heart learnings
I apologize for taking so long to write this blog! I’ve been spending most of my spare time sleeping, to be honest, and now I’ve been here for over a month so there’s SO MUCH to tell. Where should I start? The teaching has been phenomenal…I thought it would be good, but had no idea it would be top notch. We have a new speaker come (from various places around New Zealand and the world) to the base each week and teach on a specific theme. As my school’s overall theme is the Father’s Love, our speakers have been teaching on some aspect of that topic (even if only peripherally). More important than us gaining head knowledge, our school is focused on us gaining heart knowledge; that is, to have deep revelation of God’s love for us that will transform our lives and mold us into the people we were created to be. What good is knowledge of God’s love if it doesn’t reach your heart? How am I really going to share His love around the world if I am not sure of it myself?
Okay, here are my heart learnings…it’s a bit of a sermon but oh well… 
i pray you are personally blessed in your Spirit as you read…
I’ve been given two major revelations through the teaching thus far. The first one is this: God’s love— not punishment— awaits me (and all Christ-believers) when I arrive at Heaven’s gates. Since the moment I accepted Jesus Christ as my Savior, I have been completely forgiven of all my sins, past and present, and am covered completely by His blood. This means that my Heavenly Father sees no fault in me! This means He only sees me through the righteousness of Jesus! This means I need not fear any punishment or wrath whatsoever upon meeting the Lord! Before coming to Oxford, I can say I had head knowledge of this, of my innocence in Christ. Yet, all my life I’ve lived in fear of punishment, fear of disappointing God, fear of being “too much of this” (such as lazy!) or “not enough of that” (such as obedient!), fear of never being good enough. The truth is, God is perfect and holy and I can never be good enough for Him on my own! But, since I have Jesus standing in the gap for me, I am justified and righteous in God’s sight. Imagine having the wrong view of God for our entire lives, thinking we need to continue to do things (or even be a certain way!) to keep His wrath at bay upon judgment day (I ‘ve always shuddered at those last two words)…when in fact only reward awaits us! How terrible to learn that we could be wasting so much of our lives by living in fear because we have been given misinformation! To think we could be spending years and years trying to evade His judgment, which He never intends for us to have to face! Jesus came and did the work on the cross so I can live in freedom…. I’m free! What more could I ask for?
You see, Father God sent His Son, Jesus, on a mission… He was a lovesick Father who wanted His kids back, so He sent Jesus on a mission to earth to get them at whatever cost (John 3:16). I love that version of the Scripture! :) …this is my second revelation… Father God wants to restore His relationship with us, as well as restore what was rightfully ours before the fall of Adam and Eve. We are His children and heirs if we believe in Him and His Son! The story of the Prodigal Son takes on a whole new depth when we view it in light of a loving father who is desperate to have his son back home with him. When his son finally appears in the distance after having been gone for several years (missing to the point where the father thought he was dead), the father runs unashamedly to him…throws his arms around him, kisses him, and puts the family signet ring on his finger (indicating authority). He restores his son’s original position of honor, giving him what was his before he ever went wayward. So forgiving and full of grace, the father simply wants his child back with him where he belongs, releasing the debt of his rebelliousness and wastefulness. Imagine, it is so with our Heavenly Father. He is a loving Father who simply wants His children back in relationship with Him. God is love, and love must have an object… that is why He created humankind, to love on us, His children. He longs to lavish all of the treasures of His kingdom on us! Our only role is to accept His gift of love through His Son Jesus. That’s it. It almost seems too good to be true. In fact, I’ve spent years thinking it must be too good to be true. Now my job is to just accept the gift and live in the freedom, peace, joy, and love my Heavenly Father (daddy!) brings me through relationship with Himself. Awesomeness. 
