Proud Father

I can’t help but smile hearing what people have to say about one of my teammates. To think of the pride my team can take in saying that she is part of our family. It got me thinking, “is that how the Father looks at His child.” That’s how I want Him to be able to look at me; to look down and say, “She’s (or he’s) mine; that is my precious child.” The amazing thing is that we don’t have to do anything to get Him to say that, and there is nothing we can do that would make Him stop.

Agape, unconditional, giving, unending…that is the Father’s love for us. In this world, those are foreign words. Couples set prenuptials, just in case; warranties have restrictions; we give with the yo-yo hope that we will get something back. Today’s world makes it so hard for us to grasp what those words really mean, or that they are even possible.

Sadly we look at ourselves the way we “think” God looks at us…as sinners. The bible tells us we’re sinners doesn’t it? It tells us how we can’t go through our lives and be perfect, that’s what we hear. That’s also what others tell us. A marriage that ends says that someone was looking for that perfection that doesn’t exist, the parent whose child rebels tells them that they failed at parenting, the child at school who is bullied hears that they are not good enough and that their life isn’t worth anything.

Agape, unconditional, giving, unending, that’s how our Father in heaven looks at us. He doesn’t look at us as the sinning humans anymore, but through the sacrifice of His own precious Son on the cross He sees us through Jesus; perfect, stainless, beautiful. Me? Beautiful? Stainless? Perfect? You must not know my history. No, I don’t, but God does, that’s why He sent His Son…because He wants to see His children the way He created them to be.

YOU ARE HIS (GALATIONS 4:6)

YOU ARE A PRINCESS/PRINCE (GALATIONS 4:7; COLOSSIANS 1:12)

YOU ARE PRECIOUS (1 PETER 2:4)

YOU ARE STAINLESS (ROMANS 6:4)

YOU ARE FORGIVEN (ROMANS 5:12)

“For God so loved (your name) that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” – John 3:16

“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.” – Romans 8:1-2

As my team is about to head off to the Philippines to minister to the young women of Manila. Please pray that the Lord will allow us to show these precious children how the Father sees them. Pray for hope, strength, courage, and for these women to run to the Father and accept His embrace.