Your life is a story, a beautiful tale crafted by the Author of Life, the God who scattered the stars in the sky, moved mountains into place and walked on water. Your story is no less more magnificent since its beginning is in love, filled with hope and rooted in grace.

Sometimes, it doesn’t feel like an epic love story. There are beds to be made, clothes to wash, groceries to purchase. God doesn’t seem close in the midst of those mundane tasks. Yet, 1 Corinthians 8:3 tells us: But whoever loves God is known by God. So even in the most ordinary parts, God’s glory resides.

There will be places where drama rises and life becomes confusing. Sadness overtakes us. Sometimes life is just downright strange. We find it hard to believe our loving Father would write this into our story. We want to slash those places, fast forward over them or skip ahead to the last chapter where it clearly states:, and they lived happily ever after.

Because He knows us, we can always be certain of this: The Author is good and we are loved.  Whether life is good or bad, when we belong to Him, God prevails. No page in our story ever goes to waste.

Because God knows everything, nothing you face will hinder His ability to help you; nothing will catch Him by surprise. Nothing you fear will be too big for God’s strength; and nothing you do in His name is ever done in vain.

When we find ourselves lost in the deepest night, He asks to trust, to wait on him, to stand in the middle of the life’s ambiguities, known by him. God is at work in us creating and molding something beautiful in the midst of our brokenness. If we were strangers to Him, there would be no hope for who we are or who we are becoming.

God is still holding the pen, writing His story in the world. He is not finished with the part that is your narrative. Wherever you are today, it is not your final page. He is always with us, working to make us the best we can be. Trusting the Author, we can stand tall, confident in his love and triumphant in the life He writes for us. After all, the best parts of God’s story are filled with people who started out lost, but are now His.

Question: How does this truth change the way you think about yourself?

God always keeps his promises. He promised he will always be with us, for us and never leave us. Yesterday, today and forever, we are encircled by more love than we could ever imagine.

Christ’s cross without the empty tomb would have never changed the world. In the resurrection, amazing grace rained down upon the earth. He was coming to us long before we were born. He was coming to us when we didn’t even know we needed him. The Lord himself has been claiming us for all eternity.  His promise continues: despite every possible obstacle, the redemptive work of Christ is flourishing still.

Ephesians 1:7 tells us, “In him, we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace.” Christ emptied himself so we could be filled.  He chooses us and says, “I love you. You belong to me now.” Christ laid down his life as a bridge – inviting people to walk across into relationship with God.

We are no longer our sin or struggles, but are redeemed by the One who makes us his children. His sacrifice allows us to bring our brokenness and hurts and lay them at the cross. We can place our confusion, fear and questions there.

Because of the empty tomb, he meets us where we are. He knows our circumstances. He understands our needs and our desires. Full of compassion, God is our companion, caring for us in ways we can’t comprehend. Everyday, always.

Question: How does this truth change the way you think about yourself?

“This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.” 1 John 4:10 (NIV)

At 36,070 feet below sea level, the Challenge Deep (off Guam) is the deepest part of the ocean. Even if you could descend to that depth, God’s love for you would be deeper still.

His capacity to love is endless. There is never a room you will enter that does not already contain God’s love. There is never a circumstance when God is not with us or his love is not working on our behalf. In every situation, God’s love is in it, around it, working through it – simply because the God of All Creation dwells within you.

God knew we had a need we could never meet. Even in our sin and brokenness, he still loved us and wanted to be with us. Rather than abandoning us, he gave. God offered his son to the world even though we didn’t deserve his love.

Yet, he wants his love to be returned. God pulled on skin to help us fit into ours – made his love lesson into words we can read. He willingly laid down his life so we would be saved by his grace.  The God who renovated this fallen world with nails driven right through his hands expects us to not only receive his love, but love him in return.

God’s love is one of the most exciting and life-changing truths you’ll ever know.  Wrap yourself in the breadth of it, feel the length of his mercies and the depths of Christ’s sacrifice.  Rejoice that wherever you go, you are carried on the waves of his love.

How could you not love a God who cares for you so deeply?

Question: How does this truth change the way you think about yourself?