"Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love" (Jn 15:9). I've read this chapter a million times (okay, maybe not quite that many) because it's one of my favorite chapters, but this verse did not jump out at me until tonight. I've been wrestling A LOT with believing God's love for me lately, and when I read this verse, He so clearly told me exactly what it says--that He loves me as much as the Father loves Him! Wow! I can't wrap my mind around that love!! I have a long way to go in terms of really believing that all the time, not just when I feel it, but it definitely is now underlined in my Bible! A lot has happened this week, culminating in today, which I'm not going into details about, but this song hit home to me tonight:
Hi,
ReplyDeleteYour post reminded me of some paragraphs that really hit home, in the Stepping Up study [by Beth Moore] we just finished.... "We live most of our lives unconvinced that God is really FOR us. We have little trouble picturing ourselves on God's side, but for the life of us we can't picture God stooping down enough to be on ours. Even though we'll say things and sing things to the contrary, we live as if we believe down in the hidden places of our hearts and minds that God at best tolerates us. And lucky we are at that!
We may rarely admit it, but our actions, anxieties, fears, and insecurities suggest something else. Perhaps some of us don't so much feel as if God is against us as we just don't necessarily feel as if He's FOR us. ...
Somewhere deep inside I think we're secretly convinced that God created man with very high hopes only to have them dashed. Forget diving foreknowledge and a Lamb slain before the foundation of the world. We proved a terrible disappointment to God, but because He is faithful to His covenant, He's obligated to see the plan to completion. Therefore, He tolerates us because He's stuck with us."
love you,
Trisha : )
Thanks, Trish! You have no idea how much this applies to me :)
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