

But Jesus doesn’t look at us this way. He looks at what we’ve done — what we’re doing — and is so proud. He doesn’t see what we’ve done as inadequate or less than it should be. Jesus sees how hard we’ve worked, and the intention behind our work. God himself is proud of us, proud that we’ve tried, and that we meant well. That’s what matters to God. Not that we’ve achieved what people say we should.

God loves us, so much. If God has a plan for us, he’ll fulfil it, in his way. We have a part to play, but it’s not as if we have to meet a certain standard, or we’ve failed God. That we’ve let God down, and he can’t do what he wanted to do.

Nothing can stop God. All he asks of us is to try, and try to have good intentions. Try to do the right thing. It doesn’t matter to God if we’re far behind those we’re competing with — if, compared to others, we’re not working at the same level. None of that is relevant to God. He just wants us to try. Our heart and soul is what matters, and that we’ve done what we could. God will do the rest.

Nothing can stop God. God will never say our work isn’t good enough — that we should have worked harder, or done more. We just have to do what we can. God’s power and strength will make up for what we lack. He’ll fill in what we leave out. He’ll protect us. He holds us so closely.

God loves us, as we are. Not only if we do well.

God Controls Our Lives

Even if we feel alone and abandoned, God is with us. Even if we feel completely far from him, and as if we’re not connected to him at all, he’s still carefully watching us, and carefully managing our lives. God being active in our lives isn’t based on our actions. It’s not as if, if we don’t do enough, or don’t think of him properly, that he becomes separated from us.

God completely loves us, as we are. We can feel very uncomfortable, disoriented, and confused, as when we go through a major change in our lives. God is still with us, even if we feel terrible. Feeling great discomfort and anxiety doesn’t mean God is separate from us. He controls everything.

We don’t have to be strong and behave perfectly in our times of distress, for things to work out the way God has planned. He’s always in control. Even if we’ve done the wrong thing. Even if we feel we’re not good enough.

God doesn’t frown upon us, thinking we’re horrible people if we’re selfish sometimes, or don’t know how to care for others properly. God will help us care for others. He’ll help us to do the right thing. Everything doesn’t fall on our shoulders.

God loves us. He’ll protect and help us. He’ll never leave us alone, no matter how we feel, or what we’ve done. We’re not alone.

Jesus Will Always Forgive Us

I forget that, because Jesus died for me, that all of my sins are forgiven. I feel as if I taint things — that because I make bad choices or decisions, or can be selfish, I destroy things so badly that Jesus can’t look at me. He can’t forgive me.

But Jesus died for me. He was killed, for me. Nothing can separate us.

I feel if I’m not sorry enough for my sins, if I don’t do enough to change what I’ve done, then God is far from me. I feel Jesus’ forgiveness of my sins is entirely based on me rectifying the situation. It’s not enough for me to be sorry. It’s not enough for me to want to change — to want to do the right thing. I have to earn Jesus’ forgiveness.

But God forgiving me is based on the fact that Jesus died for me. He took the blame for what I do wrong. It’s not that God forgives me based on what my sin is, or what I’ve done to make up for it. God’s forgiveness of me is entirely based on Jesus’ sacrifice. My debt has been paid.

God will never hold our sins against us. There’s nothing we could do, that would be so bad that the death of God himself would not be enough to make up for it. Jesus treasures us. If we aren’t doing enough to rectify the bad situation we’re in, Jesus forgives that too. There’s no limit to how much God forgives us. There’s no black scar against our heart. Jesus will always forgive us. He’ll help us make things right.

Jesus loves us, as we are. He’ll always hold onto us very closely. And he’ll never let go.

How Much Jesus Loves You

Jesus’ love for us is pure, and real, and strong. It’s such an intense love — it’s the kind of love we usually only dream about. Jesus loves us with such passion, and cares for us more deeply than we could ever imagine. He craves looking after us. He’s immensely dedicated to caring for us, and our welfare. He loves us so strongly. He loves us so deeply.

Jesus is entirely on our side. Every single one of us. Entirely on our side. When we argue with someone, he looks at us fondly, thinking we shouldn’t have been treated that way. He wants things to work out for us — he’ll work hard to make things work our way. He wants us to be comforted and safe. He wants us to be free and at peace.

