God LOVES Me! What if I Said it Differently?
/We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love.
1 John 4:16a NLT
I have an adorable three year old granddaughter named Claire. She lights up my life. The sad part though is that she lives miles away, so I don’t get to see her very often, certainly not as often as I would like (as in “every day”)! When I do get to visit with her, we like to walk together, holding hands and chatting about all kinds of things along their street — birds, houses, street signs, holiday decorations — you get the idea.
But one of our favorite places to walk and chat is along “our” nature path near her home. We pack a picnic snack (a “must have”), Claire hops in her stroller, a nd off we go, chatting all the way.
But since most of the time, I’m at my house and Claire is at her house, the best we can do is an occasional FaceTime or short chat on the phone. And also Claire’s mommy Beth is very good about texting us a video or photo and “relaying” a cute story or conversation.
Well, the other day was such a relay. Beth had called me to answer a question I had texted, and as it turns out, she and Claire were on “our path.” I was emotionally stunned by what came next.
Apparently in the background of Beth’s and my conversation, there was a “Mommy and Claire” conversation going on. It most likely went something like this:
MOMMY: I’m talking to Babci (maybe Claire had asked?)
CLAIRE: Is Babci coming?
MOMMY: Yes, Babci is coming in ## days..
(Beth had said the kids were counting the days till our upcoming visit. Smile …)
And then came the “killer” …
CLAIRE: Babci LOVES me.
“Babci LOVES me.”
A simple statement of fact…
Oh my heart!!!!
ME: Yes, she DOES! Oh yes, Babci DOES!
It took my breath away! I was so thankful that my darling Claire had such confidence in my love for her that she would automatically respond, “Babci LOVES me.” And that settles it!
But then I began to reflect …
Do I live in confidence that my Father God LOVES me?
What if I would quit saying flippantly, “God loves me … because He has to, because God is Love”?
Rather, what if I said these glorious words over and over again, asking the Holy Spirit to etch them more deeply into my mind and heart?
God LOVES me.
God LOVES me.
God LOVES me!
Brothers and sisters, God LOVES you too! Yes, He truly DOES!
Why not say those same glorious words aloud, increasing the volume each time … and each time letting it sink in deeper and deeper and deeper:
God LOVES me.
God LOVES me.
God LOVES me!
Yes, He DOES!
May you come to know and believe in the depths of your being God LOVES you!
Amen.
*We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who remains in love remains in God, and God remains in him.
1 John 4:16 NASB
*See how great a love the Father has given us, that we would be called children of God;
and in fact we are!
1 John 3:1 NASB
*I have loved you … with an everlasting love.
With unfailing love I have drawn you to myself.
Jeremiah 31:3NLT
*For the Lord your God is living among you.
He is a mighty savior.
He will take delight in you with gladness.
With his love, he will calm all your fears.
He will rejoice over you with joyful songs.
Zephaniah 3:17 NLT
*Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love?
Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? (As the Scriptures say, “For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.”)
No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.
And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love.
Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,
neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—
not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love.
No power in the sky above or in the earth below—
indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8:35-39 NLT
*Thank you for these beautiful Scriptures from our last prayer meeting, dear Sister-Branches (Kathe, Penny, De, Sulu, Sue).
Our Branches prayer times together convince me afresh that I am LOVED by my ABBA God!
