Imagine. Just imagine God writing you a personal letter. Not a form letter or a group email. Instead, God tells an angel, “Grab a pen and take down a letter for one of my children” . . . and the child of God is YOU.

Pouring out His heart, God shares some of the reasons He absolutely adores you. He describes how you bring Him joy and how you bless people. But His letter tells it like it is, so it also includes something else – things about you that God can’t stand.

Granted, God doesn’t use letters or stone tablets any more, but He still reveals His heart through the Bible, the Spirit’s prompting, and discerning believers. And although God absolutely adores you, He doesn’t pound down the door and barge into your life. Instead, He knocks. He waits. He yearns. And when you open the door, He comes in and fellowships with you (Revelation 3:20). Still, I can only imagine what a letter from God to me would say.

How about you? What would a personal letter from God say about you?

What good deeds of yours would God commend, and what flaws would He rebuke? As my dear friend, Gary Stowe, recently reminded me, that’s what God did for the seven churches in Revelation 2 and 3. And Gary issued a challenge to our connection class at Cross City Church:  to write the letter that God would write to you if you were one of those seven early churches.

I knew it would be convicting, but I’m sharing my letter with you because of one reason – a lesson I learned while serving parents at church: Get personal because it opens hearts.

By letting people know the real you, you open their hearts to the God in your heart. And more importantly, let God get personal in your own heart. Here’s what God put in my heart when I dug deeper to know His . . .

Letting God get personal to me

“To Tim Alba, I write: These are the words of the Abiding One who gave Himself to save you, as well as to love you, live in you, and bless through you. You avoid many bad things. You don’t disqualify yourself. You lead your family, church, and career with courage and care. You are passionate and purposeful in whatever you put your hand to do.

“But this I have against you. You are busy. You are driven to learn and achieve, even for My namesake, yet too often you serve from your own strength, not mine. You push, rather than pull from me. You empty yourself, but miss My filling.

“I love your doing, but do this first – love Me. Abide in Me. Draw from Me. Reflect My joy. Rest in My balance. Sip slowly from My well. Trust My plan. Then you can encourage others from My overflow, give via My abundance, see through My eyes, cry with My afflicted, and pour forth My heart.

“Behold, I stand, longing for the intimacy of your embrace. Every day. Every hour. Every moment. I want your heart, not just your hand. I want your attention, not just your intention. I want you. When you do, I’ll be here. For I not only yearn for the prodigal child to come home to Me, but I also yearn for the performing child to truly be here with Me.

“He who has ears, let him hear what the Spirit says to you, My beloved child.”

Letting God get personal to you

God wants to use you, but He also wants fellowship with you. He wants to reveal His Son’s sacrifice and saving power through you if you’ll let Him get personal to you. Just imagine His intimacy, His encouragement, His challenge. Then, and only then, are you and I able to do better . . . because we aren’t performing for God; we’re reforming for Him.

Wherever you are and whatever you’re going through, take the challenge. Just like He did for those seven early churches, let God reveal in writing these five things about you:

  • How God would describe Himself
  • How God would commend you
  • How God would rebuke you
  • How God would encourage you
  • What God would promise you

Questions:  What can you do to let God get more personal to you? If God were to describe you right now, what would He say? What do you wish He could say about you?