{"id":5275,"date":"2020-01-12T09:00:58","date_gmt":"2020-01-12T15:00:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.barbdahlgren.com\/?p=5275"},"modified":"2020-01-24T21:58:28","modified_gmt":"2020-01-25T03:58:28","slug":"the-joy-of-knowing-god-loves-me","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/?p=5275","title":{"rendered":"Knowing God Loves Me"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A Journal of Joy: Things that make my heart\nsmile\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Barbara Dahlgren<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Conceptually,\nI understand that God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son\nJesus to die for it (John 3:16). His redemption was for all of us. He didn\u2019t\ncome to condemn the world, but to save the world (John 3:17). However, I must\nadmit I have a difficult time comprehending God\u2019s love for me as an individual.\nAcademically, I know He loves me. Emotionally, I\u2019m not always sure. After all,\nwhy would He love me?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I look\nat myself, I see nothing but flaws and imperfections. I fall short of the\nperson I want to be or the one I think God would have me be. Plus, society functions\nin a way that makes me feel insignificant. It\u2019s a great big world and I am just\none small cog in the wheel of life \u2013 not even a name to most, but more like an\nimpersonal line of data entry. I have a voice but cannot be heard. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But here\u2019s\nthe truth\u2026 Although I may be just a number in the world, I am not with God. God\nknows my name (Isaiah 43:7; John 10:3). God hears my voice. God cares about\nwhat I think and how I feel. The hairs on my head are numbered (Matthew\n10:30-32). He knows my sorrows and keeps track of my tears (Psalm 56:8). He\nknows my sitting down and rising up. He knows my paths. He understands my\nthoughts. God knows me inside and out. I may not matter much to most of the\nworld, but I matter to God. Such knowledge is too wonderful to comprehend (Psalm\n139:1-6). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That God\nwould know me intimately and love me anyway, in spite of my shortcomings,\nbrings me much joy! I don\u2019t have to earn God\u2019s love. I don\u2019t have to jump\nthrough hoops or make long lists of dos and don\u2019ts. He loves me when I\u2019m good\nand He loves me when I\u2019m not too good. God is love (1 John 4:8) and He loves\neverybody, but His love for me is special. God has the ability to love each one\nof us like we are His only child.    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

God\u2019s love\nis hard to fathom. It is wide and long and deep and high (Ephesians 3:17-19).\nNothing can separate me from God\u2019s love (Romans 8:35-38). It\u2019s there if I want\nit. It\u2019s there when I need it. It\u2019s there for me all the time. I may not fully\nunderstand it, but I gladly accept and appreciate it.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

*****<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lord, thank You for loving me. There is no\nreason why You should and that\u2019s what makes Your love all the more precious to\nme. When this world gets me down, Your love lifts me up. Your love for me makes\nmy life matter. <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Journal of Joy: Things that make my heart smile\u2026 By Barbara Dahlgren Conceptually, I understand that God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son Jesus to die for it (John 3:16). His redemption was for … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5275"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5275"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5275\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5275"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5275"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5275"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}