Before the dawn of time, God was. Just as he is now and always wil be. His name, Yahweh, means I AM WHO I AM. He explained himself to Moses like this: "Before Abraham was, I AM." He transcends time and space. He is always and everywhere, and more than that, too.

        This same incredible God created me and you. I don't pretend to know why. But I do know that He loved and loves us with an intense love - the faithful love of a father for his child or a husband for his wife. He desired to have our love in return, freely given, so he gave us the power to be able to reject Him. And we did. We put ourselves before Him through sin and the rejection of His Love.

        God could let us have our own way, and simply turn His back on us, but He loves us with a covenant love - a love that keeps it's promises even if the receiver isn't keeping theirs. So He continued to pour his love out on us. When we sold ourselves into the slavery of sin, he sent down his son, Jesus the Christ, to become one of us, and pay the ransom for our lives. All we have to do is accept that we can be made free only through Him, and he will make us free for sin, hell, and the fear of death, and bring us back into communion and love with Him, and into peace, and the promise of heaven.

        I think I took this love for granted until the day I fell into love myself. I began to see things differently after that. It was then that I began to understand the strength of the love God has for me.

        Hosea 7:13, NIV
...I long to redeem them but they speak lies against me.

        Somebody should have told me when I was little that it's okay to tell God you're sorry for the same sins everyday. If they did, I forgot. As I got older, I fell into the trap of 'well, I guess I'd better fix myself before I go talk to God about the same old thing - completely forgetting that it was he who wanted to fix me. I can't do it myself. I tried. I've been trying. And I'm not better yet.

        But God loves me and he will not let me go.