God is ready to welcome you with open arms.

 ‘The Lord says,

“I was ready to respond, but no one asked for help.

    I was ready to be found, but no one was looking for me.

I said, ‘Here I am, here I am!’

    to a nation that did not call on my name.

All day long I opened my arms to a rebellious people.

    But they follow their own evil paths

    and their own crooked schemes.’ - Isaiah 65:1-2

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W-H-O-A. That’s what I felt like saying, and maybe did say, the first time I read this. It’s so amazing to think how ready our loving and merciful God is to welcome us into His open arms! But it breaks my heart to think of how ready He is, just waiting for some of His beautiful people to run into His arms, and every time they say no. Do we really run to God every day, trust Him to be our ultimate source of life, power, provision, and protection? WE SHOULD BE! He is here, waiting on people to call on HIS NAME. The God of this world, magnificent creator of this magnificent universe, is waiting for YOU! He WANTS you! He LOVES you. He loves you so much that He sent His only Son, who knew no sin, to take on our punishment, the death we deserved. Why? Because of love. He loves us and desires for us all to live with Him in Heaven for eternity (2 Peter 3:9 says that is His will that NONE should perish). If people only knew, man. If they only knew how wide, how long, how high, and how deep His love for us is (Ephesians 3:18); if they only knew how full of joy He can make you! How much peace He will give you. But you have to be willing to make Him Lord of your life, to believe that Jesus died and rose again. It takes faith. He won’t force His love on anyone. He gave each of us a free will. He wills for us all to call on His name, to serve Him, but He won’t make us serve Him. Just thinking of how much He wants for us to be with Him, to walk with Him is so humbling, and I pray every day that my highest desire would be to serve Him above all else, to put Him first, to rely on Him, to trust Him fully as my source and protection. Why? Because Jesus DIED for me! For me, who has messed up countless times. Who deserved the punishment He endured, the beatings He took. When I think of that, I become so overwhelmed by His love! It’s time that Christians stand up and become BOLD about our faith. It’s time that we spread the news of how happy He makes us. People are watching Christians. They’re watching to see how we respond to trials and how we respond to temptations. They’re listening to how we talk. They’re watching our daily lives and how we live them. Let’s start letting them know how wonderful, loving, amazing, and how AWESOME GOD IS! Let’s stop living in the shadows, afraid to speak a word about our loving and living God who created us! Let’s start sharing Him with others! 1 Peter 3:1 - “Then, even if some refuse to obey the Good News, your godly lives will speak to them without any words. They will be won over by observing your pure and reverent lives.” It’s time to step out and spread the Word that God has called us to share. ❤️