As a child growing up in the country in a little cabin in the woods, I was very aware that Jesus was with me. “Jesus loves me, this I know,” was the lyric that played in my brain. I sensed Him when I played outside and ran up the gravel road to visit my grandparents. The simplicity of Jesus being my friend and living in conversation with Him was real life.
Then I grew up… well actually before I grew up, religion tainted the simplicity of “Jesus loves me.” What the Jesus of religion and sometimes even church required of me felt unattainable; God became more distant. So many messages given to the teens of my generation were designed to cause fear. I felt as if God wanted me to do good for Him, yet I had lost the childhood understanding of the unconditional love of God. My home and family were a place of unconditional love, yet outside the doors of our home God felt expectant, disappointed, distant. His love felt conditional, dependent on my performance, my service, my goodness… Until I became a Young Life leader my freshman year of college.
Young Life messages lived in the Gospels where my childhood Jesus (Who I had given my heart to) resided. While serving in Young Life, I learned to embrace Jesus and His great love for me. I began to understand that my obedience and service to Him were love messages back to Him. Jesus never tasked me with the goal of living for Him without relying on Him; He wanted me to live as a Christ follower alongside Him day by day. The heart of Jesus longed to be in my moments.
At a solitude retreat for Young Life staff I was given a gift of learning to personalize Scripture. Basically to dissect verses and put my name into the verse and to self-reflect and understand how to own the teaching of Jesus while embracing His heart. It is my greatest hope for this book that you are given this gift also.“The Word of God is living and active and full of power [making it operative, energizing, and effective].” (Hebrews 4:12a AMP)
At first, this was uncomfortable and I wondered if it was acceptable to personalize Scripture. Yet, if I did not stray from the Truth of His Words and let them speak to me, something deep in my spirit was renewed and restored. His perfect peace replaced all my anxieties. Walking with Jesus is so life-giving, if you think you would enjoy an adventure with Jesus, I encourage you to read Journey With His Voice: Adventuring With Jesus and Journey to His Heart. I wrote these books to deepen my own understanding of what it must have been like to live and walk alongside Jesus. Personalizing Scripture to adventure with Jesus was fun and life-giving.
Jesus extends the invitation to all of us, “Come.”
You may ask yourself, What can I do with this invitation? What emotions does this invitation evoke? Can I trust the Voice of Many Waters, Essence of Love, Life-Giver with the waves in my life?
I always wanted to audibly hear the Voice of God. I would think most Christians do, but it can feel impossible or out of reach sometimes, right?
Anyone can embrace and personalize Scripture. I am so grateful for the gift of getting to share the heart of Jesus through writing. Writing creates adventures and is one of my favorite ways to spend my devotional time.
My favorite moments are with my husband and five children (ages 11-21). We love having fun together, sporting together, laughing together, finding adventures, praying together, and sharing the real. I love any opportunity to talk about Jesus together. When I am not hanging out with my fam, I also enjoy counseling & mentoring & teaching students, coaching parents, and facilitating parenting workshops. In my daily life I am reminded that to live the best version of myself I must invite Jesus in. He constantly cares for us with unconditional, all-consuming, tender grace and love!
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