Give Me Jesus
No one can love me like Jesus.
That statement isn’t a cliché platitude. I say it with full conviction and contentment gained through really challenging circumstances and beautifully wonderful ones.
I also know God intended for humans to experience His love manifested in the flesh through relationships. It’s why I devoted much of my young life to studying relationships of all kinds. But throughout the years, the one that has unequivocally fascinated me the most is the relationship between a man and a woman.
To this day it is captivating to my heart to watch love connect two unique people from two unique backgrounds into one unique relationship that they and they alone will ever experience for better or for worse.
My observations and my own personal experience taught me a very important lesson. A loving marriage such as the Bible describes across its holy pages is akin to a fairytale; a rare gem that maybe 1 in 1,000 experiences. The rarity is not because God is stingy but because humans are selfish, broken people saturated in a selfish, broken culture and limit the blessing of God, not the other way around.
The day the truth no one can love me like Jesus finally settled in my heart was a freeing day indeed, but it came at a high cost and at one of my hardest times in life. Yet, in that darkness, love lifted me and held me and loved me back to life again. When I felt nothing but abandoned and nearly destroyed by a person who had vowed to love me but instead had only harmed, the love of Jesus carried me. I knew then and there that the one whom my soul loved…not my heart, not my mind, but my SOUL had been there all along. He used what one man meant for evil to reveal His love for me that is like no other.
From the cradle of His arms, I had the opportunity and privilege to look back through my life and see how all along He had demonstrated time and again how much His love far surpassed all the lesser loves and relationships this life has to offer. More importantly, I understood for the first time that He had been teaching me how to stand boldly in His love even if it meant standing alone. There were many times His love required I step out where only absolute trust in Him could induce me to go but every time I did, my faith grew as did my love for Him.
Here is what I am persuaded of in the depth of my soul,
His love is what enables me to stand when things or people want to squash or abandon
His love is what carries me when I am dropped by the wayside by non-authentic people
His love is what gives me joy when I could be drowned in sorrow
His love is what heals any broken places of my life
His love is what restores and redeems what anybody tries to destroy
His love is what has been there since before I was born and remains steadfast
His love is what gives the beat to my heart and breath to my lungs
His love is what has saved me physically, mentally and spiritually from wolves in sheep’s clothing
His love is what has taught me that love is not a feeling or an experience, but a person and that person is Jesus, and He is mine and I am His.
I can’t stop smiling as I write this post because I am so overwhelmed with how much I am loved by Jesus! As I have surrendered more and more in total abandon to His love and delighted myself in His presence, there is a fullness of joy and depth of passion that washes over me that is unrivaled by any other relationship I have seen or personally had. Not one has ever come close or ever will.
Don’t get me wrong, I cherish the God given relationships He has blessed me with and one day I hope I get to see Him paint a physical picture of His love for me through a good marriage, but ultimately, I know no such relationship can replace the real thing. It can amplify it but can never be a substitute.
If you have never known or experienced the love of Jesus, my heart hurts for you. I promise the only thing you will regret are all the moments you lived either being unaware of or rejecting His love for you. Today is the day. Now is the time. Come taste and see the He is good, and His love endures forever! The thoughts that He thinks toward you are more than can be numbered and are for good and not evil. His heart is that you know how fearfully and wonderfully you were made and how very precious and loved you are by Him.
I said it before and say it again, no one can love me like Jesus; give me Jesus!
Lover of my soul,
You have captivated my very soul by Your faithful, lavish love that satisfies every longing. You are the one my soul loves and, in Your presence, there is fullness of joy. In You I am cherished and beautiful and wanted. You called me by name, I am yours. May my life radiate the glow of Your love so that when people see me, they see a loved and adored woman. As I walk by you side, show me how to elevate Your glory in my life. Show me how to display Your banner of love that all may see more of You and less of me. Lead me in paths of righteousness for Your name’s sake. I fully surrender myself to Your love and invite You to surround me with Your indescribable, incredibly wonderful love.
Amen
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