Jesus Loves ME!

Jesus loves me, this I know for the Bible tells me so.

This line has been sung countless times, and for good reason. When was the last time you really thought about that love that the Bible talks about? Sure you could quote 1 John 3:16 that says, "This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters." Or even the more famous Bible passage: John 3:16 "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." But what does it mean? It's time for us to stop just saying it and start realizing what it means.

One of my favorite songs by Stuart Townend starts to put it into perspective for me.

"How Deep The Father's Love For Us"

How deep the Father's love for us,

How vast beyond all measure

That He should give His only Son

To make a wretch His treasure

How great the pain of searing loss,

The Father turns His face away

As wounds which mar the chosen One,

Bring many sons to glory

Behold the Man upon a cross,

My sin upon His shoulders

Ashamed I hear my mocking voice,

Call out among the scoffers

It was my sin that held Him there

Until it was accomplished

His dying breath has brought me life

I know that it is finished

I will not boast in anything

No gifts, no power, no wisdom

But I will boast in Jesus Christ

His death and resurrection

Why should I gain from His reward?

I cannot give an answer

But this I know with all my heart

His wounds have paid my ransom

So how much are we loved? I could quote the scripture that we all know and love and recite over and over, but sometimes we don't meditate on it like we should. I'm going to try a different approach. Let's apply it to our lives.

I once went on a walk with my family in Coronado and I remember seeing a homeless man outside. I was going to give him money, but all homeless people want to do is drink or do drugs, so I didn't do anything.

I can be a sarcastic person and I know that sometimes, although I'm being sarcastic, I tend to think the sarcastic things are true which gives me a negative view on people.

I will do things because I know I have the God-given ability but I will loathe doing it for certain people because they don't treat me fairly, or deserve it.

I'm a conditional human being who uses irrational human thoughts to be perfect just as God is perfect. It's like giving an atheist the Bible and telling them to find the love story instead of trying to find any fallacies. They don't mix well.

Human reasoning gets in the way too much. We make excuses for our faults and pat our own backs so that we can feel better about the choices we make. When things get hard, we try to get out of it ourselves without asking for any help. Yet, when we want to be loved and helped, we go to those that despise the feeling. Human reasoning sucks.

Yet, we have a God that unconditionally loves us. In case you were wondering what humans define unconditional as, here it is: Unconditional adj. 1. without conditions or limitations; total: unconditional surrender

Here is how God defines unconditional. God sent his son, his perfect son, to be born of a sinful human being. A human that is self-centered, foolish, and cannot understand all that God can do or does for us. He sent his son to help us. He decided, in all of his infinite wisdom, that he would make the perfect person that is Jesus, to take on all of the world's sin so that we could be saved.

Time and time again God shows his patience with us. He knows what we're thinking/saying/doing and yet we still lie when people try to show us our sin. We are given complete forgiveness of our sins, yet we lie because we think it's comfortable to stay in sin?! Wouldn't you want to be forgiven and move on?! The answer should be yes, but human reasoning (the idiot we let control ourselves) says, "Just make an excuse for it. People will say it's okay and learn to overlook it." Instead of being a Jacob Marley, carrying the baggage around, God is holding out his hand to take it and destroy it. Instead of overlooking the problems, he wants us to learn from it so that we don't make the same mistake twice. He wants us to succeed in life, not be drowned by the problems of the world and sin. Yet, we still lie in our own filth.

Remember when Jesus told the disciples that one of them would betray him? Peter tells Jesus outright that he would never do that. Jesus says, he will. Peter still refuses to believe it (human reasoning over God's intellect). Jesus says to Peter that he will deny him 3 times before the rooster crows. When the time came, sure enough, Peter went so far as to call down curses upon himself saying that he did not know Jesus. Even though Jesus knew Peter would go so far to deny him, Jesus still went to the cross for him. Even after being betrayed by one of his disciples.

Here is human reasoning for a Christian. In my own circles I will call out God's name in praise. I will lift his name on high, I will declare his praises and not waver in my faith. Now step out of that circle. I will not stick up for Christ so that I don't call attention to myself. People will mock him, but they deserve hell, so I won't stick up for Christ. I will hear that Christians need to more accepting to everyone's practices but I'll just sit back in the crowd and not draw attention. Why? I don't feel that Jesus' (the one who loved us so much that he was beaten, ridiculed, mocked, nailed, spit on, and suffocated so that you could have a place in heaven after he rose from the grave) ministry was that important that I need to stick up for it. Jesus went so far as to let all those things happen to him because even the ones we think are the "worst of sinners", God cared enough to free them from the bondages of sin, of death, and of the devil. Everyone deserves hell for being sinful and constantly failing God, but God thinks apart from human reasoning. He loves us.

Thank you Jesus for not having our human reasoning. You know that we are going to sin. You know that we are going to join in those yelling, "CRUCIFY HIM!" all the while wearing the Christian apparel and carrying our Bibles around. You know we are going to deny you more than what Peter did. You know we are flaky, we will turn our backs on you if it doesn't benefit us, and we will only go to you in times of trouble because that's what we feel your only purpose is. Yet, you still died for us. You still went to the cross, silent, and ready to take the worst punishment of all.

We sit here and judge those that sit at the feet of sinners and try to bring "the worst of them" to you. We scoff at those who humble themselves so that you get all the glory. We feel hatred for those that do their best at living a Christian life, and we mock them for it. Yes, even Christians do that to fellow Christians. We don't encourage like 1 & 2 Peter, we join the rants of the unwise and foolish.YET YOU STILL DIED FOR US!

How many times do we have to mess up before you stop loving us. Wait, there is that human reasoning again. The conditional thought that we have 3 strikes and we are out. Yet, you instruct us to forgive and never stop forgiving, just as you do to us every second of every sinful day. Yeah, I'd say that's love.

Your love eclipses any wrong that could ever befall me. Your glory takes away every wrong that I will ever do to you. The depth of your mercy is unfathomable and will have no end. Yet my human reasoning wants to complicate it all. It wants to do everything to contradict all that you have done for me because this world does not want to recognize you as the God that wants all to come to you and to a knowledge of truth. Help us overcome this "Reasoning" and draw us to your grace and redemption so that we can know what it's like to feel true love. True, unconditional, love for others.

He loves us! Oh! How he loves us!

You have to watch this!

Jesus is Loving Barabbas