daily devotions for busy moms

I'm amazed that spending time with my son can actually be a great venue for experiencing His love just like, or sometimes even better than, when having "formal" daily devotions. I was playing with blocks with my two-year-old JD and a few other kids yesterday. I would set up a "foundation" so that he could put whatever he wanted on top without the fast risk of having everything topple over right away, and whenever he or his playmate would put a too-tall thin tower, I found myself trying to build around it so it would stay intact.

And it made me realize something interesting. Doesn't it feel great to know that Someone is preparing the foundation for us and taking care of us even when we're not conscious of it? JD certainly didn't understand yet that I was the one who kept his creation from falling apart, but we had great fun with it. I didn't have to keep swatting his hand to tell him, "No, that's not the way to do it," but I was just there, supporting him and having fun with him.

And the Lord reminded me that that's what He did-and does-for me, too. I don't have to worry about my "growth," but He takes care of it, from laying the foundation at the cross, to helping me through whatever I'm busy with and He's enjoying me every step of the way! Wow.

When you start your day or take time off for your devotions, do you ever start off feeling like a complete failure, like everything you do just doesn't measure up to what your parents, your husband or even your church leader, expects?

Sometimes we imagine this is how God feels about us, too: either He's angry about something we've done, or disappointed over something we haven't. After all, we reason, if my own dad is disappointed with me, how much more this Heavenly Father figure who has much higher standards? And if we can't even be patient with our own kids, surely we can expect His disappointment!

But in 1 Samuel 16, the Bible tells the story of God's choosing David to be the next anointed king. The story goes that Samuel thought each of David's seven older brothers was the one the Lord has chosen. But the Lord tells Samuel, "The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart (verse 7)."

In the same way, does this tell us something about how we've pictured God to be? We think He's like us, who tend to look at people's external qualities. Do you know that He looks at your heart-and He's pleased because He sees His Son? It's not your performance, beloved; no matter how poorly you perform or how high you achieve, the Lord is pleased with you because when He looks at you, He sees His beloved Son. And as He is, so are you in this world (1 John 4:17).

So you can relax and enjoy knowing that it's not your performance that determines how He looks at you. Rather, through His intense passion for you, He died in your place that He might see you in Christ. That's how much He loves you!

Having lived in this fallen world for a couple of decades has taught us an important lesson that we sometimes struggle with even when we have our devotions: that nothing is constant except change, that people come and go in our lives and we just have to live with it. With the rise of divorce in this age, we've come to accept the fact that even the most intimate human relationship-marriage-can falter and leave us helpless.

Sadly, the Christian life has been presented to us in very much the same way: that we need to keep our toes in line or else the Holy Spirit will suddenly get tired of us and leave us. Religion tells us that the Holy Spirit cannot dwell in a body that's not "holy," therefore we need to keep ourselves holy. This actually makes us live life afraid that any minute now, God Himself may get fed up with us and walk away.

This is definitely not the way God wants any of His children to live! The enemy knows full well that one who lives in fear will never rise above circumstances-and worse yet, he accuses God in our hearts, making us think He really is unwilling to stick with us through thick and thin. The result? We tiptoe around God's presence, never really entering in where we belong.

But what does His gift of His Son say? Romans 5:8 says, "While we were sinners, Christ died for us." This ought to say something about how willing God is to be with us! And He promises never to leave us nor forsake us-because that's how He designed it in the first place!

And if He paid with the precious blood of Jesus for Him to live inside of us-that must say something about how serious He is to stay with us forever! That's how much He loves you, precious one: He promises never to leave you nor forsake you, and He paid the price-with His blood wiping off every sin you may have done or may do-to ensure that He can stay with you forever!

Sometimes, before we have the chance to spend time with Him in sweet daily devotions, there's a little voice in the back of our heads that tell us we deserve the bad things happening to us-or even if we don't feel we deserve them, we feel there's no escaping these unhappy turnouts.

But guess what? All this is part of the curse brought by the fall, and God has longed to rescue us from this pain. He longed for it so much, in fact, that He took on our human frame so that He could take all the curse upon Himself that we may be set free from it!

Are you struggling with sickness, with financial lack, or any other dire circumstance? Know first of all that it's never the Lord's desire for you to suffer them. Also, know that He understands exactly how you're feeling in your particular set of circumstances, because He chose to become human like you are that He may be a high priest who knows you inside out.

