Living Loved - iBelieve Truth: A Devotional for Women - September 5
Living Loved
By Meg Bucher
“I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have called you, and you are mine.” - Jeremiah 31:3
The bell rang to release homeroom, and I triumphantly toted an arm-full of carnations to First Period. Each bloom donned a colorful paper note, stapled to the stem, symbolizing likability, friends, and sometimes love. I have always wanted to be friends with everyone, and those flowers were seriously satisfying!
We put in work and wager a lot of our self-esteem for the approval of others. But it’s in vain, literally. We are already accepted, liked and loved! God filled us with His love when He created us, and never stops loving who we are… right now.
How can we live, loved?
Jeremiah reminded the rebellious people of his day, “The LORD appeared to us in the past, saying: ‘I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have called you, and you are mine.” God’s ancient people had rebelled… again. They had forgotten the fulfilling feeling of the love of God.
Instead of seeking solace in the One True God, they sought idols and all sorts of depravity. Jeremiah was called by God to stir their memories. As the “Weeping Prophet,” he delivered a consequential message to God’s rebellions people. Because of God’s love for them, He would not allow them to continue on living in the depravity, and it pained Jeremiah to warn them of their assured destruction and exile.
God’s love for us is unfailing. He created every intricate fiber of our being, and assigned our lives specific purpose. The Truth of John 3:16 echoes every heartbeat: “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.” No one knows our souls better than our Heavenly Father. We cannot outrun His reach.
The love of God for us is impossible for humanity to explain and understand. Though we are created in the image of God, we all fall short (Romans 3:23). The greatest expression of God’s love for us is Jesus. He sent His One and Only Son to die for our sins in our place. God wants a relationship with us, and He made a way for our imperfect nature to stand in the perfection of His holy presence.
When we walk through life, we are toting figurative arm-loads of carnations with paper messages stapled to them. They sing the anthems of our great God’s personal love for us:
“I love you.”
“I have called you.”
“You are mine.”
Meg Bucher writes about everyday life within the love of Christ as an author, freelance writer and blogger at Sunny&80. Her first book, “Friends with Everyone,” is available on amazon.com. She earned a Marketing/PR degree from Ashland University, but stepped out of the business world to stay at home and raise her two daughters. Besides writing, she leads a Bible Study for Women and serves as a Youth Ministry leader in her community. She lives in Northern Ohio with her husband, Jim, and two daughters.
Related Resource: Instead of Doing More This Summer, Maybe You Need to Do Less
If you've been feeling tired, overwhelmed, depleted, or just quietly wondering where God is in the middle of a very full life — this episode is for you. And honestly? It might be for me too, because I'm recording this in one of those seasons myself.
Today we're doing something a little different. Instead of going deep in a passage, we're talking about what to do when deep feels like too much — when you need less, not more. Specifically, I'm walking you through one of my favorite practices for weary seasons: handwriting scripture.
Not typing it. Not scrolling past it. Actually writing it out, slowly, in your own hand — because something happens in your brain when you do that. The words land differently. They go deeper. And over time, they become part of that personal library of God's voice that the Holy Spirit can pull from when you need it most. That's what Psalm 119:11 means when it says I have hidden your word in my heart — it's scripture moving into your long-term memory, where it lives and stays even when you haven't opened your Bible in weeks.
I'm sharing the five verses I wrote out for myself today — and why each one hit me fresh even though I've known some of them for years. This episode is part of our How to Study the Bible Podcast, a show that brings life back to reading the Bible and helps you understand even the hardest parts of Scripture. If this episode helps you know and love God more, be sure to follow the How to Study the Bible Podcast on Apple or Spotify so you never miss an episode!
