The Treasure: Living Immersed in His Love

By Becca Gunyon MCC

True life is found in the unconditional love of God. My performance-based identity was rescued by the truth that we are treasured by the heart of God. Transformation happened when I found myself wrapped, immersed and overtaken by His love. My heart’s desire is that you will find yourself precious to the heart of God and captured by His tender, powerful love- for you are His special treasure!

“I’ve had the pleasure of knowing the author my entire life. Her heart for Jesus radiates & her love for others is truly genuine! Within these pages (or devotionals), infused with imagery Becca demonstrates the love of God to its fullest. Anyone that reads will clearly see God’s desire to have a relationship with His children (you and me). God asks us to ‘Come’ as we are, imperfect & undeserving. The choice is ours as He is waiting & longing to hear from us. By the Holy Spirit’s power may He speak to you through the Treasure Series as He did me.”

Micah Owings- entrepreneur, speaker, former MLB pitcher, scout, coach, loving brother

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Jan 9, 2019
• ISBN: 9781973647287

Becca Gunyon MCC

Becca Gunyon, MCC loves moments with her family laughing, learning, sporting, serving, growing, and walking through life’s adventure together. Writing, counseling, mentoring, speaking, parent coaching are elements of ministry that she enjoys as Executive Director of The Way Counseling.

Book preview

Copyright © 2018 By Becca Gunyon, MCC.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

WestBow Press

A Division of Thomas Nelson & Zondervan

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.westbowpress.com

1 [phone]

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

ISBN: 978-1-9736-4727-0 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-9736-4726-3 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-9736-4728-7 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2018914263

WestBow Press rev. date:   12/26/2018

Contents

Author’s Note-

The Treasure

Preface - The Treasure

Treasures

Unconditional

He Desires Us

Drawn to the Father

Calling My Name

Extravagant

In the Dark

Life Is Hard

Throne of Grace

The Goal

He Finds Us

Acceptance

His Thoughts

Broken Treasures

At Home

Delight

God with Us

Lover of My Soul

You Are Special

Caring for Wounds

He Painted the Sky for Me

Indispensable Necessity

God Smiles

Bliss

Delight

He Listens

He Stoops

God the Father

He that Rests

His Hands

His View of You

Peddling on Flats

He Runs to Us

God Is Here

He Remains the Same

Jesus—The One Who Calms the Storms

I Will Give You Rest

Give It to God

He Is the Blessing

God of the Details

His Label

Captured

Who We Really Are

Living Treasured

Living Treasured

His Whisper

He Calls Our Name

He Notices

His Touch

How Does God Speak

For I Know

Each Care

His Care

Embrace the Life I Have Given You

CHAINED

The Swirl

God of The Storm

Our View of God

The Splinters in Life

Our Gift to Him

We Cry to Him

Forgiven

Words that Bring Rest

Ask Him

The God Who Sees Us

Adventurously Expectant

The Entangled Race

Steady Persistence

By My Side

Call Out to Him

How Far the East is from the West

Papa

The Comforter

The Big Picture

He Uses What We Have

God’s Humor Even in Surrender

DENTS

Faith

Hope

Heart Realness

Spirited Dance

Second Chances

To Know God

Love Chapter

Who I Am

Seeing Life

God Makes a Miraculous Way

He is Always by My Side

Lovely and Lovable

The Lord Will Provide

Bitter or Better

God Meets Me There

What Is Underneath

Words that Bring Rest

Temple

Clutter

The Giver of Great Gifts

Happiness

Keep Going

Dream a Dream

Treasuring Others Be the Blessing

Treasuring Others

Be the Blessing

Enjoy

Feelings vs. Blessings

Treasured By the Heart of God

Bless

My Mood Matters

The Heart of the Blesser

Equip

Continually

In the Morning

Thoughts

Frustrations

Doors

Do Everything in LOVE.

Perspective

Circles

Realness

Fruit

Our Story

Forgive

In His Arms

Our Gift to Him

Seeing Through His Eyes

Mud Puddle

Bitter or Better

Seek and Give Solutions

For Better

Deep Breaths of Thankfulness

Delight

Live to Bless

Unexpected Treasures

Living Jesus Day by Day

Recognized

The Power of Joy Blesses

Lovely and Lovable

My Ministry Journey

Notes-

About the Author

NIV: Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™

NLT: Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright ©1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

NCV: Scripture taken from the New Century Version®. Copyright © 2005 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

NASB: Scripture quotations taken from the New American Standard Bible® (NASB),

Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation Used by permission. www.Lockman.org

TLB: Scripture quotations marked (TLB) are taken from The Living Bible copyright © 1971. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

MSG: Scripture quotations marked MSG are taken from THE MESSAGE, copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress. All rights reserved. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.

