I am a child of God!!!

 NO LONGER A SLAVE, I AM A CHILD OF GOD

My daily devotional asked the question, "Who are you?"

The answer might seem simple at first thought but many of our responses only describe what we do, not who we are. So we might be so-and-so's wife/husband/child/parent; we might say our profession; we might even say what racial-type or skin-colour we are, or we might say what we're good at such as building, baking, mending, singing, writing etc, etc, etc . If we're a christian, we might even say proudly declare "I am a child of God". But even this has it's problems (stick with me on this one).

What does it mean to be a child of God? 

Paul describes it well in Ephesians 1- see it here from the Passion Translation

May God himself, the heavenly Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, release grace over you and impart total well-being into your lives. 

Every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realm has already been lavished upon us as a love gift from our wonderful heavenly Father, the Father of our Lord Jesus—all because he sees us wrapped into Christ. This is why we celebrate him with all our hearts!  And he chose us to be his very own, joining us to himself even before he laid the foundation of the universe! Because of his great love, he ordained us, so that we would be seen as holy in his eyes with an unstained innocence.

 For it was always in his perfect plan to adopt us as his delightful children, through our union with Jesus, the Anointed One, so that his tremendous love that cascades over us would glorify his grace —for the same love he has for his Beloved One, Jesus, he has for us. And this unfolding plan brings him great pleasure!

Since we are now joined to Christ, we have been given the treasures of redemption by his blood—the total cancellation of our sins—all because of the cascading riches of his grace. This superabundant grace is already powerfully working in us, releasing within us all forms of wisdom and practical understanding. And through the revelation of the Anointed One, he unveiled his secret desires to us—the hidden mystery of his long-range plan, which he was delighted to implement from the very beginning of time. And because of God’s unfailing purpose, this detailed plan will reign supreme through every period of time until the fulfillment of all the ages finally reaches its climax—when God makes all things new in all of heaven and earth through Jesus Christ.

Doesn't that just make you tingle all over?

Since before time began God (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) decided that He wanted me/you to be His beloved child and put into place an eternal plan to make it happen so that we can be together for all eternity. 

But out of love He gives us the choice. Can you believe that? He loves us individually so much that He doesn't force us to choose Him! 

All I can say is "Father, I choose you and thank you Jesus that you made this possible, and thank you Holy Spirit for drawing me close and sticking by me despite all my failings. I can hardly wait to meet you in person".

In closing, if you've not yet caught the excitement, try listening to this song - it might not be your normal choice of musical style (it gets a bit shouty), but it's worth a listen. 

No longer Slaves - Bethel

Every blessing