Adoption, Death, Easter, Encouragement, Forgiveness, God's Plan, Grace, Love, Obedience, Our Identity, Praise, Prayer, Relationship to Christ, Repentance, Salvation, Sin, Thankfulness

He Chooses to Love Us

When I was a small child, I didn’t understand adoption very well. I’d never met anyone who had been adopted or had adopted a child. As a teenager, I became aware that it wasn’t as bad as I thought, but I still didn’t understand. It wasn’t until I was married, and my husband and I were trying to have a child and found that I was unable to bear children, that I fully understood.  When we tried to adopt a child, we found out how incredibly difficult the process was, and due to some unforeseen circumstances, we failed at adopting. My heart was broken, and I didn’t understand why we couldn’t be parents. Only after going through a grieving period did I understand what being adopted was. It was during this time God showed me that I was adopted, by Him!  Our Bible Journaling Scripture explains, “even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will,” (Ephesians 1:4-5 ESV)

What I find so amazing is that God’s love is shown throughout the Bible starting in Genesis and ending in Revelation. His plan was formed at the beginning of creation, and He chose to show us just how much He loves us. In his commentary on Ephesians, Dr. J. Vernon McGee states, “God planned our salvation way back yonder in eternity before you and I were even in this world at all. The Lord Jesus Christ is the One who came down in time, and He wrought out our salvation upon the cross when the fullness of time had come. God the Holy Spirit is the One who convicts us today. He brings us to the place of faith in Christ and to a saving knowledge of the grace of God the Lord Jesus Christ.”

God chooses to love us, and He showed us His love through Jesus’ sacrificial death on the cross for our sins. (John 3:16) When Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden, they doomed humanity forever. Because of their sin, we all were born in sin, and because God is perfect, He cannot be in the presence of sin, and there was a penalty for that sin. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” (Romans 3:23 ESV) “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23 NASB 1995) God had a plan to redeem us to Himself. Why? Because He loves us and wants a relationship with us. We are adopted into His family when we repent of our sins and accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior. Jesus willingly gave His life for us because of His great love. No one forced Him to walk that path. No one forced Him to die such a horrible death, He chose to suffer and die for us because He loved us so much!

God’s love for us is unending and there is nothing that can change that. “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38-39 NASB 1995) We can’t do or say anything that will make Him change His mind about His love for us. Just as a parent continues to love their children when they choose to misbehave, God also loves us even when we disobey Him. Fellowship with God may be broken for a time because of our rebellion, but God is always waiting for us to come back to Him and will welcome us back with arms wide open.  

He loves us more than we can even understand. The kind of love a parent has for their children is nothing compared to the love God has for us, and He chooses to love us! He calls us His children. “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.” (1 John 3:1 KJV) If we have confessed our sins to God and asked Jesus to save us, we are then adopted into God’s family, and we have access to God’s love! How awesome it is to know we have a God who CHOOSES to love us!

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Donna Knuth Rice

I am trying a blog for the first time in my life, and frankly, I feel like I don't have a clue as to what I'm doing! But, here goes. I work at a Christian Television network in the Correspondence Department, where I write letters and emails to our viewers, pray with them for their needs, and send materials they request. I am a Christian. I was saved at the age of 11 during a youth meeting at my church. My pastor led me to the Lord, and to say the least, my life has been an adventure. I am a widow. My late husband, Allen, passed away after 34 1/2 years of marriage. He had been sick the last seven years of his life, and it was a struggle, for him and for me. We met as part of a singing group that was affiliated with a Christian Radio station, and we sang together all through our lives together. We both worked in television and radio all through our married life, mostly for Christian stations. Besides singing I also play flute. I had the luxury of having parents who started out as music teachers...so music was in our house constantly. Some people describe me as being a loud-mouthed lime type...can't disagree with that. I have a tendency to put my foot in my mouth more times than I can count! I also have a tendency to say exactly what's on my mind...which is why I get myself in so much trouble! LOL! Trust me, that's something me and God have been working on for a very long time. I have no children here on earth, although I have a baby in heaven. My baby here is my dog Jack. He's a black lab/ chow mix. He's a big boy....thinks he's a lap dog! Can't think of much else to say. The reason I started this blog is because a few months ago in church, a guest pastor came and delivered a message, and when he asked for those of us who wanted prayer to come forward, I did. When he came to me he asked me if I did any journaling. I told him no 'cause I wasn't very good at it. He told me to start, and prophesied over me that my journal thoughts would impact other people. I wasn't sure just how I was to go about doing this. In fact, I was a little hesitant at first. I started journaling at home, and our assistant pastor's wife asked me to submit something for our Senior newsletter. I didn't the first edition, but something I had heard on Christian radio a long time ago and has stuck with me all these years, came to mind so I submitted an article. That article will be my first post. I don't claim to have all the answers, and my thoughts may seem a little "out there", but I feel God has been prodding me to do this, and so here I am. I hope what I post will bring encouragement, and "Something to Think About".

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