AMPC: Scripture quotations taken from the Amplified® Bible (AMPC), Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation Used by permission. www.Lockman.org

AMP: Scripture quotations taken from the Amplified® Bible (AMP), Copyright © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation Used by permission. www.Lockman.org

Author’s Note-

Knowing we are treasured by the heart of God is life changing. Living treasured is about learning to walk with God daily. By treasuring others, we spill God’s love out on those around us. The Treasure Series is a compilation of devotions that I wrote to share the love of Jesus for Lord’s Way Ministry.

My sixteen-year old son, who helped with editing, told me that I needed to include in the author’s note that readers might want to journal as they read. I love his insight and wanted to encourage you to write in this book or bring your journal along.

Journaling invites us on an adventure into understanding deep parts of our souls and the heart of God. My hope is that you will find yourself treasured by the heart of God, for His love is the foundation of life itself. Living connected to the Author of Love is true life and empowers healthy living. May you find yourself treasured by God, and as a result live life in the truth that you are treasured, which leads to sharing His love by treasuring others!

The Treasure

Dedicated to my daddy- Jim Owings who lives the Good Father to me

Thankful to Dan, my husband, who truly adores me, believes in me, and makes me feel treasured,

Thankful to my Mom and Dad who always brought me to Jesus my whole life

Thankful to Owin, my oldest son, who speaks the love of Jesus back to me

Thankful to Addi, my daughter, who speaks His gentle truth to me pushing me to grow

Thankful to Eben, my son, who lives the servant heart of Jesus to me

Thankful to John Ethan, my son, who shines the joy of Jesus always

Thankful to Anden, my son, who asks me profound questions of Jesus making me grow

Thankful to all my siblings (my life-time friends) Josh and Meredith Owings, Matt and Abi Tuiasosopo, Micah Owings, & JonMark Owings, who all live going after their dreams

Thankful to my nephews for their sweet hugs and laughter

Thankful to The Way Counseling board for their support, wisdom and prayers

Thankful to our church family, Gwinnett Church, GIVE, SERVE, LOVE is the way of life!

Thankful to my precious girl friends who encourage me to write and dream!

Thank you to Jim Owings, Owin Gunyon, Kendra Burton, and Anne Alexander for editing!

Thankful to my Jesus, His love is the only way to live, my heart is full because of HIM!

Preface - The Treasure

But you are a chosen people…God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light. (1 Peter 2:9 NIV)

Amid my search for significance and approval, God whispered to me on a mountain in Colorado. While I was serving at Frontier Ranch, a Young Life camp, His still small voice spoke to my heart and said, You are loved by Me. Really loved by Me—not because of what you do—but just because I love you. I, Jesus, absolutely love you.

My response to His words was confusion. At first, I thought, Didn’t I know that? I gave my life to Jesus in pre-school. Yet, if I looked at all my striving and performing; if I listened to the negative messages I told myself, I would honestly have to say, I know about Your love, yet I have not embraced It.

My adventure to understand the heart of God and His immense love began that day— more than twenty years ago. He painted many skies for me to remind me of His great love. He sent me messengers to walk beside me, sharing His unconditional love. He led me to Bible verses that spoke of the truth of His love—truth that I could not ignore. In prayer when I thought He must be tired of hearing from me, He taught me that He loves my voice. He loves to listen to His children. He reminded me that I was delightful, when I felt sad. Instead of shaming me for not understanding His immeasurable love, He took me by the hand and led me.

The disciple John often rested his head against Jesus. John spoke of himself as the one He loved. My posture changed as I realized God wanted me to be a woman who embraced His love, instead of constantly striving to make myself worthy. I found my safe place imagining that I am resting my head on the shoulder of my Savior. In that place, I found that His grandiose throne is a safe place to go (Heb. 4:16).

As my view of God changed, I found that the words He calls His children are glorious. My Own special treasure became one of my favorites. (Deuteronomy 26:18 New Living Translation) For I believe wholeheartedly if we see ourselves loved and treasured by the heart of God through Jesus, our lives can be lived to the fullest.

May YOU discover that- you are treasured by the heart of GOD! "…They will be My own special treasure." (Malachi 3:17 NLT).

