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What God Says

/ Ragamuffingospelfan / Leave a comment

You don’t ever have to be ashamed of who I made you to be. You don’t have to apologize for being you.

You are special. I created you exactly the way I wanted you to be and when you were hopelessly lost in sin and misery I redeemed you for My own.

You have a purpose, a reason, something that makes you come alive. Even if no one else thinks you matter, I DO!

Believe that I love you, not because I have to, but because I choose to.

Hear the sound of my Voice singing over you tonight and know how deep that My love for you goes.

I will never change and My love for you will never change, so you can rest in it.

I will not leave you as you are, but will through trial and tribulations make you who you were always meant to be– My perfect image-bearer.

My first ever blog (tah-dah!)

/ Ragamuffingospelfan / 5 Comments

This is my first ever blog! WOOHOO!

By the way, the name of the blog comes from The Ragamuffin Gospel by Brennan Manning, who is pretty much my favorite writer right now. In case you were wondering.

I think that there are two essentials in the faith. These come from James 1:27. “Anyone who sets himself up as “religious” by talking a good game is self-deceived. This kind of religion is hot air and only hot air. Real religion, the kind that passes muster before God the Father, is this: Reach out to the homeless and loveless in their plight, and guard against corruption from the godless world.” (from the Message translation) These are compassion and integrity.

Integrity is keeping yourself unstained by the world, and compassion is reaching out to the orphans and widows (or in our society, the homeless and loveless). We need both of these. Jesus had both during His earthly ministry. He was sinless and kept the law perfectly, but He reached out to society’s castaways and showed the world what the grace of God looks like.

How does that play out in real life? I am trying to figure that out myself. But I know I need both, so I try to live both.