Rebecca St. James - Loved: Stories of Forgiveness

Due to the sensitive nature of the topics discussed, all names have been changed and identifying details have been modified.

Copyright 2009 by Alive Communications, Inc.

All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher. All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved. Scriptures noted nlt are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2004. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved. Scriptures noted nasb are taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE, Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. Scriptures noted nkjv are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Scriptures noted esv are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. You Are Loved lyrics on p. v used by permission. Written by Rebecca St. James 2005 Up In The Mix Music / Rambuka Music (BMI), admin. by EMI CMG Publishing

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First eBook Edition: September 2009

ISBN: 978-0-446-55817-4

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This book will encourage you to know that whatever the problem is, our past does not destroy our future and we can actually enjoy a friendship with God.

Nancy Alcorn, founder and president of Mercy Ministries

LOVED is full of precious stories that demonstrate Gods ever-flowing grace, mercy and love. This book reminds us that He is always poised with open arms waiting for us to return to His embrace so He can heal our wounds and wash us in His deep, enduring love. These testimonies prove that love never quits, never ends and truly never fails.

Leigh Devore, Charisma

This collection of compelling stories is like a beautiful bouquet presented to readers with a life-changing message attached: you are loved.

Camerin Courtney, senior editor, Todays Christian Woman

God is in every detail of our livesthe big and the small, the good and the bad. These amazing and inspiring stories will remind you of just how big our God really is and how He longs to carry you, heal you, and rescue you with that love. It is never too late!

Tammy Trent, recording artist, speaker, and author of Learning to Breathe Again

also by Rebecca St. James

Sister Freaks

Pure

Wait for Me

SHE

SHE Teen

We were younger then, you and me, full of dreams, werent we?

I went my way, you went yours, where did you go, dear?

Someone said you had left the life we lived together then

This is my way of reaching out cause I remember

This is what I want to say to you

If I had one chance to speak to your heart

You are loved

More than you could ever know

This is what I want to say to you

If I had one chance to tell you something

You are loved

More than you can imagine

Imagine

If I told you would you believe, the narrow road, I did not leave

If I told you would you understand that Ive found truth

Are you jaded? Are you hurting now? How I wish that I could tell

Where your hearts at can you see? Mine has foundhome

Not sure if Ive, made it clear enough

Its not my love I sing about

Everybody asks, Is God good?

I believe, He is

In fact I know, He is

You Are Loved by Rebecca St. James

W hen I was a child in Sydney, I had a friend named Daniel. I fell out of contact with him after leaving our Christian school to move to a different state. Years later, a mutual friend told me Daniel had fallen away from God and was going through a difficult and rebellious period. I was shocked and sad for him. When I was writing songs for the album that became If I Had One Chance to Tell You Something, Daniel randomly came to mind againand I felt that this random thought was actually placed there by God. I had the concept: If I had one chance to tell Daniel something, what would I say to him? The message I felt God really laid on my heart was to tell him, You are loved.

A few years have passed, and I think I understand the message even better now, explained to me by another friend, my life coach, Ken.

During one of our regular conversations, Ken gathered a wastepaper basket and a water bottle and brought them to where I sat on the comfy couch next to the crocheted pillow. He held the full water bottle over the empty basket-turned-bucket and began to slowly pour water into it. He asked me to try to grasp the water in my fist. I tried and wound up with only wet hands. No substantial amount of water remained in my hands at all. He then began to pour again and asked me to cup my hands under the water flow. This time my cupped hands began to fill with water and eventually to overflow. I was moved as a dawning realization encompassed my heart. My hands were in a position of receiving rather than grasping, being rather than doing; they were open palms rather than clenched fists. And this brought fullness, to the point of brimming over.

This is the way it is with Gods love. For many years my walk with God centered around my performance. If I was doing what I thought I needed to do spiritually, then God and I were good. And if I wasnt, then He was disappointed in me. I was grasping at Gods love for me, rather than receiving it. I was trying to earn His love rather than graciously taking it and living for Him out of gratefulness for His goodness.

Our culture typically functions in this way: A + B = C. If I do this and that, then this desired end result will be mine. But God cannot be manipulated in this way. Spiritually, A plus B does not always equal C. Sure, we reap what we sow, both for good and evil. But just because we live to please God does not mean things will always turn out the way we want them to.

Gods ways are higher than our ways, and the end result we hope for is not always what is best for us or what our loving Father will give us. The relationship with our ideal match may not turn out. We may not receive the job opportunity we think would be so perfect. But we need to see life from Gods all-knowing,all-encompassing view. What we can count on, what He does promise us, is His love. A love that must be received, not earned. A love that involves surrender, not getting it right. The women profiled in this book are wonderful examples of that love, receiving from God even when the formula indicates they dont deserve it.