I was reading Church United’s Unsinkable devotional the other day and came across Lisa Supp’s “A Holy Love”. As she talks about worshipping God, she asks:

“So, how do we do this? First, what does holy mean? It is the state of being set apart in undefiled moral excellence.”

Undefiled moral excellence… I can’t wrap my mind around what that even looks like. Can you imagine being loved by someone who is the epitome of perfect, unconditional love and patience? Someone you can trust without question? Someone who out of perfect compassion chooses to take the long way around in breaking through to your freedom, leaving no wound unattended, so it is true freedom?

Well, guess what? You are loved by someone like that. 🙂

God has spent a lot of time this year teaching me what it means to be loved by Him. Through that, 1 John 4:18-19 has been a comfort while learning how to trust Him more:

“There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love. We love, because He first loved us.” – ‭‭1 John‬ ‭4:18-19‬ ‭(NASB‬‬)

If you think about the relationships that have caused you the most turmoil, how much of that has been caused by fear? The fear of:

• Not being accepted
• Not being loved
• Not being enough
• Being hurt
• Being cheated on
• Being tricked
• Being walked away from
• Being taken advantage of
• etc…

What difference would it have made in how you acted if you weren’t afraid? Would you have handled situations and conversations differently if you knew you could trust the other person?

I love how secure and stable God is. No matter what else is going on in our lives, we can trust that He loves us and is walking through it with us. We have literally no reason to fear because His love is perfect. There is no hidden dark spot in Him that is going to suddenly try to hurt us. He doesn’t change His mind. He is steady, and He has chosen to love us.

Reading through Isaiah 45:18-19 this morning made me smile:

“For thus says the LORD, who created the heavens (He is the God who formed the earth and made it, He established it and did not create it a waste place, but formed it to be inhabited), “I am the LORD, and there is none else. I have not spoken in secret, In some dark land; I did not say to the offspring of Jacob, ‘Seek Me in a waste place’; I, the LORD, speak righteousness, Declaring things that are upright.” – ‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭45:18-19‬ ‭(NASB‬‬)

“He established it and did not create it a waste place…” That’s just who God is. It’s His character. He doesn’t bring something to be and then do the bare minimum. He establishes and brings life to it.

It can be easy to let our fears influence how we view the steps God has ahead for us to take, but be encouraged that we serve a holy God who loves us dearly. His is a perfect love, so we don’t need to be afraid of His intentions. There is so much more to what it means to serve a holy God than what is written here, and it’s something I’m still wanting to understand more before I attempt to write about it. But, this one piece of it can encourage us to walk forward in confidence through what’s ahead. We’re not going it alone; We’re doing it with God and all the people He has intentionally placed in our lives according to His purpose.

Here’s to our journey!

“Remember the former things long past, For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is no one like Me, Declaring the end from the beginning, And from ancient times things which have not been done, Saying, ‘My purpose will be established, And I will accomplish all My good pleasure’; Calling a bird of prey from the east, The man of My purpose from a far country. Truly I have spoken; truly I will bring it to pass. I have planned it, surely I will do it.” – ‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭46:9-11‬ ‭(NASB‬‬)