Jesus Loves Me

I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. For I know that good itself does not dwell in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For I do not do the good I want to do, but the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.

So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!

Romans 7:15-25

Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so. Little ones to Him belong, for I am weak but He is strong. Yes, Jesus loves me, yes, Jesus loves me. Yes, Jesus loves me, the Bible tells me so.

I know, I know, you know that song. But do you know the second verse?

Jesus loves me when I’m good, when I do the things I should. Jesus loves me when I’m bad, even though it makes Him sad. Yes, Jesus loves me, yes, Jesus loves me. Yes, Jesus loves me, the Bible tells me so.

Many people know that first verse and it makes all the difference in the world. To know that Jesus loves you and that He went to the cross for you makes all the difference in the world – it means that you know that your sins are forgiven and that you will spend eternity with Him. Praise God! It means that you have a clean slate, a fresh start, a new life in Him! Your sins are forgiven, you have a new life in Him!

But what if in your new life in Him, you screw up and sin again? What if you take your fresh start and screw it up? What if you still sin even though you know that you shouldn’t? What if you accept Jesus and give your life to Him but you still do the things that you shouldn’t and don’t do the things that you should? Who will rescue you from yourself?

Thanks be to God that He does! He rescues us from our own sinful, self-destructive tendencies! Many Christians know the first verse – that Jesus loves them – but they don’t know the second verse – that He loves them even when they screw up and sin even though they know better. They don’t understand that the love of God not only covers their sins in their life before they accepted Christ, but it also covers their sins in their new life in Christ. Many people think that they accepted Christ as Lord and Savior, then tried to live the Christian life but failed or were hurt by other Christians, so they quit going to church or even quit following Jesus and now they feel that they are doomed to finish their lives without Him. Some might even feel that they are doomed to go to eternity without Him. How sad!

They don’t know that the blood of Jesus covers their sins after their confession of faith as well as before. The difference is that before they accepted Jesus, they really didn’t know better. They were simply carried along their sinful, self-destructive path by their own sin nature and the ways of this world. However, after coming to know Jesus and understanding about His sacrifice for them, they understood what it cost Him and how much He loves them. But still they made mistakes, they sinned, and sometimes even people who have put their faith in Jesus feel like they tried it once but now it is too late, they had their second chance, their new life in Him, but they failed all over again and now there is no hope for them. No forgiveness, no new life, no eternity in their Father’s house because they couldn’t live what they thought was the Christian life.

Nothing could be further from the truth! Even if we sin after we have accepted Christ as Lord and Savior, we still have salvation in His name. Yes, it makes Him sad if we sin, as the second verse in the children’s song says, but we still have forgiveness. Our sin, though, makes Him sad because we could have the abundant life He offers – not only peace with God for all eternity but also love, joy, and peace in this life, right now! When we sin after giving our lives to Jesus, we don’t necessarily forfeit our eternal salvation but we do cheat ourselves out of the abundant life that He offers.

In other words, if we give our lives to Jesus but our hearts are still full of hate and unforgiveness, we don’t necessarily forfeit our salvation but it is very hard if not impossible to sense His presence and experience the love, joy and peace of the abundant life in Him. Or, to put it another way, if we know that we can have victory over sin in Christ Jesus but continue to feed our addictions and self-destructive behavior patterns instead of feasting on the Word and spending time with Him, it makes Him sad because we could have so much more in this life than the misery of being in bondage to sin.

The solution, the way to experience not only eternal life but the abundant life of love, joy, and peace in this life, is to reckon ourselves dead to our sin nature, to understand that we no longer have to submit to every temptation that comes along, whether it be anger, unforgiveness, greed, lust, covetousness, immorality, idolatry, addictions to alcohol or drugs, pornography, whatever it might be. We who have faith in Christ and believe that He died so that our sins might be forgiven can begin to thank Him for His work on the cross and ask Him to save us from our own fleshly temptations and help us to live in His presence, in the love, joy, and peace that He offers. We no longer have to be carried away by every sinful tendency, we can say “No!” in the name of Jesus.

Jesus offers us a better life in this world as well as in the age to come. Don’t let the world or the culture around you tell you different. Don’t buy into the lie that you will be trapped in sin forever. Receive from Jesus not only the eternal forgiveness of sin but the power to not sin and live a holy life in Him. You will be glad you did!

Let’s Pray Together: Lord, forgive me for the times when I wallow in my sins and addictions instead of bringing them to You and gaining victory over them. I know it makes You sad to see me stuck in hatred or unforgiveness or lust or greed instead of enjoying freedom over those things. I know it breaks Your heart to see me caught in a web of isolation and destruction instead of being close to You and other believers. Help me to gain victory over those things that keep me from enjoying abundant life in You. Forgive me these sins and give me victory over these issues that I bring before You now...(keep praying as you feel led…)

Scriptures: Romans 6:1-8:13

He's Got the Whole World in His Hands

For the Lord is the great God, the great King above all gods. In his hand are the depths of the earth, and the mountain peaks belong to him. The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land. Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker; for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care.

Psalm 95:3-7

He’s got the whole world in His hands, He’s got the whole world in His hands…..He’s got the whole world in His hands, He’s got the whole world in His hands.”

As I slowly awakened this morning, the children’s song kept going through my mind as I laid in bed and began to meditate on the truth of that song and my response to it over the years.

