Wednesday, June 13, 2012


Jesus Loves Me


Each of us has a desire to be loved unconditionally. We long for the closeness of a good friend: Someone we can talk to about whatever our need is at a given moment. Someone we can talk to when we are so excited we can’t stand it. Someone who won’t disappoint us or fail us.  Someone who will not give us love and then take it away.



I had always thought that when I got married I would finally have this person in my life. I have a wonderful, caring husband. I’ve often said that he’s nearly perfect. But you know what, he is not perfect. I hope this doesn’t come as a shock to him if he reads this. Anyway, sometimes perhaps he hasn’t always understood my feelings. Maybe he’s had an expectation of me that I couldn’t fulfill. Or maybe he’s just been a human being and let me down.



I had a most awesome mother. Now I didn’t always think that when I was a young child because she was an authority figure in my life. But as I grew older my mother and I became friends. I cherished her more than anyone in this world. But she wasn’t perfect either. She occasionally let me down and didn’t understand me.



I’ve had some very special friends in my life. People who I thought loved me just the way I was. But they too let me down. They talked about me behind my back. They tried to change me because I didn’t quite fit their mold. Or perhaps there were other ways I felt disappointment in the relationship.



It seems there is always something missing in our hearts. There is a restlessness that is always present. And sometimes we just can’t put a finger on it. Why do our hearts cry out for that intimacy that no one seems to be able to give to us? Is it that we look in all the wrong places for love and relationship? People will always let us down, not because they are bad but because they are human. So who DO we go to with our broken hearts? With whom can we share our every desire and know we will be understood? How can we confidently trust someone without even a tiny speck of worry?



There is one Person who will never let us down. One who loves us so much that He can’t take His eyes off of us. So He holds us in the palm of His hand and writes our name there. And that person is Jesus. He says: "My beloved, I am your Father and you are My child. I will never leave you. NEVER! I will watch over you wherever you go. Even into your old age, when your hair has turned grey and you’ve grown weak, I will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you when you cannot go on. I will never leave you nor forsake you. So, you can say with confidence, the Lord is my helper. I will not be afraid.” Again He says: “Nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate you from My love that is in Christ Jesus your Lord. So be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid for I am with you. I am your Father and you are My child. I live with you and walk with you."



"My beloved, I know that you have become weary and feel the weight of the world on your shoulders. Come to Me. I will give you rest. Bring all your anxiety and fear to Me and leave them with Me. I will keep you in perfect peace when you keep your mind on Me and trust Me. For I care about you."



The restlessness of which I speak is placed there by God so that we have a need and desire for relationship . . . relationship with HIM, for things eternal because this world is not our home. We must not get too comfortable down here, so He keeps gently prodding us and wooing us to Him.



I have struggled with this for a good bit of my life. Sometimes I’ve been let down by a friend. Of course sometimes I, also, have let others down. Sometimes I have felt so hurt and I didn’t know where to turn. Sometimes my heart was filled with anxiety over various situations in my life and so worry took over. I needed that shoulder I could cry on and find the comfort I longed for. The ache in my heart was just too much to bear and I wanted to feel at PEACE. I wanted to know that Jesus loved ME.



Back when our son was about 12 years old I was doing some tidying up in his bedroom. Years before I had put a small wall hanging above his bed with the words of the song, "Jesus Loves Me". That day I stood at the foot of his bed and read the words, “Yes, Jesus loves me. Yes, Jesus loves me. Yes, Jesus loves me. The Bible tells me so.” Good words, I thought. And then my thoughts went something like this: hmmmmmm, I’ve always been taught that Jesus loves the whole world.  All the people in Africa or Japan or Germany or China. That was a given. But NEVER had I sung those words like this: “YES!! Jesus loves ME!! YES!! Jesus loves ME!! YES!! And so forth.” I stood transfixed on that spot as the impact of those words sank into my heart. Jesus loves Rosalie. WOW!! All of a sudden “all the people of the world” took on a whole new meaning because yes, Jesus did love us all but He also loved ME!! That was a lot for me to take in. And as I thought about what that meant it struck me that He wanted to have a personal relationship with me. So often I had felt lost in the fray. It just seemed like I was always fighting for a spot near Him. But He loved so many people that I felt very small and insignificant to Him. That day my thinking began to change. He loves ME. That meant I have someone who will not, no . . . someone who cannot let me down. He loves me and will protect me and will hear me and will understand the longings in my heart. He will keep His eye on me ALL the time. He will ALWAYS be with me.



And from that moment to this my view has been changing. I now have a new-found trust and faith in a Person who will always love me, believe me and be with me. Jesus loves ME.

And if there was anything I could leave with the reader today and plant it deeply into your heart and soul, it is that Jesus loves YOU. In all the chances and changes of life, He will never let you down. You can count on Him to understand the deepest ache and longings of your heart. He will never leave you.



So the privilege that comes with this is instead of dwelling on confusion and anxiety, we may present all our concerns to Him in prayer. Then after that let our minds dwell on things that are true and right and pure, things that are lovely and admirable. And the peace that will come over us, God’s peace, we will not be able to explain to others. No one can understand it. But we can have it. Jesus is our father and we are his child. He will never leave us. NEVER!! He will always watch over us.

Jesus loves me. Jesus loves you. Nothing can ever change that.