Jesus Loves Me; This I Know

Jesus loves me, this I know…or do I?  I’m in my thirties, and after growing up in church AND attending a Christian school AND going on to Bible College, you’d think that fact would be one that I’ve got down pat. After all, I’ve read about it, heard about it, and sung about it for years. And, yes, I have known it as a fact, and even believed it to a degree, for as long as I can remember.

Yet somehow, lately, it’s like I’m really coming to know it--truly starting to believe it deep within my heart.  (Right now I’m wishing that our English language had about five different words for “know” or “believe” like the Greek languages does.) 

Perhaps the difference is that I’m taking time to think about it and learning to accept it as a reality for me--personally. Or perhaps the difference is that the older I get, the more I realize the utter ugliness of my natural selfishness in contrast to His lovely selflessness. Whatever the case, the fact is that Jesus loves me. He loves you. Not only loves us, but loves us in the same way that God the Father loves Him (John 15:9)—completely, tenderly, eternally. Wow.

I owe this “deeper” revelation of Jesus’ love for me individually in large part to this book by Andrew Murray (It’s a life-changing read if you’ll really take the time to ponder it’s truths.).  Allow me to share one of my favorite excerpts:

“As we think of the love of the Father to the Son, we see in the Son everything so infinitely worthy of that love. When we think of Christ's love to us, there is nothing but sin and unworthiness to meet the eye. And the question comes: How can that love within the bosom of the divine life and its perfections be compared to the love that rests on sinners? Can it indeed be the same love? Blessed be God, we know it is so. The nature of love is always one, however different the objects. Christ knows of no other law of love but that with which His Father loved Him. Our wretchedness only serves to call out more distinctly the beauty of love, such as could not be seen even in heaven. With the tenderest compassion He bows to our weakness, with patience inconceivable He bears with our slowness, with the gentlest loving-kindness He meets our fears and our follies. It is the love of the Father to the Son, beautified, glorified, in its condescension, in its exquisite adaptation to our needs.”

Take a few moments now ponder Jesus’ love for YOU. Accept it as the reality that it is. Unconditional. Unchanging. All-encompassing.  Pure.

Father God, I pray for every person who reads these words. I pray that they would know and believe the love that You and Jesus have for them. I pray it would penetrate their souls and change their lives. Thank You that You love us. Please help us know more every day what this means and how to love you back. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Carpe Diem!

Greetings!  My name is Heather, and I blog. At least I just started to blog. I’m not sure when I become an official “blogger.” Anyway, I’ve admired bloggers for a long time – their ability to write so fluently and post magazine-quality photos. I visit foodies’ sites with their fantastic pictures of original dishes and am amazed at their creativity (in cooking, writing, photography, etc.).  I watch Julie & Julia and revel in the idea of following in Julie’s footsteps – having a challenge and rising to meet it.

But really, it is my husband who inspired me to commence with SpinachSmoothie – even coined its name…well, actually that is another story for another post. See, I pitched him my business idea of making healthy muffins and bars to sell at our local farmers’ market & coffee shops in order to raise funds to fight sex trafficking.  He responded with, “Why don’t you just start with a blog.”  I’m not sure what the correlation is between the two, except that after we talked, it became evident that the root desire behind my baking business idea was to help people while doing something that I at least find a bit pleasurable. It’s a basic human longing, isn’t it? To enjoy life while making a difference for good?

Normally, I would’ve considered the idea for weeks--pondering, praying, preparing—in hopes of venturing on into perfection while avoiding embarrassment and mistakes (and I might add, a bit of work too :) ). But I don’t want to live like that anymore – allowing fear of failure or growing pains – to keep me from pursuing an opportunity that could enrich the lives of others and even my own. After all, isn’t one of our favorite quotes (at least if you’re a Dead Poets’ Society fan), “Carpe Diem!”—Seize the Day!

And so begins SpinachSmoothie, a blog that I suppose will be an expression of musings on the things that I love, namely: Truth, Love, Health, Food, and the USA. An odd mixture, I know. But these are the things I am passionate about, so I shall try to encourage you with the things I’ve learned. I hope to somehow enrich your life – even if that means just entertaining you for 10 minutes, helping you find joy in simple things, or providing an opportunity to laugh with me at my own mis-haps…I’m sure there will be plenty of those. 

So, why don’t you join me in your own way.  Today, step out of your comfort zone and do something to help make someone else’s life better. You may just find some happiness along the way.