Only a person who sees us from the inside out can know the intimate details of our life. Throughout the New Testament, Jesus encountered people and told them things no one who wasn't deity could ever know. In John 4, He encountered the Woman at the Well. An outcast, she was there to draw water in the heat of the day to avoid people. But someone was there! Jesus! He revealed areas of her life that only she knew of, like her myriad of marriages. Then Jesus told her that He was the Messiah, the Christ. She ran back into town and told everyone that Jesus had told her everything she had ever done. Her testimony was a call to "Come and see" and many did, and believed!

That's what I want. I want to be known by Jesus from the inside out, so much so that my belief in my worth and beauty in the eyes of my Beloved causes others to believe in the One Who Loves Them, too. Hidden inside the desires of my heart, in the linings of my lists, is that desire to be loved, to be cherished, to be championed, to be accepted, to be beautiful in the eyes of the Master. I can't find that in a store, in a jar of cream, in silicone implants, or even in a marriage! The only place I can find it, is in that "Come and see" place; that's the very heart of Jesus, the love of Christ, the yearning of Christ to be intimately connected with us.

While we are at that "come and see" place, however, Jesus is asking, "What do you want, what are you looking for?" (cf John 1:37). That's a great question, isn't it? My answer?

"Master, I'm looking for a faith in which I can call myself beautiful and believe it, no matter my appearance. I'm looking for my heart to be one that is totally fixated on You and You alone so that I can have the type of peace and joy that sings, that sears, that scars. I'm looking for my future years to be like no other because of the love blazing within me for You, for my neighbor, and for the nations."

Yes I'll wrinkle, crinkle, stoop, and grow whiskers on my chin. There will be financial need. Stacks of paper around the house will always be piled as high as Mt. Ararat. There will be war and rumors of war. There will be heartache and heartbreak. Nevertheless, one thing I am convinced of, and that is, that nothing, absolutely nothing will separate me from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus! God is as close as my skin. ("Scar me Lord!") And I want Him under it. The only way I can find the words to describe how closely and connected I want to be to God, is to share Psalm 139 with you. Read it from your personal Bible and check out how close God was to David, a man described as the "Man after God's Own Heart."

Tailed by the Holy One

Have another read of that Psalm. It sure sounds like our God is a god who's after us. In fact, the passage describes someone almost with the MO of a stalker, not a crazed or dangerous one, but one righteously and tenderly relentless in His pursuit of us! Notice that David infers that there was no place to hide from God, that we serve indeed, an inescapable God.

God has searched you and known you. He knows when you sit down, and when you arise. He can discern your thoughts from far away. He is acquainted with all of your ways. Even before a word is on your tongue, God knows it completely!

Indeed, this was the Spirit tailing David, because the Spirit goes anywhere He wants to, and that's usually anywhere we go! He's been everywhere we've ever been. Forget the deepest sea, or some place in the universe, He'll find you. In the dark, His light will find you.

When I was around sixteen, a redheaded boy named "Jack" followed me everywhere. I'd get off a bus on the other end of town, and he'd be there waiting for me. Once as I walked down the street, he jumped out of a tree . . . PLOP! right in front of me. I didn't think of him as dangerous, but it was disconcerting. I'd find evidence of him everywhere, and my phone would ring at all hours of the night.

But God has good motives for pursuing you, and has the ability and the right, through Calvary's cross, to stalk you relentlessly! In fact, God chose you to pursue, "You did not choose Me, but I chose you" (John 15:16a).

So, what's His motive? 

God's motive and motivation is His love for you. He planned you out before you were even formed. He manufactured every part of you, knit you, wove you together, fearfully and wonderfully. He knew your substance, knew your form, knew your days, planned them, and waited in expectation of that day when you would choose to let Him capture you.

