I have asked myself and I am certain that you have asked
yourself the same question, "Who am I that God should care about me much
less want a personal relationship with me, this rough around the edges and lowly sinner?"
The
smart thing to do would be to ask God, himself, and to do that, we must read
his word and develop that personal relationship with him that he so lovingly
desires. We must begin to understand through his word and through current
discussions with him and by looking at all that he has created, not mankind, to
get the full impact, the full intensity, of just how important and loved we are
to him. Then and only then can you begin to understand who you are and most of
all who God truly is - our Father and we his children.
John 1:12 (NIV)
Yet to all
who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to
become children of God -
Romans 8:17 (NIV)
Now if we
are children, then we are heirs - heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if
indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.
1 Corinthians 6:17 (NIV)
But whoever
is united with the Lord is one with him in spirit.
Galatians 3:28 (NIV)
There is
neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female,
for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
Ephesians 1:4 (NIV)
For he chose
us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his
sight. In Love
Ephesians 1:13 (NIV)
And you also
were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your
salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy
Spirit,
Ephesians 2:4-5 (NIV)
But because
of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ
even when we were dead in transgressions - it is by grace you have been saved.
1Thessallonians 1:4 (NIV)
For we know
brothers and sisters loved by God, that he has chosen you,
So always keep in mind that, other than the
faith that is necessary to believe, God puts no charge upon his acceptance of us
as his children. His love for us is truly beyond any limit - giving his only
son to be tortured and nailed to a cross to die an agonizing death being divine
evidence of just how important we are to him. If you read, discuss, study, look
around you sooner or later you will bow face-down and prostrate at the thought
of how enormous, overpowering, and infinite his love is for all his children
and just how far he would go to rescue and save us, his children.
I will soon lose a good friend in Christ and this is dedicated to him, Joe Bowling. We live forever in Christ, my friend. This is not the end, but the beginning. But you know this so well. As disciples of Christ we are meant to have a joyful spirit in the midst of the trials and tribulations that our Lord promised would come, but it is tough and we need his help. You belonged to him before you belonged to the world.
