Inspiration for the day

Knowing that you are loved makes it so much easier to love others, doesn't it? I think that I sometimes forget that I am loved by the greatest lover OF ALL!

"We love because He first loved us." 1 John 4:19

"Do everything in love." 1 Corinthians 16:14

I choose to love because He first loved me. I want to love others unconditionally out of His unconditional love for me.

What's your motivation to love?

Hand-Crafted and "Whole-made"

When my sister was little, she thought that everything was "whole-made," not homemade, but "whole-made." Well, she was right about one thing...each and every one of us were whole-made by our Creator. He crafted us with His very own hands, making each and every one of us something so special. When I think about God creating us and making us whole and in His image, I imagine it was pretty similar to the Build-A-Bear process. If you've ever had any kind of relationship with any ten-year-old or younger, you've probably been to Build-A-Bear, and experienced the wonder and awe of every child's excitement as they put together their furry friends! I can't help but think that God was just as excited, probably even more so, as He hand-crafted us together!


If you're not already familiar with how to put together a Build-A-Bear, it goes something like this: choose me, hear me, stuff me, stitch me, fluff me, name me, dress me, take me home.

Choose me: God chose each of us for His Kingdom. He picked you and me.
"As you come to him, the living Stone - rejected by men but chosen by God and
precious to him" 1 Peter 2:4


"But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people
belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of
darkness into his wonderful light." 1 Peter 2:9

Hear me: God Himself spoke life into us when He created us, in His image so that His Holy Spirit would live inside of us.
"So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created
him; male and female he created them." Genesis 1:27

Stuff me: Here, we were filled with everything we would ever need. When you make a Build-A-Bear, at this stage, you're asked to pick out a heart and kiss it before you put it in your bear. Can you imagine how many times Our Father kissed our hearts as He created them, and all the love He poured out on us?!! God filled us with Himself; He is our bread of life; everything we will ever need.
"Then Jesus declared, 'I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.'" John 6:35

Stitch me: God stitched each and every one of us together.
"For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb." Psalm 139:13

Fluff me: God gives us the "spa treatment" and treats us like righteousness, because that is what He created us to be.
"This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe." Romans 3:22

Name me: He calls us by name.
"But now, this is what the LORD says - he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed
you, O Israel: 'Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you
are mine.'" Isaiah 43:1

Dress me: He clothed us with deliverance, love, and His goodness.
"I delight greatly in the LORD...For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and
arrayed me in a robe of righteousness." Isaiah 61:10

Take me home: He is our everlasting and He will forever be our everything. He will carry us home.
"Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you. I have
made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you." Isaiah 46:4

So here we are, hand-crafted and whole-made by the Lord of All. God's own masterpiece.