Being open-mouthed in wonder

‘In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.’ Ephesians 1.5-6

Over the past two days we have discovered that adopting us as his children is exactly what God wants to do and it brings him pleasure. Today the third truth about adoption revealed in these verses is this – it is ‘to the praise of his glorious grace’.

God wants everyone to look at his gift of adoption and to wonder and marvel at the ‘free-ness’ of it; at the fact that all of us can enjoy it. It is certainly not his intention that people look at it with a sense of, ‘If only that were true for me’. He wants all of us to be open mouthed at the wonder of this truth for us.

We find it easy to be certain of the love of God for other people but can be less certain of his love for us. We will truly stand in wonder at his grace when we can honestly acknowledge that it applies to us and not just to other people.

God has adopted us so that we can be awestruck at what he has done, which has nothing to do with what we think we have achieved or earned. This is at the heart of our adoption by Father God. It is not something that we could ever earn or deserve but is a pure gift of love from the Father to every one of us – so let’s make sure we appreciate and enjoy it.

To truly praise him for adopting us is to begin to be convinced of it. In your own words, give praise to him for the fact that he chose to adopt you and that you belong to him.

www.healingmission.org

#healingmission #encounterprayer #adoption #childofgod #predestined #lovedbygod