Okay, be honest. Did you look at my title, think about all you're going through, and say, "Yeah, right"? Or have you heard this saying so much that it's become just a cliche to you? Then let me share some things with you that may help you see this phrase in a new light -- as something personal and filled with the depth of God's love, for YOU.
Most of us have been told that God loves us. We read it in the Bible. Many still sing the song, "Jesus loves me, this I know." But does it mean anything personally? Do you FEEL His love for you? Do you understand why He loves you?
Lately, the Lord has been giving me deeper revelation of His love for me. Not just a general love, like the song, "Jesus loves the little children of the world." But a personal love, for me, as His personal creation. What helped me understand that was the Creation account in Genesis.
Because of the research I've been doing for my novel, I've been spending a great deal of time in Genesis, studying verses word by word. It took me weeks to get through the first two chapters! But what I learned during that time was deeper than just the information I needed for my book.
Go get your Bible and reread Genesis chapters 1 and 2. Pay attention to the things God says and does. Do you notice something different about His creation of the heavens and earth, seas and land, plants and animals and birds, and His creation of man?
Each day of creation, the Lord spoke, "Let there be...." and the Bible says it was so. But for the creation of man, the Bible says He spoke, "Let us make man in our image...", but it does not follow with the words, "...and it was so." God was not satisfied to just speak man into existence. Man is the only creation formed by the very hands of God Himself.
Genesis 2:7 says, "And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul." Our Lord, the one who would later come to earth in the flesh, created man with His own hands.
Can you picture it? Yeshua (Jesus) kneeling in the dirt, mists of water springing up from the ground (ref: Genesis 2:6), forming mud. Like a potter kneading clay on his wheel, Yeshua swirls His hands in the moistened earth. Then He begins to sculpt from the earth a human form, made in His likeness. Love pours from His heart as He works. Awestruck angels watch in silence as tears flow down Yeshua's cheeks, mixing with the earth as He strokes detail into the man's form. And when He is satisfied, He leans over the man; and with His kiss, the Spirit of the Lord enters into the man. Adam is now a living soul, a speaking spirit, a perfect reflection of the God who created him.
And for you ladies, be assured that He created Eve with His own hands, too. After putting Adam to sleep, He removed a piece of his side and formed Eve, in all her beauty and glory. She was so beautiful and such a reflection of Adam, that when he saw her, he cried out, "This is surely bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh" (Genesis 2:23). And he loved her.
Nothing else in all of creation is made in the image of God. Nothing else was created with His own hands. Just Adam and Eve. And you.
Ephesians 2:10 says that we are His workmanship. And in Psalms 139:15-17 it says, "My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them. How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! How great is the sum of them!"
You are just as much His special creation as Adam and Eve were. He did not form you from the dust of the earth as He did Adam or from the side of a man as He did Eve, but He did knit you secretly in your mother's womb. He breathed His Spirit into you and created you in His image. His love for you is just as great as His love for Adam and Eve was. And if that's the case, then He has not forgotten you or turned His face from what you are going through.
What is going on in your life right now? Have you lost your job? Do you lay awake at night, trying to figure out how your income can cover your outgo? Is the mortgage company threatening foreclosure or the rental agent posting an eviction notice on your door? Are you reeling in shock because you discovered drugs in your child's room and learned he is using and dealing? Do you have to gird yourself on weekends to visit your child in jail? Are you bearing the heart wrenching sting of betrayal from an unfaithful spouse? Are you suffering the intense pain of sickness or disease? Are you lonely and on the edge of despair, weeping over the loss of a loved one? Or maybe you are living through the hell of several of these agonies at the same time, as bad news, like the messengers of Job, has billowed over you in waves.
I understand. I'm living through my own personal trials right now. But this I know, and this I will declare: "Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him" (Job 13:15a) because nothing can separate us from the love of Messiah Yeshua (Christ Jesus). Not tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword; not death or life or angels or principalities or powers or things present or things to come; not height or depth or any other creature. (Ref: Romans 8:35,38-39) There is NOTHING that can diminish His love for you! Your present circumstance is not permanent, but His love for you is.
No matter what your life looks like right now, keep your eyes on Messiah Yeshua. Allow the Holy Spirit to be your Comforter. Trust the Lord, for He says, "I know the thoughts that I think toward you, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end" (Jeremiah 29:11).
If He loved you so much that He took the time to create you with His own hands, will He not also look after you and provide you with all that you need? So "seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you" (Matthew 6:33). Spend time with Him, allow yourself to feel His presence, meditate on the depth of His love.
Like Paul, I pray that you will "comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Messiah, which passeth all knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God" (Ephesians 3:18).
