So many years ago, before there was anyone; it was Jesus and I.    He and I sat and talked.   I told him, “You are Awesome”.   He smiled!    I told Him, “You are my Everything”.    He smiled once again.    Then He said, “Will you go to the Cross for me?”   I said, “I will.”    He said, “Will you suffer with me?”   I said, ” I will”!   He smiled!    Then, was when I’d come to know, that I love Him so.

Time has passed since He and I had that talk.    It has always been He and I.    Through everything, it has been He and I.   No matter where I have been or what sins I have committed; it has always been, He and I.

When the road is long, and temptation is ever so strong, I think of Jesus, and He smiles, and says,  “I know”!   Then I know, it is all worth it!    All the pain, all the trials, all the suffering, and all the tears!

For sometimes it seems there are more tears, than I can count.    Then I remember Jesus.   He said, ” Tell me if it is too much”.    I say, ” It will never be to much LORD!”   So, He and I continue to talk.    Through out my life, He is here!   He is the only ONE.   He is and always will be.   There are many I love; but none can touch the heart I have for Jesus.    For the love I can not have, or will never realize, will only sustain me to suffer more for Jesus.   For I know, Jesus’  heart breaks for the whole world.    So few know this great love.   For to know great love, we must suffer with Jesus.   That is not to imply you can not have great love for Jesus without suffering, but rather, the ‘Core’ of Christ is within the suffering!   When I suffer, I know Jesus is ’embracing’ me!   For  one of Jesus Christ’s  greatest gifts  is to share Himself with those He loves deeply!    To know Jesus deeply, one must suffer deeply.    Sometimes, that means tears falling until they feel they may never stop.    Yes, it hurts!    But, to suffer with Jesus, to remember He loves you so, that He has chosen to reveal His deepest self to you, and allow you to suffer intently with Him, is to be called His ‘Beloved’!

To love Jesus Christ is not done in the way one loves mortally.    But rather to desire Him above all else.    This is realizing a ‘spiritual highness’ that Jesus adorns one with, when we choose Him above ourselves!    To live and breathe Jesus; His life, His love, His body, and His blood, is to come to Christ stripped down,  bare naked,  with no reservation, no unguarded pretense whatsoever; then,  and only then , do you begin to realize the ‘Living Christ’ for who He really is!!

Book of Sirach: Chapter 51 verses 13-15   18–19

13)  “When I was young and innocent, I sought wisdom.   14)She came to me in her beauty, and until the end I will cultivate her, 15)As the blossoms yielded to ripening grapes, the heart’s joy, My feet kept to the level path  because from earliest youth I was familiar with her.”

18)”I became resolutley devoted to her- the good I persistenly strove for.   19) I   burned with desire for her, never turning back.   I became preoccupied with her, never weary of extolling her.   My hand opened her gate and I came to know her secrets.”

Book of Sirach: Chapter 51 verses 1-8

1) ” I give thanks, O God of my father; I praise you, O God my savior!   I will make known your name, refuge of my life; 2) you have been my helper against my adversaries.   You have saved me from death, and kept back my body from the pit,  From the clutches of the nether world you have snatched my feet; 3) you have delivered me, in your great mercy, From the scourge of a slanderous tongue, and from  lips   that went over to falsehood; From the snare  of those who watched for my downfall, and from the power of those who sought my life; from many a danger you have saved me, 4) from flames that hemmed me in on every side; From the midst of unremitting fire, 5) from the deep belly of the nether world; From decieveing lips and painters of lies, 6) from arrows of dishonest tongues, I was at the point of death, my soul was nearing the depths of the nether world; 7) I turned every way, but there was no one to help me, I looked for one to sustain me, but could find no one.   8) But then I remembered the mercies of the LORD, his kindness through ages past; For he saves those who take refuge in him, and rescues them from every evil.”