Tonight my four year old and Two year old climbed in my lap for a prayer time before going to bed. "Mommy! Sing us a song!" Ruthie begged, "Sing us 'Jesus loves me this I know'!"
Jesus loves me-this I know...words we have all heard over and over and over again. But to hear that sweet, four year old voice ask for her favorite song put chills all over me. She didn't just ask for "Jesus loves me", but "Jesus loves me- THIS I KNOW."
As we sang the song together, "Jesus loves me this I know, for the bible tells me so",
I found myself really contemplating the words. Jesus LOVES me-I don't THINK he does, I don't HOPE he does, I don't WONDER if he does...I KNOW he does! And how do I know? Because the BIBLE tells me so! It doesn't get much more simplistically wonderful than that, does it?
As adults I think too many times we get caught up in thinking we are only loved by God when we make the "right" decisions. When we are "good" parents, when we are treating our spouse well-or are being treated well by our spouse. When we have the perfect job, the nice car, the big home, the comfortable income. We base our love from God and for God on our feelings instead of on the truth. The truth is what God says. What does God think about us? What does he say about us?
He Says...
He will love you and bless you
(Deuteronomy 7:13)
He Says...
He will rejoice over you
(Isaiah 62:5)
He Says...
He will quiet you with his love
(Zephaniah 3:17)
He Says...
He will love you freely
(Hosea 14:4)
He Says...
we can rely on the love He has for us.
He says...
He is love
(1 John 4:16)
He says...
We love because He first loved us
(1 John 4:19)
He says...
He, our Father, has loved us and by his grace has given us eternal encouragement and good hope
(2 Thessalonians 2:16)
He says...
This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins
This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins
(1 John 4:10)
As I read from the bible about the things I KNOW to be true, it got me thinking: What does the world know to be true?
Several years ago I watched a popular afternoon talk show quite regularly and the host would often ask her famous guests the same question, "What do you know for sure?" As I researched answers to the question tonight, one of the most disturbing that I came across was from famous make-up artist, Brandy Gomez-Duplessis, who said,
"I know that I will always be a brand, I will always make money and I will always have a successful business."
In a drastic contrast, pop singer Michael Jackson, said:
"...I can't say that I know anything for sure. I really believe that."
Whether, as the former, the world claims to know and be sure of the confidence in itself or, as the latter, in desperation admits that they are not sure and do not know if they have confidence in anything, we as Christ followers can know for sure that the LORD will be our confidence (Proverbs 3:26) and that he has loved us with an everlasting love (Jeremiah 31:3). Praise God that based on nothing I have done and based on everything that Christ has done for me, I can answer this question with confidence in my Savior....
What do I know for sure? Jesus love me----this I KNOW.
