Knowing
God Loves Me Has it ever occurred to you that if God doesn't
love you that you are in big trouble, It is a fact that there are
millions of people who live in anxious fear of their god or gods.
Their hope is that they will be able to avoid making their god(s)
angry or be able to make a sacrifice that will appease this anger.
Some of these people call themselves Christians.
Even among more enlightened Christians the
thought rises, "Does God really love me?" As long as
that doubt is present that Christian is vulnerable to having a poor
self image, low self esteem, fear, guilt, and insecurity. That makes
the finding of the answer to this question a matter of high
importance.
God Loves Me Because He Made Me
David was moved by the
Holy Spirit to write, "As a father pities his children, So the
LORD pities those fear (revere) Him, for He Himself
knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust." Psalms 103:13,
14. God made the original man from dust. The living cells of our
bodies are a continuation of the living cells of that first man. As
a loving Father who brought man into existence God compassionately
takes into account our frailty.
As fathers and mothers we bring children into the
world to love them. We had a pretty good idea they would burp on our
shoulders; mess their pants; drool; stain their clothes and break
things. We also had some idea that when they got older they would be
a real drain on our money; get into trouble at school; wreck our
cars and do some really crazy (stupid) things. When they do all this
stuff, we still love them. Are we crazy? No, God put a compassion
within us as mothers and fathers to love them in spite of these
things. We knew about these frailties before we ever brought them
into the world.
God also knew the frailties every human would
have before He made the first man. In spite of our many frailties
God desires to have a relationship with us as our loving heavenly
Father.
God Loves Me Because He Cares About Every Detail
of My Life
"But the very hairs of your head are all
numbered" Matthew 10:30. Notice that Jesus said numbered,
not counted. There are some people who wouldn't get much
comfort from the word counted. As little hair as they have
that wouldn't give them much assurance of God's loving care. But
when Jesus says that God has put a number on every hair we ever had
or ever will have, we begin to realize that God looks upon every
detail of our lives in loving care.
All of us are going to experience some tough
times. Those are the times we're tempted to ask, "Does God know and
does He care?" Jesus assures us that God is fully aware of that
relationship problem, that financial problem, that physical problem,
that grief problem, that dependency problem, that temptation
problem, that depression problem…and the very reason He knows is
because He cares. He also has given assurance that as you reach out
to Him in faith He will either solve your problem or give you grace
to bear it. Check out Paul's experience on that in 2nd
Corinthians 12:1-10.
God Loves Me Because He Supplies Me With All
Things To Enjoy
"…God, Who gives us richly all things
to enjoy." 1st Timothy 6:17
God gave us a set of eyes and filled the world
with color; raised up the mountains; carved out the canyons; created
glorious sunsets and star lit nights? Why, so that the enjoyment of
God's creation could flood our being through our eyes.
God gave us a pair of ears and set the birds
singing, the squirrels chattering, the crickets chirping and the
animals calling to one another. To this He added the gifts of
language, music and song. Why, so that we might enjoy these sounds
through our ears.
God gave us a mouth with teeth and taste buds, and
filled the world with fruit, grain, vegetables, and spices. He gave
us the knowledge to make banana pudding, pecan pies, strawberry
shortcake, and ice cream. Some of us have even discovered prime rib,
filet mignon and barbecued ribs. Why, because just like we take
delight watching our children eat something they enjoy our heavenly
Father takes delight in watching us enjoy a good meal.
When you begin to realize that God supplies us
with all things to enjoy then you can really begin to enjoy these
things. You won't need to get high on drugs, drunk on alcohol or
satiated with illicit sex. Your heart is warmed that God loves you
because He has given you all things to enjoy.
God Loves Me Because He Has Good Plans For My
Life
When Judah was taken into captivity in Babylon
they felt like God had written them off. But God sent them a message
from Jeremiah that after seventy years He would bring them home.
"For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says
the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future
and a hope. ...Then you will seek Me
and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. I will
be found by you…" . Jeremiah
29:11, 12, 13.
God never writes off one of His children or the
vilest sinner He knows will become one of his children. God has good
plans for all His children because He loves them.
God plans for me to have eternal life. "For
God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that
whoever believes in Him should not perish , but have everlasting life."
John 3:16.
God plans for me to have life abundantly, because
Jesus said, "I have come that they may have life, and that
they may have it more
abundantly." John 10:10.
God plans for me to be shaped into the likeness
of His Son and that is the reason all things (even the bad things)
work together for my good. Romans 8:28, 29.
God plans for me to be fruitful and productive.
When I received Jesus Christ as my Savior the Holy Spirit came to
live in me:
1. To produce in me the spiritual fruit of love,
joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness.
- Galatians 5:22, 23
2. To equip me with a special ability to minister to the needs of
God's people. - 1st Corinthians 12:7ff; 1st
Peter 4:10.3. To empower me to bear witness of the salvation that is in
Jesus Christ to those who have not yet received Him as their
Savior. Acts 1:8.
God plans for me to enjoy full inheritance in the
kingdom of God along with Jesus Christ. Romans 8:15-17; Ephesians
1:9-11.
I know God loves me because He has good plans for
my life.
God Loves Me Because He Sent His Son To Die For
My Sin
This is the utmost proof of God's love. We were
the ones who had lived in rebellion against God; breaking His laws
and offending His holy, righteous, and just nature. Yet, God sent
His Son to take our sins upon Himself and receive the punishment for
our sins as if He were the one who had committed them. And so we
read, "But God demonstrates (proves) His own love toward
us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."
Romans 5:8. Nearly 2000 years before we were born Christ died for
the sins we have committed and the sins we will commit in the
future.
Many of us heard how Jesus loved us and died for
our sins, yet we rejected Him and willfully continued on in our
sins. He still loved us and the Holy Spirit of God kept tugging on
our heart until we received Christ as our Savior. When we did, we
found out that God still loved us just as much as He did the hour
Christ died for our sins.
I know God loves me because He sent Christ to die
for me.
God Loves Me Because Nothing Can Separate Me From
His Love
"Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?
Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or
nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, 'For Your sake
we are killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep
for the slaughter.' Yet in all these things we are more
than
conquerors through Him Who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither
death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present,
nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other
created thing shall be able to separate us from the love of God,
which is in Christ Jesus our Lord," Romans 8:35-39.
For those of you who have not yet received Jesus
Christ as your Savior, I encourage you to seriously doing so. God
wants to establish that relationship with you. Years before you were
born God knew you would be here this morning to hear this message, He
planned to get your attention and say to you, "I love you. I sent my
Son, Jesus Christ, to die for your sins. If you let me into your
life you will become My child forever and if you let Me guide you
according to My plan for your life will begin to make much more
sense and be gratifying than you ever dreamed.
Copyright © 2002 Thomas E Berry
All Scripture quoted from NKJV unless otherwise noted
Copyright © 2008 Truth Helpers Inc.
|