Tag: Jesus loves me

Are we listening for ways God is speaking?

Listening for God to speak in our lives can be simple. Do we recognize when it happens? What might it look like? Here is a recent example of this in my own life. Maybe it will help you consider where God might be speaking in yours.

Listening

I like to call it God speaking in stereo. When a theme is echoed in more than one place in my life, reinforcing the message I am receiving.

Last week this happened as I was writing the blog post about the song “Jesus Loves Me.” I was reflecting on which Bible verses to use:

Psalm 139:1

1 John 3:1

In fact the idea to write the blog post solidified when I was sharing my thoughts in a small gathering about whether or not we believe that Jesus loves us. One friend replied, “That’s a blog post.”

Hearing her response reinforced that maybe this was a good idea to pursue.

Familiar Bible verse

While writing the post I reflected which Bible verses would be helpful to hold onto this truth of God loving us while already knowing about us.

Psalm 139 came to mind because I was familiar with it. I had read that Psalm in my Bible so it was in my memory bank.

A song

On my way to a Bible study I heard Matthew West’s song, “Hello, My Name Is.” The bridge of the song speaks of God’s love for His children. When I heard it, I knew that was the phrase I was looking for. The words reminded me of a Bible passage, I just wasn’t sure where to find it in the Bible. Because I was listening, I heard the answer I was seeking.

As soon as I arrived, I wrote down the verse so I wouldn’t forget it. Although I didn’t know where it was located in the Bible, I figured I could do a search later.

A speaker

During the Bible study teaching, the speaker shared a verse from the first letter of John in the New Testament. Problem solved. Wouldn’t you know it was the same verse I had heard in the song and written down? The verse I was seeking showed up more than once. I recognized it because I was listening.

Not long after, during the same teaching, she mentioned the verse from Psalm 139 I planned to use. Why wouldn’t she? I had confirmation for the verse in 1 John, why wouldn’t I receive confirmation for the passage from Psalm 139?

A friend

A remembered verse

A song

A speaker

God speaks

The message for the blog post came about because I listened. God speaks to us through Scripture – one really good reason to be familiar with the Bible. God can also speak to us through people, songs, and circumstances.

Are we listening?

Jesus loves me this I know, or do I?

Jesus loves me.

I was thinking about this song recently, “Jesus Loves Me.” I learned it as a child. It speaks of knowing Jesus loves me, that it’s in the Bible.

But do I know this? Do I believe it to be true?

Reflect

I asked a group recently to take a few minutes to write down what they love about Jesus. They reflected and wrote. The exercise went smoothly. Everyone seemed to accomplish this with relative ease.

Then I asked them to write down what Jesus loves about them.

Some wrote a little. Others hesitated. Which camp would you fall into?

Some days I write a little. Other days I hesitate.

I know what I think of myself.

Some days I’m not sure if I want to know what Jesus thinks of me.

Can He just think of me on good days when I have my act together? When patience and kindness rule my heart and only loving words come out of my mouth?

Can Jesus just look the other way on other days until I think I have everything figured out?

Thankfully I don’t have to worry about that. Any of it.

Jesus knows what’s on my heart and still loves me.  (Psalm 139:1-4)

You have searched me, Lord,
  and you know me. Psalm 139:1 NIV

Jesus loves me. Rest in that truth. Take a deep breath. Remember this:

Jesus loves me.

Think of it as a three step process:

Jesus loves me.

Come back to these three simple words at different times throughout the day. Pause. Remember. Reflect. Jesus loves me.

This I know.

The more I remind myself, the more I believe it. This moves from being something I have to remember, to something I already know. Something I’ve internalized.

For the Bible tells me so.

Here’s the fun part. Open your Bible. The more I look in my Bible, the more I discover. Through these discoveries I recognize more of the depth of God’s love for His children.

I don’t read the Bible so that Jesus will love me more. I read the Bible to discover how much He already does.

Time spent with Jesus shows us how deeply He loves us. It’s hard to know how much someone loves us if we don’t spend time with them.

Notice I didn’t say how much they love us is dependent on how much time we spend with them. I said we don’t realize how much they love us, how much they already love us, until we spend time with them.

So spend time with Jesus. Not so that He will love you more, but so you will more fully know how much He already loves you.

See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! 1 John 3:1 NIV

We don’t read the Bible so Jesus will love us more. We read the Bible to see how much more Jesus loves us than we believe.

Are you just getting started with your Bible?

You’ve come to the right place. Let’s learn what’s in it together.

This song, “Hello, My Name Is,” by Matthew West, reminds me of this love of Jesus. Maybe it will speak to you too.