“Long ago the Lord said to Israel:
“I have loved you, my people, with an everlasting love.
    With unfailing love I have drawn you to myself.”
-Jeremiah  31:3 NLT

The Bible … God’s Love Letter to Us All! … Jennifer Rothschild, a wonderful Bible teacher and author, has a new book out called: 66 Ways God Loves You: Experiencing God’s Love for You in Every Book of the Bible. Jennifer has been blind for most of her life, yet she has never wavered about God’s love for her. She has a wonderful “Valentine Day” message for all of us, enjoy!!

When asked “Why do you consider the Bible to be God’s love letter?” Jennifer says…
“Lots of the time we think of the Bible as history, life lessons, poetry or, unfortunately—a collection of ‘thou shall’ and ‘thou shalt nots!’ Yes, all those elements are part of Scripture. God does give us the history of his people. God’s Word does provide life lessons to teach us how to live. But it also gives us beautiful poetry that gives voice to our human experience. And, yes, it does give us clear boundaries of what we should and shouldn’t do so we can live our best lives.

I think God gives us all that in his Word because he’s a loving Father. Loving fathers give their children a sense of their history. Loving fathers give their children guidance on how to deal with all the hard things in life. Loving fathers give their children boundaries so they won’t get hurt and can live with peace and purpose. God is our loving Father who loves his children perfectly. So, every part of his Word is an expression of his love to us.

Because God loves us, he tells us where we came from and who we are. Because God loves us, he gives us lyrics to sing when our hearts can’t form words. Because God loves us, he gives us practical teaching and boundaries to protect our hearts. The whole thing is one big expression of a father’s love for his children.

Even the parts that some think are rough and hard to swallow, are still expressions of a loving God who has plans “…to prosper you and not to harm you” (Jeremiah.29:11). God is “not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9). It’s all about love!

I thought I loved Scripture before I wrote this book! But, as I reread each book of the Bible, I fell in love all over again—not just with God’s Word, but with God himself…when I read Scripture, I’m trying to learn something or teach something or change something in my life. But, as I wrote this book, I looked at Scripture only through the lens of love. It was totally humbling to be confronted over and over with the different ways God loves us—me—with an “everlasting love.”

I know many people have not had a loving father so embracing God as a heavenly father is not easy, it’s hard to trust when you do not see. In my blindness, I truly understand that, but also in my blindness I realize that, without trust, I would sit in a dark room forever. I urge you to read God’s love letter in all 66 books of the Bible. You will find the love you have always wanted and you will find a heavenly father that can also be a heavenly mother, and unlike the failure of earthly parents, God will never leave you, forsake you and withhold love from you. God IS love and God’s love for you is a promise for eternity! Happy Valentines Day!