How He Loves

 How many of you have heard the song "How He Loves"?. As I am typing this blog, I am hearing the lyrics:

"He is jealous for me,
Loves like a hurricane, I am a tree,
Bending beneath the weight of his wind and mercy. 

When all of a sudden,
I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory,
                                                                      And I realize just how beautiful You are 

                                                                         And how great Your affections are for me."

I can't stop thinking about how much His love is for us! Just think, His love for us, is so overflowing that He is jealous for us! He is jealous of us!! His love is like a hurricane! Think of a hurricane and how strong the winds and the rain is when a storm occurs, let alone a hurricane! And when it comes to His mercy and grace, we are so "flexible" and "bendable" like a tree. I picture God just blowing us to the point to where our leaves of "our tree" end up touching the ground because of the strength of His love and "wind". Its so unthinkable to me! To know that someone loves me with the same strength as a hurricane.

 I don't know where your relationships with Christ are. Maybe you don't even know this love that I am describing, but God loves you! He loves you like a hurricane and He has GREAT AFFECTIONS for YOU! Christ died for YOU!

"For God so loved the world, that He gave His one and only son, that whosoever believes in Him, will not perish but have everlasting life."

~John 3:16~

 

 And for those reading, who have known, believed and loved Christ, whether that be for multiple years, or just a few months/weeks, ask yourself "Do I love God as much as He loves me?" When was the last time you said thank you for this hurricane love? Just something to think about.

 

THANKS FOR READING!! 





Silent Passion

  

    Have you ever asked yourself “what does God mean to me?” Have you ever stopped to think about it? Do you actually know what He means to you? As Christians, we should be in the word everyday…. How can we know what He means to us without actually knowing Him? We can’t, it’s impossible. Over the years I have grown in my faith and walk with Christ. I know what it takes to have a relationship with Him, and I know how it feels to be standing on the sidelines. The truth is, we can’t say what God truly means to us without having day-to-day conversations with Him.

  So what is my answer? God is everything to me… He’s my daddy, best friend, comforter, healer, and even my comedian. He is my energy, and He is the reason why I am not depressed, sad, dead, crazy, and a nobody. He is my number one soul mate. He is graceful, and everything that is holy and noble. He is the one I turn to in my most desperate times and in my best times. He is my every breath and my every hope. Do I sometimes let him down? Yes, but He is always there to pick me back up, and He is always willing to forgive me. I mess up every day, but He is there to wipe away my tears. How do I know this? I know this because I know Him and I spend every day in His word and meditate on what he says.

 Another thing is that I must be giving Him glory because He is right by my side when I need him. He helps me through everything. Even when I decide to do things my own way, he continues to stand next to me and welcomes me back with open arms...  He works with the paths we choose for ourselves. He uses our experiences as a key role in our ministry.He has given me this knowledge and wisdom that its so far been relatively serene and joy. God may exist in passion but I decide to stray from passion as it can lead to trouble and confusion and many other wants. Not saying its negative, it can just get flawed as it becomes overrated. I guess if you let it. Not at all saying God is flawed, either. Not that love just equates to passion, cause it doesn't. God=love. Everything that God is then that is love. Even those that don't believe in Him know what God can be if He were to be real in their souls and hearts. I rather be in a state of equanimity as it helps me to be diligent in whatever my goals are and in whatever I pursue.  God is my loud but silent passion.

Changes Within

  

  So many things, so many changes, have been occurring in my God-given life! Its crazy! But its a good kind of crazy! I would like to share with you everything God is changing, and teaching me. 

Change number one:  I am not perfect. I don't understand why we, as humans, Christians even, strive so hard to be perfect, when in reality, we will never reach that fleshly goal of ours. I guess I should say that I, recently, have been in that "status- quo" of trying to be perfect, trying to "fit in" with the culture of New York...with society and the world. You know, people say, you have to look this way, act this way, talk this way, eat this way, have this kind of career, make this much money, have this amount of children, don't do this and don't that! I mean, its deranged in a way to think that we live in a very strict and judgemental world. I, we, are NOT perfect, nor will we ever be. This makes me think of Ecclesiastes 7:20 that says

" Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins."

  No matter what...we will never be perfect! I will never be perfect. I am going to say things that I don't mean, spill things, have impure thoughts. I'm going to yell and have bitterness to some people. I'm sure my mind is going to judge others, even though I know that I have no room to judge others. I am going to do things that I will later on regret doing. I am going to make mistakes and so much more. But the one thing that I have to hold on to, is the promise that God will never leave me or forsake me and that because of His perfection, and because of His sacrifice, I have life. *Note to self: "Malarie, you are not here for YOU but to bring glory to God. You are here for HIM and ONLY HIM." 


Change number two: I am beautiful, NOT ugly. Ever since I was a "pre-teen", I used always struggled a lot with my body image and what I looked like on the outside.  I always thought I was fat and ugly. I treated my body (the temple of God) like crap. It was almost like my body was a door mat. I would wipe all the dirt and mud all over it, and eventually all that dirt buried me into a deep depression of feeling worthless. In school, I was made fun of. I hardly had any friends and I remember sitting by myself during lunch....but recently, God has reminded me that its not about the "beauty" on the outside that counts, its what is in the inside. And honestly, if I have Christ inside of me, than I am one gorgeous woman!!!! Not to brag or anything but I am beautiful! It shouldn't matter that I am not the thinnest one around, can wear a certain size in pants or shirts, or that I can't wear a bikini in the summer, what matters is my love and heart for Christ! And because Christ lives in me, I have no flaws, and I am beautiful...in EVERY SINGLE WAY! 

"You are altogether beautiful, my love; there is no flaw in you."

Song of Solomon 4:7

  Final change: I am His BELOVED!  On my right wrist, I have BELOVED as a tattoo. I will say this, that I will never get a tattoo unless it doesn't bring glory to God, express my love for Him, or allow me to remember the things that He has taught me at a certain time in my life. When I got that tattoo in December, I was going through a hard time with my own warfare, body image, depression even, as well as the thought of having to move and transition to life here in New York, when I told myself that I didn't know anything and I even doubted that God would provide for me when I got here. But, at the  same time, He was teaching me that I was His. That He would never let me go even though I had doubts, He never ceased to continue teaching me that He loved me and He still does! He always will! Recently, God is teaching me pretty much the same thing as before, but I understand it all so much more clearly! The fact that God looks at me as perfect and blameless through His eyes, is unthinkable to me! I will never understand why God chose to make me, or die on the cross for me, but He did! He found me as valuable and worthy enough to be given life! I am His daughter. His Bride. His BELOVED. That is the best name, and honor to have in life! 

" See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is"

1 John 3:1-2