The longing to
belong is very powerful and foundational to our sense of self. But there is an infinitely
greater pull –Father’s. He is constantly seeking us out and calling our heart
to his! “My son, give me your heart” (Proverbs) When we respond to this call it
becomes a homecoming. The prodigal came to himself while slopping hogs and
experienced a homecoming that he never imagined possible. How about you? Do you
know beyond a shadow of doubt that you belong? Don’t allow anyone to tell you something
else.
“Make sure no outsider who now follows God ever has occasion to say, ‘God put me in second-class. I don’t really belong. “(Isaiah 56:2 Msg) There are religious outsiders who
will judge you. Their only agenda is dissuading your journey to Father’s heart.
As a matter of fact they don’t even understand the conversation of the heart. Belonging
empowers you to embrace and live in Grace. Belonging is the path to love. And
belonging is bigger and louder than the voices of rejection.
To live by grace
means to acknowledge my whole life story, the light side and the dark. In
admitting my shadow side I learn who I am and what God's grace means. Brennan Manning Even
the darker parts of our journey become a homecoming. In the state of belonging
we can truly rest. Read the following scriptures and settle in to belonging.
You’re no longer wandering exiles. This
kingdom of faith is now your home country. You’re no longer
strangers or outsiders. You belong here, with as much
right to the name Christian as anyone. God is building a home. He’s using us
all—irrespective of how we got here—in what he is building. Eph 2:19 Msg
All the nations in
the world shall see that you belong to the Lord, and they will stand in
awe. Deuteronomy 28:10 TLB
If you belong to the Lord, reverence
him; for everyone who does this has everything he needs. Ps. 34:9 TLB
“My plea is not for the world but for
those you have given me because they belong to you.
And all of them,
since they are mine, belong to you; and you have given them back to me
with everything else of yours, and so they are my glory! John 17:9-10 TLB
So there is now no
condemnation awaiting those who belong to Christ Jesus. Rom. 8:1 TLB
Just as there are
many parts to our bodies, so it is with Christ’s body. We are all parts of it,
and it takes every one of us to make it complete, for we each have different
work to do. So we belong to each other, and each needs all the others.
Rom. 12:4-5 TLB
He has put his
brand upon us—his mark of ownership—and given us his Holy Spirit in our hearts
as guarantee that we belong to him and as the first installment of all
that he is going to give us. 2 Cor. 1:22 TLB
How we praise God, the Father of our
Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every blessing in heaven because we belong
to Christ.
Now all praise to God for his wonderful
kindness to us and his favor that he has poured out upon us because we belong
to his dearly loved Son.
And because of what Christ did, all you
others too, who heard the Good News about how to be saved, and trusted Christ,
were marked as belonging to
Christ by the Holy Spirit, who long ago had been promised to all of us
Christians.
But now you belong to Christ
Jesus, and though you once were far away from God, now you have been brought
very near to him because of what Jesus Christ has done for you with his blood.
Now you are no longer strangers to God
and foreigners to heaven, but you are members of God’s very own family,
citizens of God’s country and you belong in God’s household with every
other Christian.
Then everyone will be praising the name
of the Lord Jesus Christ because of the results they see in you; and your
greatest glory will be that you belong to him. The tender mercy of our
God and of the Lord Jesus Christ has made all this possible for you.
Your greatest glory will be that you
belong to him! Ron Ross
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