Jesus Does Really Love You

Every Sunday afternoon, after the morning service at their church, the Pastor and his 11-year-old son would go out into their town and hand out Gospel tracts. This particular Sunday afternoon, as it came time for the Pastor and his son to go to the streets with their tracts, it was very cold outside as well as pouring down rain. The boy bundled up in his warmest and driest clothes and said excitedly,

“Okay Dad, I’m ready!”

His Pastor Dad asked, “Ready for what?

“Dad, it’s time we gather our Bible tracts together and go out.”

Dad responds, “Son, it’s very cold outside and it’s really pouring down rain.”

The boy gave his Dad a surprised look, asking, “But Dad, aren’t people still going to Hell, even though it’s raining?”

Dad answered slowly, “Son, I am not going out in this weather.”

Despondently the boy asks, “Dad, can I go — Please? Come on Dad..”

His father hesitated for a moment then said, “Son, you can go.

Here’s the tracts; be careful son.”

“Thanks, Dad!” He jumped up and with that he was off and out the door dashing into the rain. This 11-year-old boy walked the streets of the town going door-to-door and handing everybody he met in the street a Gospel tract. After 2-hours of walking in the rain he was soaked to the bone-chilled wet and down to his very last Bible tract. He stopped on a corner and looked for someone to hand a tract to but the streets were totally deserted.

Then he turned toward the first home he saw and started up the sidewalk to the front door and rang the door bell. He rang the bell — but nobody answered. He rang it again and again bit still no one answered. He waited but still no answer. Finally, this 11-year-old trooper turned to leave but something stopped him. Again, he turned to the door and rang the bell and knocked loudly on the door with his fist. He waited, something holding him there on the front porch. He rang again, and this time the door slowly opened.

Standing in the doorway was a very sad looking elderly lady. She softly asked, “Yes? What can I do for you, son?”
With radiant eyes and a smile that lit up her world, this little boy said, “Ma’am, I’m sorry if I disturbed you, but I just want to tell you that, JESUS REALLY DOES LOVE YOU!

I came to give you my very last Gospel tract which will tell you all about Jesus and His great love.” With that he handed her his last tract, and turned to leave. She called to him as he departed, “Thank you, son! And God bless you!” he heard a cheerful uplift to her voice.

Well, the following Sunday morning in church, Pastor Dad was in the pulpit and as the service began he asked, “Does anybody have a testimony or want to say anything?”

Slowly, in the back row of the church, an elderly lady stood to her feet. As she began to speak, a look of glorious radiance came from her face. “None of you in this Church know me. I’ve never been here before. You see, before last Sunday I was not a Christian. My husband has passed on, some time ago, leaving me totally alone in this world. Last Sunday, being a particularly cold and rainy day, it was even more so in my heart . . . as I came to the end of the line where I no longer had any hope or will to live.

“So I took a rope and a chair and ascended the stairway into the attic of my home. I fastened the rope securely to a rafter in the roof then stood on the chair and fastened the other end of the rope around my neck. “Standing on that chair, so lonely and brokenhearted, I was about to leap off when suddenly the loud ringing of my doorbell downstairs startled me. I thought, ‘Wait, I’ll wait a minute, and whoever it is will go away.’

“I waited and waited– but the ringing doorbell seemed to get louder and more insistent and then the person ringing also started knocking loudly.

I thought to myself again, ‘Who on earth could this be?! Nobody ever rings my bell or comes to see me!’ “I loosened the rope from my neck and started for the front door, all the while the bell rang louder and louder. When I opened the door and looked I could hardly believe my eyes!

“There on my front porch was the most radiant and angelic little boy I had ever seen in my life! His smile! Oh, I could never describe it to you! And the words that came from his mouth caused my heart, that had long been dead, to leap to life again, as he exclaimed with cherub-like voice, ‘Ma’am, I just came to tell you that JESUS REALLY DOES LOVE YOU.’

“Then he gave me this Gospel tract that I now hold in my hand. As the little angel disappeared back out, into the damp cold and rain, I then closed my door and read slowly every word of this Gospel tract. Then I went up to my attic to get my rope and chair. I wouldn’t be needing them any more.

