Jesus says so

My best friend needed encouragement. Problem is, she lives 3000+ miles away. I texted her this: “You are loved, you are enough, Jesus says so.” Later I thought: this is truth, one of the authors in the Bible should have written that. But wait…they did!

“So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.” (Romans 8:1 NLT) We are imperfect – selfish by nature, on our own we stand condemned. Yet Who we belong to determines who we are. And we belong to Jesus. He has silenced the enemy’s constant reminders of how we mess up. Our accusers say we aren’t good enough. It’s not our ‘good enough’ – it’s Jesus perfect love and sacrifice for us.

I need this truth for me. It was easy for me to reassure my friend. I’ve seen her in tears. I’ve seen her angry. I’ve seen her losing hope. I’ve seen her grasping. But what I also always see: Jesus in her. Will I allow myself the same grace?

We are also this: “…a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light.” (1Peter 2:9b NIV)

Jesus chose us. We are his royal messengers. We are holy because He is holy. He considers us a treasured possession. Seriously? Yes! Our response is the praise of our lips, coming from sincere hearts. We no longer live in the darkness of sin, we live in Christ’s wonderful light. (Yes, even when we do mess up. Why? Because He paid the debt owed for all our mess before we knew Him as Savior; and for the times since and the times to come when we will blunder.)

Because Jesus says so, Paul was able to write these words of absolute assurance to us: “No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us. And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love.” (Romans 8:37-38 NLT)

Many things will come our way as we go through this earth life. Things out of our control. Things that don’t make sense. Things that should not be. God is not a genie who makes all the trials disappear. But God is all we ever need. He made us and knows us intimately. In all the trials He never leaves us. We come over every finish line better than we were before because the hard stuff refines us and makes us more like Jesus.

Jesus says so and He will keep on standing in the gap for us until that sweet someday when His hug opens our eyes and we find ourselves in forever.