praising through the pain // oh the deep, deep love of jesus

Oh, the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus

Samuel Travis Francis, 1875

“There is no pit so deep, that God's love is not deeper still.” 

Corrie ten Boom

And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 

may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, 

to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 

and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—

that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Ephesians 3:17b-19

One cold night in London, a young, troubled man walked across the edge of Thames River,  crossed a bridge and considered ending it all. As he looked at the deep, deep waters below him, he wrestled with his faith that led to a realization of God's mercy and a decision to trust in Him fully. The young man later became a merchant by trade, but a hymn writer and preacher by passion. His beautiful hymn, Oh the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus draws many parallels to the  deep oceans.

Jesus' love is deep. 

Deeper than the grime and slime of our sin. Deeper than our shame and guilt. Deeper than our disappointments. Deeper than our pride and self-righteousness. Deeper than our painful memories. Deeper than our regrets. 

Deeper than our despair and anxiety.

Jesus' love is deep. 

Whatever depths you are walking through, remember that His love is deeper still.

“Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed,  

for His compassions never fail.

They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” 

Lamentations 3:22-23

 “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, 

in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

Romans 5:8

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Oh the deep, deep love of Jesus,
Vast unmeasured, boundless, free!
Rolling as a mighty ocean in its fullness over me!
Underneath me, all around me, is the current
Of Thy love
Leading onward, leading homeward to
Thy glorious rest above!

Oh the deep, deep love of Jesus,
Spread His praise from shore to shore!
How He loveth, ever loveth, changeth
never, nevermore!
How He watches o'er His loved ones,
died to call them all His own
how for them He intercedeth, watcheth
o'er them from the throne!

Oh the deep, deep love of Jesus,
'Tis a heav'n of heav'ns to me
And it lifts me up to glory, for it lifts me up to Thee!

Sources here, here, and here