The Beloved Journal

The Beloved journal is inspired by a scene in Just the Way You Are by Max Lucado, when the young girl with no gift realizes who she is talking to…

“But you don’t look like a king” she gasped.

“I try not to.” he explained, “Being a king can be lonely. People act strange around me. They ask for favors, they try to impress me. They bring me all their complaints.”

“But isn’t that what a king is for?” the girl said.

“Certainly”, responded the king, “but there are times when I just want to be with my people. There are times when I just want to talk to my people. I just want to hear about their day. To laugh a bit, to cry with them. There are times when I just want to be their father.”

Before meeting the king, the little girl thought in order to impress the king, she needed a gift. Her preconceived notions about what the king would look like, sound like and what he’d expect of her were wrong. Instead, what she found was his father heart. Her brothers and sisters were so busy working hard to impress him, they missed the truth that he just wanted them to be his children.

Does this not remind you of the older brother in the prodigal son story? The father goes out to him, and after hearing the son’s complaint against him, it is clear the son didn’t know what he had or what was desired from him. The father responds “My son, you are always with me, and everything I have is yours…” Luke 15:31. He didn’t have to wait to inherit all his father could give him. His father’s hand had been open the whole time.

- God -

You are intimately aware of my thoughts and emotions. You know my habits and my dreams. You devote your undivided attention to me when I speak to you throughout the day. You are the kindest friend I’ve ever known. I bind a spirit of performance in Jesus name and give my heart permission to just be your child. Abba, thank you for loving me just the way I am, but don’t let me stay the same. Only your love can change me. Teach me to love as you love, to give generously what you’ve given me and to dream bigger. Thank you for calling me your beloved, for choosing me, and for seeing and knowing me. I lack nothing in you, my beloved King. Amen.

Size: 7 w x 8 h

Key features: Eight bindings, Silver snap

Leather: Brown oil stained leather