On Instagram, I publish a series entitled, "As A Writer." It's simply another outlet for me to express myself as an author. Here is today's blurb:
It's true. As writers, we do need to know who our readers are - whether we're penning a book, an article, a poem, or devotional. After all, it wouldn't benefit my ten-year-old reader looking for a good comic book, if I dumped on him a thousand-page thesis of Socrates' or Plato's philosophies on life. I need to not only know my intended targets, but I need to know what they like, what they don't like, what makes them tick, and what will cause them to want to read what I've written. If I don't diligently study my readers, I will miss the mark and end up without an audience.
I believe it's just as important to know the subject of which I write. If I'm going to write a fiction story set in Juneau, Alaska, then I had better do my homework and find out what life is like there. If I'm going to write a how-to-article on growing a vegetable garden, it'd help if I actually grew a garden or talked to those who have gardens. If I'm going to write a bio on Oprah Winfrey, it'd help if I met her, her friends and even her enemies. Not to mention, I should read every word written about her. You get my point.
Almost every morning, I spend time with Jesus getting to know Him better through His Word (the Bible) and through prayer. I'm not saying I completely understand everything about Him. I don't. After all, He is God. However, as a result of our mornings together, I have a fairly good grasp of what He likes, doesn't like, and what makes Him tick.
I know He is passionate about you and me. I know He loves rooting for the underdog and transforming their lives. I know He is holy and righteous. I know He is the Savior of the world. I know He doesn't want anyone to perish but that all should come to repentance. I know His love is unconditional and He loved us long before we ever loved Him.
If I had to chose one portion of scripture to share what I know about Jesus, this would be it:
"Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and His loved has been perfected in us. By this we know that we abide in Him, and He in us because He has given us of His Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. And we have known and believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abide in loved abides in God, and God in him." 1 John 4:7-16
Jesus is my Savior and His love abides in me. May the words I write flow out of my deep friendship with Him. When you read what I've written about Him, may you come to understand that all He has done or ever will do, is compelled by His Love for you. To God be the glory.