You, beloved child of God*, will be holy and blameless when Christ presents you to the Father. (Ephesians 1:4, 5:27; Colossians 1:22)
Now read that again, capturing this truth for you personally: “I will be holy and blameless when Christ presents me to the Father.”
You are loved:
Loved by the holy and all-powerful God (See, for example, Ephesians 2:4-6; 1 Peter 1:3-5)
Loved by His sovereign choice (Ephesians 1:4)
Loved with the same love as the Father loves His Son, and the Son loves the Father (John 15:9, 16:27, 17:23, 26)
His love promises:
No condemnation for the child of God (Romans 8:1)
He will never leave you nor forsake you (Hebrews 13:5)
Nothing can separate you from His love. Nothing. (Romans 8:35-39)
He watches out for you, and, whatever happens, He’ll work it into good. (Romans 8:28)
You are always on His mind:
He has inscribed you on the palms of His hands. (Isaiah 49:16)
You are the apple of His eye. (Zechariah 2:8; Psalm 17:8)
But what about sin?
We sin. And we’ll continue to sin until God takes us to heaven and removes us from the presence of sin (our own and others).
We are responsible for our thoughts, words, and deeds. We must confess our sins, remembering God promises to forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9)
Our goal should be to walk in a manner worthy of Him, pleasing Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God. (Colossians 1:10; See also Ephesians 4:1; 1 Thessalonians 2:2)
But, remember, sin does not separate the child of God from the love of God. (Romans 8:35-39)
God promises to keep working on us until the day of Christ Jesus. We’re still being perfected! (Philippians 1:6)
We forget
God’s love for His children is true. There are many, many statements about the magnitude and permanence of His love.
But we forget, letting our own self-critical comments and the criticism of the world drown out the truth of His love.
What to do
- Decide to believe God’s love.
- Decide to believe Him instead of your self-critical nature.
- Locate and memorize verses about His love for you.
- Repeat those verses and meditate on them.
- Be conscious when you say something to yourself that isn’t consistent with what the Bible says about His love for you, and substitute the truth for a lie.
When Storms Come: Will You Be Ready? elaborates on God’s love and sovereignty. We need rock-solid trust in Him, His love for us and He control of what happens in order to be ready for the storms coming our way. I encourage you to take a look at the book.
* Be sure this means you! See Becoming a Child of God.
