From the moment we officially started dating until the day of his death, my husband Roger would tell me or call to tell me he loved me many times a day. He would say, “Have I told you yet today that I love you?” My response was always, “Yes, but you can tell me again.” I imagine that this type of exchange happens quite often between spouses, in many homes every day.
My mother would write me letters or end our phone conversations with, “I love you, Judy, but God loves you more.”
And my mother was right. Just like Roger’s oft-repeated words of love and my mother’s entreaties, God has shown me every day, in multiple ways, just how much He loves me. In the good times and the bad, even in the times when I had no interest in Him, His eye stayed focused on me, His love never wavering.
“Wherever we turn, we hear the voice of God and behold His handiwork. From the solemn roll of the deep-toned thunder and old ocean’s ceaseless roar, to the glad songs that make the forests vocal with melody, nature’s ten thousand voices speak His praise. In earth and sea and sky, with their marvelous tint and color, varying in gorgeous contrast or blended in harmony, we behold His glory. The everlasting hills tell of His power. The trees that wave their green banners in the sunlight, and the flowers in their delicate beauty, point to their Creator. The living green that carpets the brown earth tells of God’s care for the humblest of His creatures. The caves of the sea and the depths of the earth reveal His treasures. He who placed the pearls in the ocean and the amethyst and chrysolite among the rocks is a lover of the beautiful. The sun rising in the heavens is a representative of Him who is the life and light of all that He has made. All the brightness and beauty that adorn the earth and light up the heavens speak of God.
“Shall we, then, in the enjoyment of His gifts, forget the Giver? Let them rather lead us to contemplate His goodness and His love. Let all that is beautiful in our earthly home remind us of the crystal river and green fields, the waving trees and living fountains, the shining city and the white-robed singers, of our heavenly home—that world of beauty which no artist can picture, no mortal tongue describe. ‘Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him.’ 1 Corinthians 2:9.” Child Guidance, 53, 54
“ ‘I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.’ John 17:23. It seems almost too good to believe that the Father can and does love any member of the human family as He loves His Son. But we have the assurance that He does, and this assurance should bring joy to every heart, awakening the highest reverence, and calling forth unspeakable gratitude. God’s love is not uncertain and unreal, but a living reality.” Manuscript Releases, Vol. 18, 332
“All that is good and lovely and beautiful in this world speaks to [us] of the love of our heavenly Father. The character of God [we] may discern in His created works.”
Child Guidance, 54