Welcome to Christianity.com. My name is Barbara Latta. I am a wife, a mother, a grandmother, a writer, and most of all, I'm a Christian. My journey started when I was about seven years old.
My best friend's dad was our pastor, and he talked to us girls and told us that we were lost. Well, I didn't understand what that meant as a seven-year-old, but it got me to thinking because up until that time, I just thought people went to heaven because they were good and the bad people went to, well, you know, that other place that kids aren't supposed to talk about. But then when he told us that, it got me thinking about it.
One night, I had a dream. I was lost in the woods, much like what's behind me here, except it was very dark. There was no light coming through it at all, and I was terrified. The more I tried to get out of the woods by myself, the more lost I became. And then Jesus came to me and he led me out of the woods, out into the light. And isn't that what he does for us? He leads us out of the darkness into his marvelous light.
As I grew and started reading the Bible, I learned more to understand, and I found out more about his love and what he wanted from us. It's not just about going to heaven, even though that is a wonderful benefit. That's our final destination. But he leaves us here on this earth to be emissaries of him, to be his disciples, to learn how to express his love to other people. Because he told his disciples, people will know who you are by your love for one another and also for other people who aren't so kind to you. And now, even as I'm older, every time I open his word, I get a new revelation of his love because it never ends.
He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. His love will never leave us or forsake us. We grow in his love because we learn more about him.
One of my favorite scriptures in the Bible is Romans 8:38-39, which tells us, "For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." I hope you will also open that word and learn all about that love. Be blessed today and visit Christianity.com regularly because our story is not finished yet.
Amen.
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