By Becca Gunyon

Treasures

Your love, God, is my song and I’ll sing it! …Your love, has always been our lives’ foundation (Psalm 89:1-4 The Message Bible).

Shut your eyes and imagine you are standing outside in the warm summer rain. The raindrops drench you, soaking you through and through. Let My Love do the same for you. Let it soak through you and wash away hidden fears. (Jesus Calling by Sarah Young).

The love of God portrayed to us through Jesus’ life, death and resurrection is overwhelming, exciting and magnificent. His love is so immense—that it spans beyond my understanding. Many years ago, God whispered to me as I walked on the beach, admiring the serene view, listening to the constancy of the waves, and feeling the strong sea breeze. He whispered, An ocean of My love for you, and you are so content with sea spray … His gentle voice almost knocked me over.

Sea spray—why am I content with just a tiny amount of His love, when His love is so vast?

God’s love is bigger than you and I can imagine.

So often I have found myself on the sidelines watching His great love. Other times I have felt myself sticking my toes in the shallow edges of His deep love. In yet another instance, I found myself closing my eyes to His great love, and yet I still felt the sea spray. My favorite times are when I run with all my energy and jump into His great love with both feet. The longing of my life is to accept the love of Jesus as my identity, and learn to let His great love consume me and flow out of me, so I can share His love with others.

Your love … our lives’ foundation. (Ps. 89:1-4 MSB) The passage above, indicates that if we saw ourselves through the eyes of God’s tenderness and love, then we would have love for ourselves. If we personally embraced His unconditional love for each of us, we would live with a solid foundation of our identity in His belovedness. We would know and own this truth, which my heart cries to embrace—I am special, because God chose to love me. I have worth because Jesus, in His loving sacrifice, died for me. I can embrace this love because it is a gift from Him.

If we live each day wrapped in His love, then we can build our identity on His love. We do not have to look to the world for love—or to our spouse, or our children, or reach back to our childhood looking for love. Nor does the source of our love need to be captured in a church service, or in our performance at school or work. Neither is beauty a healthy place to discover love. God’s immense love reaches deep into the core of my soul and He says, My love is enough; define yourself by My great love for you.

My response is to get down on my knees before the Father, this magnificent Father who parcels out all heaven and earth. I ask him to strengthen you by his Spirit—not a brute strength but a glorious inner strength—that Christ will live in you as you open the door and invite him in. And I ask him that with both feet planted firmly on love, you’ll be able to take in with all followers of Jesus, the extravagant dimensions of Christ’s love. Reach out and experience the breadth! Test its length! Plumb the depths! Rise to the heights! Live full lives, full in the fullness of God (Ephesians 17:14-19 The Message).

Thoughts-

Do you live immersed in God’s love or content with sea spray?

God,

Help me to accept how much You love me! In Jesus name

Unconditional

… God is love (1 John 4:8 NIV)

Where does humility meet truth; and truth meet grace; and grace meet the unconditional love of God? "God is love" (1 John 4:8 NIV). The very essence and nature of God is loving. He exists to love and He is incapable of being unloving because love is His very nature. Why is this concept so widely taught, yet rarely grasped? It leaves me wondering—this simple truth is so complex. GOD IS LOVE!

What keeps us from shaping our lives around this incredible gift of love?

His love is something great and powerful that settles in the deepest part of our being (that same part where I don’t like me), and He loves me there. His love is something that covers my mistakes or unwise choices and whispers, It’s okay. You are forgiven and redeemed; look to Me. His love combats the voice of the accuser that tells me that I should be more, do more, have more … His love settles into a deep canyon of my soul and tells me (and you), You are worth living for and dying for. His love silences the critical voices of the mirror and says, You are my masterpiece.

The revolutionary thinking that God loves me as I am not as I should be requires radical rethinking and profound emotional readjustment … Antony Campbell remarks … The more I worked with it, the more I realize that the acceptance of faith of God’s unconditional love was not only hugely significant, it requires a major change of attitude … the major shift may be the images we have of God and ourselves. How radically is our image of God reshaped if we take seriously the belief in God as deeply, passionately, and unconditionally loving us? How radically must we rework our own self- image if we accept ourselves as loveable—as deeply passionate, and unconditionally loved by God. (Furious Longing of God by Brenan Manning)

That’s worth reading again! Let that thought sink into your mind and heart.

How radically must we rework our own self- image if we accept ourselves as loveable—as deeply passionate, and unconditionally loved by God? (Furious Longing of God by Brenan Manning)

St Augustine wrote, In loving me, you make me lovable.