“You see, I am now a happy child of the KING, and since the address of your church was on the back of this Gospel tract I have come here to personally say, ‘Thank you to God’s little angel who came just in the nick of time, and by doing so, spared my soul from an eternity in Hell.’”

There were now no dry eyes in the church. As shouts of praise and honor to the KING resounded off the very rafters of the building, Pastor Dad descended from the pulpit to the front pew where the little angel was seated. He took him in his arms and sobbed uncontrollably.

Probably no church has had a more glorious moment and probably this Universe has never seen a Papa that was more filled with love and honor for his son, except for one: This Father, God, also allowed His Son, Jesus, to go out into a cold and dark world. He received His Son back with unspeakable, and as all of Heaven shouted praises and honor to the King, the Father sat His beloved Son on a throne far above all principality and power and every name that is named.

There may be someone, reading this, who is also going through a dark, cold and lonely time in your soul. You may be a Christian, for we are not without problems, or you may not yet know the King. Whatever the case, and whatever the problem or situation you find yourself in, and no matter how dark it may seem, I want you to know that I just came to tell you, “JESUS REALLY DOES LOVE YOU!”

Ruth

Ruth went to her mailbox and there was only one letter. She picked it up and looked at it before opening, but then she looked at the envelope again. There was no stamp, no postmark, only her name and address. She read the letter: 

     Dear Ruth, 

     I’m going to be in your neighborhood Saturday afternoon and I’d like to stop      by for a visit. 

     Love Always,
     Jesus 

Her hands were shaking as she placed the letter on the table. “Why would the Lord want to visit me? I’m nobody special. I don’t have anything to offer.” With that thought, Ruth remembered her empty kitchen cabinets. “Oh my goodness, I really don’t have anything to offer. I’ll have to run down to the store and buy something for dinner.” 

She reached for her purse and counted out its contents. Five dollars and forty cents. “Well, I can get some bread and cold cuts, at least.” She threw on her coat and hurried out the door. A loaf of French bread, a half-pound of sliced turkey, and a carton of milk…leaving Ruth with a grand total of twelve cents to last her until Monday. 

Nonetheless, she felt as she headed home, her meager offerings tucked under her arm. “Hey lady, can you help us, lady?” Ruth had been so absorbed in her dinner plans, she hadn’t even noticed two figures huddled in the alleyway. A man and a woman, both of them dressed in little more than rags. 

“Look lady, I ain’t got a job, ya know, and my wife and I have been living out here on the street, and, well, now it’s getting cold and we’re getting kinda hungry and, well, if you could help us, lady, we’d really appreciate it.” Ruth looked at them both. 

They were dirty, they smelled bad and, frankly, she was certain that they could get some kind of work if they really wanted to. “Sir, I’d like to help you, but I’m a poor woman myself. All I have is a few cold cuts and some bread, and I’m having an important guest for dinner tonight and I was planning on serving that to Him.” 

“Yeah, well, OK lady, I understand. Thanks anyway.” 

The man put his arm around the woman’s shoulders, turned and headed back into the alley. As she watched them leave, Ruth felt a familiar twinge in her heart. “Sir, wait!“ The couple stopped and turned as she ran down the alley after them. “Look, why don’t you take this food. I’ll figure out something else to serve my guest.” She handed the man her grocery bag. “Thank you lady. Thank you very much!” “Yes, thank you!” It was the man’s wife, and Ruth could see now that she was shivering. 

“You know, I’ve got another coat at home. Here, why don’t you take this one.” Ruth unbuttoned her jacket and slipped it over the woman’s shoulders. Then smiling, she turned and walked back to the street…without her coat and with nothing to serve her guest. “Thank you lady! Thank you very much!” 

Ruth was chilled by the time she reached her front door, and worried too. The Lord was coming to visit and she didn’t have anything to offer Him. She fumbled through her purse for the door key. But as she did, she noticed another envelope in her mailbox. “That’s odd. The mailman doesn’t usually come twice in one day.” She took the envelope out of the box and opened it. 

     Dear Ruth, 

     It was so good to see you again. Thank you for the lovely meal. And thank you, too, for the beautiful coat. 

     Love Always, 
     Jesus 

The air was still cold, but even without her coat, Ruth no longer noticed.