So, if the proverbial doorbell rings and one of those bearers of bad tidings is standing there, just be at peace and remember -- God loves you!
Most of us have been told that God loves us. We read it in the Bible. Many still sing the song, "Jesus loves me, this I know." But does it mean anything personally? Do you FEEL His love for you? Do you understand why He loves you?
Lately, the Lord has been giving me deeper revelation of His love for me. Not just a general love, like the song, "Jesus loves the little children of the world." But a personal love, for me, as His personal creation. What helped me understand that was the Creation account in Genesis.
Because of the research I've been doing for my novel, I've been spending a great deal of time in Genesis, studying verses word by word. It took me weeks to get through the first two chapters! But what I learned during that time was deeper than just the information I needed for my book.
Go get your Bible and reread Genesis chapters 1 and 2. Pay attention to the things God says and does. Do you notice something different about His creation of the heavens and earth, seas and land, plants and animals and birds, and His creation of man?
Each day of creation, the Lord spoke, "Let there be...." and the Bible says it was so. But for the creation of man, the Bible says He spoke, "Let us make man in our image...", but it does not follow with the words, "...and it was so." God was not satisfied to just speak man into existence. Man is the only creation formed by the very hands of God Himself.
Genesis 2:7 says, "And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul." Our Lord, the one who would later come to earth in the flesh, created man with His own hands.
Can you picture it? Yeshua (Jesus) kneeling in the dirt, mists of water springing up from the ground (ref: Genesis 2:6), forming mud. Like a potter kneading clay on his wheel, Yeshua swirls His hands in the moistened earth. Then He begins to sculpt from the earth a human form, made in His likeness. Love pours from His heart as He works. Awestruck angels watch in silence as tears flow down Yeshua's cheeks, mixing with the earth as He strokes detail into the man's form. And when He is satisfied, He leans over the man; and with His kiss, the Spirit of the Lord enters into the man. Adam is now a living soul, a speaking spirit, a perfect reflection of the God who created him.
And for you ladies, be assured that He created Eve with His own hands, too. After putting Adam to sleep, He removed a piece of his side and formed Eve, in all her beauty and glory. She was so beautiful and such a reflection of Adam, that when he saw her, he cried out, "This is surely bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh" (Genesis 2:23). And he loved her.
Nothing else in all of creation is made in the image of God. Nothing else was created with His own hands. Just Adam and Eve. And you.
Ephesians 2:10 says that we are His workmanship. And in Psalms 139:15-17 it says, "My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them. How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! How great is the sum of them!"
You are just as much His special creation as Adam and Eve were. He did not form you from the dust of the earth as He did Adam or from the side of a man as He did Eve, but He did knit you secretly in your mother's womb. He breathed His Spirit into you and created you in His image. His love for you is just as great as His love for Adam and Eve was. And if that's the case, then He has not forgotten you or turned His face from what you are going through.
What is going on in your life right now? Have you lost your job? Do you lay awake at night, trying to figure out how your income can cover your outgo? Is the mortgage company threatening foreclosure or the rental agent posting an eviction notice on your door? Are you reeling in shock because you discovered drugs in your child's room and learned he is using and dealing? Do you have to gird yourself on weekends to visit your child in jail? Are you bearing the heart wrenching sting of betrayal from an unfaithful spouse? Are you suffering the intense pain of sickness or disease? Are you lonely and on the edge of despair, weeping over the loss of a loved one? Or maybe you are living through the hell of several of these agonies at the same time, as bad news, like the messengers of Job, has billowed over you in waves.
I understand. I'm living through my own personal trials right now. But this I know, and this I will declare: "Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him" (Job 13:15a) because nothing can separate us from the love of Messiah Yeshua (Christ Jesus). Not tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword; not death or life or angels or principalities or powers or things present or things to come; not height or depth or any other creature. (Ref: Romans 8:35,38-39) There is NOTHING that can diminish His love for you! Your present circumstance is not permanent, but His love for you is.
No matter what your life looks like right now, keep your eyes on Messiah Yeshua. Allow the Holy Spirit to be your Comforter. Trust the Lord, for He says, "I know the thoughts that I think toward you, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end" (Jeremiah 29:11).
If He loved you so much that He took the time to create you with His own hands, will He not also look after you and provide you with all that you need? So "seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you" (Matthew 6:33). Spend time with Him, allow yourself to feel His presence, meditate on the depth of His love.
Like Paul, I pray that you will "comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Messiah, which passeth all knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God" (Ephesians 3:18).
So, if the proverbial doorbell rings and one of those bearers of bad tidings is standing there, just be at peace and remember -- God loves you!
Beautiful description of God forming us! Very moving!
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