Four Years and Counting/Make Me More (double feature)

Posted on July 10, 2021 by franceestrain

This week marks the fourth anniversary of writing for my website. It has been an exciting journey to meet people from all over the world. I wanted to take this opportunity say thank you.

•Thank you to anyone who has taken time to read my articles.

•Thank you to those who have become site followers.

•Thank you to those who have shared how an article has impacted you.

•Thank you to those who have given me words of encouragement.

•Thank you to those who have purchased my book.

I am grateful to all of you for being a part of my life. I truly appreciate your support.

Below, you will find the first article I ever posted. Its words still ring true. This is what still pours from my heart.

Make Me More

Do you ever feel like you are not enough? Do you want to be more? I suppose we all might likely answer yes to this question, as I do not think I have ever met anyone who has said, “I wish I was less.” Why is it that we want to be more? Why do we think that we are not enough just as we are?

We want to be more because that is how we were created to be. We long for more. We search for more. We ask for more. We yearn for more.

We have hearts that are on a quest. Hearts that search and long for something else that they do not yet have. That something that we do not yet have is eternity. God has placed a longing in our hearts for it. A longing for a life that is full and vibrant and beautiful.

So, how do we reconcile the reality of what is and the reality of what could be? How do we get to this place of eternity where the longing will be fulfilled? The answer is really quite simple. We place our longing into the hands of God and we take into our hands what He offers in return for that longing. He offers salvation first. If we choose to accept that gift, our hands can then become so full that they overflow.

The gift of salvation opens the door to blessings unimaginable because it is the key.

Salvation is given to you when you give your faith and trust to God. When you realize that there is a door between you and God, a separation that needs to be removed so that you can be together with Him, that is when your hand is about to grasp the key.

Jesus is the key–the key to eternal life. He is the perfect Son of God who became a perfect sacrifice for you. He lived a sinless life on this earth and died a painful death on the cross to become the key that opens the door to eternal life. Each of us is separated from God by our wrongdoings and imperfections. Jesus came to die on the cross to forgive us of those wrongdoings and make us perfect through His righteousness. Your belief in His death to atone for these wrongs, and your request that He forgive you of yours, will cleanse you of them and permit you to enter through the door.

And then, there is more. Salvation through Jesus gives you eternal life, but you also have the opportunity to have abundant life. Into your hands–into your life, heart, mind, soul, and relationships–can come love, joy, peace, strength, ability, patience, kindness, and so much more. You can be transformed in how you live–how you act, think, feel, relate. You can be more. More because of the gifts that will be placed into your hands. More because you will have things that you never had before. Things that cannot be measured. Things that cannot be priced. Things that are not tangible. The “more” will be things that are immeasurable: like the grace of God that covers all sin, a peace that passes all understanding, a joy that is present even when there is no cause for happiness, and a supernatural ability to endure.

And then we, when we have “more,” can be made more. We can be made into beautiful representations of the love of God, the strength of God, the passion of God. He is able to do above and beyond all that we ask, think, or imagine.

As for me and myself, I say: “Make me more!”

I want to glow like I have never glowed before. I want to shine like a star in the heavens. I want to go in the strength of the Lord God. I want to do what I have never been able to do before. I want to tread a path that follows in the footsteps of Jesus. I want to think like He thinks, feel like He feels, love like He loves.

Yes, God, make me more.