HE LOVES

God loves you. This fact is understated and uncomplicated, yet we cannot grasp the power swaddled in those three little words.

This love of God is no ordinary thing that we can know by comparison to earthly experiences of love. It is not a feeling; it is unswayed by the breezes of life. It is a transforming kind of love, rescuing us from darkness and transplanting us into light, moving us from a wayward, hopeless existence of wandering, into His family. But not as a stranger, but as a chosen, adopted child which extends to us the unmerited privilege of being His sons and daughters.

This unearned, underserved, unwavering love gives us reason to pause and consider how great a love must be for One to call us children even while wayward and living in hostility against Him, as we choose darkness over light, sin over righteousness. It would make more sense, and we could comprehend it readily if the Scripture was directed toward righteous, perfect, unflawed people, but that is not the case, for none fit that description.

Now, to be adopted by a pauper, we would become paupers. We would have little to no inheritance, nothing to look forward to except a life of hardship, poverty and trouble. We find this easy to believe because we understand a pauper owns nothing so has nothing to give.

Receiving nothing is easy. It takes no special skills, and no earning or deserving is required to receive nothing. One need not even hold out their hand to grab onto nothing.

But being adopted by a king would afford us everything the king has. We become heirs of the king, joint heirs with the others in the family, and given the right to be a part of his kingdom, no longer strangers but family. It is not so easy to freely receive everything, to accept the fact that we need not earn or work for it, but this is the love the king has for us; it’s based on who he is, not on who we are.

Now expand this even further to realize it’s not an earthly king who has adopted us, but the King of kings. The One Sovereign King. It is He who has extended such an invitation to anyone who would receive it.

How can a mind fathom such a thing, except to experience it? To experience it, we must believe it is true and from that belief, simply accept it. Once inside the family, once the spiritual adoption has been sealed by our believing, we become the King’s child.

God is that King!

As joint heirs with Jesus, we share His inheritance, glory, and relationship with the Father. What does a wise and loving father do with a child he loves? He delights in that child. He is proud of that one. He gives grace when required, mercy when needed, and discipline when necessary. The King opens His treasury to His children, protects them, provides for all their needs, and allows them special privileges not afforded to those outside of His family.

This is the kind of love the Father has given to us, so that we could be called His children, and so we are!

PRACTICAL APPLICATION:

Write this characteristic on a sticky note and place it where you’ll see it daily. GOD LOVES ME.

Read the following verses on God’s love: Ephesians 3:18-19, Romans 5:8, 1 John 4:10.

PRAYER:

Father, in You are the treasures of Heaven and all the blessings of eternity. You chose me to belong to You and be a part of Your family. That concept is wildly beyond my ability to understand, but I choose to believe it.

Thank you for adopting me. Thank you for wanting me to belong to You. Show me where I have been believing lies and empower me to replace those lies with the truth. The truth is I am my Father's child. You love me as I am, and You, King of the kings, delight in me. Help me understand more of what this means and enable me to believe it completely.