//Karen Jensen

 

“And we have known and believed the love that God has for us.
 God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God,
 and God in him” (1 John 4:16).

 

No Matter what’s going on in our lives, we must know that we are perfectly loved by the Most High God. He loves us unconditionally. 

There’s no one else in our lives like our Heavenly Father. People have ulterior motives; they have agendas. And they aren’t always looking out for our good.

But God is not manipulative, and He’s not a puppet master. The only reason He ever tells us or asks us to do anything is for our benefit. His only motive toward us is love. He’s been to our future and back and He knows more than we do.

That might be a revelation for some of us! GOD KNOWS MORE THAN WE DO. He’s been around a lot longer and He knows our future. So if He tells us to go a certain way, we need to go. He’s trying to help us.

In February I get a lot of Rhema students in my office—especially the ones who are going to graduate. They’re panicking over what they’re going to do after graduation. Or some come in and say, “God’s going to make me go back home.”

I just tell them, “If that’s God—and you want to pray and make sure that it is—wouldn’t that be the best thing for you? Doesn’t He love you? Don’t you trust Him? If He’s telling you to go there, it’s for your best! It’s for your good!”

We have to stay on God’s side! It’s a pretty simple concept, really. We must stay in agreement with Him and trust that He’s going to lead and guide us, because He loves us.

An Everlasting Love

Jeremiah 31:3 says, “The Lord has appeared of old to me, saying: ‘Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you’ ” (NKJV). In this verse we have to keep in mind that Jeremiah is talking to a group of stiff-necked, rebellious, idol-worshipping Israelites. They were about to be carried away into captivity because they wouldn’t obey God.

This was not a happy church group Jeremiah was talking to. These people were disobedient. But what did God say to them? “I have loved you with an everlasting love. Therefore with loving kindness I have drawn you.” 

If God loved a stiff-necked, rebellious, idol-worshipping crew like them with an everlasting love, how much does He love us?

People get so caught up in thinking God’s mad at them because they didn’t do this or that. Show me where it says that in the Word! GOD LOVES US NO MATTER WHAT WE HAVE OR HAVE NOT DONE. HE LOVES US BECAUSE HE’S GOOD, NOT BECAUSE WE ARE. We need to remember that!

Love Changes Us

The love of God changes our lives. First John 4:18 says our Father’s perfect love casts out all fear. It makes us bold.

I remember one time God told me to pray for a lady in the grocery store who had an oxygen mask on. I was younger then, and I was chicken. I thought, “What if people see me? What if she doesn’t believe in this or know? What if I scare her?”

I told the Lord, “If I see her in the next aisle, I’ll pray for her.” I saw this lady in every single aisle, and she was even in front of me at the checkout stand. We ended up in the parking lot and I still hadn’t prayed for her.

God asked me, “Are you going to let her go home and spend Christmas not breathing, or are you going to pray for her?”

I finally prayed for her, but I was a chicken! I didn’t have a revelation of the love of God as I do now.

Today when I see a person in the grocery store and the Holy Spirit nudges me, I can’t let them go another minute without the healing power of God. His compassion—His love—rises up inside of me.

Galatians 5:6 says faith works by love. I like to say OUR FAITH WORKS BY KNOWING HOW MUCH WE’RE LOVED. When we know how much God loves us, it makes us stronger in our faith. We don’t stop and wonder if God is going to answer our prayers.

No! He loves us, so of course He’s going to!

I used to think that love was just one of God’s topics. But He is love. And all of His blessings and benefits come because He loves us. Life is a lot sweeter when we know we are perfectly loved by Him.