“He is jealous for me,
Loves like a hurricane, I am a tree,
Bending beneath the weight of His wind and mercy.
When all of a sudden,
I am unaware of these afflictions eclipsed by glory,
And I realize just how beautiful You are,
And how great Your affections are for me.

And oh, how He loves us oh,
Oh how He loves us,
How He loves us all

And we are His portion and He is our prize,
Drawn to redemption by the grace in His eyes,
If His grace is an ocean, we’re all sinking.
And Heaven meets earth like an unforeseen kiss,
And my heart turns violently inside of my chest,
I don’t have time to maintain these regrets,
When I think about, the way… “

The words to this song get me EVERY time. I don’t care how many times I’ve heard it, when the very first few notes of this song are played, the waterworks start. In the car, in the kitchen, at church, at my girl’s dance school…wherever. David Crowder and his band have done an excellent job in capturing the essence and emotion behind the very present fact that Jesus loves ME!!!! And you, too.

I’ve been a born again Christian for 30 of my 35 years of life, but I still have trouble, at times, understanding and grasping the idea that the Creator of this whole universe, the Maker of ALL things, the Alpha and Omega, the Son of God….cares about me and loves me sooo much.

I read a blog by Marilyn Meberg the other day that really opened my eyes to the love of God. She talked about how we all imagine that we were created to fulfill this great, amazing, fantastic purpose in life….you know, like, be a missionary in Africa or become some great author or prophet or something. When in fact, the purpose for our very existence is simply to be loved by God. That’s it…in a nutshell. God made me just so He could love on me for all eternity. All I have to do is understand and believe what Jesus has done for me and I’m in…oh, and that goes for you too!

Not only did He make every star, galaxy, mountain, ocean, flower, cloud, and animal for my discovery, my enjoyment, pleasure, and delight….He came down from the splendor of Heaven, clothed Himself in human flesh and became a man on this earth…then He endured unbelievable torturing, naked in front of thousands of people, put to shame, and nailed to a tree with spikes through His wrists and His feet…for ME. And you, too.

If I were the only one He had ever created, or if YOU were the only one ever created, He would have STILL done all these things. That’s how He loves us. It’s true. He’s my God, Savior, Redeemer, Comforter, Provider, BEST Friend (ever), my Husband (especially when I had none!), my Lord, my Strength, my Rest, my Peace, my Deliverer, my Joy….I could list a thousand things He is to me. I only wish that I could love Him back as much as He has loved me.

Love is an action word…I know this because He DEMONSTRATED His love to us by dying on the cross for our sins so that we could be reconciled to Him and live with Him forever!!!! So, to follow His example, I try to show Him my love for Him by doing things that are pleasing to Him…serving and loving His creation. I want to speak and act in a way that shows my love for Jesus and my love for people. That’s my way of giving back to a God who gave so much. Oh, how He loves us. And, oh, how I love HIM!!!!

” Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.” Psalm 19:14