"What do you think God’s love is? Do you envision a permissive love that allows you to do whatever you want to? That isn’t what God’s love is. You see, God loves you enough to put restrictions in your life. He loves you enough to say, “Do this. It will help you. And don’t do this. It’s bad for you.”

Suppose a child asks his mother, “Mommy, can I play in the street?” Of course she would say, “No, you may not. I love you and don’t want you to be in a place where you would be endangered. One day, you will realize that I did this not from a lack of love, but because I do love you.”

It’s the same with us. When God says no to us, it is not that He doesn’t love us. It’s just the opposite. It’s because He loves us.

In the Garden of Eden, God told Adam, “ ‘Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die’ ” (Genesis 2:16–17). So the devil tempted Eve: “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” (Genesis 3:1). Essentially he was saying, “If God really loved you, then He would let you do whatever you want.” The truth was that because God loved Adam and Eve, He did not want them to sin. Yet they disobeyed God and fell into sin.

Those limits that you find in the pages of the Bible are there for your own good. God has put a fence around you, so to speak. But it is not to keep you confined, €”it is to keep you safe from the many dangers in this world." Greg Laurie

Amen. Lord, what sorts of limits do You wish to put on my life right now? It seems the more I come to know and trust You, the narrower the confines of my fence become. I know that I'd rather have that than to run around willy nilly in a large pen, getting covered up to my eyeballs in sin. I know that ultimately, the narrow path You have me on is the way of FREEDOM! How mysterious are Your ways, Oh Lord! How different they are from what we would call common sense! Who can fathom the depths of Your knowledge? Your ways are definitely not my ways - but I want them to be!

Step By Step

Oh God, You are my God,
and I will ever praise You
Oh God, You are my God,
and I will ever praise You
I will seek You in the morning,
and I will learn to walk in Your ways
And step by step You’ll lead me,
and I will follow You all of my days
And I will follow You all of my days,
and I will follow You all of my days
And step by step You’ll lead me,
and I will follow You all of my days

Will You use Your Spirit to remind me to seek You in the morning tomorrow? I want to obey You in this matter, but it's difficult and I need Your supernatural assistance! Actually, what DON'T I need Your supernatural assistance for?!? Regardless, I know that You wait for me to ask, so I'm asking!!!

Lord, help me continue to be restored today as I have some down time and tonight as I have some alone time. May it glorify You! Be with my husband and children as well as they enjoy their time together. Strengthen and encourage Michael. I love my husband SOOOOOO MUCH. Thank You Jesus for this wondrous gift of marriage.