Messy Spirituality

So I just finished this book entitled Messy Spirituality. I've been meaning to read it for a while, but kept putting it off. Well, all I can say is that I wish I had read it years ago. Its central message is that God's unconditional and transforming love for us is the essence of true spirituality. He talks about how Jesus not only loves us, but He likes us too, shortcomings and all. He redeems our inconsistencies, doubts, addictions, and failures, by His unceasing grace, and transforms them into new creation. The book teaches us how to slow down and focus on the things that matter. Most importantly, it forcefully declares how we have been accepted by God through Jesus Christ. When truly believed, this becomes the most liberating piece of knowledge we could ever possess. It effectively demonstrates how our messes, are merely God's opportunities.

Wow, did I need to hear that years ago. I was always one of those people who thought, "I don't pray enough." "I don't go to church enough." " If God saw what I did today, He surely couldn't love me." I just needed to hear that there was one permanent, unconditional love in my life. And you know what; as far along in my faith as I've come in the last 6 years, I still need to be reminded.

I guess that's why my favorite passage in the bible is Ephesians 3:16-17 when Paul prays that "...you be rooted and grounded in Christ's love." The best part is the next verse that says the reason is so that you can experience and know God's love. End of story. Not so that we can pray more, not so we can be good little Christian girls and boys; purely to know God's love in our lives. If you ever wonder why the planet exists, or why God created people, you need look no further than Genesis where He says that He created us to bring glory to Himself by loving us. He wants nothing more than to love us. We are a "trophy of God's grace".

I can confidently say that His love is consistent and never falters. The problem is that we constantly test him. We say things like, "if you really love me, you will..." (insert prayer here). We try and reconfirm his love for us by answered prayers. We say things like "God, today I did really well at work; you must really love me" or "God, today I found $20 in my pocket, you must really love me". But the problem comes when we don't do so well at work, or we find ourselves broke. What happens then? What happens when you do not "feel" God? When you find yourself praying "God, do you love me? Cause I don't fee like it". You have to go back to the foundation. We are asked to live by faith, not by sight. All of those wanted reassurances are living by sight. But God says what pleases Him is our living by faith. And he gives us road signs along the way, but it's always going to come down to taking the step of faith.

God demonstrated His love for us in this way; when we were sinners, He died for us. What greater love could there be? And all for us when we did nothing to deserve it. At the cross He died for our sins, and at the cross, He gave us new life. May we spend every moment of everyday living in the permanence of God's love.