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! 

Comments

  1. Oh my gosh...Susanna has really grown!
    I was 18 when I cast my first vote...for Ronald Reagan, on a paper ballot in WV. What a great story and illustration.
    Timely words of wisdom, thank you!

    ReplyDelete

  3. Susanna is growing up. What an adorable, sweet baby girl!

    I don't think I woke up to politics until midlife. It just didn't seem important to me until then, but it sure has been ever since. I know & trust the Lord to work out His perfect will through each election season, but I also know the great privilege we've been granted in voting. So many have no such say.

    How's Carrie doing? Is she married yet? I think of her often, and thank God for His blessings in her life (and ours).

    ReplyDelete

  4. Truly God loves us. it's so wonderful to have a Heavenly Father like that.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Feeling the Love

Image
It’s our wedding anniversary today.  We’ve been celebrating all weekend!  Yesterday we woke up early, got dressed and headed to the Sedona Red Rocks.  I climbed up those red rock hills determined, even in my dress, to breathe in the fresh morning air.   The sturdy jagged mountains, copper colored, spotlighted from the warm morning sun surrounded us; I experienced a rush of gratitude.  God blessed us generously over the last forty-five years!
Our trek in the steep red elevation exhilarated us.  We drove through town and found a cute cafe for breakfast.  A burly, outgoing man, the owner, welcomed us while the woman drinking coffee at his table complimented my dress. 
“We’re celebrating today.  It’s our 45th wedding anniversary,” I replied.
The little cafe filled up quickly and we were surprised when the owner stopped by our table and loudly exclaimed that he had an idea to make “our” day special!  He burst into song: “Happy Anniversary to you…”
Everyone chimed in and serenaded us, clapped…
Read more

A New Truck

Image
If the phone rings late on a Saturday evening especially if the caller turns out to be our daughter, I get suspicious and my imagination goes wild.   I ask my husband if the kids told him why they are coming over in 15 minutes.
I heard the knock at the back door and a sweet “hello” greeting from the kitchen.  I bumped into my son-in-law in the hall.  Mark hugged me like a big bear and I asked him if they came over to tell us they’re going to have a baby.  He laughed and said: “Not yet!”
Then I asked him if they got a puppy.  His embrace still tight he whispered: “We just bought a truck.”
We all piled in the truck and took it for a joy ride.  We made loud oos and awes from the back seat to compliment their rich interior upgrades.
We got back to our house and sat around the kitchen table talking about the day’s events when our daughter, Amy, told us an incredible story.

Amy set out that morning to keep company with a girlfriend whose husband had surgery in a hospital in a mountain city north…
Read more

Father's Back

Image
Mark’s dad died in a work-related accident.  A steel girder fell on his head during construction of a bridge.   He left three children, all under the age of four.  My son-in-law, Mark, the oldest, has two younger sisters. 
When I think of family love, I see the upside of this tragedy.  Mark’s family grew up in a large Victorian home with other family members.  Also, cousins lived close by.  The family did life together and, even today, lives in close proximity.  I enjoy them on Facebook; my feed rolls with photos of their antics and laughter.
Mark and Amy asked us to drop by their house to feed their cat when they drove up to the mountains to spend the weekend with his siblings and cousins.  They celebrated a cousin’s birthday.  One heartfelt present brought tears to Amy’s eyes when she told us about it when they came home.
The gift, a box of old photos, entertained the group as they each reached in and grabbed a handful of memories from their youth.  Gail, the youngest sister, broke in…
Read more