I Love You This Much!

I’m writing this post today with a little help from Susanna.  When you look at this picture, what do you see?  I often think of the question, “How much do you love us, Jesus?”  And He stretches out His arms on the cross and says to us “This much.”  Then He dies.  Sometimes I need to be reminded of just how much I am loved.  Maybe you do too.

I was reading this morning in 1 John 5 and writing in my journal how loved I feel because I can enter into God’s presence and ask Him for things.  It’s all because of what Jesus did.  I have a father-daughter relationship built on trust.  For sure, I’m not going to ask selfishly but wisely and in His will for me.  It’s a faith booster I embrace.

I remember several years ago when a pastor friend of ours traveled through town and preached a message of God’s love reminding us of the access to Him we have because Jesus made the way.  He used Ronald Reagan for an illustration.  His young daughter at that time was a big Reagan fan.  It wasn’t as stylish then as it is today either!  She was only a pre-teen, but loved history and he was her hero.  She wrote him a letter and poured out her heart to him.  To her parent’s amazement she received a reply and an invitation to meet him at his ranch in California.  They drove her there and waited thirty minutes outside while she sat with him privately and visited the retired president.  I love the way he accommodated her—just him and her!  It’s a good illustration of how willing our Father God is to be with us, one to one!

14And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: 15And if we know that he hears us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.  I John 5: 14, 15

I was a young mom in the Reagan years very busy with kids and I took for granted what a great president I had.  The country was safe and I was oblivious to the integrity of such a great man’s leadership.  Today it’s different.  I’m fully aware of how blessed I am to live in a nation built on the foundational principles of The Bible.  I, too, am keenly aware that I have access to the throne of God because I’m His.  He’s so important and I’m not, but I’ve made up my mind to not take it for granted and I'm going in!