A Conversation With God

“What is a saint, Judy?”

Well, it’s certainly not me, I thought, remembering my angry thoughts of the day before.

Many years earlier, after an extensive word study on the word saint in the Bible, I had written a poem about it. Now, this morning, my Father God had awakened me to talk with him about it.

“You are a saint, my child. A saint is a sinner saved by grace, salvaged, made worthy to see my face. According to the Bible, who can see God’s face, my child?”

Thinking of the beatitudes in Matthew 5, I answered, “The pure in heart?”

“Yes,” his Spirit answered me in my heart. “Because you have repented and been forgiven, because you seek me with your whole heart, you are pure in heart. Therefore you seek to be in tune with me, seek to glorify me by your life. I will therefore let you see my face.”

“When Lord?” I ask. “Do you mean in heaven?” I didn’t hear or sense an answer to that.

I told him, “Yes, Lord, I’d love to see your face. I want to know you better.”

“That’s what I want, too.”

The early morning songs of the birds distracted me for a moment. Then I turned my attention back to God. “Thank you for bringing my life situation to a good place. I feel happy, content, and loved.”

I felt hugged. I asked the Lord, “What else do you want to say to me?”

“Think through the poem. I’ll meet you there.”

The Saint

 A saint is a sinner saved by grace,

salvaged, made worthy to see God’s face.

Serving the Lord with a song in her heart,

this steward is faithfully doing her part.

Sometimes a saint will suffer alone,

even rejected by those in her home.

But God has acquitted, adopted this one.

So life is abundant, assured by the Son.

In Christ she abides, invited to stay.

The Lord intercedes for her each day.

Indwelt by the Spirit, reflecting His image,

Saint gains an inheritance kept for her lineage.

No other name could be so adored

as Jesus Christ’s name, for He is the LORD!

Neighbors are loved, and God supplies needs.

Thankful saint worships the Lord as He leads.

Tasting God’s goodness, thirsting for more,

Saint trains her children to enter life’s Door.

Using her talents, she tells of God’s deeds

and trusts in God’s triumphs, planting His seeds.

As I meditated on the poem which God’s Spirit had guided me to write many years earlier, my heart swelled with thanksgiving. “Thank you, LORD, for your grace…for salvaging me. Thank you for giving me a song in my heart. Thank you for bringing me into a good marriage. Thank you for acquitting me (counting me not guilty) and for adopting me as your child. Thank you for the abundant life of living in relationship with you, through your Son, Jesus Christ.

“I accept your invitation to continue to live in you. Thank you, Holy Spirit, for interceding for me–please continue. I pray I will reflect your image. I also pray my descendants will know you intimately as I know you.

“I adore you, LORD Jesus! I honor you as my LORD. I willingly give you charge of my life.

“Help me love people as you wish. Thank you for providing for all my needs. I worship you and praise you, and will follow you all my days and nights.

“Father, you have let me taste your goodness! It is so sweet! I want more and more of this intimacy with you. I pray nothing will ever create a barrier between us.

“But Father, I feel I’ve failed to train my children the way you wanted me to. Is it too late to have a positive influence on them?

“Guide me what to do and give me strength, wisdom, and courage to obey your guidance. Thank you for the talents you’ve given me. I pledge to use them to tell others of your greatness and goodness. I trust you will have the victory and give the victory as I plant your seeds faithfully.”

After this conversation with God, I can’t say I actually saw His face, but I could sense his smile and his warm embrace.