His Love is Endless

         The last few months have really been a growing period in my life, both physically and spiritually. With this being my last year in high school, my senior year, there are so many things going on that can really be a lot of stress for someone to handle...especially if they are carrying the load all by themselves. But thank you Jesus for carrying my burdens away. Jesus said in Matthew 11: 28 that he would give rest to those who are heavy laden; that scripture gives me all the confidence in the world because I don't just think of it as Jesus simply "removing" the obstacle or situation from my life. I read that word "rest," and i think to rest means to be worry-free; you have no care in the world. You're confident, you have faith in the one supplying your rest, so you no longer worry about being heavy laden. Even in the midst of a storm you can have rest because you have God with you. Jesus is our rest. In him we can have complete peace because we know that He cares for his flock, his sheep; his children. If we are in Christ, and Christ in us, this scripture should give us so much hope! With Christ, my hope is endless. 
          A few nights ago, I was re-reading notes I had taken on the doctrine of imputation. I nearly broke down because I thought to myself, "how awesome is it that God loved us so much, he was willing to come down to us in the form of man, impute our sin to himself, lay down his life, defeat the bondage and damnation of hell, then raise himself up just to reconcile the bond that was broken between us and him?" There was a statement on Facebook the other day and it said, "Jesus would rather die than to live without you," meaning you were so important to him, he just needed to come back and save you! This isn't true! Yes God loves us, but he most certainly does not need any of us. After everything we have done, it's only by God's grace that he decided to save us. There's nothing "lovable" about me or you; nothing even remotely "likeable." But he loved us while we were yet sinners! When we accept his invitation of love and open our hearts up to Him so that he can love on us and we in return learn to love on him, we see that we begin to grow more and more in the likeness of God's character; acquiring that same genuine love for others that He has shown and continues to show to us. His love is endless. 
             Yesterday, I went to the 100 Black Men of Jacksonville Infinity Scholars College Fair at the Hyatt downtown. My dad is a member of the hundred, so he thought i'd go, help out a little, walk around and see some of the schools.. I didn't have an objection to going to the college fair with my dad, but I wasn't super hyped about it either. My grades are far from valedictorian, and my test scores are average. I've even had teachers tell me i "wasn't college material" and should explore other options. I knew what God said about me in his word, but there were still times where I subconsciously let the negativity and death others had spoken over my life distract me from who I know I am in Christ. But yesterday, God showed me just how wrong all of those teachers were. I received full rides, money for room+ board and books, and volleyball scholarships. Friday night, which was the night before, one of my youth leaders at church told me that she felt God had placed it on her heart to give me $150 for college applications! How good is God? These are things I have been stressing since August, and God just took over and cleared it all up in less than 24 hours! When God does miraculous things like this, i don't only thank him and rejoice in the blessing, but I grow in Him because He reveals more and more to me about his character and i learn to trust him more. Even whilst going through an obstacle, I've been more stable the last few months because I've grown so much closer to Him. The possibilities of God when he is given permission to roam freely throughout your life are endless!  Thank you so much God not just for blessing me these last few days, but giving me another day to get closer to you and work on my walk a little each day.