Jeremiah 29:11-13
(AMP)

11For I know the thoughts and plans that I have for you, says the Lord, thoughts and plans for welfare and peace and not for evil, to give you hope in your final outcome.
12Then you will call upon Me, and you will come and pray to Me, and I will hear and heed you.

13Then you will seek Me, inquire for, and require Me [as a vital necessity] and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.

This weekend was my beautiful daughters prom. We have been on the search for months for the perfect dress. We have searched high and searched low. There came a time we almost gave up the search because our search came up empty it seemed. Empty hands caused my daughter to stay persistent on her search until finally….the perfect dress!! We drove two hours to track it down but we took possession of the “perfect dress”!

We all start on a great quest the moment we are born. It may be many years before most of us realize it. For me; the quest began when i was 28. I was raised in church my entire childhood but turned away from God and chose to live away from God. I attempted to lose myself in other things so there could be no time or thought for anything else but the business at hand. At 28 i had reached one of the loneliest points of my life. I had become so empty i could’nt even entertain myself any longer. I remember looking at passing men and women and wondering if they too were seeking something they could’nt describe but knew they wanted and needed. Deep within my soul i knew what i needed to fill the void was a real relationship with GOD but how? I had no idea. I was so lost. My life was at it’s lowest. I had made many bad choices. My heart was very hard. I didn’t know how to love or to receive love. I had’nt shed a tear in years. It was my daughter and i against the world. I remember walking outside to walk my dog one clear cool december night back in the year 2000. I looked up at the stars and said, “God, if you are real? If you can hear me? Please make yourself real to me? I need you? I need peace?” Then i walked back in my apartment. It was my cry for help but i never expected what would happen within the next few months. There was a huge emptiness in my soul. I tried filling that emptiness with things i thought would make the emptiness go away. Nothing would satisfy. I could’nt stand myself. The hatred, the greed, the loneliness, the bitterness. I wanted it gone. I found myself at a bookstore within a week. The first book i bought was about reincarnation. I heard a voice from somewhere inside me say, “Don’t read this.” So i threw it in the trash and went back to the bookstore and bought a bible. I began reading in the book of john. The words began to jump off the pages like never before when i read the bible in the past. I devoured the rest of the gospels and it all made sense. It was as if a light came on. I asked Jesus into my heart in my bedroom. I had developed such a taste for Gods word. I couldnt get enough. Everything in my life changed. I found the greatest peace. Peace i had never felt before. All the missing pieces had been filled with Gods word. God had revealed himself to me in a mighty way. Through his word and in other ways as well. Through people and answered prayers. Then i had a revelation of Gods love for me. God has such great love for us. No matter what i do wrong; he still loves me! WOW! Until you actually accept it; until your experience it; until you actually possess true peace with God, no one can describe the wonders to you. Its not anything you can do with your mind. Your mind cant even begin to wrap around when dealing with the great love of God. When i received God by faith amazing things began happening in my life. There wasnt any room for doubt. I didnt question if God was in my heart; i just knew. Since that day in Febuary i have been through so much healing and cried so many tears. When God begins a good work he promises to complete it. Phillipians 1:6 And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.  When we find out our purpose for life then we can truly begin to live.

Christian