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Friday, September 8, 2017

A Universe-Sized Love Space in God's Heart... Just for You

Craning my neck back, I looked up into the night sky. The stunning view of the stars and the Milky Way caused my spirit to leap. Awe welled up inside of me and spilled out through my emotions. I was an hour outside the city on campus at our Pastors’ School. Away in the virgin rain forest, the lack of light pollution allows for a spectacular feast for the eyes and for the soul.

I lingered, gazing upwards, far beyond the point when my neck began to protest. The majesty above was too breathtaking to quickly brush past the moment. Then, unexpectedly, it happened. In an instant, my mind registered how immense the universe is.

I had been trying, for years and years, to tell my brain that each of the stars are suns. That each minute point of light is, in reality, an orb gargantuan in size. That the tiny twinkle barely visible speaks to the nearly immeasurable, unquantifiable distance in between here and there. But my brain could never truly grasp this before that moment. Somehow, that night, it did. I’m pretty sure Holy Spirit finally opened up my understanding to be able to perceive the immensity before me. I suddenly experienced what it is to gaze into the depths of infinity. I was overwhelmed with wonder.


This was just a few weeks ago. Hand in hand with that experience, Daddy has been speaking to my heart about His infinite nature. I believe He wants me to convey to you today some of the thoughts He has been sharing with me about this.

“The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands. 
Day after day they pour forth speech
night after night they display knowledge. 
There is no speech or language
where their voice is not heard.”
(Ps. 19:1-3, NIV)

What is the message that the heavens are declaring? What are the words of this speech so mighty that it reaches to the ends of the earth? The skies are proclaiming to us the heart of the Father. They are pouring forth expression of His unbounded, limitless, everlasting love.

This is what He is saying. He wants us to learn to relate to Him as an infinite being, rather than as a finite one. When you encounter His vast boundlessness, you come to discover that there are no limits. There is no end. He whispered recently to me that He has a universe of space in His heart – just for me. Likewise, there’s a whole other universe-sized space inside of Him, dedicated exclusively to you. (In fact, He has one for every single individual human being on the planet.)

What does this mean in practical terms? It means that for you, specifically for and about and toward you, He has an immeasurable amount of love capacity and thinking space. This overflows ceaselessly with thoughts and plans for good. Consider how these two verses go together:

“For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope” (Jer. 29:11, NKJV).

and

“How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered! I can't even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand!” (Ps. 139:17-18, NLT).

Daddy is wordlessly taken with you! In that universe of space in Him with your name on it, you are the center of His attention. He is ceaselessly thinking incalculable quantities of thoughts, all about you, and each one spilling over with peace and hope. In other words, since He is an infinite God, He has an infinite amount of time to sit around and dream about, specifically… you!!! Meanwhile, as He has limitless space and capacity in His heart, He is also taking immaculate care of the rest of the universe. Because that’s how big He is.

Get this. He’s also already been doing this ever since, ever since, well, forever. This exciting verse voices that truth. “It is he who… chose us… not because we deserved it, but because that was his plan long before the world began-to show his love and kindness to us…” (2 Tim. 1:9, TLB).

Look at this one too! “You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed” (Ps. 139:16, NLT). Dear one, this is not just poetic speak. This is a very real book that exists in heaven and has since before creation. This book is inexpressibly close Daddy’s heart. He has put an endless amount of forethought, care, and perfect love into the crafting of every single minute of your existence.

So, beloved child, can you see the wisdom in leaving aside all comparisons with other people? So often the enemy suggests to us that someone else has been dished out a more generous serving of blessing than we have received. This becomes laughable when we delve into Daddy’s immeasurable love for us. Comparisons become irrelevant when you realize that the capacity for your own joy in Him is infinite. The closest I can get to describing is this. It’s like being at an all-you-can-eat buffet and fixating on someone else’s plate, anxious that maybe they’re getting fed better. What a tragic waste of time and energy. Instead we could be using that heart space to banquet on His endless supply of lavish love and extravagant side dishes of contentment! No wonder He tells us in 2 Corinthians 10:12 that measuring ourselves by each other is not wise.


Don’t miss this pertinent verse either: “For he chose us in him before the creation of the world…” (Eph. 1:4, NIV). Which is closely followed by: “This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure” (Eph. 1:5, NLT, bold emphasis mine).

Did you hear that? Like really hear it? It gave Him immense pleasure to make you His! That is why our uncreated God has already been thinking and daydreaming about you for an entire eternity past. Those thoughts cause Him to experience pleasure. He likes pleasure... and He really likes thinking about you. Just a glimpse of you causes His soul to brim over with delight. With joy. I’ve been looking up different versions of these verses. As I’ve been drinking in each one, my head has been swimming with His giddiness. He is SO EXCITED that you are His!

Daddy has spent hours and hours, days and days, years and years, millennia even!... thinking about the way you laugh. Thinking about how your eyes sparkle with the enjoyment of what you love. Meditating on how He will weave together every detail of your experiences here on earth for your wellbeing. Delighting in the anticipation of seeing your unique set of giftings grow into beauty and maturity; of seeing you discover the thrill of finding out who you are, the breathtaking masterpiece He created you to be. Bursting with excitement to see the unfolding of your adventure. Watching over and over in His mind as you get to the end of the story and find out just how astonishingly good He has been to you. And most especially, waiting with baited breath for those moments when you would lose yourself in worship, in intimacy with Him. When you would let Him envelope you completely in His love. Yes. He really does. He has a whole universe in his heart, just for you. Today He caresses your face and says to you in the most tender and gentle of tones, you dear, you are His favorite.

Dive in and eat, dear one. Forget about anyone else’s plate. An infinite buffet is before you, and Jesus is the feast!

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2 comments:

  1. I love this! Why do I often revert to my "little God" perception of Him? The God that has my limitations assigned to Him? I'm so thankful He doesn't fit into my mold! So thankful He has such a huge space for me!
    I think of Psalm 8:4--"What is man that you are mindful of Him, and the son of man that you care for him?" Thanks, Jennifer! I needed this today!❤️

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    1. I'm so very, very glad it blessed you, Lindsey! Amen to Psalm 8. I was looking at that one too as I prepped this post. 😊 Love you big time!

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