adopted

over and over in scripture, God's Word is compared to water (streams of living water, a wellspring of life, etc.) longing for God's word is a thrist that must be quenched. God's wisdom is something that a Christian can't survive long without. for the past while, long while really- i've been going without it. i thought i was doing fine, but i wasn't at all. it's amazing how easy i deceived myself.
but this week it became very clear how desperately i needed wisdom, guidance, comfort. i needed it, i needed it like nothing else- nothing else is a better comparison than the one that is already used in scripture. i was thirsty, i needed water.

i'm not condoning skipping your devotions for long periods of time, however i have noticed that every time i come back to it, it is sweeter still. it surprises and awes me. i am fascinated by the same verses i have read so often before- but they are new to me all over again, it's like i see them for the first time. the truth grabs me and won't let me go. and it is in one such moment, when i am captivated by His simple, overwhelming truth that i wonder: why would i ever go without it for so long?

Two days ago I read I John 3:

"How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be
called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not
know us is that it did not know him. Dear friends, now we are children of God,
and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he
appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is" (v. 1-2).

When i read that, immediately the words that Ida Reed wrote came to my mind (i love that songs i grew up singing have never left me, and it makes me really happy that i grew up in a musical home)

"I belong to the King; I’m a child of His love,
And he never forsaketh
His own.
He will call me some day to His palace above;
I shall dwell by
His glorified throne.

I belong to the King, and He loves me I know,
For His mercy and kindness so free
Are unceasingly mine wheresoever I go,
And my Refuge unfailing is He."

how awesome is it to be able to lay claim to being a child of GOD. i am a child of the KING, the king of every nation (both earthly and heavenly) that has ever been and will ever be, the creator of the universe (the portion we can see and the parts left undiscovered). to know that such a God exists is powerful, but understanding that such a God knows that WE exist- that's marvelous. he calls me his own- and He never forsakes what He calls His own. wherever i go, whatever i do, no matter how far i run or how low i stoop- He is my Father. my PERFECT Father who loves me with PERFECT love (patient, kind, self-sacrificing, un-yeilding, fearless, boundless and complete). He loves me because i come from Him, because He made me like Him. because He made me FOR HIM.

i am not alone. my life is not pointless. i have purpose, and the universe around me has a purpose. everything i do reflects on my Father, everything my Father does is for the benefit of His children. i am connected to every other person on the planet (whether they realize it or not, like it or not, want it or not, believe like me or not) because every other person on the planet belongs to God too. He made them to be like Him and He made them with a purpose, and He loves them perfectly.

me understanding that God is my Father does nothing to change WHO God is, or WHAT He is. God is God no matter what i believe. because the truth is truth whether we accept it or reject it. the earth was round long before humanity accepted it as such. genes existed before science discovered them. the expanse of space was never-ending before NASA spent billions to find out where it ended. whether the world believes in God or not, does not make Him any more or less of what He always has been. that's the best thing about living in a world of absolute truth- knowing that there is such a thing as TRUTH. the facts of life are undeniable and unchanging and the more we lie or distort or simply confuse the truth, we still can't change it. God is truth. and the truth is He loves me, loves me enough to call me His own.

i am a child of God. how awesome, how wonderful is the overwhelming love that he pulls us into- that He should even deem us worthy enough to claim us as His children. and because He declared us His own it cannot be denied, it is certain. those who will deny it only do so because they cannot understand it. but it is so. and while we who accept it can't even fully comprehend it, we will understand when He comes again and claims us as His own publicly in front of the world- so that they will see and believe. and we too will see and believe- we will see God, and we will know Him exactly as He is.