Accepted By God, No Strings Attached
Do you know that our human need for acceptance and love is one of the greatest needs we have? It's so great that despite our better judgment, we'll often do whatever we need to do to be accepted by someone, often going to any lengths to get that need met. It's why we see our teenagers and young adults oftentimes making such bad decisions, sometimes even destroying their lives, all in an effort to desperately fit in or to be accepted by someone. Acceptance is a huge need that we have as human beings, one that we will go to almost any length to have met.
Well, I have good news for you today. I want you to know that you, friend, are completely loved and accepted by God!
The God of the Universe accepts you just as you are.
Now, you might wonder why knowing what God says about you is so important. You might wonder what difference knowing this could make in your life. Well, when God created us, He made us with inherent spiritual, emotional, and physical needs. And He designed us in such a way that He was the only One who could ever fully satisfy those needs. But when mankind sinned and we chose to separate ourselves from the One Provider of those needs, we were left to fend for ourselves and to figure out the best way to get all our needs met through our own ideas and efforts. Sadly, they're all inadequate. They do not work.
Mankind has been on a relentless, never-ending journey of searching for love and acceptance ever since, doing things they never thought they’d do, finding themselves in dire circumstances, trying desperately to satisfy that huge need that they have.
Here comes the good news!
My friend, when Jesus came to die, He not only forgave your sins, the Bible says He reconciled us back to God. What does that mean? It means that you now have complete access to God, your Father, and all His resources. Not only that, but He now has full access to you, directly into your heart and life, which means open access to meet and satisfy all your needs including your great need for acceptance.
Do you know that, my friend? Do you know that you are totally accepted by God? In fact,
You are totally and completely accepted by God with no strings attached.
You don’t need to buck up and get your act together. You don’t need to quit those bad habits you've been trying to quit for months or even years. You don’t have to first stop hanging out with those friends who are bringing you down. No. God accepts you right now just the way you are, even if you never change. That’s good news, isn’t it?!
Run to Him, my friend, don’t run from Him.
Run to Him and find all your needs met in Him.
Once you start experiencing His love and acceptance, you'll be enabled from God's resources to live the way you've always wanted; feeling wanted, feeling satisfied, feeling content in your heart and your spirit.
I want to leave you with a few Scripture verses from the Word of God that will back up what I’ve just shared with you...
“Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.” Romans 15:7 (NIV)
“To the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.” Ephesians 1:6 (NIV)
“I will accept you as fragrant incense when I bring you out from the nations and gather you from the countries where you have been scattered, and I will be proved holy through you in the sight of the nations.” Ezekiel 20:41 (NIV)
In that last verse from Ezekiel, God is referring to Jesus coming and accepting us. That’s good news! Believe it today!