AN ACT OF LOVE
God did not wait until I became "good enough" to be His son. And He did not wait until I had all my doctrines figured out. No, He said, "Even when you were lost in sin, I came to you to be reconciled. I loved you when you were wallowing in filth. I called you, chose you and adopted you for no other reason than that I love you."
Sometimes I wonder how God ever could have looked down on us and loved us. We are so unlovable, so mean sometimes, so unworthy. But in His mercy He says to each of us, "I want you, I choose you, because I want to be a Father to you!"
"Beloved, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God" (1 John 3:1).
"Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins" (4:10).
He chose me, not because I loved Him first, but because He loved me first. He adopted me as His child only because He loved me.
All this brings me to a wonderful conclusion: I do not have to figure it all out. I do not have to understand the deep doctrines of justification, sanctification, mortification, glorification. All I have to know is that He picked me to be His son, which means that I am loved by God the Father.
It does not matter what hell tries to throw at me. Nothing can move me from this wonderful knowledge: I am loved and I can rest in that love. He who chose me and loves me will keep me and carry me — and never abandon me. He will never let go of my hand, because He is Abba Father — mine!
Beloved, I am an earthly father and you cannot name any reason in heaven or on earth why I would ever abandon or leave one of my children. I ask you: How much more is your heavenly Father going to be with you through everything you endure in this life?
Sometimes I wonder how God ever could have looked down on us and loved us. We are so unlovable, so mean sometimes, so unworthy. But in His mercy He says to each of us, "I want you, I choose you, because I want to be a Father to you!"
"Beloved, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God" (1 John 3:1).
"Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins" (4:10).
He chose me, not because I loved Him first, but because He loved me first. He adopted me as His child only because He loved me.
All this brings me to a wonderful conclusion: I do not have to figure it all out. I do not have to understand the deep doctrines of justification, sanctification, mortification, glorification. All I have to know is that He picked me to be His son, which means that I am loved by God the Father.
It does not matter what hell tries to throw at me. Nothing can move me from this wonderful knowledge: I am loved and I can rest in that love. He who chose me and loves me will keep me and carry me — and never abandon me. He will never let go of my hand, because He is Abba Father — mine!
Beloved, I am an earthly father and you cannot name any reason in heaven or on earth why I would ever abandon or leave one of my children. I ask you: How much more is your heavenly Father going to be with you through everything you endure in this life?