I have been reflecting on a few scriptures lately that show us how God sees us and what His vision is for us.
Ephesians 1:4-6 NIV •"For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves."
Matthew 5:48 Message Translation (read all of chapter 5 to get the full lesson in this... AWESOME and convicting). It's all summed up in verse 48..."In a word, what I'm saying is, grow up. You're kingdom subjects. Now live like it. Live out your God-created identity. Live generously and graciously toward others, the way God lives toward you."
When we were in Disneyland, things didn't really go our way most of the time. For 3 days of our vacation, we had record rain... more than it had in 8 years. Ike got a fever,Gabe caught a cold and had an extremely difficult time with all of the activity, our room ended up two floors away from my sister's room, we never got to see some shows at Disneyland that we wanted to see, and our bag was lost on the way home. I was disappointed with how easily I became frustrated, short with my family, and downright mad. (I was tempted to buy a "GRUMPY" shirt for myself!!!) Is this it, Lord? Am I a lost cause, unable to be refined any more than I've been over the last 20 years of my relationship with you? It sure doesn't seem like it takes much to push my fleshly buttons. I found myself thinking that the Godly responses I see coming out of others seemed to be so far from reality for me.
Then God brought hope back into my heart with these scriptures. He sees us as kingdom subjects. Before we were created, He saw us as holy and blameless. He is not dejected by our moments of misbehavior and sinful resonses to our circumstances. He continues to see us as something great, a subject in His courts, His FRIEND. I also recently found out that the true translation of the word "friend" in the bible, as God uses it to describe us, is similar to a friend of the King. The king typically gave some of his closest friends access to his inner courts. They knew more about the king's plans and details of his life than anyone else. Even though they still reported to the king and were required to submit to his authority, they were also considered his friends and were brought in on the secrets of the kingdom. AWESOME that we are considered friends of our great King!!!!
Anyway, God has been giving me hope lately through these scriptures and now I see that this email on prayer just buttoned it all up! How do we move toward the heart of God? How do we learn to depend more on His spirit to carry us through situations and circumstances that are challenging? How do we ensure the fruits of His spirit come out of us in order to give Him glory in our daily lives? Through prayer. We enter into His inner courts and talk to Him. Listen to Him. Get to know Him. As we pray, we get to know the heart of God. As we pray, we become friends with God. As we pray, we learn to listen to our Father's instruction. As we pray, our desire to spend time with Him in prayer grows. God will never leave me nor fosake me. Even if I lose my patience in the rain at Disneyland. :)
And, by the way, by God's grace the clouds opened up and the rain stopped in the afternoon of our very last day! It was so wonderful to get rid of the rain ponchos!!! We managed to eat candied apples, see a show and a parade, go on California Screaming yet again, eat ice cream for lunch, and see most of the shows we had not been able to see yet. And it ended with a fantastic dinner with the entire family.. nana, boppa, my sis and her family from Australia... all together! What FUN! I'll never forget sitting on a bench seat in Red Robin with Gabe spread out on one side and Anna on the other... both resting their heads on my lap after an incredible day. It was a magical day and I was so grateful that God blessed us wih an incredible ending to our family vacation!
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