Oh how He loves us

These are Jesus' words, recorded for the benefit of all who would be His disciples: "As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you" (John 15:9).

"As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you."

Can you imagine how much the Father loves Jesus, His only begotten Son, who was with Him from the beginning and never failed to please Him?

Can you imagine that Jesus loves us in the same way? Loves us, those who have deserted Him time and again?

If you can't fathom that kind of love, it's only because we're used to how the world loves. It's time for a renewing of the mind through God's Word. I need this, too.

But first, a few words of advice from Derek Prince:

“If you do not take time for hearing, all you will do is read the Bible. Faith does not come by reading the Bible; it comes by hearing from God through the Bible...When you receive Scripture not as the word of men – not on the same level with human writings and human wisdom, but as God Himself speaking to you – it will do its work in you."

Ready?...

"He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?" (Romans 8:32).

"Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure" (Ephesians 1:4-5).

"The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever; he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us. As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him; for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust. The life of mortals is like grass, they flourish like a flower of the field; the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more. But from everlasting to everlasting the LORD’s love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children’s children" (Psalm 103:8-17).

“If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them wanders away, what will he do? Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others on the hills and go out to search for the one that is lost? And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he will rejoice over it more than over the ninety-nine that didn’t wander away! In the same way, it is not my heavenly Father’s will that even one of these little ones should perish" (Matthew 18:12-14).

"You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:6-8).

"See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him" (1 John 3:1).

"And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God" (Ephesians 3:18-19).

Let this be our response:

"Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you" (Psalm 63:3).

"Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us" (1 John 4:11-12).

These songs will open your eyes. Click and listen:
"How He love us" (Kim Walker)
"One thing remains" (Jesus Culture)
"Escape" (Rush of Fools)