Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Jesus Loves Me, This I Know

Jesus loves ME, this I know . . . and every day I see it anew as my own personal miracle.

Jesus loves you and me. To think that the Creator of the universe, all-knowing and all-powerful, eternal and enormous, would "so love the world" is not a big hurdle for me. But to think that such a God would notice me -- let alone look with compassion on me as an individual, and would care to answer my prayers -- it astounds me every time I think of it. It's true! God speaks to individuals when He says:

". . . the mountains may depart and the hills be removed,
but my steadfast love shall not depart from you,
and my covenant of peace shall not be removed,"
says the Lord, who has compassion on you.
- Isaiah 54:10, ESV

Wasn't God speaking to the Hebrew people through the prophet Isaiah? God reassures me as an individual in the vast and varied sea of humanity, just as He reassures you. It's as if he points right at you in the crowd of faces and says, "yes! I mean YOU!" God goes on to say through the prophet:

. . . and "my house shall be called a house of prayer
for all peoples." The Lord God, who gathers the outcasts . . .
declares, "I will gather yet others . . . " - from Isaiah 56:7

It is your own personal shout-out when God says:

For thus says the One
who is high and lifted up,
who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy:
"I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him
who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite"
- Isaiah 57:15

I want to be more and more that person God singles out, an individual with a contrite and lowly heart. Though He is enormous and inhabits all eternity, he dwells indeed with the lowly, and it is a blessing to be convinced of the reality of his presence and power on a daily basis. I pray that you will be intensely aware today of the simple truth, "Jesus loves me, this I know!"

No comments: