Embedded Files
Lately, I’ve been spending an awful lot of time on social media.
Between sharing the Good News (my #1 passion) and getting the word out about my Good-News-packed book, His Banner Over Me Is Pursuing Love, I’ve spent little time doing anything else.
I never in a million years would have thought that I would become a “tweeter” (a person who posts on Twitter).
Before learning about Twitter, I thought all those hashtags—those slanted tic tac toe boards—cluttered everything up. (Did I tell you I get distracted easily?)
But now that I understand the purpose of hashtags, they don’t bother me near as much:
A hashtag is a key word or phrase used to describe a post’s topic and makes it easier to find, follow, and contribute to a conversation.
Since most of my posts are about the almost-unbelievable, indescribable, super-fantastic news of the Gospel of grace in Christ Jesus, a hashtag I frequently use is #GoodNews. (The adjective good just doesn’t do the Gospel justice!)
Sometimes, I will look to see what’s trending (being widely discussed) and join the conversation.
And I did just that this past Wednesday.
The hashtag that caught my eye was #ImStillHereBecause.
I immediately clicked on it because I wanted to see what other people thought about their purpose for existence.
Sadly, most of the tweets had nothing to do with why they were here or Who created them (Ps. 139: 13-16).
Most people still don’t know their purpose for existence.
They don’t know that God created them (literally) to be the object of His extravagant affection—a recipient of His eternal, no-strings-attached love and life (John 3:16, 1 John 4:19).
The reason for their lack of knowledge is simple: the god of this world has blinded them to this precious truth (2 Cor. 4:4).
If people truly understood and experienced their Creator’s one-of-a-kind love for their heart alone, they could not help but express His love and life in this world (1 John 4:19).
And that’s all that God has ever really wanted: for people to believe in (into) His Son, enjoy His love, and share it with others.
Believe in Jesus. Enjoy His love. Share His love. God’s purpose for our lives is that simple.
The devil doesn’t like simple. He likes to confuse people and complicate things (1 Cor. 14:33).
The most heart-breaking tweet I read was, “#ImStillHereBecause the devil didn’t want me.”
The first reason it’s heart-breaking is that the last part is simply not true.
If the devil had his way he would capture every single heart that’s ever existed.
Thank God, he hasn’t done that!
Jesus interrupted his plan for humanity’s demise when He paid the price for our separation from Father God on the cross! (The shrieking scene right after Christ died in Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ comes to mind here.)
Secondly, this deluded tweeter thinks so little of herself that she believes the worst entity ever rejects her. So sad!
While it is a possibility that she may have been joking to draw attention to her tweet, I believe there are bookoos of people who think that little of themselves.
So, I decided to join the #ImStillHereBecause conversation with this tweet:
As I thought more about this hashtag, I began to thank God for the major ways He has protected me (that I’m aware of) over the last 53 years:
When I was 23 years old, I slid on a patch of ice into an eighteen-wheeler in Wheeler, Texas. The only injuries I sustained were facial lacerations and a broken nose. (God was the last thing on my radar at the time.)
When I was 30, I was as close as you could get to having cervical cancer without having it. I had an emergency hysterectomy and all of my checkups since then have been clear (God was still not on my radar at the time.)
In March 2016, I underwent a nuclear test for carcinoid cancer. It revealed tumors in my liver and possibly in the right adrenal gland. On April 8, I had a dream where I rebuked the cancer, telling it to get out of my house (my body). In June 2016, I received an “all clear” at the Rocky Mountain Cancer Center in Denver, Colorado. (As you may well imagine, God was front-and-center on my radar! He healed me!)
Almost a year after my “all clear,” I launched this blog and then a few months later, published my first book (which had been in the works since 2008).
You might say that the cancer scare “lit a fire under me” to find every way I could (as soon as I could) to share the Good News of God’s love with everyone who would listen.
I am so thankful for what He has done for me and in me! (Tears.)
***
If you enjoyed this post, I invite you to check out all of my books and my video series based on my first devotional.
Page updated
Report abuse