Devotions from Brennan Manning’s book, The Rabbi’s Heartbeat

“How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!  And that is what we are.” I John 3:1

 The Father doesn’t want us to be perfect but real. Yet at times we try so hard to please God and impress others that the energy is sucked right out of us. We want to present a perfect image but it leaves us feeling brittle, lifeless and fruitless. We need a divine transfusion, and to know that He is for us not against us.  He wants to cut away our hypocrisy so that vitality can come to our souls. As we accept ourselves and receive His love, then we can revel in His grace. God’s sorrow is our fear of him, our fear of life, and our fear of ourselves. He longs to draw us into His embrace as His beloved child.  No matter what our past has been or our present we can come back to the shelter of His love. Thomas Merton said, ”Quit keeping score altogether and surrender yourself with all your sinfulness to God who sees neither the score nor the scorekeeper but only His child redeemed by Christ.”