Love is patient. God is love.

Hey fam! Welcome to 2021. 😊 It’s been a while, I know. Over the past couple months, the Holy Spirit has been speaking to me about me. Things that He spoke and showed me, I did not feel led to share publicly. Hence the hiatus. I’m continuing to learn to keep the secrets between Jesus and I, secret. That’s the beauty of an intimate relationship. There are some things that are meant to be kept behind closed doors. Even though it has been some time since my last blog post, I did not want to feel pressured to make a post to please people or draw attention to myself. So, I continued to wait. Through that time, there is one thing the Lord has been speaking to me on repeat that I feel a stirring in the depths of my spirit to share. So much so that I had dreams of me speaking these words. Those words are the message of the gospel.

I want to touch on a scripture that has been imprinted on my heart. It’s from 2 Peter 3:9, “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” As soon as that scripture came to me, I was brought back to the story of Jonah. When I was a youth leader, this was one of the first messages I preached. I was so amped because the Holy Spirit gave me the whole message about Jonah and how he tried to flee to Tarshish, away from where God was directing him to go. We can all relate to Jonah at some point in our lives. At times we think we know what’s best. Right? This time though, instead of focusing on Jonah, my heart leapt for the people of Ninevah. God asked Jonah to preach against the city because of its wickedness. They were about to face destruction because of their evil ways. Even through Jonah’s disobedience, being swallowed by a large fish for three days, then the Lord having the fish spit him out, he was able to get through to the city of Ninevah to warn them. After hearing the warning, the city of Ninevah believed God, proclaimed a fast, and gave up their evil ways. God in His grace saw what they did and relented from their destruction. Not only was God patient with Jonah through his disobedience, but God was patient with the city of Ninevah to turn back to Him. Why? His love is so fierce towards us that God does not want anyone to perish, but all to come to repentance. What great love He has lavished on us! After the story of Jonah, I was reminded next of the two criminals on the cross that hung beside Jesus. While one insulted Jesus, the other stood up for Him and protested, “Don’t you fear God even when you have been sentenced to die? We deserve to die for our crimes, but this man hasn’t done anything wrong.” Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your Kingdom.” Jesus replied, “I assure you, today you will be with me in paradise.” Let’s rewind to the road to Golgotha, where they were hung. Imagine Jesus carrying His cross on His way to die. Blood running down His face from the crown of thorns cutting through His head, back aching from the weight of the cross and previous lashings that tore the skin off His bones, and shouts of insults from the people He loved and those He longed to be with. All of that combined, imagine Jesus treading His way to Golgotha with another ambition. Imagine Him thinking, “There is one more man that needs to speak to Me before I take My last breath. One more that will believe.” Imagine Jesus having that criminal’s face in mind along the way. The criminal that hung beside Jesus was deserving of death on the cross for his sins. But, Jesus! The criminal believed in Jesus, and Jesus forgave him of what his sins deserved and offered the criminal eternal life. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” This is why Jesus came. This is why Jesus died on the cross. He paid the price of sin for you and for me. He longs to be with us in eternity. This criminal was basically on his death bed and that’s when he received the free gift of salvation. You are never too far gone! Love is patient. God is love.