August 7, 2012
I’ve been deeply saddened upon hearing that some of you have at times felt that the Lord is distant from you—that He’s just a big God way up there somewhere who once upon a time expressed His love through a great sacrifice of His Son, but He doesn’t really care so much about you personally in all the things that trouble you and that make you sad and leave you feeling confused, scared, hopeless, or alone.
Maybe you feel that He loves you in a general way, but you just don’t see how Jesus can really love you in a very warm, intimate, personal way like a very best friend, or as a lover who is in love with you and who wants to be personally involved with every detail of your life—knowing all your thoughts and your deepest desires, wanting to be with you every moment, wanting to make you happy, always thinking about you and what He can do to meet your deepest needs, not letting any of your faults alter His unswerving love for you, but instead seeing past them to your heart.
You don’t see how Jesus could really want to tune in to every aspect of your life, all the details that are particular to only you, wanting to make sure that every little need of your heart is fulfilled, always being right there to take you in His arms and comfort you when you’re sad, share your joy when you’re happy, calm your fears when you’re frightened, and explain things that confuse you.
I’ve heard some people say, “I don’t see how Jesus could really love me that much or be happy with me, because I’m too bad. I’ve made so many mistakes. I can’t overcome my personal problems. I don’t have any talents. I’m not able to do much for the Lord. I just feel like a nothing. There are so many other better people than me to do His work and whom He must love a lot more.”
It breaks my heart to hear someone say these things or even to know that they were thinking them, because I know how much Jesus loves each person individually in a very special, deep way. If you don’t understand this and if you don’t know how much He loves you, that’s one of the saddest things I can think of!
There are many manifestations of the Lord’s great love for each of us. First of all, He died for us. The Lord also gave each of us a place of service in a tailor-made way where we can be witnesses for Him in this day and age. He called and chose you. The wonderful counsel and instruction that the Lord has given us, in the Bible and other inspired writings, not to mention the counsel He continues to pour out in prophecy to those who want it, is another great manifestation of His daily love for us. Furthermore, the Lord manifests His loving hand in our lives in the way He takes care of the personal details that concern us individually. The Lord wants you to know that you are unique and special to Him, and He cares in a very intimate way for all the little details of your life, which are different from those of anyone else.
Jesus said:
“Not a single sparrow can fall to the ground without your Father knowing it.”1 And are you not worth much more than they are? My dear one, ask, that you may receive, that your joy may be full.2 I long to fill your heart with My love, with joys unspeakable. I have loved you with an everlasting love, and you are special to Me.3 You are dear to Me, for you are My little one, My precious one.
Listen not to the Wicked One who would draw you away from Me, for I do love you. Come, abide with Me in My Word and I will manifest My love toward you. If you abide in Me and I abide in you, then will My love be manifested, and as you give out, then you will also receive.4 Fill your heart with My love through My Word, and see the miracles that I will do for you and the joys that I have for you, the love unsearchable that I love you with.
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My dearest, I hear your thoughts; I know your innermost longings and your innermost fears and insecurities. I hear them all, I know them all. I see you go about your life, thinking that you must prove yourself. You think that because of your faults and failing and sins I am far away. You think that you’re too bad, that I wish to punish you for these things, and that I couldn’t possibly love you unconditionally.
You try to do the right thing; you try to be good; you try to show My love to others. And yet you sometimes feel that I’m so far away that I don’t listen to you, that I don’t talk to you, that I don’t really care. My heart grieves that you would think that. Nothing could be further from what I really feel for you!
You are My beloved in whom I am well pleased! Please forsake these doubts! Be filled with My Spirit. You're very precious to Me and I love you very much, but to experience My love, you must refuse these lies. You must cast them out! You must take that step of faith to believe that I do love you.
I know your faults, yet I love you. I know your sins, yet I am not far away. I’m right beside you and I care for you. It saddens Me, it grieves Me very much when you don’t believe it, when you don’t receive My love, when you don’t include Me in your life. You think that it’s My fault that you feel far from Me, but it’s not. I love you! You must believe I’m not far away. I don’t wish to punish you. You don’t have to be good enough for Me or try so hard to feel worthy of My love. You are unworthy, but that doesn’t matter: I love you anyway.
So stop trying to be good enough for Me. You'll never be good enough, you can never do enough; but that’s not the point, don’t you see? I love you just the way you are. You don’t have to worry about it. Just come over here and we’ll sit together and we’ll talk together and we’ll have fellowship together. I’ll be more to you than a light and better than a known way.5
Originally published January 1995. Adapted and republished August 2012.
Read by Tina Miles.
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