God Loves You – Here’s How I Know

When I was a child, we sang a song written in 1860 by Anna B. Warner called Jesus Loves Me. The first verse has these words.

“Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so. Little ones to him belong. They are weak, but He is strong. Yes, Jesus, loves me. Yes, Jesus, loves me. Yes, Jesus loves me. The Bible tells me so.”

Last Sunday evening we watched a special about Billy Graham and throughout his sermons, one thing he preached over and over and over again was, “God loves you. God loves you. God loves you.”

And the question rises from the depths of these phrases, “How do you know?”

The children’s song gave the answer in the simplest of terms. “For the Bible tells me so.” And Billy Graham proclaimed pretty much the same thing. The Bible declares it, therefore we can count on it.

There was a time in Billy Graham’s life, however, when even he had his faith in the Scriptures tested. It was the popular sentiment of the day to question the Bible’s validity and he grappled with that question. Can the Bible be trusted? Is it the very Words of God? It is true? 

Does that sound impossible to you, that a man of such faith could have had these doubts at one time in his life? I’ll admit, I was not aware of this inner struggle until his death, but such questions do not surprise me. 

After all, the Bible has come under fire and question for hundreds of years. And everyone who has ever read the words or heard them preached has to answer that question. Can we trust that this is God’s Word. And if it is true, what am I going to do with that truth?

If we didn’t question, I would be more concerned than if we do.

Perhaps that sounds strange coming from someone whose life work is to study the Scriptures and pull out the truths in a story-telling way. Like many of us, however, I’ve grappled with things in the Bible that don’t make sense to me. Who among us can claim to fully comprehend the intricacies of every sentence in God’s Word?

But like Mr. Graham, I came to the conclusion many years ago and through a life of trial and triumph, that either I believe the Word or I don’t. Either God is true or He isn’t. We can’t pick and choose the Scriptures we want to fit the world we want to create. We can’t make God in our own image and expect to know His love for us.

IF WE WANT TO KNOW GOD LOVES US, WE HAVE TO BELIEVE HE EXISTS. WE HAVE TO BELIEVE IN HIS SON WHOM HE SENT. WE HAVE TO REMEMBER THAT WE ARE MADE IN HIS IMAGE, NOT THE OTHER WAY AROUND. HE IS THE CREATOR, WE ARE THE CREATED. HE IS THE ONE WHO MAKES THE RULES AND WE ARE THE ONES WHO BREAK THEM. 

BILLY GRAHAM PREACHED ABOUT SOMETHING WE ALL KNOW IN OUR HEARTS IS TRUE BUT NO ONE LIKES TO ADMIT. WE HAVE ALL BROKEN GOD’S LAWS, AND THAT MAKES US SINNERS.

ALL OF US.

AND THE THING IS?

SINNERS CAN’T KNOW GOD.

CAN’T LIVE ETERNALLY WITH GOD.

WE ARE HOPELESS AND HELPLESS IN OUR SINFUL STATE.

EXCEPT FOR THIS FACT.

GOD. SO. LOVED. THE. WORLD.

JESUS’ LOVE MADE A WAY FOR SINNERS TO KNOW GOD.

TO LIVE ETERNALLY WITH GOD. TO NO LONGER BE HOPELESS AND HELPLESS APART FROM HIM.

But we have to recognize that we are helpless and hopeless without Him. In this life we have to make a decision whether to believe the Bible is true or decide that it is not. If we choose the latter, we are left with only ourselves to trust and where else we might place that trust

We can choose other religions or no religion at all. We can decide there is nothing out there but us, but from what I’ve seen, to adopt such a view doesn’t offer any kind of eternal hope. If this is all there is, then it’s a mighty short life with a lot of suffering and emptiness.

THERE ARE A LOT OF VOICES SHOUTING AGAINST GOD TODAY AND THE GOSPEL JESUS PREACHED.  

BUT MAKE NO MISTAKE, THE GOOD NEWS (GOSPEL) WILL CONTINUE TO GO FORWARD UNTIL JESUS RETURNS.

COMING TO JESUS MESSIAH WON’T INSTANTLY ANSWER EVERY QUESTION YOU HAVE EVER HAD, BUT IF YOU COME BY FAITH AND RISK PUTTING YOUR COMPLETE TRUST IN HIM, HE WILL MEET YOU THERE. HIS GRACE WILL LIFT YOU UP AND HE WILL WRAP YOU IN HIS ARMS OF EVERLASTING LOVE.

AND ONCE WE KNOW HIM–I MEAN TRULY KNOW HIM BY PERSONAL EXPERIENCE, NOT SOMEONE ELSE’S WORDS–THEN WE WILL KNOW  AT A HEART LEVEL FOR CERTAIN THAT HE LOVES US.

“FOR GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD, THAT HE GAVE HIS ONE AND ONLY SON, THAT WHOEVER BELIEVES IN HIM WILL NOT PERISH BUT HAVE ETERNAL LIFE.” JOHN 3:16

The message of the cross has never changed since Jesus walked the hills of Israel and proclaimed, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” And it never will. When Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life–NO ONE comes to the Father except through Me,” He spoke truth because He is truth and He cannot lie.

Mr. Graham once said: 

“I don’t care what ideologies arise in the future. The ultimate winner is going to be the kingdom of God.” 

And you know what? He’s absolutely right.

God is truth and Jesus can be trusted and the Bible–if you read it, study it, believe it, and stand on it–will prove more true in your life than you can even imagine. I can’t make you see it or believe it. You don’t inherit it from believing family or friends.

You have to come to Him by yourself by faith.

And don’t you know that Jesus never rejects a soul that truly seeks Him? It does not matter your race, gender, current belief system, whether you are wealthy or poor, what you have done or not done. God loves you enough to accept everyone who will come to Him by faith in His Son, Jesus.

The emptiness and fear can’t stand against the amazing love and grace of God.

God loves you that much.

Jesus loves you that much.

“Jesus loves you, this I know.

For the Bible tells me so.”

And there is nothing truer.

~Selah

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