Day 22: How Your Daddy Loves You
“I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.” John 17:23
When I was first born again, I heard that God loved me. I found out that He loved me enough to send His son Jesus to die for me. I was fully convinced God did love me. What I didn’t realize then was just how much He loves me. One day years later, my attention was directed to the verse above. Look at it closely. Read it a few times out loud. I’ll wait.
Okay, so did you catch it? If you did—you may not even need to read any further right now. If you didn’t, well let me help you! Jesus said “that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.”
God loves you just as much as He loves Jesus!
And how much does the Father love Jesus? Well, the Bible says that when John baptized Jesus, a voice was heard from heaven saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:17)
You are beloved of God, and He is well pleased with you! You are God’s favorite child! He wouldn’t have sent His son to die for you if He didn’t think you were valuable. You are priceless to God. Don’t let the devil, the world, or any person tell you otherwise.
If you’ve been living your life thinking that you aren’t worth much, take hold of this right now. God loves you. On top of that, He loves you as much as He loves Jesus.
I want you to get in the habit of saying out loud: “God loves me just as much as He loves Jesus.” You don’t even have to believe it quite yet. Just meditate on it and let it sink into your heart.
If I came to you and offered you, as a gift, every last thing you’ve been wanting, wouldn’t you get excited? God has done that for you. He went all out for you by sending Jesus.
He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? Romans 8:32
Here’s something else to consider: Jesus said that He only did what He saw His Father doing (John 5:19), and we’re told in Hebrews 1:3 that Jesus is the express image of God. Often times we separate the Father and Son in such a way that the Son is the one who is loving, while the Father is the stern one. Not so. Jesus only did what He saw His Father doing. He healed the sick (Matthew 4:24, and time and time again throughout the Gospels). He protected the life of a woman caught in adultery (John 8:1-12). He was gentle with the Samaritan woman at the well (John 4:1-42). He sacrificed Himself for you (Matthew 26:47-54, John 19:17-18).
Your Father loves you just like that.
Homework:
Go back into the Gospels and take another look at how Jesus interacted with mankind. As you read, remember that the Father loves you just the way Jesus loved those He came into contact with when He was here on the earth.
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