Jesus Loves Me Even Though

Do you ever find yourself listening to doubts instead of God’s Word? I confess that I’ve done that more than once. Thoughts attack with “Maybe God will give up on me because I make so many foolish choices or because I often stumble from His path or because I get caught in worry traps.”

But God’s Word endures forever (Isaiah 40:8), and it is forever settled in heaven (Psalm 119:89).

And God’s Word says:

John 10:28-29 “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them away from me, for my Father has given them to me, and he is more powerful than anyone else. No one can snatch them from the Father’s hand.”

Romans 8:33-34 “Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own? No one—for God himself has given us right standing with himself. Who then will condemn us? No one—for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us.”

1John 1:9 “But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.”

Lamentations 3:22-23 “The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning.”

And since Psalm 139:1 assures me that God knows everything about me, I can add a couple of lines to the little song “Jesus Loves Me”:

“Jesus loves me even though

All my faults He fully knows.”

(Bible verses are New Living Translation)
(Picture from Pinterest–https://www.pinterest.com/BeccaConsiglio/ )

So High You Can’t Get Over It

We used to sing this chorus in church school:

“So high you can’t get over it. So low you can’t get under it.

So wide you can’t get around it. You gotta go through the door.” *

I thought of that song when I read Psalm 36:5-7 (NIV):

5 “Your love, O Lord, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies.”

Dear loving, faithful Lord,What gigantic love and huge faithfulness! “So high I can’t get over it!” So much greater than I can comprehend. Please keep filling me with Your love so it overflows to others. (Romans 5:5)

6 “Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, your justice like the great deep. O Lord, you preserve both man and beast.”

You, Lord, are absolutely righteous and just. In this world, righteousness and justice seem far away. Evil and lies seem to triumph, but You are greater than all. Jesus, You have overcome the world. You are worthy of all my trust and praise.

Your love is so large that it even includes care for animals! For example, You told Your people not to muzzle the ox as it treads out the grain (Deuteronomy 25:4). How glad I am, Lord God, that You care for both people and animals!

7 “How priceless is your unfailing love! Both high and low among men find refuge in the shadow of your wings.”

A million “thank-you’s” is not enough for Your unfailing love, and it can never be bought or bartered for. Yet You lavish it freely on us, Your human creations. Amazing! Fantastic! Fabulous! Wonderful God! I will hide in Your refuge. I will trust in the shadow of Your wings. Amen.

*The door is Jesus. “I [Jesus] am the Door; anyone who enters in through Me will be saved (will live). He will come in and he will go out [freely] and will find pasture.” (John 10:9 AMP)

Time After Time

Lord, God, my history, to You is no mystery.
You know every moment, both present and past.
You know the future which I can’t imagine,
And yet You still love me with love that will last.

Like Your people Israel, I’m so prone to stumble
And think that my way is the one that is best.
Yet when I repent and acknowledge Your lordship,
I find I’m forgiven, and my soul finds its rest.

As we enter the New Year, let us do what the apostle Paul did, and that is to let go of past failure or shame and press on to what God has for us in the days ahead. (Philippians 3:12-14)

Nehemiah 9:28 “But as soon as they were at rest, they again did what was evil in your sight. Then you abandoned them to the hand of their enemies so that they ruled over them. And when they cried out to you again, you heard from heaven, and in your compassion you delivered them time after time.” NIV

Look What God Has Done!

Can you believe it? God points to us as examples of His grace and kindness! That’s what Ephesians 2:6-7 says: “For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus. So God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of his grace and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us who are united with Christ Jesus.” (NLT) Maybe He says something like this:

“Angels, Principalities, Powers! Look at __. See all I, God, have done for them—forgiving, reshaping, renewing. See what they were and what they are now in Christ Jesus. And look at My light shining through them to others. Notice how I have planted a flower garden in their heart, taking toxic memories and redeeming them to promote spiritual growth.”

When we get discouraged, let’s remember what God has already done and choose gratitude and trust instead of discouragement.

(Image -The Gift of Grace, –-LightForEachDay.com. Found on Pinterest)

Praise from My Heart

“I will praise you, O Lord, with all my heart; before the gods I will sing your praise.”

All hail the power of Jesus’ name….” I will sing! Thank You God for a voice to sing. I will rejoice in You. You are my joy.

“I will bow down toward your holy temple and will praise your name for your love and your faithfulness, for you have exalted above all things your name and your word.”

How can I thank You enough for Your unfailing, everlasting love and for Your Word which always accomplishes what You send it to do (Isaiah 55:11)? Without You, I am nothing, and yet You chose to love me and give me purpose. Not only that, You do that for any of us mere people who seek You!

“When I called, you answered me; you made me bold and stouthearted.”

Therefore, I will receive Your strength and take courage, and abound in Your work (1 Corinthians 15:58).

“Though the Lord is on high, he looks upon the lowly, but the proud he knows from afar.”

So I humble myself before You and thank You and praise You forever.

