…you are precious in my eyes, and honored, and I love you… - Isaiah 43:4

Yesterday, I took my younger daughter, Avery, to school. She goes to Kindergarten in the afternoon. Ella, my older daughter (who’s in first grade), has recess at the time I drop Avery off.

After taking Avery to school, I got in my car and began to drive home along the street bordering the school’s playground. Whenever I drive by during recess, I scan the playground for Ella. Sometimes I find her playing with her friends, sometimes I don’t. But yesterday, as I drove slowly, I saw her sitting right on the other side of the fence, playing in the dirt with a friend.

I rolled my passenger window down. “Ella!” I shouted.

She looked, popped up from where she sat, and began running along the fence, joy upon her face, trying to keep up with my car. There were cars behind me, so I couldn’t go too slow, but she kept up, running her little heart out for the chance to simply be with her mommy. We weren’t able to talk, we weren’t able to be side-by-side, but still, I could see and feel her heart filled with joy, just given the chance to see me.

Soon, after running the length of the playground, she came to its edge. Ella stopped and waved, smiling the biggest smile her face could hold.

“I love you,” I yelled as we both waved until we could see each other no more.

My eyes welled with tears as the beauty of the moment settled into my heart, and it got me thinking. This is what God wants from us. Our hearts. This is all He wants from us. He doesn’t expect us to perform. He doesn’t expect perfection, but instead He wants us.

When asked, “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” Jesus responded, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind…”(Matthew 22:36-37, emphasis mine). He wants our love. He wants us to overflow with peace, joy, and love upon coming into His presence.

This is precisely why sin breaks God’s heart. Sin pulls our hearts away from Him.

We are loved by our Father in Heaven with an unfathomable love. He chooses us. He loves us. He reconciled us to Himself through Jesus’ death so we might expereince a relationship with Him much like the one I just experience with Ella, though greater in every way. And when we come to Him, I believe He too, is overcome with joy, for it is then that we are in the place we were created to be.

Today, let us come to Him joyfully and experience our relationship in a new way.

{God wants our hearts.}

When was the last time you experienced joy in the presence of God?

Leave a comment below.

To read more about my journey toward forgiveness, read Freedom Through Grace or {Redemption} Your Testimony May Have Saved a Life.

Do you trust someone you don’t know? Would you listen to the advice of someone you just met and follow them into a risky situation?

I think most people would have enough discernment to get to know someone prior to trusting them. And this translates well into our relationship with God. If you don’t know Jesus, why would you trust Him with your life?

Yes, it is true. In order to follow Jesus, we must know Jesus. [Tweet that]

Here’s how this played out in my story:

When I was called to forgive Anthony, I knew God is loving, and that He was simply asking me to give what He graciously gave me.

When I was called to love my enemy, I knew God is good, and that He would only ask me to do something that would lead me to a better place.

When I feared interaction with a man capable of murder, I knew God is my Protector, and I knew He loved me and there was no reason to fear.

When the warden turned down my visitation application, and I struggled with whether or not I was on the right path, I knew Jesus is my Shepherd, and He would show me the way.

When the correspondence between Anthony and I became “heated” as we hashed through the particulars of the murder, I knew God had purpose in even the most difficult times.

When I felt I couldn’t go on, when the emotions of digging up the darkest parts of my past threatened to pull me under, I knew God is my Healer, and He would bring me through.

When those in my life witnessed the intense trials along the way and began to express their doubts about whether I should continue, I knew God called me to correspond with Anthony, and He would redeem my dad’s murder through this trial.

When I got each letter and awaited direction from the Lord on how to proceed, I knew God usually doesn’t perform on my timetable. But, I knew He always answers those who cry out to Him, in His perfect timing.

When I forgave Anthony, I knew God gave me grace to forgive and there was nothing inside of me capable of that forgiveness apart from Him.

When I witnessed a complete transformation in Anthony as God brought him to repentance, I knew God is powerful, and He changes hearts of stone into ones that exude His light and beauty.

When I saw God use this testimony to transform others, including many prisoners, I knew God has a heart for the lost and chooses the least of these (myself included) to adopt into His family.

There’s so much more.

But here’s the thing: had I not known God’s character to begin with, I would not have followed, and I would have no testimony to share.

Knowing God

I don’t know how to say this without sounding harsh, but here’s the truth: many Christians claim to know and love Jesus but don’t.

Many of us claim to be in relationship with God, but spend little or no time in His presence. Many of us claim to know God, but actually possess very little knowledge about who God is––we don’t know His character as revealed in His Word.

But it’s not enough to simply know about God. We must know God. It’s important to ask ourselves: Do I really know God or do I just know about Him? This distinction may seem like a small nuance to some, but the difference is paramount.

So, how do we come to know God?

The answer is not in religion. [Tweet that] It’s not to be found in what we do or how good we are, but I do believe it begins prayer. A simple prayer asking Him for the grace to know Him and to want to spend time with Him. A marriage doesn’t thrive when the couple spends most of their time apart. They must make time together a priority if their marriage is going to thrive. It’s the same with your relationship with God.

Make time for Him. Spend time in prayer, write in a prayer journal, read your Bible, take a walk by yourself and seek God, or simply sit before Him in silence. Whatever it takes to come to Jesus, do it!

Make Jesus a priority and just watch what He begins to do in your life. [Tweet that]

As you come to him [Jesus], a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. – 1 Peter 2:4-5

{In order to follow Jesus, we must know Jesus.}

How has knowing God allowed you to step out in faith?

Share in the comments.

NOTE: I tried, really, I did. I tried to make it short, but this was surely anything but short! Here’s to keeping that goal in the future!!

To read more about my journey toward forgiveness, read Freedom Through Grace or {Redemption} Your Testimony May Have Saved a Life.