Thoughts-

Ask yourself, What makes me feel loved by God and others?

Father,

I want the depth of Your great love to saturate my soul, driving out anything that keeps me from accepting this great love of Jesus. Help me to accept myself, because You embrace me completely. I rebuke the lies of the Enemy that would tell me that I am unworthy. I choose to see myself as lovable because You do. May this truth radically change my life. In Jesus’ name.

He Desires Us

Don’t love the world’s ways. Don’t love the world’s goods. Love of the world squeezes out love for the Father. Practically everything that goes on in the world—wanting your own way, wanting everything for yourself, wanting to appear important—has nothing to do with the Father. It just isolates you from him. The world and all its wanting, wanting, wanting is on the way out—but whoever does what God wants is set for eternity. (1 John 2:15-17 The Message Bible)

God desires relationship with us. He didn’t have to make us. He could have made the animals and all of creation to gaze upon. Yet, He created man to walk with Him. Did God, the I Am, choose to create us because He wanted to live with us?

In the Garden, God walked with Adam and Eve. It was normal for them to see God and feel comfortable with Him. This can be assumed because it was only when they were ashamed that God sensed that there was something wrong. There must have been a comfort level with God that allowed them to feel free, as if God knew them completely and loved them completely. If that is the way that God created relationship with Him to be, I must believe that is the kind of relationship that He desires with us. As He walks beside us in our work, in our play, as we do life—we’re totally free because we feel comfortable with Him.

God wanted to live in relationship with man. Growing up surrounded by church and Christian living routines, it is easy to think that we need a relationship with God—and we do. Yet, when I think of God wanting to live in relationship, communication, and closeness with me, it calls forth a desire to be who He wants me to be in a love relationship with Him, rather than to feel like I need to do something to earn His love. Something about God desiring time with me, closeness with me, to know my heart makes God even more desirable. Have you ever thought about God’s desire for you?

God must not have walked in the Garden of Eden just for Adam’s sake. I think God walked in the Garden with Adam for Himself too. Our hearts long to be desired, and I believe we were created with this desire. The good news is, our thirst to be desired is already met because God desires us. But somehow, we forget—or misunderstand—that we are precious to His heart, which causes us to think we must earn what He has given us from the beginning.

As I write, He whispers to my spirit, My desire is for My children, to walk with Me. God desires us. He desires for us to confide in Him, to trust Him, to share our deepest heart longings and struggles with Him. And there in His safety, He walks with us.

Thoughts-

God desires you. Does this make you desire Him back?

Jesus,

Thank You for desiring me. May Your desire for me change me. In Jesus’ name

Drawn to the Father

This resurrection life you received from God is not a timid, grave-tending life. It’s adventurously expectant, greeting God with a childlike What’s next, Papa? God’s Spirit touches our spirits and confirms who we really are. We know who he is, and we know who we are: Father and children. (Romans 8:15-16 The Message Bible).

Around Christmas, I visited a dear friend. She was in my wedding and we hadn’t seen each other in about ten years. Between the two of us we have nine children and lots of fun stories to share. Her husband, a great song writer, watched our fifth child (who is completely drawn to my husband, Dan) follow Dan everywhere. Ed said, What a picture of how we are drawn to the Father. I have been thinking about his words of depth for many months now as I continue to watch my son, who always wants to be with his daddy.

If we really understand the magnitude of God’s love, we are naturally drawn to Him. We want to be with Him. We want to mimic Him. Following Him is our instinctive response. Calling on Him is our heart’s longing. We desire to sit with Him and to take Him everywhere we go. If we view God as a safe protector and tender lover of our souls, He draws us in. If we can hear His gentle laughter and imagine His friendly countenance, we want to hang out with Him. If we see Him as He really is portrayed in the life Jesus lived here, then God is tender, caring, powerful, compassionate, aware of our needs, and relational. God is love!

May we be aware of who God really is and find ourselves drawn to a relationship with our heavenly Father. May we follow Him and feel His embrace. And sometimes may we even envision Him laughing. May we be drawn to Him!

Thoughts-

What is your view of God the Father?

Does this draw you to Him or create distance?

God,

Help me to see You as the perfect Father. Help me to let myself be drawn to You. Take away any false perceptions that I have about You and show me who You are. In Jesus’ name.

Calling My Name

"Now the boy Samuel ministered to the Lord before Eli. The word of the Lord was rare and precious in those days; there was no frequent or widely spread vision.

² At that time Eli, whose eyesight had dimmed so that he could not see, was lying down in his own place.

³ The lamp of