Yes, Jesus Loves Me

³⁵ Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, of famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? ³⁶ As it is written:

“For Your sake we are killed all day long;
We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.”

³⁷ Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. ³⁸ For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, ³⁹ 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 NKJV)

If you were to ask most Christians if they believed God loves them, they'd most likely say, "Yes, without a doubt." That's what the Bible tells us, right? But in reality, I wonder if we really believe that, not only with our heads, but with our hearts.

If we were really honest, I think most of us would admit that we believe God loves in levels. He loves Billy Graham a lot. I mean, look at all the man has done for Him. He loves Beth Moore a lot too. She is, after all, a powerful woman of God. But us regular people? He loves us, but maybe not as much as Beth Moore or Billy Graham or our pastor at church.

We also think God doesn't really talk to us regular folk. Not the way He talks to the "powerful" men and women of God. Christians often follow evangelists and ministers as if they have some sort of special connection to God that no one else has. I'm not saying, that we shouldn't respect these men and women. We absolutely should, but we need to realize that while, yes, God does love them abundantly, He also loves each and everyone of us just as much. And not only does He love us, He wants to speak to our hearts. He wants to lead and guide us. He wants us to have a personal relationship with Him. He wants us to start believing that He hears our prayers . . . that we also have a special connection with Him.

I am convinced that if we really had a revelation of God's love for us, our lives couldn't help but be a witness to His goodness and His glory. If we started asking Him to speak to our hearts, and then listening for His still small voice, we would realize that He may have called us to different roles within the body of Christ. . . each of us have our own special place . . . but each of us, regardless of what He has called us to do, have been called to live a strong powerful life for Him.

I'm not fully there yet. I have plenty of struggles and plenty of doubts, but I've been asking God to reveal Himself to me more each day. I've been praying that He will open the eyes of my heart to who He is and to how deep His love runs for His children. And one of the greatest things about this whole process is I've finally realized that it isn't about anything I can do. Instead it's about resting in God and letting Him "do" what needs to be done. It's not about working. It is about trusting.

Yes, Jesus really does love me, and He loves you just as much.