But you want even better news? Because Jesus didn't deserve any of those but chose to bear them for you, you don't have to bear them anymore! Sickness, poverty, fear, anxiety, these all have no place in your life because Jesus took them from you upon Himself. If they're on Jesus at the cross, how can they be on you? Yes, the enemy may taunt you when you still see them in terms of reality, but the truth is that they have no rightful hold on you! Beloved, see these lying symptoms crucified with Christ on the cross!

While we may not physically be orphans, a lot of us may have grown up with an orphan mindset due to absentee parents or simply existent but distant parents' weaknesses. The sad thing about feeling like an orphan is that it eats us up inside, with our believing there's no one looking after our provision, our protection, and our future. This is why we definitely need to spend time having Him realign our minds when we have our daily devotions.

This orphan-mindset is definitely one consequence of the fall-one that Jesus sought to restore when He died on the cross as us. When Jesus took your place and became sin on the cross, He was forsaken by His Father, and, in exchange, gave you the right to be a "son" of God (John 1:12). The Spirit He puts inside you in fact agrees with this and cries out the intimate endearment, "Abba, Father" (or "Daddy" in modern English).

Are you at the end of your line, feeling abandoned by everyone, feeling as if no one is on your side? Your Father is on your side, He knows what you're going through, and He feels what you're feeling.

As an earthly father, I (Mark) know how it feels to see my baby cry in pain, and if only I could do something to relieve him of it! How much more does our heavenly Father long to comfort us! In fact, He not only empathizes with our pain, but He made a way, and chose to take the pain upon Himself when He became Man Himself.

This Father is not distant like some earthly fathers; neither is He always disappointed with you. Instead, He is always delighted in you, He's always eager to talk with you and to embrace you.

Run to your Daddy and hear Him tell you, "I'm here, my child, I'm always here for you. I love you."

When you sit down for your devotions, take some time to imagine this scene: Have you ever seen parents conversing with their little ones? Most, if not all of them, suddenly acquire a kiddie voice, and the words they use may not be what they would use with their grownup friends.

Why is that so? Could it be a picture into how our Heavenly Father relates to us?

Sometimes we may worry that we need to do something to hear what He's saying, like His "will" is somewhere out there beyond our reach. But, the Bible says, "if you earthly fathers know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more does your Heavenly Father give good gifts (Matthew 7:11)!"

Beloved, it was never us reaching out to Him first, so we never have to worry about trying to keep the communication lines open. He's the One who initiated the whole thing by coming as a Man-so you can trust that He can speak your language. He died on the cross to open the way for Him to live inside of us.

If it was through His death that the way became open for us to commune with Him, we can be sure that the way remains open no matter what! It no longer depends on our performance: it's not based on our success or failure, but based on His perfect work at the cross.

Relax, beloved. Jesus can speak your language, and He enjoys doing so because you are that precious to Him!

The first time I read about hearing babies using sign language to communicate their needs, I was spellbound. I was especially curious since baby JD was as loud and vocal a baby as I've ever met-and knowing there was an option for him not to yell our ears off when we don't know what he wants gave me something to grasp for!

The basic premise is that the baby, by about a few months of age, will already have acquired enough language knowledge to understand what you say to him and to have thoughts to express even without knowing how to express them. Studies show that babies' language development starts in this progression: understanding spoken language, using spoken language, reading, and then writing. it would seem that babies from a few months to about a year is somewhere in between the understanding of spoken language and being able to speak their thoughts out. Experts call this a phase of having thoughts to express without yet learning the means to express it.

As such, sign language is a great alternative at this time. Babies generally learn faster using actions; have you ever noticed how they love action songs more than regular songs? Babies can be taught to sign that they want more milk or juice, so you won't have to worry about what they are bawling about especially while you are teaching him mealtime manners! (On a side note, yes, even babies can be taught mealtime manners!) If he cries in the middle of the night, you don't have to spend time trying to guess what he's crying for; he can tell you straightaway that he wants his favorite stuffed bear, or if his diaper is wet, or if he feels pain anywhere.

As I mentioned earlier, my baby is one of the loud ones, and teaching him basic sign language indeed eased a lot of stressful crying sessions! By one year, before he could talk intelligibly, he could make the sign for "more" if he wanted more food, or open and close his fist to sign, milk. One time my hubby and I left him at his grandmother's, and we forgot to tell them that he was now signing for milk. When we picked him up, granny and grandpa told us how JD had insistently closed and open his fist while looking expectantly at them and they couldn't figure out what he meant! He wound up bawling anyway! But we all had a good laugh when they realized he was trying to communicate with them, and the next time we left him there, you could guess he no longer got frustrated trying to be understood!

