“This is a trustworthy statement: that Christ Jesus came in the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.”

 

There’s one thing on this earth that I’d like for you, above all else; and the choice is easy. I wish that you could just understand the love of Christ. Just that you would get it. And I say “just” that, because oh, if you did –

I can’t do it justice with words. This fullness. It’s…overwhelming. Every day. This love of Christ. You see, we learn a lot about who God is in the Old Testament – His power, yes His love, mercy, justice, forbearance, lovingkindness, the overarching nature of His presence, His perfect and unchangeable will.

But in Jesus, my friend, in Jesus the Father is explained. It’s in Him that we receive the fullness of God’s grace. Grace upon grace, He says. It’s an outpouring. You cannot do it alone? You cannot deserve My heaven? You can’t seek me as I ask? Do as I say? Even when you say you will? Well I will do it for you; I will earn your way; I will show you what it’s like to seek Me, to follow My every word, to love. I’ll come as you, though I don’t have to, and I’ll substitute My life for yours. I’ll give and give and, as I’ve always done, let you receive if you choose.

“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, just as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not have it!”

Well, that was me. All of us. Because there is a time when we just don’t get it.

So I’ll say it again – that I’m praying right now that you get it. That God Himself surrounds your soul and helps you get it. That His love for you is the only thing that will overwhelm you, permanently. That it’s bigger than your problems – self-inflicted or outwardly so. He has power over your sin, over your decade-long habits, over those parts of your heart that you have given up on fixing. He’s a healer, a gift-giver, a champion of the oppressed, and a forgiver of any who come. He’s mighty to save, mighty to sanctify. Friend, there is nothing He can’t do!

There is nothing He can’t do.

You know those pressure cookers? When I say things like, “There’s nothing He can’t do,” “He’s a healer.” I feel kind of like the steam inside that thing.

I’ve seen it. I’ve seen it in me, in the people I love. And I’ve seen what life looks like without Him.

I don’t wish for you that you would have a nice house, perfect relationships, a good job, to reach your potential, to meet your love, to succeed in your career, to be comfortable, to be content – and lack the knowledge of the love of Jesus. That is absolute worst-case scenario: That you’d miss out on knowing the love of Jesus.

Know the love of Jesus. Know it – and you will overflow with joy despite a house that’s too small with a leaky faucet, relationships that you can’t perfect, a job that only makes you tired, dreams that slip through the fingers, longings that you can’t quench, failures, torn feelings, and discomfort. Because those things pass away. They do, my love. The love of Christ? That impossibly steady peace?

Babe, that’s forever.

 

There’s nothing you’ve done that exempts you from receiving that. This promise is for you.