This is for the ones replaying their past, doubting their faith, and wondering if God’s love really reaches them.
While listening to "Love Like This" by Lauren Daigle, I knew His love was what I wanted to write about first. How could I post blogs about the love of Jesus without first talking about the love of Jesus? This one seems both the easiest and hardest to write - easiest because I could write for days, and hardest because I could write for days.
Something crucial I want to get across speaks to those questioning their faith and/or replaying all the horrible things they've done in their head.
There is absolutely nothing you can do that will separate you from the love of Christ Jesus. And there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1).
No matter how far away you think you are from God, He is right there, waiting with open arms for all who have not yet come home to Him.
There is a beautiful picture that has helped me realize how much God loves his children. Since choosing to lay down my life and follow Him, He has given me a heart for people that I didn't really have before. I see people differently now - I see people, and I just love them. That may sound strange, and that's how I know it's not from me! I have this yearning for others to know how much God sees them, wants them, knows them, and therefore loves them. So here I am, telling you: you are seen, known, and loved by your Creator.
When I get the urge to speak to a nonbeliever and tell them about their God, sometimes I leave without them really responding or saying much. Yet their God loves them so much that he pursues them - even if they want nothing to do with Him at that moment. Their hearts may not know him yet, but their God surely knows them. How beautiful is that? While we were still sinners, Christ died for us (Romans 5:8). Not after we got our act together – no - but while we were distant and had betrayed our Father, He came to show us just how much He loves us.
Friend, you are so loved. Your God loves you, and He wants you to know all of Him.
I can't write about God's love for his children without speaking on the consequences if we choose not to believe in our Creator.
Here's the reality: even Satan believes in God. If he didn’t, he wouldn't be trying to push us away from God every day. So ask yourself - what’s the difference between your belief in God and satan’s? Weird question, I know – but think about it.
We can believe in God and still be living in Sin. Like any good parent, the most loving thing He can do is give us a choice and allow us to make that decision, while consistently pursuing us until the end. If we don't choose to follow Him on Earth, we won't know him after we die. God is holy and perfect; therefore, where sin is, He is not. This does not mean we try to work our way into heaven – no, the opposite. We are cleansed because Jesus took on all of sin for us. We lay down our life and accept that Jesus is our Lord, confessing with our mouth and believing in our hearts that He is Lord (Romans 10:9). We then pick up that cross daily and choose Him.
Believing isn't just agreeing - it's acting as if it's true.
Friends, that is love. He is love. He came while we were destructive to ourselves and paid the price we couldn't. He says, “Daughter, Son, stop trying to live on your own and allow me to show you just how much I love you.”
"If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." Romans 10:9