My eye caught an article in Evangelical Focus, “Jesus makes all things new.” They interviewed Nicole McDermott, the silver medalist in the high jump event at the Tokyo Olympics.
She said:
“In 2017 was my big moment when it flicked the switch, and I decided to pursue God over the sport. Whatever comes from sport is a bonus, but I am already complete and perfect and loved as a person regardless of it”. Nicole McDermott
According to McDermott
“That just allowed me to soar over every high jump bar and not be scared anymore because I am loved, and that is the most important thing.”
I am deeply moved by her words, uttered so boldly. I agree with her.
God’s love has the power to change you.
Pursue God and His great Love for you
In Rom 8:37-39, we read of this love that God has for you. Let us look at it:
In all these things, we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us.
For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
The word that goes hand in hand with love is acceptance, and in Nicole’s experience, it took away the fear.
Why was that? She said:
“I am already complete and perfect and loved as a person regardless.”
As Nicole McDermott has experienced, we can go into the world as secure human beings when we feel LOVED. Away falls the insecurities, the temptation to go another way.
The choices we make look different because of this deep-rooted knowledge.
Do you know that you are greatly loved?
Often, we think that we are not loved, but that is a lie. God’s love is in easy reach for everyone that believes in His Word and His promises.
God states in His word that He has given His all in the form of Jesus. So the Bible tells us that John 15:13 KJV
“Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”
But God’s love does not end there...
He promises us that He who is the good Father gives us a gift in the form of a Helper. The Holy Spirit. He will come and help us in all we need.
Know that He is pursuing you. He laid down His life for you, He gave you himself now, and in this package is the gift of His love.
How do you receive experiential knowledge of it?
Take the word of God as truth in your life.
I found myself in a personal crisis 20 years ago. We moved to another country.
I left behind my job, friends, and church family. I did not realize that I received my main value from working and serving others.
As a result, I felt overwhelmed and unworthy of God’s love and attention because I had nothing to offer him.
I was wrapped up in the lie that I needed to do something, to be loved by Him. But God pursued me, and I felt drawn to sit quietly and focus on Him.
He unravelled the lie.
He started to talk through a small voice into my soul that:
“I am Love not because of what I do but because of who I Am.“
I am His child, His workmanship, the one he delights in. I saw the same thoughts in the Bible.
A few months later, a friend gave me a cup with the following words: He will quiet you with His Love. They are found in Zephaniah 3:17
“The Lord your God in your midst,
The Mighty One, will save;
He will rejoice over you with gladness,
He will quiet you with His love,
He will rejoice over you with singing. “
That has been a process in these 20 years since then, but I can always see that He is doing it in all situations.
I want to encourage you to take a journey with us at Tapestry of beauty, where we will delve deeper into the fruit of the Spirit and make them part of our lives together.
Nicole's testimony strengthens my belief that:
The Love of God and the experience thereof will be followed by deep trust and security in God.
This deep-seated knowledge is changing me daily and can do the same for you.
The great outflowing of His love is that
We flow over with love for ourselves and for others.
There is something very humbling in this; God makes me part of His love and includes me in His love for others.
We all need to feel arms around us and a helping hand in times of trouble.
God wants His body, that is, you and me, to be the instrument of his practical show of love in this world.
Please comment below how much God’s love has changed you and if you flicked the switch, as
Nicole McDermott says, to put Him first in your life.
About Deidré Henning
Deidré is a member of the ministry team at Tapestry Of Beauty Ministries since 2019. She is a writer and bible study teacher for Tapestry. She lives in Cape Town, South Africa. She is married to a great man for 35 years and has three sons, three daughters-in-love, and 5 grandchildren. Deidré has come to know God the Father, the Son and Holy Spirit and realizes that God loved her first, and He has been pursuing her, her whole life.