He owns you, which means that somehow, He's going to claim you . . . it's just a matter of time! He wants to seize you, capture you, gather you into His arms, and hold you. That's it my sisters. That's why He's in hot pursuit. That's why He formed your inward parts. That's why He covered you in your mother's womb. That's why He'll chase you to the ends of the earth. That's why He invades your thoughts, and floods your spirit. You are the apple of His eye. You are the reason His heart beats, and sometimes skips a beat. You are the one He would go after, leaving 99 others behind, so that He can find you and bring you home. His eyes are on you, pleading with you to "Come and see," to accept His love, to offer Him your heart, to believe or to renew your faith in His love, and follow Him. Nothing less than God can adequately fill your heart, that's why you're not satisfied.

So, can I ask you a personal question? "Why are you running away from Him?" God's not up there waiting to heave the gavel, close the book on you, throw you overboard and feed you to the whales, or sic His warrior angels on you. He's searching for intimacy on the deepest level, and to that end, He pursues you.

The Proof of God's Love

You are so unique and special to Him, that He has to have you! He's not referred to as the "Hound of Heaven" for nothing! He'll sniff you out wherever you are, no matter how high, how deep, or how far you go. Don't try to wriggle out of His arms and run away. Let Him grab hold of you, seize you, love on you.

The ancient prophet Jeremiah wrote, "The Lord has appeared to me from afar, saying, "Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love. Therefore with loving kindness have I drawn you'" (Jer. 31:3). It was not only Jeremiah that God loved. Today, now, in this century, He loves you. The proof is the cross. God demonstrates His own love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died and shed His blood for us (Romans 5:8).

The Father's Touch

A dear and cherished prophetic friend of mine once had a vision of me as a little girl, walking down a sidewalk, holding onto Jesus' finger. What an awesome picture! I remember how unquestionable my love was for Jesus! I never doubted His love for me for a second as a little girl. It was simply love, without distraction, without busyness, without pretense, without ulterior motives, without the "t's" crossed and the "I's" dotted, it was just plain, love. I didn't have to search for love, it just found me.

Biblically, the Holy Spirit is referred to as the finger on the right hand of God. It is by the finger of God that God's law was written on tablets of stone, and that the "letter from Christ" entrusted to the care of the apostles, is written "with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone, but on tablets of human hearts." (Ex. 31:18; 2 Cor. 3:3).God's promises and plans, His love notes for us are written by the Holy Spirit on the table of our hearts. He wants you to know how exciting communication and connecting with Him can be! Here's one of many love notes He'll leave you (adapted from John 14:12-14):

Dear One,

I tell you the truth, because you have faith in me, you will do what I've been doing, that is, preach the Good News, heal the sick, deliver the oppressed. In fact, you will do even greater works than these, because I'm going to My Father. I promise you, I will answer your prayers, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. I pledge to you, Precious One, that you can ask anything of Me, and I will do it!

Love, Jesus

The hand or finger of God is used the most in showing His dazzling creative ability, "When I behold your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars which you set in place . . ." (Ps. 8:4). His hand made the heavens and the earth (Is. 66:1, 2). It flung the stars into the night sky. His hands formed and fashioned you (Job 10:8), and His hand is still the symbol of the love of God for you, "That My hand may be always with him, and that My arm may make him strong" (Ps. 89:22).

The Holy Spirit is specific and precise in His touch, and when your fingers connect, when His finger reaches into your life, the fire of His love transforms and scars. When God's finger touches you, evil has to flee. Satan with all of the forces of hell can't remain in the presence of God's dazzling touch.

Come! Come and see O Child of Royal Destiny! Come and see One who knows everything about you and loves you no matter what. Come, come and see the One who longs to be in relationship with you. Come let Him behold your beauty. Don't allow unbelief to pull you away.

God wants to touch you, zap you, transform you, and ignite you with His holy finger. Believe it. Stop running from Him, there's no place to hide. He's in hot pursuit of you, so collide with Him, connect with the Father, take hold of His finger, let Him love on you, put Him at the top of your list as the One you're bent on delighting, and let Him guide the rest of your steps. When you do, you faith level will soar. He'll arrange for your journey. Your job is to show up for the trip dazzling Him with your humility!