"As long as I can remember, For all my spirits days, All of my journeys have been roads home to You."

9.18.2011

near to Christ.

I will have more to say about church but one thing just stayed with me all day...

"Who has God placed near to you, that is far from Him?
Who is just waiting on the invitation?
Who is God calling you to see, really see-
pursue and love where they are at and show Jesus?"

The rest of the day I thought about a lot of different people. Different friends. Co-workers. Family members. People that I have missed. Some people that I know I could have loved differently or better.

Yet in the midst of the sermon- there was one person I had I let go of because I deserved better, that kept coming to mind. I had let go because I knew that holding on put responsibility on me that was still angry at them for being a coward. This morning I thought about how God placed this person near to me, during a difficult period when I was further from Christ and myself then I should have been and how thankful I was that they led, loved, and pursued me well and I grew. I changed. I matured. I became who I needed to be, to finally in the face of something no longer healthy- could stand up and say no.

No more.

This morning in a congregation full of people that I did not know I sat quietly with the Lord and reflected on the work done in my heart and life because someone was near to me, and helped draw me closer to the Father. How that history and love does not change in the midst of a relationship changed or dissolved. It was a grateful, somber moment. Weighted and heavy. Resolute and tangible.

I am encouraged today by remembering and recollecting how the Lord worked and used so much of that time of my life- and I am excited and hopeful by the challenge posed today by the pastor to recognize moments in front my face to be open and bold to the opportunities to seek, see, invite, and love like Jesus.

Who do you have in your life that you know is not near to Christ, but is near to you?

As someone who has been so changed, transformed and saved by the invitation someone has posed to me in truth- what are you doing to impact and reflect the glory of Jesus, where you are?

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