Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day.
Valentine’s Day is a holiday that we either love or dread. It can be a reminder of all the love that we
have in our lives or it can shed light on the lack of love we have in our
lives. But do not be deceived, dear
sister. Not one of us is lacking in
love. Let us not forget the greatest
Valentine ever sent; the Valentine that was signed and sealed with the blood of
Jesus Christ.
“For God so loved the world
that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not
perish but have eternal life.”
-John 3:16 NIV
Replace” the world” with your name. God so loved ________ that he gave his one
and only son. God loves you! God loves
you! Is it sinking in yet?
I will never forget when God’s love for me finally sank into
my heart. For years I knew in my head
that God loved me, I had accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior, and I even sang
the song “Jesus Loves Me” believing that I knew that, but I hadn’t really known
it in my heart yet.
I finally realized in my heart just how much God loved me at my
church’s women’s retreat. Throughout the
entire weekend I heard powerful messages about God’s love for me and I felt the
Lord tugging on my heart, telling me the message was for me. During one of our quiet time breaks I went
outside and took in the Lord’s beauty in the majestic Rocky Mountains. I opened my Bible and read Psalm 45. I was awestricken by the following verse:
“The King is enthralled by your
beauty; honor him, for he is your Lord.”
-Psalm
45:11
As I read that, I made every attempt I could to prove that this verse was
not referring to me. I scoured through
every translation I could get my hands on at that moment and then felt the Lord
telling me, “Stop! This is for you. Quit trying and striving for perfection. Stop trying to earn my love. You are beautiful and acceptable in my
eyes. Open your eyes to see that I am
well pleased with you. You are my
princess and I am enthralled by your beauty.
I am singing songs over you right now.
I love you, my precious daughter.”
At that moment I laid down my desire for perfection, and I cuddled up in
His love for me.
The year following that retreat was one of the hardest years of my
life. My family and I walked through
trials that would have destroyed me had I not known in my heart how much God
loved me. Had I not learned in my heart
the deepness of his love and the fact that I don’t have to earn his love, I
never would have survived the challenges that I faced that year. And the amazing thing is that I was pregnant
during the retreat. I was still in the
beginning stages of my pregnancy, but had I gotten pregnant when we first
started trying to conceive, I would have missed the retreat. I fully believe that God had that all planned
out. He knew I needed to go to the
retreat to hear the messages that would be shared before I faced the trials
ahead. Praise God for His sovereignty
and His perfect timing.
“For I am convinced that neither
death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future,
nor any powers, neither height nor depth, 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
8:38-39
Thank you, my King, for your
unfathomable love. Lord, I pray that we
would all fully understand your great love for us; that it would sink into the
deepest part of our hearts. May we as
women find rest in your great unfailing love for us, God. Thank you that NOTHING can ever separate us
from your love. And thank you for choosing
me to be your princess and for clothing me with such righteousness that you are
enthralled by my beauty. May we all walk
confidently in your unfailing love for us.
I love you, my God. I pray in the
name of Jesus, Amen.
Happy Valentine’s Day,
My Friend!
