*He's Here to Save YOU!*

I am up at 4:43 am on a school night and have only gotten three hours of sleep, but I feel like I'm supposed to write something right now. Not sure what I'm going to end up saying, but I guess I'm about to see!!! I am never woken up in the night like this, so I sure hope that the Lord speaks through me in some way!!!

A verse that the Lord has really been putting on my heart lately is Isaiah 55:4 that says: "Fear not; you will no longer live in shame. The shame of your youth and the sorrows of widowhood will be remembered no more. For your Creator will be your husband."…..There are no words in the English vocabulary that can describe the hope that this verse gives me. First of all, the fact that any shame that we have felt from past mistakes are wiped away in the presence of the Almighty God is a clear view into the heart of Jesus.He is a merciful God that longs to make us white as snow. And the sorrows of widowhood and loneliness will be no more. He loves us enough to take away our guilt and burdens and give us a hope for a day when the utter pain of being alone and rejected will be no more. This verse talks about the destruction of shame and loneliness which are the two things I struggle with the very most, so it's a very personal and powerful verse in my life. Not only are these horrible things destroyed, but I am going to be His bride, EVEN after all the mistakes I've made!!!! Do you even understand at all how GOOD Jesus Christ is?!?!??!!

Even though I sin against Him, He still washes me clean and calls me to be His bride, His beloved. When the Lord speaks to me, He usually uses the word "Beloved" or "Love". Like the other night I felt like nobody was thinking of me or making me a first priority…I felt so utterly alone. And when I cried out to Him, He responded with "You are my first priority, love, am I yours?". That is a whole other blog to begin with, but the part that I'm focusing in on is that He calls me "love". That was not the first time!!!! In fact, it is very rare that He does not call me love or beloved. Sometimes he'll call me friend or precious daughter, but never just Abby. It's always something endearing. He talks to me like I am His bride, His prized treasure. I still have no idea why He would do that for someone as inappropriate as me, but maybe He likes to show that even the lowest have His undying loyalty available to them. I am the person that deserves it the least, but for some reason I can hear the Lord speak when people who have focused their entire life following Him cannot. We are all different for whatever reasons the Lord has, and He has chosen me to easily commune with Him. Even when I have run in the opposite direction in the past, there were still nights when He pursued me and came running in my direction. Sometimes I felt His Holy Spirit and heard His words even when I didn't want to. Like one particular night I was in a really dark place and I heard suddenly "Precious Abby, this life is not for you. Come back to me. You are my treasure." I mean…..I never hear of that happening!!!! Why me?!?! Why when I was in complete sin?!?!?!?! Why am I the one to be used?! Could it be that He wants people to see that even the ones who are the most broken can be loved by God unconditionally??? The ones that look for satisfaction in everything BUT Him?!

If we could even see a glimmer of the love of Christ, I think it would make us physically fall to our knees with overwhelming emotion. We will not see until Heaven just how good our God is. His love is so much more than our little minds can fathom. He is so much more than I'll ever dream. Yet…He chooses to be with me now, so close that I can even feel His presence in my body which shows that what I'm saying is true. When what I'm saying is not true, or my heart is not right, I can't feel Him. I sure hope that somebody reads this who needs it and gets an understanding that no matter what you've done, the Lord has the power to make you new. He wants to take away your shame and put you in a beautiful white gown and be your eternal husband. There is nowhere to hide from this incredible love the father has for us. And all of my mistakes that I've made have already been separated from the east to the west, and He is even merciful enough to use all the bad for my benefit. He works all things together for my good because I love Him. Every promise that He makes holds true. One day all the shame of this world will be long forgotten and the loneliness will be wiped away forever. We will be His bride and live happily ever after, just as our hearts long for.

I like to imagine Him making me into the person I am supposed to be in Heaven and giving me a white wedding dress with a big bow on the back because He knows me well! He knows I gotta have that bow!!!!!! There's a picture that my sister has in her room that is of a girl in a dress that is tattered and torn. She is really dirty and has scratches all over, and tears streaming down her face. But through those tears she's looking up with a small speck of hope in her eyes and Jesus is lifting up her head with His strong, gentle hand. He's come to save her. It's hard for me not to cry when I see that picture, because that broken girl is me. Some brokenness by my own sin, and some from the hurt others have brought into my life. All of the things that have gone on made me into this shattered person, but the Lord has taken His sweet, strong hand and lifted my eyes to Him. I may still be broken, but my eyes are no longer looking down. My eyes are lifted to Him and filled with hope.

I am not the only one He's come to save. Maybe He's trying to save you right now, and you aren't taking that hand. I really wish that everybody would respond to Him. There is no sin that He doesn't have the power to overcome. What's more important to Him is you falling in love with Him. He just wants YOU. Look up…look to the One who is here to save you.