I am so glad that our Father in Heav’n
Tells of His love in the Book He has giv’n;
Wonderful things in the Bible I see,
This is the dearest, that Jesus loves me.
I am so glad that Jesus loves me,
Jesus loves me, Jesus loves me.
I am so glad that Jesus loves me,
Jesus loves even me.

Though I forget Him, and wander away,
Still He doth love me wherever I stray;
Back to His dear loving arms I do flee,
When I remember that Jesus loves me.
I am so glad that Jesus loves me,
Jesus loves me, Jesus loves me.
I am so glad that Jesus loves me,
Jesus loves even me.

Oh, if there’s only one song I can sing,
When in His beauty I see the great King,
This shall my song through eternity be,
“Oh, what a wonder that Jesus loves me!”
I am so glad that Jesus loves me,
Jesus loves me, Jesus loves me.
I am so glad that Jesus loves me,
Jesus loves even me.

Jesus loves me, and I know I love Him;
Love brought Him down my poor soul to redeem;
Yes, it was love made Him die on the tree;
Oh, I am certain that Jesus loves me!
I am so glad that Jesus loves me,
Jesus loves me, Jesus loves me.
I am so glad that Jesus loves me,
Jesus loves even me.

If one should ask of me, how can I tell?
Glory to Jesus, I know very well!
God’s Holy Spirit with mine doth agree,
Constantly witnessing Jesus loves me.
I am so glad that Jesus loves me,
Jesus loves me, Jesus loves me.
I am so glad that Jesus loves me,
Jesus loves even me.

In this assurance I find sweetest rest,
Trusting in Jesus, I know I am blessed;
Satan, dismayed, from my soul now doth flee,
When I just tell him that Jesus loves me.
I am so glad that Jesus loves me,
Jesus loves me, Jesus loves me.
I am so glad that Jesus loves me,
Jesus loves even me.

Words and Music by Philip P. Bliss, 1870

 

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All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.
2 Timothy 3:16

Give thanks to the God of heaven, for his steadfast love endures forever.
Psalm 136:26

The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.
Zephaniah 3:17

Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.
John 18:13

We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
Isaiah 53:6

In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
1 John 4:9 – 11

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
John 3:16

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Love. For some, it gives us tingly feeling just to talk about it. For others, such as those of us who tend to be more stoic, it can make us feel uncomfortable. In either case we have in our minds a definition of love. But do we all have the same definition? Another words, what is love? Now I am sure this is not a question that will be answered in a few short paragraphs, but we do need to think outside the box of what society has told us is love.

The ancient Greeks had four words for love; Eros, Phileo, Storge and Agape. Eros is a reference to erotic love, passionate and sexual in nature. Phileo is used for affection and fondness, a love that refers to the feelings for a special object or person. Storge is a love that deals with a natural obligation, feelings between a husband and wife or a parent and child. Agape is an unconditional love, a love to which we make a conscious choice and commitment regardless of the reciprocation. It is this final love that Philip P. Bliss speaks of in his hymn, “Jesus Loves Even Me.”

The hymn begins with the words, “I am so glad that our Father in Heav’n tells of His love in the Book He has giv’n.” There are so many ways that we can see God’s love. We see it in the world He has prepared. We see it in His sustaining hand. But the clearest is found in the Bible, which comes from God. 2 Timothy 3:16 tells us, “All Scripture is God-breathed . . . ” The Bible is the very word of God, and is in fact an account of God’s love for the world.

Through out the Bible we find the theme of God’s love. Psalm 136:26 tells us to “Give thanks to the God of heaven, for his steadfast love endures forever.” Zephaniah 3:17 tells us that “The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.”

It is a joyous thing to realize how God’s love reigns over us. So the hymn states, “Wonderful things in the Bible I see, This is the dearest, that Jesus loves me.” You see, it is not just Storge, an obligatory generic love for His creation, it is a love for each of us individually. John 18:13 tells us, “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” No this is not a generic love, it is a love for individuals, individuals He calls friends. Jesus calls us friends and loves us so much that He would die in our place.

Unfortunately we to often begin to forget. We become distracted by everything else in our lives, and we lose sight of God’s love. So the hymn continues, “Though I forget Him, and wander away, Still He doth love me wherever I stray; Back to His dear loving arms I do flee.” Our minds are drawn to the prophet Isaiah in chapter 53, verse 6 where we read, “We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way.” Yes, we do forget the love of God, but the unconditional love of God gives us hope, and so the verse continues, “the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.”

The question we began with was, “What is love?” John gives us an answer in 1 John 4:9 – 11 where we read, “In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”

He also summarizes this love in John 3:16 where we read, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”

Yes, God is love, a love that he extends to each and everyone one of us no matter what we have done. A love, we need only open our hearts to. When we accept this love that he has given us, we receive from Him the gift of eternal life. It is when we truly accept, receive and remember the love that God gives us we can join in the words, “I am so glad that Jesus loves me, Jesus loves even me”

 

 

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