When I was a young child going to Sunday school and learning it for the first time, it was simply the obvious truth. God created the heavens and the earth; he made me and my parents; I was safe and secure and life was good. There wasn’t much worry or stress about what I should be doing nor was I doubting or even wondering about the goodness of God or His loving hand upon me and my life. The whole world was in His hands and there was nothing to worry about.

And then I hit puberty and junior high school and friends that betrayed me or made fun of me. I also realized that parents aren’t omniscient nor omnipotent; they sometimes made dumb decisions and were often powerless to bring healing to my world or correction to my circumstances. So I withdrew into myself and tried to build a wall of protection around me, telling myself that God has the whole world in His hands and that one day He would make everything right by setting the world straight and vindicating me in the eyes of those who were hurting me.

As I grew into adulthood, though, I began to see just how hard and unfair life can be. I began to think that if the whole world is in God’s hands, why is there so much pain? Why are there so many senseless wars and horrible genocides and unspeakable atrocities? Why was it that good people that I knew were cut down in the prime of life while others who were violent cheaters lived prosperous lives? Why did my prayers go unanswered? Where was God when I needed Him? The questions haunted me and I began to think that if the whole world was in God’s hands, He was either evil and manipulative or He was simply doing a bad job because life basically sucked and the world was full of pain and injustice.

Then, through a series of seemingly unfortunate events, God got my attention and brought me to an end of myself. As He called me to Himself and opened my eyes to how much He had done for me through Christ Jesus, I began to understand that the seemingly unfortunate events were actually good for me as it drove me to Him. I began to understand that God has a perspective that is far different than mine; He can see the whole world, every person in it, and each person’s eternal destiny as well. I realized that there is more to life than our earthly circumstances; there is a whole new in God that is waiting to be explored. I was born again, born from above with an abundant and eternal life of limitless love, unspeakable joy, and everlasting peace. I understood that God has the whole world in His hands, and He loves every one of us, but to truly experience Him and His love a person has to put his or her trust in Jesus and His work on the cross.

So I set myself to live for God and help Him spread the Good News that there is hope for this life and for all eternity. I tried to be an evangelist and even a church planter but soon realized that my true gifting is as a pastor and teacher who was made for the purpose of shepherding God’s people. I still share the Good News with people from time to time but primarily I shepherd the people of God, prayerfully watching over them and feeding them the Word and encouraging them to follow Jesus and the teachings of the New Testament. I knew that God had the whole world in His hands but I also knew that He gives people free will and that we have an adversary who roams about like a roaring lion, causing chaos and wreaking havoc around the world. As a result, my life revolved around serving God and trying to persuade people to give Him first place in their lives.

Now that I am in my fifties and have served the Lord for more than 30 years, I am realizing that God doesn’t really need me as much as I thought when I was younger. Yes, I have had the privilege and great joy of being a part of people’s lives and influencing them to embrace life and live for Jesus. In a sense their eternal destiny and the course of their world did depend on me being faithful to extend the Word of life to them. But on the other hand, if I didn’t do it, God could have used someone else. So I still have that sense of urgency that comes from knowing that we have an adversary and that people have free will but I no longer feel the weight of the world on my shoulders or that a person’s only hope is that I alone point them to Jesus. I take comfort in the knowledge that the whole world is in God’s hands and I get to be a part of His plan of redemption but it’s not all up to me. It’s up to Him and all of us who make up the Body of Christ and become His mouth, His hands, and His feet.

As I look forward to growing older and continuing to love Jesus and serve Him, I realize that the pendulum is swinging back towards where it started. I began with an innocent trust and an understanding that He has the whole world in His hands. Then I doubted and wandered, but eventually came to understand that while He has the whole world in His hands, I was a part of His body and have a responsibility to represent Him to others and extend His reign on earth. I look forward to continuing to dispel darkness with the light of the Word, to set death to flight with the life of Christ, and to see people healed and set free from sin by the blood of the cross.

But I also know that as I approach the evening of my life, I have less energy to serve enthusiastically and am drawn more to simply spending time with God. I still have a heart to serve, but my heart is drawn more and more to simply spending time with Him, enjoying being with Him and ministering to Him with songs of worship and words of praise. I still have a heart to pray for people, but the prayers have become shorter and the praise has become longer as I trust that God knows what they need better than I do. In short, I now spend more time loving God and trusting Him to intersect people’s lives, bring them to salvation, and go before them in whatever they are facing.

As I grow older, assuming the Lord grants me a long life, I will likely grow in childlike faith. My body might not be as strong to serve and my mind might not be able to grasp the deep theology, but in my heart I will know that the whole world – including my world and my eternity – is in His hands. I will once again be able to rest easy and live free from stress and worry, because the whole world is in His hands.

As we go to prayer today, know for certain that the whole world is in His hands and as we go through life we have different responses and different responsibilities to that truth. Embrace the season of life in which you find yourself, and pray and live accordingly.

Let’s Pray Together: Lord, thank you that you have the whole world in Your hands and that we can trust You to extend Your reign – your life, your light, and your loving-kindness – to people throughout the earth. Show me Your plan for my life in the eternal scheme of things. Guide me as I pray for Your plan for my life and for these people that I lift before You now….

Scriptures: Romans 8:28, Matt. 6:33, Matt. 24:14, Romans 12:1-8, 1 Cor. 12:1-31