How Can I Make Him Love Me?

There once was a quiet little girl who had a very unhappy mommy.  Even though the mommy was very unhappy and angry, this quiet little girl loved her very much and for years would lie in bed at night trying to think of ways to make her mommy love her.

She would make her mommy’s bed every morning.
She would clean the whole house.
She would be very quiet when her mommy was napping.
She would try very hard not to say stupid stuff.
She would try very hard not to cry.

As that quiet little girl, I would work so hard to be  
‘good enough'; hoping that my mom would love me. 

Many years have passed, and I’m now a grown woman with grown children of my own.  I came to know my loving and merciful Savior decades ago.  I’ve had countless moments with my Lord where I’ve been overwhelmed 
by the revelation and reality of His love for me.   

But none can compare with one Sunday morning

sitting in church, when I heard this...   

For the LORD your God is living among you.

He is a mighty savior.

He will take delight in you with gladness.

With His love, He will calm all your fears.

He will rejoice over you with joyful songs. 

Zephaniah 3:17 NLT

After the service, I cornered the pastor and tearfully asked him to explain this verse again.  I remember asking him, “But what do I have to do to get Him to delight in me?”  He quietly said that simply because I’m His daughter and I love Him, He delights in me.  I pretended that I understood, thanked him, and walked away.

Lessons learned young can be very difficult to ‘unlearn’.  It’s taken me many years to believe that my Abba Father delights in me and rejoices over me with singing.  I occasionally still struggle with “If I do this, will He love me more?” 

The whole ‘grace thing’ has been difficult for me.  Surely, I must do something good to make Him love me.  

 And then I look at this picture.

This is a picture of our son and the most adorable grand-baby ever.  I see the look of absolute love and delight on his face as he looks into the eyes of our Emma.  And I see the look of absolute adoration on the face of Emma looking into the eyes of her daddy.  He’s holding her in the palm of his hand.  She’s not doing anything special to make him love her.  She’s just being Emma, his daughter, his delight. 

And I recognize the delight of my own Abba Father…

And it makes me love Him even more.  

Actually, I think that was the plan all along.

I just thought you might need a reminder today that 

our Abba Father delights in you and is singing 

a song over you because He loves you… 

Oh, and doesn’t that just make you love Him more?!

Before I leave, I must tell you that some time ago my precious mom also became a daughter of the King.  She’s become such a loving part of my life and the best 

grandma my children could possibly have.  Isn’t it cool 

that He’s delighting in and singing over both of us?  

I love that! 

Do you ever think about God delighting in and singing over you?

Do you sometimes feel that you need to do something to make Him love you more? 

Or perhaps you easily accept His grace-filled love and delight.

I'd love to hear your thoughts.
Leave a comment!

There are parts of this song that really spoke to me.
Enjoy!

Living in His grace,

  Mary  
Picture 1

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Problem Solved!

Oh, the guilt!  For years {years!} I beat myself up because I couldn’t make early morning quiet time work.  I haven’t slept well in, oh... ever.  So dragging myself out of bed to have quiet time when I’d just gone to sleep? You guessed it.  It was just so... quiet, that I kept dozing off!  And then, I’d not only be exhausted, I’d have a major battle with guilt.

So, some years ago, after much prayer, I’m pretty sure God said it was OK for me to have my set-apart time later in the day. :)  No, my day isn’t ruined because I’m not in His word at 5 a.m.  I talk with Him and listen for His voice all day long.  And He’s there with me every moment of every grace-filled day.

OK, quiet-time problem #1... Solved

Now, on to quiet-time problem #2.

For a long time {far longer than I care to admit}, I’d get comfortable in my cozy chair with my journal, devotional, and Bible in hand.  I’d whip out my prayer journal and pray through the written requests, add new requests and... Check that off my mental list.

Next, I’d read my daily devotional, pray the prayer at the close of the devotion and... Check that off my mental list.

Next, I’d open my Bible and jump to the scripture of the day.  Read a few chapters and... Check that off my mental list.

Next, I’d stack my journal, devotional, and Bible on the little table by my comfy chair, get up and go on to do the next thing on my mental list... Check.   

And then, do it all again the next day... Check.

Do you see anything wrong with this picture?    

That’s right!  I was doing ‘good’ things, but they’d become 
chores to be checked off a list, and not a passion springing from 
the depths of my soul.   

Somewhere along the line, my passion had begun to look a lot like an agenda.

