Cody Carnes - Run to the Father Devotional Sample

The Amazing Experience of Needing God My heart has been in Your sights Long before my first breath Running into Your arms Is running to life from death I feel this rush deep in my chest Your mercy is calling out Just as I am You pull me in I know I need You now I’ll never forget the moment I was saved. The pull on my heart. The rush in my chest. The overwhelming sense of “this is what I was created for.” Have you experienced that moment? Do you remember what it was like? How did you feel? What did God speak to your heart? Long before you ever took your first breath, God loved you. He had a plan for your life. He made a way for you to experience relationship with Him through Jesus. How blessed is God! And what a blessing he is! He’s the Father of our Master, Jesus Christ, and takes us to the high places of blessing in him. Long before he laid down earth’s foundations, he had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of his love, to be made whole and holy by his love. Long, long ago he decided to adopt us into his family through Jesus Christ. (What pleasure he took in planning this!) He wanted us to enter into the celebration of his lavish gift-giving by the hand of his beloved Son. Because of the sacrifice of the Messiah, his blood poured out on the altar of the Cross, we’re a free people—free of penalties and punishments chalked up by all our misdeeds. And not just barely free, either. Abundantly free! Ephesians 1:3-8 (MSG) I love that passage of scripture because it beautifully describes the heart of our Father towards us. The fact is, we’ll never stop needing Him. We’ll never stop needing to run to Him. But He never wants us to stop. Our needs don’t make Him weary or frustrated. In fact, I believe our needs are designed to keep us close to Him. He loves us! And as He meets our needs, He wants to give us the strength and boldness to reach out to others. God pulls us in, so He can send us out. He draws us close, so we can live from a place of knowing who we are, then help others experience that same kind of love, freedom, and hope. It all starts with running to the Father. And He’s waiting for us with open arms.