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Think: When my children were little one of them spilled paint on something ‘precious’. Their reaction was to hide somewhere and pretend it hadn’t happened. I knew it had but then I also knew that it didn’t affect my love for them. After finding them I asked what was wrong and tearfully they told me of the accident, after hugs and reassurance we went together to clean up the mess and get on with life. After all it was just a thing and my child was more important that any ‘thing’. The two things we need to remember are that we don’t need to hide from God and that He loves us. That is what really matters in our lives. With my child I knew what had happened but until they were ready to tell me I couldn’t help them cope with their upset. God not only knows what has happened but saw it coming and knows how to deal with it. Trying to hide from God is not only futile but it stops us from getting on with life as we become stuck in that place. 

God knows we are not perfect and He wants to help us move on with life but first we have to admit to it and deal with where we are. Often, as with children, the act of admitting to something frees us to move on. God knows we need to admit it more than He needs to hear it. With Adam and Eve God was fully aware of what had happened and yet He still asked Adam so that they could admit to their wrong doing and move on.

Thankfully He also loves us more than enough to cope with any upsets we have. God made us to love and be loved. It makes a difference to our way of being when we hear that we are loved. Throughout the Bible God tells and shows us how much He loves us. When we realize this truth it will change your world.

Do: Look back at John 3:16 and substitute your name for “the world”, make the verse personal to you. Say it out loud to yourself and know that it is the truth. Write it down on a piece of paper and take that with you wherever you go, reread it and let it soak in … that God loves YOU!

Pray: Thank you Father, for your love. Thank you that no matter what I do I am able to come to you and admit my sins so I can move on through your grace and forgiveness. Please help me to sense Your love around me as I travel through this life and to show others the difference this can make in how we live. Amen

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Think: Recently I was lucky enough to go and see Cirque du Soliel at Marymoor Park. With most of the audience I was hugely impressed and spent much of the time with my hand over my mouth not wanting to breathe in case it distracted someone. This was particularly the case with the tight rope walkers who not only danced and jumped rope while up there but they also rode bicycles with someone balanced on their shoulders. These men were committed to what they were doing from the instant they began, putting themselves into it 100% and not thinking of anything else. As a result of their focus and dedication they were great at what they did and even when they began to lose their balance they were able to regain their focus and correct their path.

We need to not ‘sort of’ follow God but like the tight rope walkers make a decision and commit to it giving it our all following God regardless of how difficult or unsettling the view. I was once told that by sitting on the fence all I would get are splinters in a painful place!! We cannot sit on the fence about following God or about being the person God wants us to be and being available to Him and others.

 
Do: As so many of us drink coffee today you have an excuse! Take the time to sit and drink a coffee, hot or cold drink or your choosing. While you drink it think about how the flavor changes as the temperature of the drink changes, warmish coffee is never quite the same nor is a room temp milkshake. How do you need to heat up for God today giving God 100% and doing something just because He wants you to? Is there a part of your life where you want to be ‘greater’ that you can ask God to help you with?