Well, it evidently didn’t sit well with our Abba Father because, 
by His immeasurable grace, I began to be extremely dissatisfied with 
my quiet time.   I knew something was very wrong...  I’d become as the Pharisees.  
 Doing what, from the outside looked good, but in my inner-most being?  
 I found myself empty and desperate for... something.

So, I began to pray; asking our Abba Father what He wanted my quiet-time to look like.   

This is what I got...

It’s a sacred time... set apart for and by Him.

It’s about relationship, not agenda.

It’s about passionate praise and prayer. {Psalm 99:3, Philippians 4:6}

It’s about reading/experiencing/living His word.  {2 Timothy 3:16}
It’s about singing and music.  {Psalm 146:2}
It’s about sitting and listening and hearing... {Psalm 46:10}
It’s about reading a book... maybe a devotional and maybe not.

It’s about asking Him each day what He wants our time to look like. {James 1:5}
It’s about allowing Him to change it up. :)

It’s about inviting Him to sanctify me... from the inside out. {I Thessalonians. 5:23}

 

I wouldn’t for a minute, tell you that getting up early and having a set pattern in your quiet time isn’t wonderful.  Actually, it may be the very best thing for you.  And that’s great!

But God knows my prone-to-be-like-a-Pharisee heart and has designed something a little different for my set-apart time.

Who knows, maybe someday I'll be up at 5 a.m., sitting in my chair, wide awake, and having a quiet time that looks very different.  

But for now... 

With my whole heart I seek you; 

let me not wander from your commandments! 

I have stored up your word in my heart, 

that I might not sin against you. 

Psalm 119:10-11  ESV

Be still, and know that I am God.

Psalm 46:10 NLT

 

But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true 

worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, 

for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. 

God is spirit, and those who worship him 

must worship in spirit and truth.

John 4:23-24 ESV 

I’d love to hear what your quiet-time looks like.

Or perhaps you don't have a set-apart time.  

I'd like to hear about that too! 
Leave a Comment!

Living in His grace,

  Mary  
Pictures 1, 2, 3

I'd like to ask you for two quick favors.

1.  Please go to the block of Google Friends over in the right column and click Join this Site. This doesn't subscribe you or obligate you to anything. It's just a way to let me know that you visited Woman to Woman. If you're reading this by email, you'll need to click Here to sign in. 

2.  Please click the Facebook Like button in the right column. (I love seeing your beautiful faces!)

Each woman who stops by(I'm talking about you!) is so precious to our Lord and to me. 
I can't tell you how much I appreciate your comments, emails, and FB messages. 
 It's always so good to hear from you!

How Connected Are You?

"Abide in Me, and I in you.  As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.  I am the vine; you are the branches.  Whoever abides in Me and I in Him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing."

John 15:4-5 (ESV)

Abide. It’s one of my favorite words.  It connotes a deep, enduring, firmly planted relationship with Jesus.  It’s more than a casual stroll; it’s a long sojourn.  Jesus says we are to abide in Him.  And what’s even more incredible; He says He wants to abide in us!

The Greek word used in John 15 for Abide is Meno: to stay, continue, dwell, endure, be present, remain, stand, tarry (for) (Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance)

When I’ve studied these verses in the past, I’ve focused on what I need to do to abide in Christ. I’ve struggled with … 
Am I abiding enough?  Am I in His word enough?   
Do I attend enough Bible studies?  Do I pray enough?  
Do I worship enough?  Do I think about Him enough?

Lately, He’s been reminding me that it's not only we that abide.

He abides… dwells, endures, is present, and remains in us.  

 And because of that, we don’t have to struggle to abide enough.  

 We don’t have to labor and sweat bullets trying to get close to Him.   

We simply need to trust Him to help us sojourn with Him.  

A branch is nothing apart from the vine. It’s dead, brittle, and easily broken.  A branch can't graft itself into the vine.  It can't give itself life.  It can't bear fruit apart from the life-giving vine.   

Apart from our Vine, we can’t enter into an abiding, enduring, in-for-the-long-haul relationship.  Apart from Him, we. can. do. nothing.  But because He abides in us, we can experience a very real, not-in-our-own-strength, enduring, sinking-into-the-Vine forever relationship.  Yes, we can abide!  

Do you ever feel disconnected from the Vine? 

Do you ever try to abide with Christ in your own strength?

I'd love to hear from you!

Leave a comment!

Living in His grace,

  Mary

 It's always so good to hear from you!