How He Loves Us

You hem me in—behind and before;
you have laid your hand upon me.

Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too lofty for me to attain.

Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?

If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.

If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,

even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.

Psalm 139:5-10

Jesus has been chasing me around with His love recently. Everywhere I go, He is there. I can't escape! Even when I just want to fade into the background and observe, He drags me into the spotlight and pours out His love and compassion and concern for me.

The second half of 2008 was a tough period. It felt as though God just halved my capacity. I was busy busy busy as usual with commitments all over the place and then bam- I couldn't do it any more. I couldn't deal with the commitments, the responsibilities, the time pressures. It should have lead me to lean more and more on God but I'm afraid I am fallen and didn't do that very often.

As is so often the human nature, I would reach rock bottom before I cried out to God. But every time I did, He would be quick to respond, showing me His love that is strong. I would feel a bit better. A few weeks later we'd repeat all over again. It was a frustrating and nobody seemed to be getting anywhere.

Then, 'How He Loves Us' came along. It's just one of a lot of songs at the moment that seems focus on us, and God's love towards us. It made me a little uneasy when I felt that worship should really be focussed on God, who He is, His great, awesome, inconceivable power (This is a great one).

But- God loves me. God is love. I can only love Him because He loved me first. All good things come from Him (where is that verse?), and love is good.

I went to a meeting before christmas where a guy was prophesying over a lot of people. Everybody who wanted it received prayer at the end but God called me up and separated me out half way through. He loves me. A few weeks ago someone had a word for a person who was struggling with their studies. I was struggling, but didn't claim the word 'in case someone else needed it more'. He told the guy who I was and made sure I took it. He loves me. Praying with some friends about being set free- it a word for many in the group but He named me. He loves me. Last week I was feeling lonely and I 'coincidentally' bumped into three different friends I haven't seen in months. He loves me. Did I ever tell you about the washing machine I prayed for in October? It had died, but when no-one was looking I prayed for it. Nobody knew except me. He fixed it! He loves me. I was in Liverpool for the first Sunday in months last week and guess what the topic was? God's love! He loves me. He doesn't have favourites, so you know what that means...He loves you too!

No matter how much I try to pretend, the love of God persues me until I can not deny it. It won't stop until I have learned that lesson; even then it won't stop because His love for me will never change!

And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8:37-38

Now that's something worth singing about!

(This is my favourite video because the skating is so pretty)

I've barely scratched the surface of God's love in the Bible, maybe that can fill another post. It's late, and I have a dissertation to write in the morning. Goodnight. God loves you!