Real love


            I’m a sucker for a good romantic movie, you know the type; the guy travels a long distance just to surprise his love and they embrace with great smiles on their faces. You can just feel the love emanate through the screen. Those movies give me that warm fuzzy feeling; for a few minutes. Once the movie is over and I go back to real life, that warm feeling dissipates, and I am left with more of a feeling of discontent. Hollywood does a good job of building up unrealistic expectations. While I’m sure there are such couples in the world I daresay it is the exception rather than the rule.
            I watched such a movie this evening and when it finished the desire popped into my head that someone would make such a great effort to show love to me. This thought was immediately followed by the knowledge that someone has already done that for me. Jesus Christ came from heaven to earth to show me how much he loves me. He didn’t just make the journey either, he proceeded to live the perfect life and die a brutal death so that I can experience the most perfect, loving relationship with God, the creator of all life. When God looks at me, He sees the righteousness of Jesus who stood in my place and took the punishment I deserve.
            I’m guessing, to the unbeliever, that is a big pill to swallow. I have never known anything other than the saving love of Christ. It doesn’t mean I have never questioned my faith, I ask God an awful lot of questions. Yet, deep within me is that mustard seed of faith that keeps me believing. It’s that principal that says, “you know when you know.”  Perhaps you felt it when you landed the right job or fell in love with that certain someone; you just know. The difference is that unlike a job or a person, God hasn’t let me down. I, however, have let Him down more times than I can count, and He still loves me. It is because He is God and He is love itself, He can do no other.
            Some would argue that God has let me down; I have lost several loved ones, including my husband, experienced cancer, and have a child with a serious illness, among other things. But despite those events I do not feel let down; I feel that He carried me through those times (and I am not a petite person). I admit in the thick of those battles my faith was challenged but ultimately those things made my faith stronger.
            I hope to find contentment regardless of what is going on in my life. Contentment can never be found in earthly things. I pray that I will always recognize the great love that God has for me. I pray the same for you too!
            James 1:16-18 “Do not be deceived, my dear brothers and sisters. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down form the Father of heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of first fruits of all He created.”
            Romans 8:38-39 “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, not anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is Christ Jesus our Lord.”
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