God Wants to Connect with Us!

     I have been blessed to connect with so many of you through my daily devotions. I began these devotions strictly out of obedience to what I believed God was telling me to do. However, obedience always brings rewards and I believed I knew what some of those rewards would be. I knew that writing daily would teach me discipline. When I am tired and my body cries out to be in bed, I stay up and spend time putting written words to the lessons God teaches me because I know you will be expecting it the next morning. This is teaching me a discipline I have been longing for. The other blessing comes from once again doing the thing I love to do; teach women. God put women’s ministry on my heart many years ago. However, life has changed and I am not currently teaching classes or planning and implementing women’s retreats. Many times I have had women who I once taught, tell me they miss my teaching. I always appreciate and am touched by such compliments. I miss teaching and I thought writing daily devotions would be a great way to connect back with all those women I use to teach. I thought I knew who would be reading my devotions each day, but I was wrong. Many of my close friends, family members, and those that said they miss my teaching, do not read these devotions. The more of my life I share, the more I feel a desire for them to connect with me and read how God speaks through my everyday experiences. On the other hand, I would not have thought that my sweet childhood friend would faithfully read these devotions. Nor could I have known that some of the most faithful readers would be one of my best high school friends, a good friend I had lost contact with from 20 years ago, a few of my close co-workers, the Christian woman who impacted my life as I began my spiritual growth, friends of friends who I do not even know, woman from Fusion , etc. It blesses my heart to be used to touch others for God. However, I still long for the others that are part of my life, to share this path of my journey with God.
    I only share this to show God's desire. Sunday when Dwayne was talking about listening to God and how much God longs to have us read His Word, I thought of how I long to have those that I love share this part of my life and read this little devotion. If I desire that, how much more does God want His children to read His powerful words of teaching? God desires us to listen to Him by reading His teachings in the Bible. This is where He shares His heart, His ways, His plans, His desires, and His love for us. He longs for us to connect with Him through these written words. Yet, so many of his children, who claim to love Him and want to know Him more, do not read His scriptures. This hurts His heart and is a form of rejection.
Have you ever received a love letter and not opened it? Do you open the love letters from the One who loves you the most . . . God? Do you read His Word? You will never really know Him until you do! Do you listen to Him as you read His words as if He is speaking directly to your heart? Isn’t it amazing that the God of the universe wants to connect with you and wants you to know Him? Isn’t it more amazing that we would tell the God of the universe, “No thanks!”, or “I don’t have time”?

As you read over what I have written to you, you'll be able to see for yourselves into the mystery of Christ.

Ephesians 3:4 (The Message)