Beloved
I was reading this morning in Jude, and Jude 1:1-2 “…To Those who are called, beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ: May mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you.” Spoke to me. I felt moved to write my thoughts and then to share them with you. I hope the thought of beloved in God and kept for Jesus is the blessing in your life that it is in mine.
Am I truly called beloved in God? What an awesome thought, God thinks I’m beloved. My mind is having difficulty surmounting the thought that God calls me His beloved. If God thinks this, I must be. I can’t be, it is impossible for me to be anything else. There is no way I can even contemplate that I am not His beloved. If I can constantly be cognizant of this, surrounded by the thought of being God’s beloved, just think of the difference it makes in my life. It will not really matter in my soul, in my innermost being, what happens around and to me for I am God’s beloved.
Not only am I His beloved, and I can’t believe there could possibly be more, but He is keeping me for Jesus. As I contemplate the thought of being kept for Jesus, it also gives me a sense of belonging. I must belong to Jesus. If I belong to Jesus that must mean that His sacrifice on the cross was for me and I am saved because I am the beloved of God and He is keeping me for Jesus.
In my heart do I truly believe that I am beloved of God? The only way this idea, this fact, this becomes a reality in my life, becomes a part of me, is that I come to grips with it. Being beloved means that God wants, no that is too weak of a thought, God desires, He yearns, nay, He is dying, no, He has died to spend time with me. He has made the ultimate sacrifice for me. Now the question becomes, not if I am beloved of God, but is He the beloved of me? Have I accepted His sacrifice, the death of Jesus, His Son. Am I allowing myself to be Jesus’? Do I notice that I am possessed by Jesus? Have I taken that step? It begins with just one step and then each step takes me further into a journey with Him. Am I allowing Him to be on the journey with me? This means time spent in the journey of life where I realize who is with me and actually see God there beside me, in me, taking me to Jesus, keeping me for Him.
He is taking me to Jesus! He is keeping me for Jesus! Praise God! I do not have to do this, God has done it for me for I am His beloved, He calls me His Beloved and is keeping me for Jesus to claim when He comes back to get me. Not quietly, like a thief in the night, but openly with the blasts of trumpet where every eye will see Him coming, coming in the clouds of glory, just for me!Glenda Davidson, RN MSN