October 14, 2013 
My Thoughts 💭
Last night during the evening service at our church, Nik our Minister read the following and asked us to discuss which one from the bullet list really stood out to us, and why?:
“I am loved”
‘but what does this mean to you?‘
• The whole of me my body, mind heart and soul, that is my strength, my thoughts my deepest longings and all my emotions are loved by God.
• God knows me AND loves me (not God knows me but loves me)
• I am loved for who I am. Completely, Utterly, For Ever.
• Others may dislike me, but God loves me
• I may hate myself, but God continues to love me
• He loves me for what I am and what I will be.
• He loves me because he understands me.
it was really interesting hearing the different answers from the diverse brothers and sisters in our congragation.
So I wondered if you could comment with your answers/thoughts to the same question above?
iChristian 
He is there, no matter what. He accepts me despite my flaws and shortcomings. He wants the best for me. He does not want me to stay where I am, but to keep getting better and more like Him, His arms are open wide to me at any time and any where. His ears are attuned to me 24/7. He speaks when I listen. I am loved.
Amen!!! Thanks so much for always being here to encourage me and others. It means so much to me when you visit. God bless you and your husband. 🙂
I like visiting! Glad you come by to visit too!! God bless you and your family too!
I love following your blog! So inspiring! 🙂
thanks. appreciate it.
I too am overwhelmed by God’s love. It’s almost too hard to really comprehend but I accept that it is true.
Amen! Great to see you here! God bless.
I too am humbled by the grace God has given me. A couple of years ago, after a neck surgery, the repressed memories of the sexual, physical, and mental abuse that occurred came to a reality. I now have PTSD and daily fight the battles of the visions of the abuse of when I was 4-11 years old. I have been angry at God, and I have yelled at him for allowing my innocence to be taken from me. But reading His word and praying daily has brought me to the understanding that He has always loved me….even during the times when I would cry out His name for help…I know now that His heart was breaking. God is my refuge, with Whom I find strength, and with this strength I can use my experience to help those who have been abused also to heal through the love of Christ. To show them that they too are loved.
Amen! Wow what a true inspiration you are. Such an encouragement to every life you touch.
Thanks so much for stopping by and leaving such a powerful comment.
God bless you. 🙂
I, too, am shamed when I find that God loves me despite so many things I do wrong and so many things that are shameful about me. I think He gave me my husband to try to reach me. I used to be close to God in a deep loving way but with psych meds and life events have grown distant though still near (if that makes any sense). My husband shows me how God can love me despite all.
This is a great post you have done– made us all think about our relationship to God. God bless you, Steve, and your lovely wife, too!!
Wow, Steve. What a great question to ponder. I believe the answer reveals why our world is so sick: most of us have very little idea how much we’re loved by God. It’s eclipsed by the ever- limited view of human-ness. Even if we have wonderful parents, the world will eventually get its hooks into us and offer us the counterfeit – human approval.
Sadly, I mistook human approval for love for the first 35 years of my life. Coupled with major childhood trauma and a slew of addictions to numb the pain, I was well on my way to a life of trying to please people to feel safe. And it never, ever worked.
7 years ago, at age 35, I finally faced my reality: I was a wife and desperate mother of two sons who was trying her best to keep down the monster of PTSD. I was a 20-year eating disorder veteran, and I had no way of stopping my addiction. I was diagnosed with major depression and shame buried me with the weight of the Pyramids. I believed in Jesus since I was 7 years old, but through sexual abuse, the enemy had jumped the walls of my psyche and disconnected my spirit from God’s love.
By God’s grace, I had a day of reckoning where I chose to stop the numbing. As I put down the pills, stopped bingeing and purging, I clung to Jeremiah 29:13, “If you seek Me, you will find Me. If you seek with your whole heart.”
I had no idea that the door I opened to all the pain was the same door Jesus walked through to my heart. I cry every time I think about those early days where my life was in the balance. I was on my knees begging for answers and healing.
The love of Jesus was my healer, and even though it has taken years of unpacking the trauma and assessing the damage the enemy did to me, I am living proof that you’re never too far gone for Jesus. He is the answer to everything that ails us, haunts us, and disconnects our spirit from Him. He miraculously healed me from my eating disorder, and I’ve never struggled with food since. He took from me in an instant.
Blessings to you, Steve. Thank you for the opportunity to respond to this question. I pray that everyone who reads your post will search the depths of Jesus for the answer.
i can’t wait to come back and read the many viewpoints. mine is: “The whole of me my body, mind heart and soul, that is my strength, my thoughts my deepest longings and all my emotions are loved by God.” b/c when i was able to bring my honest anger to God, i came to the sudden realization that God could handle ALL of me and, indeed, loved all of me, even my anger, even my pain, even my sorrow and emptiness..all of me…i think i’ma blog about this now. thx so much for the inspiration! 🙂
” I may hate myself, but God continues to love me” was what jumped out at me, but more and more with the help of others, through Jesus, I have been able to question how I could hate even one of His creations, which I have finally realized includes even me.
“because He understands me” Just yesterday, I looked at my dog and said, “no one understands me like you, Kansas.” But I know that isn’t true. The Lord knows my heart and that both challenges me and encourages me ❤
God knows me AND loves me. He is my Father. He knows what I have been through to get here and has walked with me every step of the way. He knew exactly what hour and what day I would come to Him, and welcomed me with open arms. He has given me gifts to serve Him and to build His kingdom in a way that used my weaknesses to show His strength and glory. God knows me AND loves me for exactly who I am.
I’m accepted by God, and there is nothing I can do to undo that. He desires me.
I am often overwhelmed with a wave of emotion when I ponder how much God loves me, despite my sinful nature, despite the times I am too busy doing what I think is His will when it is really my own, despite the days I don’t spend quality time with Him and listen to what He has to tell me, and despite the times I dim His Light. by my humanness in thought, word and deed. His love will never fade or fail. That alone brings me to my knees in humbled gratitude. God knows me AND HE loves me.