The Invitation

I absolutely love this song!

Every day I'm reminded of my sin and shame. Every day I'm reminded of my brokenness and incapability to redeem myself. Every day I'm reminded I need a Savior. I'm tempted daily to cower in the dark corner, claiming I'm too damaged, too sinful for God to love. Too ashamed of letting God see me. And yet He stands there, arms open wide, heart exposed...calling me, beckoning me, inviting me to risk it all in order to accept His love."Just turn to Me, My precious one. Eliana, just let Me love you."is all He says.

It's scary. To daily face the reality and depth of my sin and shame. To admit before God how incredibly lost I am. That every facet of who I am is guilty. I'm at His mercy alone - the One who holds all the rights to judgment and justice because He alone is holy and only He is good. And yet He invites, beckons me to enter into His holiness as I am. "Just let Me love you." There's no pretense. There's no way I am capable of rectifying my sin, I have to let Him love me as I am.

And when I do turn, knowing who I am, His love pierces my very soul. I turn knowing He alone is the only one who can redeem me. The pierce of His love...the depth of knowing and understanding - that He knows and understands everything about me. My very existence is consumed in His love. The pierce of His love...deep into my very soul...it permeates every corner of my being. And the deeper it permeates the more it shatters every remnant of sin and shame. It washes, cleanses, makes me new. His radical, unconditional love makes me new. My very guilt erased, never to be judged again. I am wrecked by His love and raised to a new life in Him.

I am loved, embraced in His holiness. Oh what joy does my very being sing!!! Can you feel it? Can you see it? Do you know this Love?

Isaiah 61

1The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me,

because the Lord has anointed me

to proclaim good news to the poor.

He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,

to proclaim freedom for the captives

and release from darkness for the prisoners,^a

2to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor

and the day of vengeance of our God,

to comfort all who mourn,

3and provide for those who grieve in Zion—

to bestow on them a crown of beauty

instead of ashes,

the oil of joy

instead of mourning,

and a garment of praise

instead of a spirit of despair.

They will be called oaks of righteousness,

a planting of the Lord

for the display of his splendor.

4They will rebuild the ancient ruins

and restore the places long devastated;

they will renew the ruined cities

that have been devastated for generations.

5Strangers will shepherd your flocks;

foreigners will work your fields and vineyards.

6And you will be called priests of the Lord,

you will be named ministers of our God.

You will feed on the wealth of nations,

and in their riches you will boast.

7Instead of your shame

you will receive a double portion,

and instead of disgrace

you will rejoice in your inheritance.

And so you will inherit a double portion in your land,

and everlasting joy will be yours.

8“For I, the Lord, love justice;

I hate robbery and wrongdoing.

In my faithfulness I will reward my people

and make an everlasting covenant with them.

9Their descendants will be known among the nations

and their offspring among the peoples.

All who see them will acknowledge

that they are a people the Lord has blessed.”

10I delight greatly in the Lord;

my soul rejoices in my God.

For he has clothed me with garments of salvation

and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness,

as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest,

and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

11For as the soil makes the sprout come up

and a garden causes seeds to grow,

so the Sovereign Lord will make righteousness

and praise spring up before all nations.