It's a Girl Thing

So this past weekend USC Christian Challenge had a women's retreat and the theme was God's amazing love for us. Our theme verse was:

1 John 3:1, "See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know Him." (in NIV1984)

I also like the paraphrase The Message, which says it this way: "What marvelous love the Father has extended to us! Just look at it - we're called children of God! That's who we really are. But that's also the reason why the world doesn't recognize us or take us seriously, because it has no idea who He is or what He's up to."

Our speaker was Rebecca Unruh who is the wife of pastor Bevun Unruh from Seabreeze Church in Huntington Beach and she was amazing!! I have always loved hearing from her, whether it's a large group session or just a one-on-one because she is so easy to relate to and can explain things like God's love in a way that makes it personal. One thing she shared was the following poem:

Alphabet of Praise

He is the Awesome, Almighty Authority
He is the Beautiful, Beloved Burdenbearer
He is the Caring, Changeless Creator
He is the Delightful, Divine Defender
He is the Eternal, Everlasting Endurer
He is the Faithful, Forgiving Father
He is the Glorious, Gracious Guide
He is the Highest, Holiest Head
He is the Invisible, Incredible "I AM"
He is the Jealous, Just Judge
He is the Kind, Kingly Keeper
He is the Living, Loving Lord
He is the Magnificent, Merciful Maker
He is the Necessary, Noble Name
He is the Omnipotent, Omniscient, Omni-present Owner
He is the Patient, Powerful Prince of Peace
He is the Quiet, Quickening Qualifier
He is the Righteous, Resurrected Redeemer
He is the Sacrificial, Seeking Shepherd
He is the Triumphant, Trustworthy Teacher
He is the Universal, Understanding Unequal
He is the Vast, Victorious Voice
He is the eXcellent, eXalted eXample
He is the Yearning, Yielded Yoke-fellow
He is the Zealous, cZar of Zion.

by Ana Jane Venosdel 1996, PWC Conf. Jenness Park, CA.

I love this poem and even reading it again, you can't help but have your heart swell with love and gratitude for God, for how He has been pursuing you, for how He helps you day-to-day (whether or not you have come to know Him) and for saving you!

Hope this gives you hope for today :)