living loved

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us . . . nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. – Romans 8:37-39

. . . So if you feel like you’re going under
Come and fall on amazing grace
He’s the God who can walk on water
And His love can change

Somebody like me
Somebody like you
You come as you are
And you leave brand new . . . (Caleb & John)

I don’t know if you have heard this song by Caleb & John, but it is definitely worth a listen. When I heard it in the car earlier this week, it was hard for me to hold back the tears (even in its peppy beat) because wow – if God can love somebody like me, then reader, He can most certainly love somebody like you.

As Christians, we can share God’s good news with others, tell people about the love of Christ, show His mercy and grace, but sometimes we forget to remind ourselves that He feels the same way about us. He loves somebody like me . . .

That’s a whole lot of ‘I’. We are innately selfish. And even as I type the ‘I’, the feeling of “ick” creeps in, and I cringe. I don’t want to make this life about me, and yet, we fall into the ‘me’ trap daily. Life isn’t about me and my daily comforts, longings, shortcomings, it is all about Him. It is all about His grace, His mercy, His love, His comfort, His Kingdom, and His purpose. The ‘I’ is a trick to get my eyes off of Jesus and on me . . . ick.

I tend to want to hide the icky parts and present the inner cupcake instead, but God says His mercies are new every morning and to fall into His grace and mercy. He knew me before I was in the womb. He knows my inner thoughts and desires, and yet, He loves me anyway.

And He loves you anyway in any way . . . always in all ways. There is NOTHING you or I can do to separate us from the love of Christ. We make it all about ‘I’, but the truth is, our choices, decisions, mistakes, and shortcomings have NOTHING to do with us, but everything to do with Him. We cannot love on our own – we only love because He first loved us. Let that simmer for a minute. We love because He FIRST loved us (1 John 4:19 – one of my absolute necessary and most important reminders).

Wake up today and remember WHOSE you are. You are the child of the most High King. Whatever happened yesterday (I was an absolute bear to my sweet babies and the bearded beauty and had to apologize profusely for my perimenopausal behavior) doesn’t matter this morning when you have the grace and forgiveness from your Father. When I humbly and sincerely apologized to my family, and they giggled, picked on me, and attacked with hugs and kisses, the Father’s love washed right through them and directly to me. NOTHING can separate us from His love. Nothing. We don’t deserve it. We cannot earn it. He just loves . . .

Somebody like you & somebody like me.

XOXO, Loni