Sunday, June 26, 2011

You are accepted and You are loved beloved...

I am accepted

"He hath made us accepted in the Beloved (Ephesians 1:6 KJV)

Many people have a recording in their minds that plays the same song over and over. The title? "If Only." The air play? Top 10 - not just for weeks, but for years. The most distinguishing feature of this song is its brevity - only one line long. "If only _____, then I might have pleased my dad." Just fill in the blank! "If only I had been smarter in school . . . been better in sports . . . been my brother . . . been born first . . . not been born at all."

We don't understand why this one line song continues to play after the passing of time. Yet, if we were to listen to recordings of some of our earliest childhood experiences, we could see why we are emotionally stuck in one groove.

The child who hears, "You'll never amount to anything," won't feel worth much. The child who hears, "I wish you had never been born," becomes performance-based throughout life, trying to prove his importance to everyone and gain acceptance. Perhaps the "If it weren't for you, I'd be happy" theme is the most melancholy melody of all. It saddens a child of any age.

Dr. Charles Stanley says that most of us value the acceptance of our parents more than the acceptance of any other individuals. He cites businessmen in their 40s, 50s, and even 60s who are still seeking their fathers' acceptance and approval even though their fathers are dead. The little boy inside still cries out, "I've got to get my dad to accept me."

While all parents make mistakes, in God's eyes you are no mistake. As a child of God, you are never unacceptable to Him. He says, "Never will I leave you; [nor] forsake you" (Hebrews 13:5).

Jesus understands your innermost feelings when you've been rejected. He personally experienced that same kind of rejection from His family: "He came to His own and His own received Him not" (John 1:11). Therefore, who can better empathize with your need for acceptance than your Lord!

He does not love and accept you "because . . . "; He loves and accepts you, period! When you know you are totally "accepted in the Beloved," you can lift the needle off the old warped "If Only" record and gently place it on the simple, but solid, masterpiece.

Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so . . . Jesus loves me He will stay, close beside me all the way.

from Seeing Yourself Through God's Eyes by June Hunt

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