4 January 2014 “Reality”
Ephesians 1:6
So we praise God for the glorious grace he has poured out on us who belong to his dear Son.
I read an article the other day about a mom who has a kindhearted son. His kindheartedness gets him teased during basketball practice as this other kid mock repeats the nice kid’s encouragement. As the son expressed his hurt feelings to his mom, his conclusion was that nobody liked him and everyone teased him. The mom quickly pointed out that it was just one mean kid and not everybody. I think the reason it felt like everybody is because the other boys present, although they didn’t join in with the mean kid, did not stick up for the nice kid who really did nothing mock-worthy either. That does make a totally of “everybody” who was not on his side. One really huge thing really does distort reality for us whether we are 12 years old on a basketball court or fully grown working in a cubicle inside a fancy office building.
The way to prevent distorting reality is to know reality. And reality for the Believer is that we belong to Jesus. That’s One for our corner ALL THE TIME. So, if I should ever feel like the WHOLE WORLD is against me (and maybe it is!), reality is I’m not alone. There is Someone who loves me and wants to be with me all the time. And He is!
God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure. So we praise God for the glorious grace he has poured out on us who belong to his dear Son. He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins. He has showered his kindness on us, along with all wisdom and understanding.
(Ephesians 1:5-8)
The best advice this mom could give her son after basketball practice is the encouragement we should be ingesting every day from God’s Word:
And that’s reality.
Dear God,
I thank you so much for making reality really clear to us. I thank you for wanting me in the first place! I thank you for the truth that I am loved just like I am whether I fit in with other groups or not. I like just being myself and not having to be something else to please you. You accept me like no one else and I am so very thankful! Amen.
Ephesians 1:6
So we praise God for the glorious grace he has poured out on us who belong to his dear Son.
I read an article the other day about a mom who has a kindhearted son. His kindheartedness gets him teased during basketball practice as this other kid mock repeats the nice kid’s encouragement. As the son expressed his hurt feelings to his mom, his conclusion was that nobody liked him and everyone teased him. The mom quickly pointed out that it was just one mean kid and not everybody. I think the reason it felt like everybody is because the other boys present, although they didn’t join in with the mean kid, did not stick up for the nice kid who really did nothing mock-worthy either. That does make a totally of “everybody” who was not on his side. One really huge thing really does distort reality for us whether we are 12 years old on a basketball court or fully grown working in a cubicle inside a fancy office building.
The way to prevent distorting reality is to know reality. And reality for the Believer is that we belong to Jesus. That’s One for our corner ALL THE TIME. So, if I should ever feel like the WHOLE WORLD is against me (and maybe it is!), reality is I’m not alone. There is Someone who loves me and wants to be with me all the time. And He is!
God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure. So we praise God for the glorious grace he has poured out on us who belong to his dear Son. He is so rich in kindness and grace that he purchased our freedom with the blood of his Son and forgave our sins. He has showered his kindness on us, along with all wisdom and understanding.
(Ephesians 1:5-8)
The best advice this mom could give her son after basketball practice is the encouragement we should be ingesting every day from God’s Word:
- I do belong.
- God wants me.
- The fact that I belong to God’s family gives Him great pleasure.
- God gives me kindness and wisdom and will never mock me.
And that’s reality.
Dear God,
I thank you so much for making reality really clear to us. I thank you for wanting me in the first place! I thank you for the truth that I am loved just like I am whether I fit in with other groups or not. I like just being myself and not having to be something else to please you. You accept me like no one else and I am so very thankful! Amen.
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