A vision [Rob]

Hello friends and family,

I wanted to use this opportunity to encourage you with something that God showed me. I was praying this morning and I began to see a vision:

I walked into the throne room of God Almighty. I stood before the King of kings and the Lord of lords. I was wearing dirty, ripped clothing. I was filthy and poor. I had nothing to offer God. I was a nobody, wretched and without hope. As I looked at myself I turned to God and said, "Well, there is no reason to hide it from you. This is who I am. Please, have mercy on me. I need new clothing, but have no money to buy some. I need a bath, but there is no water to wash myself with. I am at your mercy, Lord. Please, according to your infinite mercy, cleanse me." And God raised his hands and angels came to clean me. I was washed and given new clothing. I began to shine like polished gold. Joy began to fill my heart. I turned to God and gave him a word of thanks. I turned to walk out when I realized that I was wrong. I turned back and walked up to the Father and gave Him a big hug. I leaned on his shoulder and began to whisper words of love into His ear. That is when the vision ended.

I believe that many of us use God like I did. We go to Him for forgiveness and cleansing from our sins and then we leave. That is not what God had intended from the beginning. I was battling over the meanings of mercy and grace. Mercy is to NOT RECEIVE WHAT WE DESERVE. Grace is to RECEIVE WHAT WE DON'T DESERVE. I think that many times we live in mercy, but we don't live in grace. We often confuse the two, but they are very different. Forgiveness is not grace, it's mercy because we don't receive what we deserve through forgiveness. But what do we receive that we don't deserve? A relationship with God. God does not cleanse us of sin so that we can go and try to live by the law again. He cleanses us so that there is nothing that would hurt our relationship with Him. It's all about our relationship with God. He wants our love. Just like you desire to be loved, God desires to be loved. You want to hear words of love, He wants to hear words of love. You want to spend time with loved ones, God wants to spend time with you.

I want to encourage you today to think about your relationship with Jesus. Maybe, just maybe, it isn't as it should be. If there is any sin in your life, don't worry, there is forgiveness. Just remember that forgiveness leads to relationship. Spend time with God, He's been waiting for you with expectations of love.