I Joy Over Thee

My daughter, My little one, My under-shepherd, My dear friend: ---you are many things to Me, even as I am many things to you. My love for you is deep and tender. I know thy desire to please Me, and I am happy that it is so. How can I tell thee that though I desire holiness, and while I desire fruit in thy life, still My love for thee is in nowise contingent upon any attainment? My glory is involved in the way ye live. Eternal destinies are involved in the matters of thy holiness and thy faithfulness and thine obedience to my direction and will; but my love for thee is independent of these factors.

I love thee because you are my child. I love thee because I am your Father. I love thee with Calvary love. At great price have I redeemed thee:
this I did because I love thee. When I planned this, I foresaw thee lost in sin, and I loved thee and chose thee and set My heart upon thee.

Rather than struggling to comprehend the working of My sovereignty, accept this, and rejoice in it, and draw near to Me without spoiling the preciousness of our fellowship with any shadows of self-condemnation.

You are Mine, and I joy over thee. Discipline I reserve for the rebellious. The first step of repentance brings My mercy.

"Mercy there is great, and grace is free--
Pardon there is multiplied to thee,
There the burdened heart finds liberty at Calvary"

Let the peace of God rule in your heart and mind, and be filled with thanksgiving.


from Come Away My Beloved, by Frances J. Roberts