For today's devotion time, why not consider this: Have you ever thought about Jesus' having become human? Can you imagine Him as a baby, crying for milk, then as a child, running and scraping a knee? Can you see Him growing up as the adolescent apprentice to Joseph's carpentry business?

What does this have to do with us? you may ask.

Do you know Jesus enjoyed every minute of His humanity--because it brought Him closer to you?

Picture this with me. A man wants to win the heart of a woman. What does he do? He tries to learn everything he can about the lady, wanting to understand why she reacts as she does, learning her family background, her likes and dislikes, her past experiences%u2026 and on and on.

The Bible tells us we have a high priest that can sympathize with our weakness (Hebrews 4:15). Can you see Jesus now going through every single experience in His earthly life--and in every experience, He's seeing your face?

And then now that He's resurrected, He chose to dwell inside of you (!) in the Person of the Holy Spirit--in order to understand and fully empathize with you!

Wow. That's how much He loves you!

When you sit down for your quiet moments with God, do you have a list of reasons why He blesses you, for example, with financial blessings?

Maybe it's because I went to church last week, maybe it's because I have the correct beliefs or doctrine about Him.

He'll bless me because I've been making the correct faith confessions-I've used the Word of God to claim His promises!

Or even the subtler, but more desperate, He'll have to bless me because His name is at stake since I told all my friends He'd provide for my needs!

But do you know what the Lord wants to tell us? There's a very basic reason why He does things for us. (By the way, do you know He enjoys doing us good? See Jeremiah 32:41)

Because He loves you! This reason sometimes feels elementary to us, but that's the truth. The reason God sent His Son to die in your place so you can enjoy the blessings is not only because He wants you to enjoy the blessings, period-but it was because He loves you!

Song of Songs tells us, "His banner over me is love."

All His ways toward you is love, beloved. Because He IS love, and you are His beloved. Savor it, savor it.

Are you going through a day when you feel like nobody likes you? In fact, you may even feel like you don't like yourself. Maybe it's because of something you did or something you didn't do. In any case there's a voice telling you you're not good enough.

But listen to the greater Voice. The Creator of heaven and earth has one word to say to you: "I like you and I enjoy you in your weakness."

Wait. You mean He enjoys me now? you may wonder. Maybe you know that God loves you, seeing that He died for you, but now that you're His child, you feel that you're nothing but a disappointment to Him. You think He'll only like and enjoy you once you've reached a certain level of "spiritual maturity."

But have you seen how parents act with their toddler who's just learning to walk? When the baby topples over, do the parents rush over to scold the little one for not knowing how to walk properly? Are they angry at his failure? Of course not! We see mothers and fathers speaking fondly of their kids, even those in their "terrible-twos!"

And yet we imagine our heavenly Father to be stricter, since we've been told that His standards for holiness are way higher! Yes they are, which is why He made sure He covered every possible loophole when Jesus died on the cross for our failures. Now, through these lenses, we may see the story of Peter's falling into the water a little more differently. Could it be that His tone of voice ("O you of little faith!") was less likely angry but more likely amused and even endearing?

That's why even in your weakness, you can rejoice knowing that God enjoys you and actually likes you! That's also why, when you come to God in prayer, you can always come boldly with the thought that you are His favorite!

Do you sometimes feel that God only enjoys you when you're doing "spiritual" things, or at least when you're thinking of Him? Maybe you grew up with the teaching of "praying unceasingly" and you feel that you can only please Him if you keep up a continual dialogue throughout the day.

But do you know how the Lord's heart beats for you? Even when you can't worship Him, He is enjoying you! This is because His enjoyment of you isn't dependent on your actions, but rather on the emotions in His heart towards you! A common picture of this would be parents enjoying their newborn babies even when all they do is sleep.

And what are His emotions toward you? Do you know that the only time the "rejoicing" of God over His people is described in the Bible, it's in the picture of a lovesick bridegroom rejoicing over his bride? How much enjoyment do you think there is in such a scene?

