Nothing Fancy ~ Jesus Loves You!!

I want to share the best news you'll hear all day-- Jesus loves you!

Before you smirk and think here we go again then tune me out, I really want you to hear me. Jesus doesn't love you like _______ (you insert name here) who only loves you on their terms, who may let you down or in a one-way fashion where you're putting forth the majority of the effort in the relationship; He really loves you!!

Truly, madly, deeply, passionately and unconditionally. God's children, His creation and the apple of His eye, chose to be disobedient in the garden of Eden and that separated us from Him. That separation just grew and grew as people continued to satisfy their own desires with little consideration given to the God of Abraham.

God could've chosen anything as a sacrifice for our sins. Anything-- a lamb, a ram, a goat or any other animal that would be placed on an altar for atonement of our selfishness and disobedience could've been offered. But God chose ONLY the very best because even though we've chosen, and will choose, other things over Him, that's how enamored He is with His children.

He could've scrapped his creation, gone back to the drawing board and made beings who would be more obedient, but what greater love is there than the love that does not exist out of a sense of obligation, but only out of choice? That's why He gave us free will to begin with. He wanted fellowship, but not robots.

The Father also sent His son Jesus, Yeshua (His name in Hebrew), as a guide for how we should live our lives. If that's not loving and nurturing enough, God then selected 40 authors to record the greatest story ever told-- Creation, betrayal, love, sacrifice, redemption, hope! We have a model to emulate. He has never and NEVER will give up on us! That AMAZES me . . . we truly grasp just a few drops of the deep ocean worth of love He has for us!!

Can you imagine being Jesus? He had ALL of Heaven's power at His disposal when the soldiers came to arrest Him in the garden. We think a Christian life takes unrealistic discipline and self-control . . . try telling that to Jesus. He was STILL God, still deity, but was in the shell of a human with all the emotions, temptation, thoughts and struggles we face daily. That type of discipline is way past amazing and inspiring.

Or back up to when Satan approached our Savior at his weakest point. He hadn't eaten for 40 days and the Devil saw that as his opportunity to pounce. He offered him unlimited power, he offered him the whole world's kingdoms, he offered him riches that would make Solomon blush. But He loved His Father too much . . . He loved you too much to bow to him! Yet we can't choose God in a tough situation? That makes no sense to me.

They beat Jesus. They mocked Jesus. They spat on Him. They whipped him with cat and nine tails. At the end of each strand of leather there were pieces of rock and glass. They kicked Him. They punched Him. They dug a crown of thorns into His skull. They then made Him carry His own cross up a hill to the Place of the Skull Golgotha.

What kept Him going when he was bloodied, mangled, had no energy, dehydrated and weakened to His very core was YOU! Your face, my face, your sin, my sin . . . His love for us. He knew this mission HAD TO BE completed to reconcile us back to His Father! It would have only taken a thought, a single thought, to end the endless torture He was enduring. Yet, He didn't because He wants to spend eternity with EVERY single one of us who humbles themselves, admits they're a sinner, asks Him into their heart as their personal Savior.

He paid a price He didn't owe and one we couldn't pay, but this price was paid with the ultimate cost
-- His life. This SHOULD compel us not to live how we want to live, but to let Christ, through the Holy Spirit, live through us in such a way we are obedient and show the Lord how much we appreciate and love Him and what He did for us! We should be grace-defenders, not abusers by thinking we should live any ol' way we want.

'No one who lives in Him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen Him or known Him.' (1st John 3:6).

'God paid a high price for you, so do not become enslaved by the world.' (1st Corinthians 7:23).

'But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life.' (Romans 6:22).

So the next time you find yourself at the crossroads of walking the narrow path that pleases the Lord or heading down the wide path that leads to distruction, think of Jesus and how much He loves you!

Use His unconditional love and faithfulness as reasons to love Him more and choose life, choose pleasing the Lord over your own desires.

But if you do miss the mark and sin, thank God there is always GRACE!