Lost?

I have a question for you. Do you think God loves you right now, just the way you are? If I ask a group of Grade 1 students that question, you can hear the enthusiastic, “YES!”, even from outside the classroom, through the closed door. But somehow, along the way, it becomes easier to believe the lie that God doesn’t accept us where we are, or that He doesn’t love us. We may think it is because of something we have done, or not done, something we have said or not said, or even something we have thought.

In Romans 8:38-39 (NIV) Paul says “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

That is a pretty powerful verse, and I want to encourage you to read that again in a moment, but this time, keep in mind who is saying it. Why does it matter? Well, let me tell you about this guy Paul, and I think you might understand.

Paul’s name was previously Saul, yes, the same Saul who was there when Stephen the apostle was stoned to death, and the same Saul who it talks about in Acts 8:3 (NIV), where it says, “But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off both men and woman and put them in prison.”

Christians were afraid of him too. After he decided to follow God (which is when he changed his name to Paul) God told a man to go to Paul, this follower of God responded with “I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your holy people in Jerusalem. And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name.” (Acts 9:13-14, NIV)

Paul was literally going around and getting permission to drag people out of their homes and put them in prison, simply because they loved God and told other people about it.

If anyone was going to be separated from God’s love, it would have to be this guy, right?

Read it one more time, “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”  (Romans 8:38-39, NIV)

I am glad to say, that not even Paul could be separated from God’s incredible love! So I want to ask you again, do you think God loves you? Yes! Of course He does! And nothing can stop Him from loving you, nothing can stop Him from wanting to spend time with you. Nothing you have done can stop God’s love, and nothing else in the world can either.

Have an amazing day, knowing that the God of the universe loves you more than you know.