“The Lord will fulfill [his purpose] for me; your love, O Lord, endures forever….”

Thank You, Lord. Every praise belongs to You. I will praise You for Your enduring love and faithfulness.

Amen.

(From Psalm 138)

[Pinterest image of Ps 138:8 –

http://rachelwojo.com/confident-bible-reading-week-1-summary/ ]

God’s Treasure Chest

“My child, listen to what I say, and treasure my commands.”

Father, thank You for a new day to listen to what You say. I want to do better at listening than I have done.
I will treasure and value and obey Your commands. Again, may I do better than I have in the past.

“Tune your ears to wisdom, and concentrate on understanding. Cry out for insight and ask for understanding. Search for them as you would for silver; seek them like hidden treasures.”

Dear Father, please help me as I tune my heart to hear Your wisdom. I want to concentrate on wisdom. Grant me insight and understanding. I need to seek these as the treasures that they are. Please show me what this means in my life today. Help me put Your Word into practice.

(Proverbs 2:1-4 NLT)

Psalm 19:9-11

“…The laws of the Lord are true; each one is fair. They are more desirable than gold, even the finest gold.
They are …a great reward for those who obey them.” (NLT – New Living Translation)

(Picture from Pinterest)

Can Anyone Win Against God?

“Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with men and have overcome” (Genesis 32: 28, NIV). So said the “man” who wrestled with Jacob.

How could Jacob win against God? Maybe God let him win. Or maybe the victory was Jacob overcoming his own stubbornness of doing his own way instead of submitting to God’s ways.

I struggle myself sometimes with that submission. I tend to try to manipulate people or circumstances to make things turn out the way I think they should. Maybe I’ve even tried at times to manipulate God.

I’m so glad that You, God, won’t allow that! You are sovereign, all wise, good, and faithful. Your plans are always better than mine. Sometimes I forget.

(Image from Pinterest)

A hymn from my childhood by Eliza E. Hewitt (Verse 3):

“Give Me thy heart,” says the Spirit divine;“ All that thou hast to My keeping resign; Grace more abounding is Mine to impart—Make full surrender and give Me thy heart.”

(Lyrics from Timeless Truths https://library.timelesstruths.org/music/Give_Me_Thy_Heart/ )
(A trio sings the hymn on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kgv7cvnyaIg )

Put Away Anger

When my anger flares up because someone offends me, maybe I could humble myself and remember that You, Lord, are God. No one and nothing, whether high or low or near or far or spiritual or physical, compares to You.

Lord God, Maker of heaven and earth, You are more powerful and glorious than 10 billion times 10 billion suns. I can’t imagine Your greatness. Teach me to fear You alone because You alone are the life-giving God. You poured Your infinite power and wisdom and love into the body of Jesus (Colossians 2:9)!

The person who offended me and I are mere human beings, while from everlasting to everlasting, You are God. I will quiet my soul and trust You to make things right in Your view and in Your time.

“The fear of the Lord leads to life; then one rests content, untouched by trouble.” (Proverbs 19:23 NIV)

Sing Praises to Our King

1 Clap your hands, all you nations; shout to God with cries of joy.
2 How awesome is the Lord Most High, the great King over all the earth!

In these times of turmoil, Lord, how good it is to remember Your sovereignty!

6 Sing praises to God, sing praises; sing praises to our King, sing praises.

I will sing praises when I count my blessings because every good gift I have comes from You.

I know I need to sing praises when I encounter trouble because You are refining my character, but too often I forget to do that. Please help me, Holy Spirit!

When I see the trees and rocks and flowers and animals, I will sing praises to You, the Maker of heaven and earth.

Our hearts rejoice and sing praises when we remember Your unending love and Your mighty power.

7 For God is the King of all the earth; sing to him a psalm of praise.

I will sing praise to You because You are Sovereign God and King of all.

8 God reigns over the nations; God is seated on his holy throne.
9 The nobles of the nations assemble as the people of the God of Abraham, for the kings of the earth belong to God; he is greatly exalted.

(From Psalm 47 NIV) (Underline emphasis mine.)

What a good reminder this psalm is to me when I’m tempted to anger or discouragement over national and world events! The kings of the earth belong to God, and God reigns over the nations. I can trust Him no matter what happens.

(Psalm 47:1 picture from Pinterest)

Amazing!

Lord God, You know me—who I am inside. You know where I am and what’s going on around me. You also know these things about the past and the future.

Amazing Knowledge!

Holy God, Your everlasting love surrounds and upholds me. You protect me and grant me shelter. You gave Your Son who gave Himself willingly to the cross, so my sins could be carried away from me as far as the east is from the west.

Amazing Grace!

Merciful God, You take me by the hand and lead me where I should go.

Amazing Love!

Savior God, You give me eternal life. No one can ever take me away from You.

Amazing Joy!

Isaiah 41:13 “For I am the Lord, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you.” NIV

Psalm 23:3 “He restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.” NIV

John 10:28 “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them away from me.” New Living Translation