↠ Throughout my life as a follower of Christ, I've heard many testimonies about how one came to know the LORD and how a life was completely changed. I will never tire of them. My bible study group has just finished studying the gospel according to John and I find myself more in love with Jesus than I have ever been. Each day, as I dig deeper into His word, I get more of an understanding of who He is, what He did, and what He does. Last week, my bible study group went over different reasons we love Jesus and I was literally in awe of how many reasons we came up with. I mean, how often do you get to hear reasons why people love the creator of the universe? Tonight, I want you to read this and think of why you love Jesus // or why you should love Jesus. Because really y'all, there's a whole lotta' reasons why.
(1). He breathed life into me- "My frame was not hidden from You when you formed me in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, Your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in Your book before one of them came to be.|•| {Psalm 139:15-16} I am in complete awe + wonder that Jesus chose to create me. I am a sinner, clothed in filthy rags that I call goodness but are nothing in God's eyes. He created me knowing of all the sins I would commit and knowing all the pain I would cause Him. Sometimes I laugh when I think of this. I laugh because it's almost ridiculous that this wonderful and perfect God would make something as imperfect and unholy as me. But you know, that's God. He is all mercy + grace. He created us knowing that He would have to save us, yet He did it anyway. He loved us that much.
(2). In the sea of people on earth, in the mist of those more important than I, Jesus knows me and calls me by name- The book of Isaiah says that our names are craven on Jesus' hand + written on His heart. I like to think that the nails that pierced Jesus' hands symbolizes our names. He bore the pain for us, individually. When they pierced His side, His heart, that was for us. That was for every person on earth. There are so many people on earth, billions upon billions. Out of all those men, women, boys, and girls-out of all those faces, names, and voices-out of all those that are better than I, that are better Christians than I, He knows me. He knows me by name. He calls me by name. I am so insignificant, a little speck of dust, unworthy of Jesus' attention, but He gets down and says-"Anna, follow me" |•| Y'all, that makes me feel so stinkin' special. I mean, God says my name. And you know, I cannot wait until the day I can see Him + speak to Him + hear Him say my name for eternity and forevermore.
(3). He loves me more than life- When people question why I love Jesus, I think to myself-"Gosh, how can I not?" He loves me so much! He calls me beloved, His sheep, His child, His heir, His bride, His daughter, and His treasured one. Oh my, yes! For sure I'm in love with Him. He saw that I was going to have to die a miserable death in order to pay for my sins. He saw that I was going to suffer terrible pain and because His love was so great, He took my punishment on Himself. That was me that was suppose to get whipped, spit upon, mocked, and slapped. That was me that should've been nailed to that cross, pierced, and beyond human recognition. That was suppose to be me. That was suppose to be you. But that love He had for us and still has for us is great. So great! The greatest love that we will ever know. It makes me all tingly and my heart flutters when I think of that love. I just can't get over it, readers. I literally am all squeals because that amazing God up there loves me somethin' fierce.
(4). He paid my debts, for every sin I've committed and will commit- When Jesus had been crucified, a sign was hung over His head. It read-'King of The Jews'- but there was another sign. An invisible sign. A sign for every person ever created. A sign of every person's sins that they had done and would do. The second Jesus breathed His last, God erased the words off our signs. We were free, free from the bondage of sins. It was almost like Jesus came to the market, saw us chained and being auctioned off, went and sold everything He had, bought us, and set us free. We are free, we are loved, we were chosen. {Romans 5:8-9} >>>"But God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more than, being now justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him."
(5). He is so holy, so mighty, so worthy, and yet He wants to know me- Jesus Christ is holier than anything, worthier than anything, lovelier than anything, greater than anything, and mightier than anything. He is so great and yet He wants to know me. He wants me to come to Him when I'm in trouble, when I'm sad, when I've sinned. He wants me to tell Him everything, all my secrets, all my thoughts. He wants to know. The reason: He is a humble God. He came to serve, not be served. He came to save, not condemn. He came to show mercy, not justice. He came to show love, not hate. All for us, the lowliest of the low. Movies and pictures portray Jesus as a sober figure, pleasing to the eye with a halo about His head. But the Bible said He was plain, He was not pleasing to the eye. He was as normal as could be. He is a God that gets down on the ground with us sinners. A God who hugs us and smiles and says-"my son/my daughter"- That is a God worth loving, worth serving, worth obeying.
(6). Jesus will never leave me, He will never forsake me, and He will never give up on me- Jesus promises that He will never leave us, nor forsake us. He promises to love us, to protect us, and to guide us. I know that I can be sick, and He'll be with me. I know that I can be sad, and He'll be with me. I know I can sleep in peace, for He is with me. I know I can be going through the worst of the worse times, but He'll be with me. He will always be there for me. Ready to comfort me, love on me, and listen to me. I am so in love with that. Knowing that He is always there and knowing that He'll always be, is the most amazing feeling ever.
(7). He puts me back together every time I fall apart- I'm like a stack of Jenga blocks. I fall apart easily. I literally cannot stay up without the LORD holding me up. Every time I fall though, He lovingly picks me up. Every time I break, He puts me back together and calls me beautiful. Every time I make a mess, He helps me clean it up. He is always watching me and ever ready to pick me up if I fall.
(8) He is the author of life and I don't need to worry about the outcome- God wrote life's story. Every second of history, good and bad, He wrote. He promises in the Bible that in the end, goodness will prevail. He will be victorious and sin, pain, and death will be no more. I know that in the end, everything will be just fine. Absolutely perfect. God also tells us not to worry, for the birds of the air are fed by Him and we are far more precious than they will ever be. Surely God will take care of us, supply out needs, and watch out for us.
(9). He believes in me when I cannot- Life is tough, y'all. Definitely no bed of roses that's for sure. There are days when we feel hopeless, like we can't do anything right, like we're failures, and that we'll never amount to much. I call these feelings goliaths, goliaths that just tower over us. These feelings swallow us. It swallows me. I feel absolutely helpless. I think- "Heck, I can't do it"- But you know, when I doubt, when I can't believe, God picks me up and does the believing for me. He whispers encouragement to me when I choose to abide in Him, He washes my doubts away and instills belief + confidence in those that ask Him to and have faith.
(10). He is my joy, He is my smile, He is the love of my life- Did you know that I smile because I am loved by a Father? Did you know my joy comes from a gift called salvation? Did you you know my heart beats fast when I read God's letters to me? Did you know that all of what you see in me is because of God? Did you? My joy is found in Jesus, not in earthly things or temporary pleasures. My worth is found in Jesus, not the labels of this world, not in what you think or say about me. The love in my heart is not because my family put it there or I lost myself in someone's eyes, it's there because Jesus showed me what love is. Love is not a feeling. It's an action. That is why Jesus is love. My love. My joy. My life. My smile. That's why I follow Him. That's why I want to please Him. That's why I obey Him. That's why I worship Him. That's why I praise Him. That's why I wrote this blog post. To tell you why He means so much to me. What He did and what He does. There are so many things though. So many reasons. I can't begin to tell you of my Father and His greatness. I can't begin to explain why He means so much to me. I can't begin to tell you of all the reasons I love Him. But what I will never be able to explain is, why He chose to love all of me>>>why He chose to love all of you.
"I love Jesus because when I deserved nothing; He gave me everything"
