THE BELOVED
(By: Mary E. Adams)
Something I have been made to realize lately has really touched my heart and spirit. I want to share it with you.
In our business of living on this planet, we get plenty of anxious feelings and wonder....is God truly mindful? Does He really know what I am feeling, what I am going through? Does He examine my heart, my motives...and in so doing, what does He see? And then, what does He do about it?
No doubt about it...God loves us all. He so loved the world that he gave His only Son to die for our sins. He is not willing that any should perish. But do you realize that God has a special place in His heart for His beloved?
Not everyone is God's beloved...but everyone is loved of God.
Let me explain it this way: When Jesus walked down to the Jordan river to be baptized of John, a special event took place. God sent His Holy Spirit who descended upon Jesus like a dove, and a voice declared: "This is my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased." It was an open declaration to the world...
Jesus had earned this distinction. Even as a small boy he declared "I must be about my Father's business." He told His disciples, "I do always those things that please My Father." And indeed, He did. He never failed in this. He sought to please His heavenly Father in all things and was faithful in it until the day he ascended back into heaven.
"I delight to do thy will O my God, and thy law is within my heart," wrote the psalmist David.
God wants us to praise and rejoice in His presence, but He also wants to rejoice over us, to express His delight when we obey Him and seek to please Him. He said in Zephaniah of Israel: "The LORD thy God in the midst of thee is mighty, he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing..."
We can see that God never fails to recognize His beloved. He said of Daniel, at least four times: "Ye are greatly beloved." Why? Because Daniel sought to please God. It thrilled the Father's heart and gave Him rejoicing.
God was so proud of Job. "There is none like him, perfect and upright, who hates evil," God told Satan. He was displaying the "apple of His eye" with a Father's great pride.
Enoch had a testimony, "that he pleased God," and God took him "and he was not." God delivered David and (as he wrote) "brought me forth also into a large place...because he delighted in me."
"He brought me to the banqueting house, and his banner over me was love."
"The beloved of the Lord shall dwell in safety by him; and the Lord shall cover him all the day long, and he shall dwell between his shoulders." This was spoken of gentle Benjamin when Israel pronounced blessings upon his children.
There are special blessings attached to being a beloved of God. And though we may be a child of God, we can miss being so designated as "beloved" by our own actions. In the case of Jacob and his twin brother Esau, we see that Esau was to have the birthright and blessing. But he missed it. Was it solely because of the intrigue of his mother and brother? If we look closely, we can see that Esau did not seek to please his father. He disobeyed and married foreign wives, who were "a grief of mind to his father and mother." Esau did not always do those things that pleased. The result was that Jacob got the birthright and blessing...and Esau missed it all.
The prodigal son was loved just as much as his brother. But there was a desire in his heart to do as he pleased...so he asked for his inheritance and left for the city, where he spent all his substance in riotous living. Did his father love him any less? No, but the father's heart was grieved. Do we realize how we grieve the Father's heart when we we seek our own way instead of pleasing Him? How can he rejoice over us with joy and singing? But when that son returned and acknowledged his sin and put himself at his father's feet for forgiveness, there was an instant of overwhelming joy in that father's heart. "Let's kill the fatted calf...my son has returned!" The prodigal son had become...not just a son, but a beloved son of his father once again.
To enjoy "beloved" status, we must do as Jesus did...the things that please our heavenly Father. And when we do, we no longer need to think we are forgotten and doubt His love for us. It is a mighty love, overflowing with the exuberance of joy in heaven when one sinner repents! There is the reassurance of the Father's great pleasure in pure hearts that seek to please Him.
You can know for certain that you are beloved of God. You can enjoy this special relationship and honor. All it takes is a desire to delight His heart in all that you do and say. And if so, He is rejoicing over you right now and singing His favorite song!
And I wouldn't be surprised if a fluttering dove was somewhere nearby.....Be of good cheer!
DEAR READER: Thank you for taking the time to read this. If it has ministered hope, encouragement or insight to you in any way, would you please take the time to send Mary Adams a quick E-mail at meamin@mtaonline.net and share the blessing with her? She would love to hear from you!
If this testimony has touched you in some special way, would you please share it with us? Email us at: ptoffice@precious-testimonies.com
Are you at peace with God? If not, you can be. Do you know what awaits you when you die? You can have the assurance from God that heaven will be your home, if you would like to be certain. You can even have that assurance RIGHT NOW! Either Jesus Christ died for your sins, or He didn't (He did!). Are you prepared to stand before God on the Judgment Day and tell Him that you didn't need the shed blood of Jesus Christ on the Cross to have your sins forgiven and get in right-standing with God? We plead with you...please don't make such a tragic mistake.
To get to know God, to be at peace with God, to have your sins forgiven, to make certain heaven will be your home for eternity, to make certain that you are in right-standing with God right now ... please click here to help you understand the importance of being reconciled to God. What you do about being reconciled to God will determine where you will spend eternity, precious one. Your decision to be reconciled to God is the most important decision you'll ever make in this life, because in Christ, it is impossible to put a value on the worth of your soul in light of eternity.
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Remember: All that we do in this life comes back to our God-given purpose which is to serve and glorify God. The money and assets we accumulate, the fame and power we've attained or seek to attain - all of the things of this nature will one day pass away, but those lives of others we impact for Jesus Christ will last for eternity, and we will be rewarded for the part we helped play by impacting those lives ... for eternity. (Matthew 6:19-21 is our assurance)