Closer

The ZOE conference was AMAZING!!! I do not think words could adequately express what a blessing it was, how much God moved, and how wonderful it was to fellowship and worship with people who I dearly love and miss.

I realized so many things this weekend and was reminded of many other things that were placed right in front of my face and on my heart. I had really been looking forward to this weekend for quite some time, and had been really praying that God would move in powerful & mighty ways...and He sure did. At the same time, I was reminded of something that Jeff Walling said Friday night-he said that he was sure a lot of has prayed for God to show up this weekend, and then he said, "You know what? He rode in the car with you!" We are a moving temple of God. It is such a simple truth, but something we need to constantly remember. He is ALWAYS with us, always inviting us into a closer, more intimate relationship with Him. He does not "move"-we do, but He will always be with us if we allow Him to walk on this journey. That is so comforting. We are close to God-not because of anything we have done, but because He came near in His grace and mercy. He also said that "closer" is not our verb-it is God's. He says "I am willing to come to you". Because God is holy, it makes us want to change when we are in His presence. He became incarnation for us-God in flesh-Emmanuel. Powerful!!! Amazing...and hard to wrap our human minds around. That is why I am SO thankful that God steps in an loves us anyway.

I am so thankful for a mighty and powerful God who saves me and showers me with His love, gracy & mercy that I am so unworthy of...but that is the great part, I don't have to be!! He came down anyway, allowed His perfect Son to be crucified on a cross so that out of my messiness, the Messiah would step in and take over. Jeff also made a good point about that-he said you have to have a "mess" to need the MESSiah. I loved that! :) Thankfully, I can take my mess and lay it down at His feet and He will take care of it, look at me and say, "Precious child of mine, I love you and you are forgiven".

There is so much more to say, so this may have to be a multi-part post...I pray that God is drawing you ever closer to Him!!