God's Relentless Love Archives - Page 4 of 4 - Sharla Fritz
February 6, 2015

Once Upon A Time

 

OnceUponATimeincourage.me

Once upon a time.

We all love those words. Those words promise a love story and we all long for romance.

Truth be told, I yearn to live a Cinderella story. I secretly hope someone will come and whisk me away from the ashes – from my humdrum life. I picture my dowdy clothes being changed into a beautiful gown. I imagine the prince choosing – me.

But that kind of thing only happens in fairy tales. Right?

Actually, God has been reminding me that I am smack dab in the middle of a breathtaking, astonishing love story right now. His Word is the crazy tale of a Prince who proved His love by giving up His cushy life in heaven, living on this dusty earth, and dying so that I could be with Him forever. Jesus chose me to be His bride. His grace – like the fairy godmother – transforms me, giving me a perfect gown of righteousness.

The problem is that I don’t always live like the princess I am.

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December 11, 2014

The Gift of His Presence

matt 1-23

“Look! The virgin will conceive a child!
    She will give birth to a son,
and they will call him Immanuel,
    which means ‘God is with us.’”

Matthew 1:23

This is the wonder of Christmas: God is with us!

It’s the wonder of every Christmas, but this year I have experienced it in remarkable ways.

You see, this Christmas is different for me. My husband and I are officially empty-nesters. This summer my son got married and moved out-of-state. And almost four years ago my daughter moved out-of-continent.

The house feels a bit–empty.

When I was putting up the Christmas decorations this year, I was missing the days of kids clamoring to help. The breathless excitement of anticipating presents under the tree. The wonder of little eyes looking at the manger scene.

I was feeling a bit sad about the emptiness–until God filled my heart–with Himself.

He surprised me with the gift of His presence.

The other day I was turning a corner in my car when suddenly it was filled with God’s presence. My gray sedan felt like God’s tabernacle. I was overwhelmed with a sense of God’s love for me. Immanuel–God with me.

The next day I got up and saw a sunrise–beautiful pinks and purples and blues and God whispered in my ear: I painted this sunrise just for you. My eyes filled with tears. Immanuel–God with me.

Two days later I woke to a world cleansed with a blanket of white. It was almost as if God’s love was coming down from heaven in crystals. Immanuel–God with me.

And so today I am thankful. Even though my house seems a bit empty, my heart is full.

God’s presence filling all the emptiness.

Jesus came to our broken-down world and slept in a barn just to be with us.

Jesus felt hunger and experienced wet diapers simply to be with us.

Jesus consented to being a helpless, crying baby because He wanted to be with us.

Immanuel–God is with us.

Question: How have you sensed God’s presence with you this Christmas season?

 

 

Filed Under: God's Relentless Love Tagged With: ,
May 1, 2014

The One Mirror Where You Will Always Look Beautiful

“Mirror, mirror on the wall, who’s the fairest of them all?” Do you remember those words spoken by the evil queen in the Snow White fairy tale? Every time the queen approached the mirror, she fully expected the mirror to reply, “You, O queen, are the fairest of them all.” And watch out if this wasn’t the answer she received! If the mirror mentioned anyone else, the poor girl was quickly done away with so the next day the queen could receive the reply she wanted from her mirror.

Who wouldn’t want a mirror that gave a daily dose of compliments? We all long to be attractive and sought after. We all want to be told that we’re beautiful.

The bathroom mirror might not always give us the answer we want when we ask ourselves the question, “Am I beautiful?” After all, bad hair days, bad skin days, bad everything days happen now and then.

But there is a mirror that will always tell us we are beautiful—in Christ. Because of Jesus’ sacrifice for us, we always look lovely in God’s looking glass. Our heavenly Father sees us not as we are with our mammoth mistakes, our messy sins, our major bedhead. He sees us as we will be—perfect.

The Bible tells us:

“If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation” (2 Corinthians 5:17)

In God’s eyes we’re already beautiful because He sees us dressed in the robes of Christ’s purity. He watches your makeover progress, but at the same time sees you in your final photo shoot. God can already envision the reveal.

When we have trouble seeing past the flawed image in our bathroom mirror, we need to look at God’s mirror—His Word. In it God tells us over and over how much He loves us. When media, self-doubt, or even my friends leave me feeling unloved and unlovely, I can look in God’s miraculous mirror to see who I am in His eyes.

Here is how God sees you! Gods mirror 3

You can download and print this poster in a 5X7 or 8X10 size for yourself.

Find God’s Mirror here.

 

 

Divine Makeover001

This post was adapted from my new book for teens and young women:

Divine Makeover: God Makes You Beautiful.

Perhaps you have been looking for a resource for your youth group or a study to do with your daughter. Or maybe you need a confirmation or graduation gift for a lovely young woman.

Check out Divine Makeover at CPH and Amazon.

Filed Under: God's Relentless Love, Spiritual Growth Tagged With: ,
September 12, 2013

When You Don’t Hear Any Applause and You Doubt Your Value

True confession time. I love applause.

I suppose most of us want the approval of others. We want to be told we are doing a good job. We love it when people tell us we’ve made a difference in their lives.

I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that.

The trouble comes when I base all of my value on what others think of me.

Sometimes I don’t hear an “Atta girl!” for a long time. Often rejection slips pile up much higher than acceptance letters. There are long periods of time when I don’t get any applause. And then I get a little low. OK, more than a little. I can get downright depressed. I can wonder if I’m worth anything at all.

Lately, God has been teaching me a lot in Psalm 62. Verse 7 jumped off the page.

My salvation and my honor depend on God; he is my mighty rock, my refuge.

God tapped my on the shoulder and said: Did you catch that? Your honor doesn’t depend on how many trophies you get. Or how loud the applause is. Your honor depends on Me. Because you are My daughter you are treasured. You are valuable in My sight.

Wow. I’m humbled. And a little embarrassed. Embarrassed because I realized something. When I need applause and approval from people in order to feel good about myself, I am, in effect, saying that they are more important than God. I am making their opinion more significant than God’s.

Father in heaven, I am sorry for when I make the approval and opinions of people more important than Yours. Help me to remember that my honor depends on You–not on trophies, acceptance letters, or applause. Thank you for accepting me because of Jesus. Amen.

Next step: What is your heart’s response to the fact that your honor depends on God?

Filed Under: God's Relentless Love Tagged With: ,
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