GOD ACCEPTS US

We're accepted. "He made us accepted in the Beloved" (Eph. 1:6). The word translated accepted means "to grace, to favor". He has graced us and favored us. We are standing in His grace (Rom. 5:1)! He has welcomed us in and embraced us. We're adopted into His family and are His beloved children. The Spirit confirms this and tells us to call Him "Daddy"! He loves us with the same love He has for Jesus (John 17:23)! We're accepted no matter what happens, no matter what we do. We are accepted at our lowest, even. We are accepted as we are, not as we should be (Brennan Manning). We are taken in, brought into His circle of love. He is totally okay with us. And this acceptance is never based on us, on our performance but always on Him and His nature of love. His acceptance is freely given and never needs to be "earned".

This was one of the first big grace truths that God showed me, and I'm still needing to hear it daily. It changed my life to find out that what I had been trying so hard to get - His acceptance - was mine already. The cross is God loving us, embracing us, ACCEPTING us. So we are okay to God! He's not angry with us, disappointed with us, or frustrated with us...He's happy with us, content with us! We are accepted! Thank you for that, Jesus!

Sparrow Girl

Walking up to Jesus'campfire

«I think the difference in my life came when I realized, after reading those Gospels, that Jesus didn't just love me out of principle; He didn't just love me because it was the right thing to do. Rather, there was something inside me that caused Him to love me. I think I realized that if I walked up to His campfire, He would ask me to sit down, and He would ask me my story. He would take the time to listen to my ramblings or my anger until I could calm down, and then He would look me directly in the eye, and He would speak to me; He would tell me the truth, and I would sense in His voice and in the lines on His face that He liked me. He would rebuke me, too, and He would tell me that I have prejudices against very religious people and that I need to deal with that; He would tell me that there are poor people in the world and I need to feed them and that somehow this will make me more happy. I think He would tell me what my gifts are and why I have them, and He would give me ideas on how to use them.»

Don Miller, Blue Like Jazz =)