Relentless, Unstoppable Love

“And I will betroth you to me forever. I will betroth you to me in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love and in mercy. I will betroth you to me in faithfulness. And you shall know the Lord.”

Hosea 2:19-20

For me, it is easy to forget about this kind of love God has for me. This love that he is pouring out over me, running to me while I’m still broken on the ground. He brings His love to me and when I look up I see Him there, I see His arms stretched open wide ready to embrace me and tell me that He is betrothed to me forever. This is the intimate love of God. It’s always there, it never leaves us... and always satisfies us. It’s right there in my reach.

This verse broke me. I mean, absolutely ripped me up inside. Tears flowing and a hundred tissues later... I am in His embrace, His peace, His faithfulness, His righteous, His love, His Mercy... and I feel like I’m beginning to know my beautiful Redeemer even more. Lately the Lord has been dealing with my heart in some uncomfortable areas. He has asked me the question, “Emily, am I your everything? Do you come to me for your complete joy and satisfaction? Am I truly your bread of life?” I so desperately want to answer back, Yes God! You’re all that I need, but my life doesn’t match up to what I want to say. Some weeks, God is my sole provider and other weeks I look to things of the world to find rest and satisfaction.

By looking to other things and people for true satisfaction, I am not only failed every time, I completely turn my back on God.

God.

I turn my back on GOD.

The God who always was. The God who spoke and all creation was formed. The God who continually loved Israel with an undying, passionate love even though they were in complete rebellion towards Him. The God who delivered up Himself, His very son to be sent to earth, full of wickedness, hate and sin and be the atoning sacrifice for all mankind. The God who raised Jesus from the dead, ultimately defeating death and sin for me.

The God who looks upon me, dirty - filthy - unworthy - me, and says,

“I will betroth yourself to me forever.”

Why in the world would I run to anything else but Him? My prayer is that God and I would be completely tethered together... in every thought and action. In His word, He promises to love me forever. No matter where I am in life He is still standing next to me with His arms stretched open wide, waiting for me to embrace Him.

Oh, it’s hard to fathom the incredible grace of our glorious God, but it’s real.

I experience it every day.

What love.

Come, thou Fount of every blessing,

tune my heart to sing thy grace;

streams of mercy, never ceasing,

call for songs of loudest praise.

Teach me some melodious sonnet,

sung by flaming tongues above.

Praise the mount! I'm fixed upon it,

mount of thy redeeming love.

Here I raise mine Ebenezer;

hither by thy help I'm come;

and I hope, by thy good pleasure,

safely to arrive at home.

Jesus sought me when a stranger,

wandering from the fold of God;

he, to rescue me from danger,

interposed his precious blood.

O to grace how great a debtor

daily I'm constrained to be!

Let thy goodness, like a fetter,

bind my wandering heart to thee.

Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,

prone to leave the God I love;

here's my heart, O take and seal it,

seal it for thy courts above.

Protecting this Little Girls Heart

I look at my little girl cousins (JoAnna and Meagan) and think, "Oh what I would give to have their sweet and innocent minds." The way they play fascinates me and I find myself just watching them, trying to learn from them.

The thought of them growing up, going to highschool, having their first boyfriend, receiving their first kiss, in a way makes me sad. Growing up is a wonderful thing and I have no doubt that they are going to be wonderful young women but I want them to remain child-like. And maybe because for the moments I am with them - I too am child-like.

I wonder, at what point in my life did I "grow up"? I can't put a precise moment on when I grew up but I can sure say I'm not a kid anymore but in so many ways I wish I still were. I think of a child's heart. It most cases, they are still innocent. It most cases they are still protected. Their heart's have not been exposed to the hurt and pain the things of this world can bring. Oh, what life would be like if our hearts have not been broken.. what life would be like if we all still possessed the mind of a child.

Let's get back to that point. Jesus promises we can get back to that point.

"Therefor we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes on not what can be seen but what is unseen. For what is seen in temporary, but for what is unseen is eternal."

2 Corinthians 16-18

Our hearts should be guarded and given to our savior for safe keeping. This past month has been one of the roughest for me and it's mainly because I let someone else hold my heart. A human and not a Savior. God tells us - Our flesh will forever fail but through him we will survive.

I've learned the Savior of the Universe holds my heart. HE is keeping it safe. HE is making it innocent. HE is making me Child-like (again). I've learned that He will forever be the absolute love of my life. I've learned He will never let me down because He is holding me up.

And since my sweet Jesus keeps my heart and knows it the best, He will lead me to very place I should be going in life.

(Meagan Hope and JoAnna Sage)

In Christ,

Emily Jane

Some may call me a world traveler...

My whole house is silent as I sit here typing away, which is odd considering I live with "The" Elizabeth Elkins, epic comedian, whom at all times must be making someone laugh. Yet, she is asleep and I am alone with my thoughts and dreams. What is it I think about?

Mexico of course! You see, this past March I packed my bags and crossed the border! Well... not exactly.. more like bought a plane ticket and flew directly to central Mexico - destination - Leon, Mexico. I arrived with a team of about 30. We were fresh and ready to go knocking on the doors of the natives there and share the good news of Jesus Christ.

Now to get into my mind a little better... See I came into this mission trip expecting to have a great time with friends, experience a different culture, and hey! Maybe bring a few people to Jesus while doing so! Oh oh oh.. but did the Lord have something completely different in store for me. While in Mexico, the Lord "gave me his heart" and I fell completely in love with the people. They live everyday without barely anything to get by, but yet when a stranger from America knocks on their door, they welcome us in with open arms and kisses, giving whatever food and hospitality they can bring. I learned what it meant to have a true servants heart that week.

I was moved with compassion as I felt the oppressiveness of the people around me. They walk without hope, not knowing if they are good enough for our Lord every single day. That was what our team from Tulsa intended to bring to Mexico.. hope. We explained to a countless number of people that we do not have to work for our faith but it is a gift given from our God. The people were astounding when hearing this. Replies like "Really?" "I don't have to work?" "A true gift?" filled the air just as the holy spirit filled the presence. 55 people came to know the Lord. That deserves a Hallelujah!

Sitting on the steps of the cathedral this woman and her family attends everyday, she cries out asking for the Lord to come into her life and have a personal relationship with him.

(Her son Juan Pablo took my spanish bible and kept asking "What does this say?!" He was so eager to know! We gave him the bible and he was overjoyed.

When i was in seventh grade, I committed my life to missions. I asked the Lord to send me.

I truly believe he is sending me and I couldn't be more excited.

My heart is racing while I write this... ah I'm so in love!

In Christ,

Emily Jane

Let it snow...

As the snow comes down, I am reminded of our God's creativity. Not just the greatness of the winter wonderland, but of the invidual snowflakes. I can't grasp the mind of our God that thinks it's fun to create a specific design for each snowflake. What a job!



With Joy,

Emily