And this kind of enjoyment isn't only for specific occasions or seasons: the God we're talking about is the eternal, everlasting God, who is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow. So you can be sure His enjoyment of you remains constant, just as the redeeming power of the cross remains constant through the eternal blood of Christ!

What doesn't remain constant, however, is our consciousness of this enjoyment that He feels and so wants us to know.

So now He's here to tell you: Even when you can't sing Him songs of worship, He is enjoying you. Even if you can't take time to "listen" to Him, He is enjoying you!

How many times have you heard preachers telling you, "You were created to serve God," or the more friendly, "You were created to worship God"? You may not have noticed it at the moment, but at times when you're feeling like a boat tossed on the waves with no compass to lead your way, these actually leave you feeling empty and more lost.

You know something? You were created for something even greater than to be His worshipper. The Bible tells us in Song 4:12 that we are the King's secret garden.

What is this secret garden?

In Bible times, kings often had a garden separate from all other gardens. This secret garden was reserved solely for the king-not for visitors, not for tourists, but all for the king's pleasure.

What does this tell us? You were created for the King's pleasure! You are special to Him, every detail of you. You don't have to try to be someone you're not. This doesn't always work in the negative sense; sometimes we may even look up to someone for their intimacy with God.

But guess what? He is delighted over you-yes, YOU-even more than that other person, because you, beloved, are special to Him as you are. Nobody could replace you in His heart, because there's a place reserved just for you.

You are special to Him!

Did you grow up in a culture that separates the "secular" from the "spiritual?" Maybe you feel like you're loving God only when you're singing worship songs or attending a Bible study. Or if you're slightly more open-minded, maybe you feel like you're worshipping Him as you drive to work-as long as you sing or pray under your breath.

But you know what? Everything you do is an act of love for Him, whether you're conscious of it or not-mainly because you're a new creation in Christ! He has replaced your old wandering heart with a heart that beats with love and longing for Him every single second of the day-even when you can't feel it!

Let's take it a step further and see how He feels about your daily activities. Do you know He enjoys every single thing you do? Our God isn't some impersonal unfeeling Being way up in the clouds, watching "from a distance..." We have a God who feels pleasure and takes delight in you!

Proverbs 8:30-31 gives us an interesting description of Jesus in His pre-incarnate existence, that is, before He came in human flesh, when He was in joyful communion with His Father: "Then I was beside Him as a master craftsman; And I was daily His delight, Rejoicing always before Him, 31 Rejoicing in His inhabited world, And my delight was with the sons of men."

Do you see it? The God of the universe has His gaze set on you! Not only is Jesus the Father's daily delight, but because He now sees you in Christ, His delight is with you, too! Wow.

As a first-time mom with no resources to teach me to breastfeed, I had to wing it and depend only on verbal advice from women who had been mothers before I was. And I couldn't help feeling guilty, because the constant refrain in my mind was: breastfeeding is a BURDEN!

Yes, I know. Even saying that out loud feels so un-motherly. But can you relate? I know many mothers, if not most of them, can agree with the feeling that breastfeeding takes so much from us. We just don't want to admit it because we feel that it's the least we can do for our babies; after all, breast milk is best for babies, right?

But breastfeeding was burning me out-until I read the portion in On Becoming Babywise (by Gary Ezzo) that talked about breastfeeding a baby and giving him a full feeding every time.

What's a full feeding? Is there such a thing? Do babies even know when they're full?

The basic premise pointed out was that infants are normally sleepy, and usually doze off after a few minutes at the breast. And then, you never know when he would holler for more milk. It could be ten minutes, it could be twenty, it could be one hour. That indicated that he wasn't full yet; he just fell asleep! The book taught me about how to nurse my baby at a time when he had just woken up, and then to keep nursing until he's full. That way, when he fell asleep, he would sleep more soundly and ease into a fairly regular routine of waking up a couple of hours later for more milk, instead of the unpredictability that comes from random fillings of milk!

And I must say, it certainly made a difference for me, because I was no longer offering my breast to my baby every fifteen minutes for the entire day! I bet it would spare you a lot of strain, too. After all, you can only give your best when you yourself are at your prime, too, so as a mother, you have the right to take care of your body. In fact, you have to take care of yourself, if you want to give the best for your family!

When you hear people talk about the cross, what comes to your mind? Do you see it as something that happened two thousand years ago, something you're happy for only because it led to mankind's salvation? Do you see it as something big and powerful but otherwise distant and unreachable? But do you want to know what God feels about the cross?

