Friday, March 1, 2013 - 5:15 pm

I started reading the book of John today, and got through the first 2 chapters. Chapter 1, verse 12, is a very encouraging verse, "Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God." That means a few things: that the right was His, and His alone, to give; that when we believe in and receive Him it is right for us to be able to call God our Father; and that our adoption into His family is no accident or mistake, it's intentional. Have you ever felt like you've done things that disqualify you from that possibility, or that God has made some sort of mistake with you and would remove the right if He only knew? I have felt that way in the past. Despite knowing that God knows everything and still loves me, that He doesn't make mistakes, that feeling still persisted. I'm here to tell you today, that feeling is a lie. Obviously as we get closer to God, we learn His ways, become more like Him, follow His Spirit, but I'm glad that God is gracious enough to accept us, flaws and all, based simply on believing and receiving Christ. Let's live up to the grace He's given us, living a new life in gratitude to Him, enjoying the relationship we could never earn.