God's Delight

So right now I'm reading The Signature of Jesus by Brennan Manning. I was reading the other day about how each individual is an expression of God's delight. his really struck me. It's amazing to think that God delights in me, and in everyone else. He didn't have to create us, but he did. And here I am, God's delight. What an act of love and grace. There are so many things that I do that I know God doesn't delight in, but God delighted to create me and that is no small thing. In a way, this obligates me to love myself. I'm at a place where I can honestly say that I do love myself. It wasn't without a lot of tears and struggle with Satan that I got here. But by God's grace I've learned to see the good in myself.I don't say this with arrogance, because I believe that it's hard to love the Lord and/or our neighbors when we don't love ourelves.If we don't see ourselves as being made in God's image, then how will we see others as being made in God's image???

Another random thought. Yesterday in chapel we sang an old school Maranatha song- "I will never be the same again." I love this song and it brang back a lot of memories yesterday. Right before I left for college 6 years ago, I gave my testimony at the church I grew up in and I sang this song to close my testimony/sermon. If there's one thing that needs to be understood from a life that God has redeemed, it's the idea of transformation. It's a life that is sold-out to Jesus Christ, making HIM the center of everythng. Life simply can't be the same and given the choice, I wouldn't want my life to be what it was before I became a Christian. I can't imagine not having this love, grace, mercy, comfort, etc in my life. I can't go back.There's just no way I can. I have tasted and seen that the Lord is good and I will never be the same again...

In His Mercy.