Tag: true love

My Reflections

THE BONDS THAT DON’T BREAK: Romans 8:31-39

Rachel's Reflections

My Daughter's Mother's Day Gift to Me
Mother & Daughter Forever: My daughter’s Mother’s Day gift to me

I can think of very few bonds that are as strong as that between a child and her parents.  There is very little I wouldn’t do for my daughter, whether getting matching mother/daughter tattoos as we did this Mother’s Day, as her gift to me this year, or unhesitatingly dying for her, which I would do in a heartbeat.

While those may be two extremes situations, one thing I know, without question.  My love for her is boundless.  We are connected forever.

Even stronger than the bonds that tie my beautiful daughter to me, are the bonds that don’t break between our Heavenly Father and His children.  He is very much connected to us.

I know that not all of you may have experienced this sort of parental love, this sort of connection, this sort of bond. However, I know as clearly as I know how I feel about my daughter that my God loves His children without any hesitation, without any wavering, no matter who we are or what we do.

As Romans 8:31-39 reminds us, “What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us? Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else? Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own? No one—for God himself has given us right standing with himself.Who then will condemn us? No one—for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us. Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? (As the Scriptures say, ‘For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.’) No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us. And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,  neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

I don’t know about you, but I take comfort knowing that absolutely nothing separates us from our Heavenly Father’s love.  That’s a true bond, one that cannot be broken.  God will eternally love us, ALWAYS!

Do you feel like you’re not good enough for God?  Do you feel like you have messed up so much that God would never consider loving you?  Do you think that God might care about others, but there’s nothing to love about you?

Those are common thoughts or feelings, but God isn’t like that. Just as a loving parent would never dream of turning her back on her child, there is nothing we can do to make God love us or to make Him not love us.  He just loves us, because He is love and He knows no other way to feel towards His creation, His children.

As 1 John 4:7-12 reminds us, “Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.”

One thing I want my daughter to always know, no matter what happens, is that my love for her will never waver.  It only strengthens with time.  Nothing can ever happen that would break the bond between us, because I wouldn’t let it happen.  I could never let that happen.

God speaks that over us, as well.  How, you may ask?  The Bible is a love letter to us, from start to finish.  It tells us, over and over again how much He loves us.  How desperately He wants to stay connected to us.

Having a hard time believing it?  I would love to chat with you.  Feel free to send me a message.

Want to rediscover that bond with Him? He has been by your side all along.  Just talk with Him.  You’ll quickly discover that the bond still remains.

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My Reflections

TRUE LOVE – Proverbs 30:18-19, John 3:16, 1 John 3:16

Rachel's Reflections

It’s troubling how many marriages, both in and outside the Christian population, are failing. I know this is Valentine’s Day, but when I think about love, it makes me think of many things.  How so many people are settling for less than what love really is.

I understand that life is easier when you have the support of others, but we were made to be loved fully, unconditionally.  Yet, how often do we “fall in love” with those who only partially or under certain conditions, love us in return?  How many choose to love others selfishly, rather than selflessly, like we deserve.

How can I say we all deserve that type of love?  Because God gave up His only son, to love us as we were meant to be loved, fully, unconditionally (John 3:16).  He didn’t demonstrate His love to us, after we got all perfect and loved Him back as we should, as He is meant to be loved. He loved us with all of Himself, in spite of ourselves.

What better example do we have than that?  You may be thinking, “Yeah, that’s God. How can we be expected to love like that?”  We do it all the time.  It doesn’t matter what my kid does.  I will ALWAYS love her.  As often as I screw up, my husband still forgives and ALWAYS loves me, anyway.  We are even told that it is possible in 1 John 3:16, which says, “We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us. So we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters.”

Too often, we believe the fairy tales fed to us in movies and books, but we settle for whatever we can get, from others. It doesn’t have to be that way.  It shouldn’t be that way.

Proverbs 30:18-19 tell us:

“There are three things that amaze me—
no, four things that I don’t understand:
how an eagle glides through the sky,
how a snake slithers on a rock,
how a ship navigates the ocean,
how a man loves a woman.”

Do you know love that like that, love that just amazes you?  I’m blessed and so very thankful that I have a husband and others in my life who love me in a way that often amazes me.  That’s a gift, but it is a gift my Heavenly Father says I deserve, that He desires for us.  It’s a gift I know I deserve, because I’ve experienced it from knowing Him, and you deserve like that too, because He created you for it.

I may not always include a video like I did in my last blog or I am doing in this one, but this one is so perfect for this day, and for what I felt led to share with all of you. It’s by a young man named Jeff Bethke, who figured out what true love is all about.

As with all of my blog posts feel free to COMMENT, to FOLLOW my blog and to SHARE. I value you taking the time to read my posts.