"Natalie, I do love you. And it's because i love you that you cannot go to that dance tonight. I don't trust that friend Stan, and i know his parents will allow things that i do not. so you are staying home tonight. I love you."
"Oh yeah? Well then why don't you come down here and prove it! Show you love and trust me by letting me go to the party!"
"Lys, i love you. i don't have enough money for a ring, but will you marry me? I know our entire relationship has been via mail, and i've never seen your face because i wont drive that far, but i love you."
"You love me? want to marry me? Come down here and prove it!"
How many times are we told "i love you" by someone who is not right here with us? How many times do we say, well, if you love me, "come down here and prove it!" Come SEE me, come let me see YOU. SHOW me you love me by being with me. Maybe not a lot for you, but for me, i just had that convo with God. (those of you who are laughing at me right now, yes i deserve that and that is why i am writing this, to show how often we may forget)
The convo went a little more like this, "Ok, God. I know Your love is enough and You love me a lot and yada yada, but why can't you just grow some skin and come down here and prove it?" Let me tell you, "them are some fightin' words!" God responded by reminding me, HE HAS "grown some skin and come down here and proved it." And what's more, He proved the "greatest love of all" by laying down His life for me, WHILE I WAS STILL HATING HIM! Wow. yeah, we'll give money to the poor, to our friends, but to our ENEMIES? to give our LIFE? Yeah right! But Jesus did. Wow. yeah, You're right God. You did already "come down here and prove it" thanks for reminding me!
So i need to run right now, but i wanted to add in the verses where God has "come down and proved" His love for us, not just by Jesus and the cross, but as a Father, as a Lover, as a Friend, and as God. I'll add them as comments later (or if you want to add some, feel free :))
Loved by JESUS
ReplyDeleteRomans 5:7-9
"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.Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him!
Isiah 53:4-5
Surely he took up our pain
and bore our suffering,
yet we considered him punished by God,
stricken by him, and afflicted.
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
Loved by the FATHER
Hebrews 12:4-11
In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. And have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son? It says,
“My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline,
and do not lose heart when he rebukes you,
because the Lord disciplines the one he loves,
and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.”
Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father? If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline—then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all. Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live! They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.
Loved by GOD
Deuteronomy 7:8
it was because the LORD loved you and kept the oath he swore to your ancestors that he brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the land of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt.
Loved by God our LOVER
Isaiah 54:4-6
“Do not be afraid; you will not be put to shame.
Do not fear disgrace; you will not be humiliated.
You will forget the shame of your youth
and remember no more the reproach of your widowhood.
For your Maker is your husband—
the LORD Almighty is his name—
1 John 3:2
Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.
the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer;
he is called the God of all the earth.
The LORD will call you back
as if you were a wife deserted and distressed in spirit—
a wife who married young,
only to be rejected,” says your God.
and by his wounds we are healed.
Loved by God our FRIEND
2 Chronicles 20:7
Our God, did you not drive out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel and give it forever to the descendants of Abraham your friend?
James 2:23
And the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called God’s friend.