by Melody K. Townsend
I am loved.
I know this beyond the shadow of any doubt. I hear it in my human’s voice when she speaks my name. I feel it in her presence, in her touch, and I see it in her smile and in her eyes. I experience complete and unconditional love all day every day in all of the countless wonderful things she does for me and because of me.
When you know you’re loved, you are confident and secure.
Lunch might be late. Your favorite toy might break and have to be thrown away. Another cat might claim the shelf you wanted more than anything else in the world, causing you to have to seek a different goal. You might get sick and struggle with pain and discouragement. A beloved friend might cross the Bridge and leave you behind, empty and lost and confused.
But the most important aspects of life remain: faith, hope, and love. I like to think of them as Faith and Hope in Love. After all, I was rescued. All of the Townsend Cats were rescued from various situations, from starving stray to feral street cat to elderly shelter cat headed for the kill room to tiny abandoned kitten in need of a mother’s love, even if that mom turned out to be our human adopter. We were rescued and brought into a life filled with love and joy. Whatever else happens in our lives – the late lunch, the broken toy, the loved one who left this world ahead of us – we still have Faith and Hope in Love.
How are things between you and your Heavenly Father? Warm and trusting, cool and suspicious, hurt and angry, disappointed and let down? Either at any given moment, all of the above from time to time?
Do you really know that God loves you beyond the shadow of any doubt?
Do you hear His voice in your heart, speaking words of love and guidance, creating an intimate understanding that He is sharing exclusively with you?
Can you feel it in His presence, in His touch, and see it in His word and in the countless ordinary miracles that comprise every moment of every day? After all, you were rescued. Jesus died in order to save you so that you could be adopted by your Father. There is no greater love than this.
Are you aware of experiencing Love all day every day in all the countless wonderful things He does for you and because of you?
When you know you are beloved by God, you are settled, protected, and secure. Your heart will travel the spectrum from joy to sorrow and back again throughout your life. Emotions will soar one moment and plummet the next. Finances and health constantly change. Relationships develop and disappear.
But Faith, Hope, and God’s Love remain. And when we all – all of God’s children, all of God’s creation – place our Faith and Hope in His Love, we will know that our souls are anchored in Christ, come what may.
We are rescued. We are adopted. We are loved.
This, I know.
Go farther with God! Journey into a Bible study with This, I Know!
Psalm 18:6-21
John 15 (specifically verses 12-14)
Romans 8 (specifically verses 14-17)