Do you like surprises? I LOVE them and my neighbor blessed me with a wonderful surprise this week. I opened my mailbox to find the typical bills, junk mail, sale flyers and a plain envelope with my name on it. When I opened it, there was a picture of a church sign. It proclaimed the church name: HOPE Chapel and then the marker below read: GOD SERIOUSLY LOVES SUSAN. My neighbor said when she saw the sign she had to pull over and take a picture of it for me. I was thrilled. It is now posted in my office so I see it each and every day as a reminder of how special I am to God.
So many of us go through life and have no clear idea how God feels about us. We think when things go well for us He must like us, and when things are difficult, we begin to wonder if God cares at all. Why do we allow our circumstances determine how we perceive God?
Nothing changes the way God feels about us. Romans 8:5 tells us “But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” When we were the worst of the worst, He loved us. If that is the case, then why would we question His love when we are trying to learn His ways and bless Him with our lives? You can’t do anything to make God love you any less than He loves you right now and you can’t do anything to make God love you more than He loves you right now. He loves you because you exist- period. Unlike human love, what you do or don’t do has no impact on His love. 1 John 4:16 puts it this way, “And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in Him.”
We all have days when we need to be reminded of His love for us. His Word is filled with love notes to us. He tells us over and over how He feels about us. Psalm 139:1 reminds us He knows everything about us. How about that? He knows everything, yet He still loves us. Jeremiah 1:5 tells us He knew us even before we were formed in our mother’s womb. If He knew us then, He could have prevented us from being, but He didn’t. It was His desire for us to be born. We were not a mistake, but rather purposed by Him. 1 John 3:1 tells us His desire is to lavish His love on us. Lavish means to bestow profusely; in excess- now that’s a lot of love. Zephaniah 3:17 tells us God takes great delight in us and He rejoices over us with singing.
Those are just a few things God says about us in His Word. If you are hearing something contrary to that, you need to know it is not from God. Take some time to research it for yourself and write down the Truth. Then when the enemy comes knocking at your door to tell you a pack of lies about who you are, you can show him the Truth of God and send him packing [James 4:7].
You have a good Daddy who loves His children. Hold your head up high and put a smile on your face. God SERIOUSLY loves you.