While we can't exactly find human experience that closely articulates the way God feels when He planned the cross before He even created the world, imagine with me: human beings are fond of planning surprises for their loved ones. For example, a mom may spend weeks planning a birthday party for her firstborn; a doting father may labor for months at a time handcrafting a tree-house for his little boys; a lovesick man may lie sleepless countless nights preparing for the ultimate proposal occasion for his beloved.

These are but tiny glimpses of the emotions in God's heart when He plotted the cross-the perfect gift He desired to give you way before the foundations of the world: the gift of Himself!

Do you see it? The cross is something more than just a Bible doctrine you talk about when inviting another person away from hell (in other words, fire insurance), but it's His very personal gift especially for you: when He endured on the cross, He was seeing you and looking forward so much to spending eternity with you! When He bore the crown of thorns, He bore it gladly because He knew it meant freeing you from the consequence of Adam's fall; when He hung on the tree, He hung there satisfied, knowing it would take the curse off of you and onto Him.

Enjoy His gift, beloved! It's especially for you.

Do you sometimes feel that maybe God got a little less than He initially hoped for when He got you? Like maybe He's regretting having you in the kingdom since you constantly fail Him-but that He has no choice but to put up with you?

Imagine this with me: have you seen expectant parents imagining how their baby would be when he or she came out? More often than not, the baby winds up exactly as the parents hoped for. The analogy might end there, though, because sometimes, human parents do feel a little short-changed, especially when their teenagers fall in with the wrong crowd.

But guess what? Do you know Who created you and Who redeemed you? The One who created you and the One who redeemed you is One and the same-the all-knowing, all-powerful God who loves you more than anything. And His love is in no way blind! He knew exactly what He was getting into when He formed you, and He knew exactly what He was buying back when He paid the price for you.

And you know what His conclusion is day after day as you interact with Him through all your struggles? You are exactly what He desires and asked for!

Beloved, anytime you feel unwanted, picture the cross and see Jesus telling you, "I did this for you. How I feel for you the day you became Mine is the same passion I feel for you now, and it will never change!"

Enjoy, little one, He is happy with you.

Have you ever been to a party or office event where you felt underdressed, and hoped nobody you knew would notice you squirming in the corner? It's really not fun being clothed in the wrong outfit, is it?

There is an analogy in the kingdom of God that pertains to our clothing. Do you know that when Jesus died on the cross as you, He actually clothed you with His own righteousness? This means that when God looks at you, you have on His very own beauty and holiness-and in God's language, being clothed in His robe of righteousness means you are perfectly accepted and welcome in His presence.

This is what happened in the story of the lost son. When he came home, starving and practicing his script to apologize to his father, guess what the father did? "When he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. (Luke 15:20)."

As if that weren't enough, when the son began his prepared speech to count himself unworthy of being his father's son, the father cut him off and immediately called his servants to clothe his son with the best robe-signifying that he was still calling him 'son.'

Can you hear your heavenly Father showing off your robe of righteousness to the multitudes of angels around His throne? And that's not just any simple outfit, either: He paid for it with the blood of His own Son, and nothing can take it away from you!

Wow.

When we think about the things that are in God's heart, we tend to think along the lines of evangelism, charity, and some other lofty ideal. After all, He IS God, and we don't think He can be bothered with anything less than worldwide matters.

But do you know one thing that has stolen His heart far above world peace and similar concerns? The Bible mentions only one thing that has stolen the heart of this awesome God before whom all the angels bow and all creation trembles: you.

The reason Jesus came to earth and gave His life is not for some impersonal list of numbers corresponding to human beings; He came for you! Can you imagine? You, with all our imperfections and flaws and immature love. Yet because you've been made right with Him through Jesus' death on your behalf, when God looks at you, He says you have stolen His heart! The New King James version puts it, "You have ravished my heart." Talk about extreme emotion!

What's more, your love for Him, though weak, is more precious to Him than anything! One glance of your eyes blows Him away, and He says your love is more delightful than wine! Wine, the Bible says, "gladdens the heart." Wow, this means your love for Him is what gladdens His heart more than anything else!

You are never unimportant, beloved, because you have stolen the heart of the King of kings!

When was the last time somebody made you feel he or she was happy with you? More likely, maybe it wasn't even such an expressive way of making you know it, like maybe just through a smile or a text message forward.

