We Are Accepted!

…to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved. ---Ephesians 1:6

My husband and I dated off and on for two years while I was in school. As a young lady, I was always listening to his conversation that would include “us” or “we” as we talked about the future. I wanted so much for him to choose me as his bride and accept me for who I was that would make us a couple for life. Finally there came a point in our relationship that he was wholly convinced that it was I who would complete him as a person and committed himself to me. I felt so loved and accepted as he declared himself and his love to me which has continued for 37 years.

How much more does our Father in heaven love us and accept us for who we are. After all, He is the one who knit us in our mother’s womb and wrote our future out in His Book in heaven! We may think, “How could God love me after my mistakes, mess-ups, and rebellion?” Well, amazingly, God loves you even more because He knows how much He has for you and knows that if you simply turn your life over to Him, He can walk you back through to the blessings He has in store for you. He understands our weaknesses and failures. He knows we live in a world that is dominated by sin, lust, pride, fears and anger. He knows all this and yet He still accepts you for who YOU ARE!

There was a time in my life that I wanted to know that God was real and that He knew I was here on earth! I had been going to mainline denominational churches my entire life, but felt that religion was dead! I was thinking, if this is all there is to church and religion, I’m not sure I want any part of it. I was going through a Bible Study called The 21 Day Experiment which was talking about the Baptism of the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues. I thought that if I experienced new tongues, then there would be proof that I am worshipping a real and living God.

So, one night, I was praying and meditating on this study. I was pleading with God to show Himself real to me so I could know I am in the right track. As I was praying, I had a very vivid vision. I saw myself walking in a beautiful meadow filled with flowers. In the distance, I saw a person dressed in white. I knew this was Jesus and He was walking toward me. I walked toward Him and then picked up the pace. I couldn’t wait to get to Him and as I approached He opened His arms wide to take me in. I stepped into the circle of His arms and He wrapped them around me. He spoke with such tenderness and said, “Debbie, I love you for who YOU are.” I knew that what I was doing was putting a demand on Jesus to make Himself real to me through something supernatural which I had never experienced before.Yet, He was the one who wanted me to know that He accepted and loved me! For that time, the tongues was not important. I had to realize that Jesus love me for being ME!

It isn’t what you do, it isn’t what you have experienced or not experienced. It isn’t who your parents are or what they’ve accomplished or what you have accomplished. He simply loves you for being YOU. It is for this reason that we can read this verse in Ephesians 1:6 and fall in love with Jesus. You can praise and adore Jesus that He has accepted YOU. “…to the praise of the glory of His grace by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.” The word “grace” here means divine influence upon the heart. He wants us to know that in the spirit-realm, you must know you have been accepted into the heart of Jesus and He into your heart. You are bound as one, like a couple of newly weds, YOU ARE ACCEPTED!

Confession: I praise God that no matter what I have or haven’t done, said, or experienced Jesus still loves me and accepts me for who I am because He is the one who lovingly crafted me and wrote my destiny. My responsibility is to stay committed to Him and let Him direct my ways, thoughts and heart.