to know that You are near is enough...

so tonight i have been just thinking about God and talking to my husband about His love. we started by reading in a book, an article about the thief on the cross and how- when he was basically on his death bed, he decided to repent. and that got me thinking about a lot of other things. it got me thinking about the kinds of lives we lead. and about how we one day will stand before God. and this time, i'm not going to talk about standing before God and facing judgment, although... we will do that. I am talking about standing before God and either feeling his love toward us or his disappointment and sadness. i starting thinking about scaring people into loving him by the fear of hell, and how so many times, it doesn't work. and i started to wonder if there could be a way, that we could explain to people about who he is and his ultimate greatness and see if that would motivate their actions through love for him.

but my husband asked me a wonderful question. how do you make someone feel God's love?

and that got me to put my thinking cap on. without a doubt i know that in order for people to understand Gods love and mercy for us, we have to take them to the cross. we have to show them how Christ died for our sins, and he saved us from an eternity of condemnation. and not that the CROSS is not enough, because it is .... but Adam didn't really understand what i meant when i said that we will show people how pure and holy and lovely and perfect God is, in other ways. so help me out ... do i sound crazy? does anyone understand what i mean? am i trying to seek God with my whole heart and not finding him where i think I find him? what do you think?

i think i see him in Nature. in the beauty of the world. in the wind. have you ever just stopped and let yourself really feel the wind? i dont mean when you are warm and feel a breeze, or when you are cold and get a chill.... i mean ... really stood or sat outside, and FELT the wind. listen to the trees move... close your eyes and feel it on your skin? that is God to me. God and his majesty. and the trees! without a doubt, God. have you ever stopped to enjoy the twisting limbs of an old oak tree ...so beautiful, so alone in a field somewhere? to me, that is God. the sunset. of course. without a doubt. i can watch it set and sometimes feel like the presence of God is all around me. it is beauty that he has created for us to enjoy. pure, untainted beauty. so many things, the list could go on .... mountains, and waves, stars and clouds .... all of this for us. and i can feel God in all of it.

i find him in poetry. in the rhythm, in the rhyme. in the beauty of the flowing words. the passion of the writer. the amazement of our minds. and in literature of different kinds, and art work. emotions splattered on a canvas to make a beautiful picture just like his love that he splattered on this canvas called the world. intelligent conversation. the complex brain that he has blessed us with. it amazes me. the ability we have to see, and hear, and speak. in every word that comes from our hearts and through our mouths , he is in every breath. what a precious God!

most of all, i think ... i see him in people. now i know, you might be saying... what!?! our world, as bad as it is? with all of the crime and immorality?!? and believe me, i know. yet still, when i look into the eyes of my clients everyday, and i look deep into the hearts of people that have been hurt, and they are all yearning for one thing - LOVE. i see him there too. and in the people, the ones with compassion that lend a hand to help them, or try to welcome them and show them kindness. i see God there. and in the faces of children. oh so much in the faces of children. so innocent and pure and white as snow. he is the love that seeps through their pores. and the birth of a baby. what a beautiful thing. what an indescribable thing! he is there too. he is in so much.

so i guess what i am wondering ... is how does someone, who is seeking and longing to know God with their whole heart, and sees him in so many things - explain to someone who doesn't know him at all about his love and holiness ?? and can you possibly explain the greatness that he is? this is something that i will just have to try and figure out on my own. until then, i'll keep searching for myself. the best is yet to come.