Do you know how expressive God is about His enjoyment over you? First off, let's establish one thing: the Bible tells us that He takes great delight in you. In fact, one of His favorite names for you is Hephzibah, which means, "My delight is in her (Isaiah 62:4)."

And do you know how the Bible describes God expressing this enjoyment? It says "he will rejoice over you with singing." The Hebrew word for "rejoice" in this verse is actually more than just a feeling of happiness. The word actually means to exult, and has the connotation of twirling like a top! Wow, can you imagine this great Almighty dancing and singing over you?

Remember when David danced before the ark with all of his might, unmindful of the stares of the people? That's just a picture of the kind of joy that fills God's heart when He looks at you, and David's dancing is just a picture of the dancing that His King does over you! And all the love songs we hear on the radio are but tiny-minuscule!-pictures of the love flowing through His entire being!

Amazing. Can you hear Him singing over you?

It's one thing to say a person isn't ugly, but it's quite another to say she's beautiful.

Sometimes we know that our ugliness has been transferred to Jesus, as portrayed by the sin offering in the Old Testament, but we usually have trouble accepting that His beauty has been transferred to us-pictured in the burnt offering. It can't be true, our minds argue. God isn't blind; surely He sees my flaws and weaknesses!

But what does the Bible say? The Bible says, in God's eyes, you are "all beautiful," and "there is no flaw in you!" How can that be?

When Jesus became sin and you became righteous, it wasn't just a "suppose" scenario, but it is truth. Truth is unchanging, although reality can sometimes show us otherwise. This means that, in light of the finished work of Jesus, where He shed His eternal blood, there really is no flaw in you! And the news is even better: since His blood is eternal, that means the beauty He gave us also never changes!

Have you spent most of your time being dictated by what other people say about you? Human tendency is to point out flaws; it's part of the downfall of Adam's having partaken the tree of knowledge of good and evil. But God views us differently, and what He says is all that matters.

You are beautiful, beloved, there is no spot in you!

We've all had one of those days--you know, the ones where nothing seems to go right, and we hate the words coming out of our mouths because we know that's not who we are. I don't mean words like promises that we don't keep, but more like mean, hurtful words, words that cause us to think, "If words could kill, we'd be behind bars."

Sometimes this failure of our tongues causes us to feel guilty and bad about ourselves.

But do you know what the Lord is saying over you? To Him, your lips "drop sweetness as the honeycomb." Can anything be sweeter than honey? And He continues, "Milk and honey are under your tongue." What about milk and honey?

In the Bible, milk and honey are the primary descriptions of the land of Canaan where God promised to bring His chosen people the Israelites; He called it, "a land flowing with milk and honey." Milk is a picture of nourishment, and honey a picture of sweetness. In other words, to say that your tongue has "milk and honey" is to say that your words bring life and happiness to those around you.

Listen to His definition of your tongue, beloved. And even if reality still has trouble catching up with the truth, just remember that His truth remains true no matter what. Reality will just catch up as you keep believing what He says about you!

No matter how many good family or friends you have, you're bound to come face-to-face with a situation when you feel like nobody is on your side. It may be because of an unpopular decision you had to make, or simply because of your personal quirks. In any case, it's never a fun place to be. A lot of our irritating "habits" are actually linked to this feeling of being all alone. When we feel like nobody is defending us, we wind up defending ourselves-or even attacking-at the slightest provocation. When we feel that nobody is looking out for our well-being, we tend to take matters into our own hands and, by our own effort, insist on getting our way.

This is not the kind of life our heavenly Father wants us to live! He wants us to rest, knowing that Someone is on our side-and that Someone just happens to be the King of the universe!

How can we be sure He's on our side, especially when we've just blown it, big time? Or, better put, how can we be sure He's on our side especially when we've failed, of all people, Him?

You know something? The cross was precisely designed to pay for our failure. Your mess-ups simply say one thing: you need a Savior! And Jesus is more than happy to be Savior to you! He's definitely on your side, because He loved you enough to come and become human and die in your place. And guess what? It's not as if Jesus decided it on His own; He and the Father are one, so the Father is on your side, too. And because Jesus was forsaken at the cross, you're fully forgiven and therefore accepted by the Father!

This means He can always rightfully be for you! And this Father knows everything we need even before we ask, He's always looking after your interests even when nobody else is, and He's also very much interested in everything you're going through and has prepared provisions for what you're about to go through! You can relax in your Father's love.