Jesus loves us so deeply. He’s our best friend. Imagine the kind of love you crave. Imagine that kind of intense love. Someone you can share your fears with. Someone who’ll listen to your every worry and concern. Someone who’ll be by your side in everything you go through. Who tells you you are good enough. You are doing enough. You are good enough. You are doing enough.

Someone who loves you. Who won’t leave you to manage things on your own. Who says: “If you don’t have the strength, I’ll do it. You don’t have to be incredibly strong. I’m with you. I’ll be strong enough for both of us. I’ll be your strength.”

Imagine somebody who forgives every bad thing you do, forgives every time you didn’t do enough, and tells you they understand. They would say: “You had a reason. You’re not a bad person, at all. I know why you did what you did. I know why you let that person down. It’s not your fault. You are good enough. You did what you could.”

Someone who loves you more than they value their life. Who would give up everything for you.

Imagine that kind of love. That’s how much Jesus loves you.

God Will Change Our Lives

Sometimes we can be in a bad situation, and can’t see our way out. We make plans to change things, but acting out the plans seems excruciating, and we don’t know what to do. We feel we have to force our lives to be better — do very difficult, painful things, to make our situation improve. We feel so lost and alone. It’s such a miserable situation to be in.

What I’ve learned is that God will come through for us. It may be months in the future, in a way we don’t expect, but God will heal and transform our lives. God doesn’t want us to stress, worry or be concerned; he doesn’t want us to feel we have to control everything. He’ll be in control. He’ll improve our lives.

The immense pressure I feel, thinking I have to make my life better, and if I’m miserable it’s my own fault — none of that’s true. God is managing my life.

It’s not as if God’s waiting for me to behave a certain way, so he can help me. As if I need to behave perfectly and appropriately, doing everything correctly, or he can’t act. No matter what I do, no matter how big a mess I make of things, or how foolish and inadequate I feel, God is in control.

Don’t feel you’re inadequate, and God can’t help you because of it. Nothing can stop God. He sees everything that’s good about you, and will help you according to the plan he has laid out. He loves you. God can achieve any positive outcome. He’ll take care of you. He loves you.

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

Even if I Do Something Wrong, on Purpose

We Don’t Need to Have Perfect Faith

God is Always With Us

We Can Be Weak

God Doesn’t Judge Us

We’re Not on Our Own

What God Has Done With His Love

God is With Us, Even if We Feel Badly

Jesus Controls Our Pain

Comfort When We Fail

We’re Forgiven

God Isn’t Disappointed In Us

We Don’t Have an Obligation

God Sees Every Part of Me

God Wants to Heal Our Relationships

God’s Expectations

Why It Has to Rain

Jesus Sees Everything That’s Good About Us

The Question of Church

God Doesn’t Pressure Us

God is Only About Love

God is Our Closest Friend

Jesus Sees Us as Blameless

We’re Acceptable Because of Jesus

Jesus Understands Our Sin

God is Proud of How We Work

God Controls Our Lives

Jesus Will Always Forgive Us

How Much Jesus Loves You

God Will Change Our Lives

About the Author

Table of Contents

Even if I Do Something Wrong, on Purpose

We Don’t Need to Have Perfect Faith

God is Always With Us

We Can Be Weak

God Doesn’t Judge Us

We’re Not on Our Own

What God Has Done With His Love

God is With Us, Even if We Feel Badly

Jesus Controls Our Pain

Comfort When We Fail

We’re Forgiven

God Isn’t Disappointed In Us

We Don’t Have an Obligation

God Sees Every Part of Me

God Wants to Heal Our Relationships

God’s Expectations

Why It Has to Rain

Jesus Sees Everything That’s Good About Us

The Question of Church

God Doesn’t Pressure Us

God is Only About Love

God is Our Closest Friend

Jesus Sees Us as Blameless

We’re Acceptable Because of Jesus

Jesus Understands Our Sin

God is Proud of How We Work

God Controls Our Lives

Jesus Will Always Forgive Us

How Much Jesus Loves You

God Will Change Our Lives

About the Author