I realized that I had lost sight of the simplest, most important of lessons: Jesus Loves Me.
If you know me at all, you may know that I am very
hard on myself and that I can be very self-condemning. I put very little value
on myself and have battled a feeling of worthlessness. When this can appear
like its humility, it’s not (C.S. Lewis defined humility as “not thinking less
of yourself, but thinking of yourself less”). What it does is create a barrier
between me and the Lord, for it denies all that He has done for me through His
death on the cross. It’s taken a process of the Lord patiently guiding me
through scriptures, and placing people in my life to speak words of wisdom for
Him to reveal this to me.
This whole process started with a text message from
my dad (man how thankful I am for him!), and verse in Titus 2:11-12 that begins:
“For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training
us to renounce un-godliness…” The key point here that my dad wisely pointed out
to me, was to look at God’s grace as our teacher. His reminder to me was that
life walking with Jesus is all about grace. To quote my dad: “God’s grace,
His unmerited favor, teaches us life’s biggest lessons and touches us in the
deepest recesses of our hearts.” I see now that this was what the Lord was
trying to tell me, though it took a few times of me saying, “say that again
God?” for me to get it.
We are here studying the life of Christ and in one
of our sessions we got to the scripture in Matthew 11: 28-30 stating: “Come to
me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and
lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and
my burden is light.” I’m a runner, and a burden carrier. I often run myself
into the ground trying to do a million things at one time, and often carry the
burdens of other people on my own shoulders on top of my own. So the term rest, is a new concept for me. It sounds
so nice to be able to rest. That’s what I always thought when I read this passage,
what it’s like to truly rest. Okay, so the Lord is calling me to enter into His
rest. Sounds nice right? But, I was stuck at HOW. I begin to go over and over
in my head and my heart of what I needed to do so that I could enter into that
rest.
Here’s the kicker: Hebrews 4:16, “Let us then with
confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find
grace to help in time of need.”
What the Lord desires for us is to come to Him
(Hebrews 7:24-28), to His throne of grace (Hebrews 4:16), that grace would
guide us (Titus 2:11-12), not to rob ourselves of what He has for us (Matthew
21:12-13), to enter into the rest that He desires for us (Hebrews 4:11), to lay
our burdens down at His feet (Matthew 11:28-30), and to quiet our souls before
Him (Psalm 131).
Jesus has filled the gap between us and God. We can
come to Him as we are. We can come to His throne of grace, lay down our burdens
at His feet, and REST in Him. I finally realized that I didn’t need to do
anything. I simply needed to come. For that is how great His love is for us.
Jesus went willingly to the cross, to death, because He loves us. Even if you don’t
love Him, He still loves you. John 17 is what I think to be the most powerful
portion of scripture in the Bible. It has brought me to tears, and humbled me
realizing how much the Lord loves me. John 17 is called the “The High Priestly
Prayer,” for it is the prayer that Jesus prays right before His arrest and
crucifixion. Guess who for? For you, and for me. I pray that when you read over
this scripture that you insert your own name into it, reading it in a way that
Jesus is talking about you. Because He is.
Let the Lord tell you how much He loves you.
Let the Lord tell you how much He loves you.
John
17
When Jesus had spoken these words,
he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, "Father, the hour has come;
glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you,
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since you have given him authority
over all flesh, to give eternal life to all whom you have given him.
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And this is eternal life, that
they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.
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I glorified you on earth, having
accomplished the work that you gave me to do.
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And now, Father, glorify me in
your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world
existed.
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"I have manifested your name
to the people whom you gave me out of the world. Yours they were, and you
gave them to me, and they have kept your word.
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Now they know that everything that
you have given me is from you.
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For I have given them the words
that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth
that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me.
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I am praying for them. I am not
praying for the world but for those whom you have given me, for they are
yours.
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All mine are yours, and yours are
mine, and I am glorified in them.
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And I am no longer in the world,
but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in
your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one.
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While I was with them, I kept them
in your name, which you have given me. I have guarded them, and not one of
them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be
fulfilled.
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But now I am coming to you, and
these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in
themselves.
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I have given them your word, and
the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not
of the world.
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I do not ask that you take them
out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one.
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They are not of the world, just as
I am not of the world.
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Sanctify them in the truth;
your word is truth.
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As you sent me into the world, so
I have sent them into the world.
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And for their sake I consecrate
myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth.
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"I do not ask for these only,
but also for those who will believe in me through their word,
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that they may all be one, just as
you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that
the world may believe that you have sent me.
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The glory that you have given me I
have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one,
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I in them and you in me, that they
may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and
loved them even as you loved me.
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Father, I desire that they also,
whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you
have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.
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O righteous Father, even though
the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent
me.
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I made known to them your name,
and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved
me may be in them, and I in them."
(ESV) |
It’s
a humbling experience to be loved by God. This
is what I have come to realize over the last few days. Letting all else aside,
and coming the His throne of grace requires you to get on your knees. And when
you are there, let the Lord pour His love out on you. He will draw near to you
when you draw near to Him. He has so many great and marvelous things to show
you. You simply need to be willing to come to Him.
Today, we had the opportunity to spend the morning at
the Garden Tomb for a sunrise Easter service. What a once and a life time
experience. I am so thankful to be here. What a blessing to sit there, and to
bask in the love of the Lord and to rest in His grace.
At the Garden Tomb
The Empty Tomb
