Set Free – He Loves Me, He Loves Not

(This message series is inspired and excerpted from He Loves Me! by Wayne Jacobsen.)

The Relationship God Has Always Wanted with Me –

. . . Since I live, you also will live. ²⁰ When I am raised to life again, you will know that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. (John 14:19b-20 NLT) 

“The little girl stands in the backyard chanting as she plucks petals one by one from the daisy and drops them to the ground. [He loves me. He loves me not. He loves me. He loves me not.] At game’s end, the last petal tells all: whether or not the person desired returns the affection. …[However,  long after we’ve put away childish things like daisies] — many of us continue to play the game with God. This time we don’t pluck flower petals but probe through our circumstances trying to figure out exactly how God feels about us.

• I got a raise. He loves me.
• I didn’t get the promotion I wanted; I lost my job altogether. He loves me not!
• Something in the Bible inspired me today. He loves me!
• My child is seriously ill. He loves me not!
• I gave money to someone in need. He loves me!
• I let my anger get the best of me. He loves me not!
• Something for which I prayed actually happened. He loves me!
• I stretched the truth to get myself out of a tight spot. He loves me not!
• A friend called me unexpectedly to encourage me. He loves me!
• My car needs a new transmission. He loves me not!” (pp. 3-4)

Think about a time when your circumstances were so overwhelming that you began to doubt God’s love for you.

But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. ⁹ And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation. ¹⁰ For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son. ¹¹ So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God. (Romans 5:8-11 NLT)

If He loves me and saves me from His condemnation, why does He allow trials and consequences?

For the LORD disciplines those he loves, and he punishes each one he accepts as his child. ” ⁷ As you endure this divine discipline, remember that God is treating you as his own children. Who ever heard of a child who is never disciplined by its father? ⁸ If God doesn’t discipline you as he does all of his children, it means that you are illegitimate and are not really his children at all. (Hebrews 12:6-8 NLT)

“My disappointment with God could easily turn two directions. Often in my pain and frustration, when I felt as if I had done enough to deserve better, I would rail at God like the Job of old, accusing him of being either unfair or unloving. In more honest moments, however, I was well aware of the temptations and failures that could exclude me from his care. I would come out of those times committed to trying harder to live the life I thought would merit his love.” (pp. 5-6)

“Many people carry scars and disappointments that appear to be convincing evidence that the God of love does not exist or, if he does, he maintains a safe distance from them and leaves them to the whim of other people’s sins.” (p. 7)

Do you have an event in your life that triggers doubt about God’s love whenever it comes to mind? If you look back now and know that God loved you even if you didn’t recognize it at the time, what did you learn in the process?

“When we’re playing the he-loves-me-he-loves-me-not game, the evidence against God can appear overwhelming. For reasons we will probe throughout these pages, God does not often do the things we think his love would compel him to do for us. He often seems to stand by with indifference while we suffer. How often does he seem to disappoint our most noble expectations? But perception is not necessarily reality. If we define God only in our limited interpretation of our own circumstances, we will never discover who he really is.” (p. 8)

See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are! But the people who belong to this world don’t recognize that we are God’s children because they don’t know him. ² Dear friends, we are already God’s children, but he has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is.  (1 John 3:1-2 NLT)

“He has provided a far better way. Our daisy-petal approach to Christianity can be swallowed up by the undeniable proof of his love for us on the cross of Calvary. That’s the side of the cross that has all but been ignored in recent decades. We did not see what really happened there between the Father and his Son that opened the door to his love so vast and so certain that it cannot be challenged even by our darkest days.” (p. 8)

Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding.
⁶ Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.
⁷ Don’t be impressed with your own wisdom. Instead, fear the LORD and turn away from evil.
⁸ Then you will have healing for your body and strength for your bones.  (Proverbs 3:5-8 NLT)

“Learning to trust him like that is not something any of us can resolve in an instant; it’s something we’ll grow to discover for the whole of our lives. God knows how difficult it is for us to accept his love, and he teaches us with more patience than we’ve ever known. Through every circumstance and in the most surprising ways, he makes his love known to us in ways we can understand.” (pp. 8-9)

Think about a time when God’s love was so overwhelming that you draw on that moment in times of need. How can we encourage one another to be certain, instead of doubtful, about God’s love?

For Your Personal Journey  (p. 9) 

• How often do you find yourself doubting God’s love for you?
• When do you question his love the most?
• How certain are you that God loves you as deeply as he does anyone else in the world?
• When difficulties arise, do you find yourself doubting God’s love for you or trying to be more righteous so he’ll like you more?
• Ask God in the days ahead to reveal the depths of his love for you.