Ladies and Gentlemen, I am very happy to introduce you all to Toby Valdez. When I started thinking about this series, and who I would like to contribute, the first name that came to mind was him. Toby and his family express the love and acceptance of Christ in action. They don’t even need to speak of such love, they simply demonstrate it to every human, saved or not.
The mark of a person that really knows and has experienced the love of God is pain and suffering. Toby’s transparency with his own experience of this love, and his simplicity in explaining it, is indeed a genuine encouragement. Your spirit will be filled and built up with his post of being Loved.
His blog is great too! Check it out here.
Loved
There is something, I have no doubt, we all have in common, regardless of who we are, where we are, where we’ve been, where we’re going, what we’ve done, what we will do. This list could go on and on and it would not change the one thing we have in common. When I say “we all” I mean everybody. Those of us who confess Jesus as our Lord and Savior, those of us don’t. We ALL have one thing in common.
What is that one thing?
We are all loved.
Loved.
God, the Father of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah, loves us all beyond measure. You are loved. You are loved without condition. No strings attached. No gimmick. There is nothing you have done to deserve this love. There is nothing you can do to lose this love either. Did you hear what I just said?
You are loved without doing anything to earn it or deserve it. You are loved without having to be afraid of doing something to lose it. No, quite to the contrary…it was while we were all still enemies of God, at odds with him because of sin, that He chose to demonstrate His great love for us. Jesus, the Son of God, came to the earth and gave His life to reconcile us to God, to bring us into right relationship with Him. By His death He has reconciled us to God. By His life we can now live in that love. For you see, Jesus didn’t just die to reconcile us to God. He rose from death that He might not only demonstrate His love, but that we might know and live in His love, by faith in Him (Romans 5:8-10, Ephesians 2:4-9, Titus 3:3-7).
In my own life I have experienced this to be true. There was a point in my life when circumstances and consequences of my choices and actions resulted in my family falling apart. I was left alone, without my children, without my wife, and what I knew of love was being shaken to the core. It was in this time, my darkest days, that I truly experienced the love of God. It was in this time, when I truly felt unloved, unwanted, and worthless, that the Lord Jesus began to show me just how much He loves me. He called me His own. He reminded me of His death and life so that I might know Him and live in His love. At that point it didn’t matter what anyone else thought about me, it didn’t matter what anyone else said about me. I recognized His love, His desire, and His worth, all of which He freely gave to me. All of which He freely gives to all who would accept.
Perhaps, in life you’ve experienced pain, sorrow, heartache, loss, suffering, wrong. Many of these things can cause a person to wonder where they stand in life. They can cause a person to question their value or their worth. If a person doesn’t have the proper standard by which to measure their value or worth, they can begin to feel worthless, of little value, unwanted, unaccepted, or undesirable. I tell you now, the proper standard, no, the ONE TRUE STANDARD by which a person should measure their value or worth is the person of Jesus Christ, and He has made it clear that He loves us. He loves you.
Let this truth become a reality in your life. Receive His love. Rest in His love.
Jesus Loves Me, This I know, for the Bible Tells Me So?
Toby and I believe that Jamal Jivanjee’s post on old children’s hymn really adds to this post. So take a read of his post. Remember, while reading it, keep in mind that Jamal is describing a deep love that is experiential, not just mentally or doctrinal.
Read Part III: Chosen by Heather Proctor
Read Part II: Powerful in Our Weakness by Nathan Burgman
Amen.
All Things in Christ 
We have all tried to ‘earn’ Gods love, doing, and not doing a list that if, just if we were good enough at it would work.
Your post Toby helps explain what True Love is, and as we know its Love that changes us, its His Love ‘in’ us that unites us, and this is truly liberating.
Thanks for your openness bro, and…I love you!
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Jim,
Thank you for the kind words, brother. Your contributions to the conversations around the web are a great encouragement and affirmation to many. I appreciate what you’ve shared here.
Indeed, his love in us unites us and transforms us. Love you back brother!
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Thank you for this massage it has up lift me spiritual and I have now started this teachings to my Church,thank you may God bless you.
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May the eyes of our brothers and sisters in the Church be opened to see and recognize the love of God, expressed to us all through the living person of Jesus Christ. May each one confess Christ as the risen Son of God and Lord of their lives, and may each one truly know what it is to live by His life.
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You Are My Hiding Place
You are my hiding place, Jesus,
Where I can find peace and security.
You shield me from calamities
And give me the assurance of safety.
You are my hiding place, Jesus,
When I have to face the shame of my own faults.
You will assure me of your forgiveness to my soul
And give time for reparation that I may not miss my goals.
You are my hiding place, Jesus,
When the world is in chaos and your wrath is deployed.
Only Your grace and mercy can save me from turmoil
As I have put my faith and trust in You as my first choice.
You are my hiding place, Jesus,
Because You are by my side on the way of the cross of life.
You give me the strength and encouragement to overcome the fearful strikes
And the hurtful blows will not fell me because You are my spirit might.
O Lord, You are my hiding place;
You are the light guiding me through life in all time and space;
You are the hope of my faith and trustfulness
For in you I can find understanding and forgiveness;
You are my source of life for eternity
That I can quench my thirst for the truth and justice of the Almighty.
My God, You are my hiding place, truth, light, hope and eternal life.
Duc Minh Bui
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I remember once in my early 20s when I happened to sit quietly and actually give the Lord the floor. In those very brief moments, while He had my full attention, He simply spoke, “I love you.” It was so clear in my spirit. The Lord knew He would only have my attention for mere seconds and to Him the most important thing for me to know was that He loved me. It wasn’t most important that He show me something that I wasn’t doing that I should be doing, or something that I was doing but shouldn’t be. It was simply that He loved me.
Your post is a beautiful truth the Lord wants all His own to know deeply. Thanks, brother.
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Absolutely, Sister! A truth of the utmost importance. The love of God through the life of Christ Jesus is foundational for living IN Him. Such great love!
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It’s easy to get busy and miss God’s love. Thanks for the reminder.
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Indeed Brother. May His love break through our business and wreck us, ruining us for all else, but Him!
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