How precious are Your thoughts O God...

​          God loves you! No matter what you are going through, no matter what is coming your way, no matter how much you have fallen short, and we all have, this truth remains: GOD LOVES YOU! 
         Psalm 139 comes to my mind when I ponder this truth. It’s a psalm of David and it speaks about the reality that God knows us inside out. There is nothing about us that is hidden from God: “You have searched me Lord and You know me. You know when I sit and when I rise. You perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down. You are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue, You, Lord, know it completely” (Psalm 139:1-4 NIV). 
God is so intimately in tune with us that He knows our movements and actions before we even do them; He knows our thoughts and He knows what we are going to say before we even say it. Yet, think about it: He even knows the negative things we are about to say or do and even those things can’t and don’t stop Him from loving us! We may feel disappointed in ourselves when we fail in thought, word or deed, but our God isn’t. He knows what we are going to do or say before we do it, yet, He loves us anyway. Think about this truth: we may like someone when we only see and hear good things about them. As soon as we see or hear something negative and, depending on what it is, if we are honest, we may become turned off, we start feeling uncomfortable around them, or we plain just don’t want to have anything to do with them anymore. Thank God our God is not like that! He already knows that our “heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked...” (Jeremiah 17:9 KJV) and yet He still chooses to love us anyway! Only God...!!!
         In verses 13 and 15 (NIV) the psalmist talks about the fact that we are each intricately created by God: “For you created my inmost being, You knit me together in my mother’s womb. My frame was not hidden from You when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.” God didn’t just throw arms and legs, a head and a body together, He put thought into each creation, into each of His designs. Our God is so creative and so amazing that He has been able to create billions of human beings over many years each with their own unique features, look, personality and temperament. I see a God who lovingly created me, who lovingly created you. As verse 14 says: “I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Your works are wonderful I know that full well.” Whatever God creates is good, a reflection of His love for us. We are the ones who mess things up yet, even though we may change, our God’s love for us doesn’t.
         The verse that really grabs my attention, however, and that prompted this post is verse 17: “How precious also are Your thoughts to me O God! How great is the sum of them!” I see here a God who takes an intimate interest in His creation. He takes delight in you, He takes delight in me. He delights in us and thinks thoughts that speak of His great love for us. He wants us to be happy, He wants us to prosper, He wants us to make it through difficult times, He wants the very best for us. Think about it. He gave His only Son, Jesus, to die for us and pay the price for our sins so that we would not have to. I can’t think of a greater act of love! Sacrificing His best, giving up His best, so that we would not have to suffer the consequences of our own foolish actions. If that is not love in action, I don’t know what is!
         I don’t see psalm 139 as simply God’s perfect and intricate knowledge of man, as some might put it. I see it as a reflection of God’s love for us. He took time and care to create and devise every tiny detail of our makeup and that shows His love for us. He knows us inside out – the good, the bad, the ugly - and yet, He still loves us. When He thinks about us, I don’t believe He focuses on the negative the way we might. His love pushes past all of that and chooses to see the potential, His very purpose ingrained in us. 
         Yes, God loves you, all of you. He doesn’t like the sin, He doesn’t like the negative in your life but He loves you! So, the next time the devil tries to make you feel less than or not good enough, just remember that if God took the time and effort to create you and to think beautiful thoughts about you even though you are not perfect, then it means that in God’s eyes, you are worth the effort, you are precious ... HE LOVES YOU!!!
         If you have not accepted Jesus Christ into your life as personal Lord and Saviour, I encourage you to do so now. The last I checked, God is not in the habit of making junk. To Him you are beautiful and He has a perfect, wonderful and amazing plan and purpose for your life. Don’t take my word for it, try Him for yourself!

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