No matter where we find ourselves, God always tries to reach us personally. That’s how much He loves us! We can trust Him, because He cares so much for us.

I see a lot of people looking for freedom, but they never find it. The reason is that they are looking in the wrong places. Jesus is the only truth: “Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’” (John 14:6 NIV). The One that is the way, the truth and the life is the One who can free you, and through Him you will experience genuine love.

How is it that our Heavenly Father can set us free? “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” (Matt. 7:7 NIV). He can set us free when we ask Him! It’s as simple as that!

In fact, He even promises us freedom: “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” (Luke 4:18 NIV).

The problems is, we have trouble trusting anyone if we don’t know that person. It is no different with God. If we don’t know Him, if we don’t comprehend His love for us, we will have trouble trusting Him. However, the reverse is also true: The more we get to know God, the more we feel His love towards us, and the more we are able to understand His love and put our trust in Him.

I often meet people who don’t believe in the love of God. However, as they come to experience God, something happens to them. Take the first Illustrator subscriber, for an example. He didn’t know our Father personally, but as he read the devotionals, he became more and more excited to hear about God, and he is continuing to grow in his relationship with God and his ability to trust God to this day. That’s the way it works. The more we get to know our Heavenly Father, the more we fall in love with Him!

Just the fact that Jesus willingly laid his life at the cross, offering His own life so that we could be saved, is the best proof of love that exists. He literally paid for our transgressions with His own life: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned…” (John 3:16-18a NIV). We had lost our way to our Father, but Jesus paid our transgressions by offering His good life for ours.

Notice that Jesus never condemned our world; rather He came to save it. He gave His own life so that we can live for eternity. Our only job is to accept the gift that Jesus gave to us through His own life. We must accept Jesus’ love.

This depth of love is a difficult concept for some of us to comprehend. Please join us next week to get a clearer picture of just what God sees when He looks at us. You will be completely amazed!

In His love,

Rob Chaffart

(To access the entire “Experiencing Our Heavenly Father” devotional series, please click here.)