The longing to belong is very powerful and foundational to our sense of self. But there is an infinitely greater pull –Father’s. He is constantly seeking us out and calling our heart to his! “My son, give me your heart” (Proverbs) When we respond to this call it becomes a homecoming. The prodigal came to himself while slopping hogs and experienced a homecoming that he never imagined possible. How about you? Do you know beyond a shadow of doubt that you belong? Don’t allow anyone to tell you something else.
“Make sure no outsider who now follows God ever has occasion to say, ‘God put me in second-class. I don’t really belong. “(Isaiah 56:2 Msg) There are religious outsiders who will judge you. Their only agenda is dissuading your journey to Father’s heart. As a matter of fact they don’t even understand the conversation of the heart. Belonging empowers you to embrace and live in Grace. Belonging is the path to love. And belonging is bigger and louder than the voices of rejection.
To live by grace means to acknowledge my whole life story, the light side and the dark. In admitting my shadow side I learn who I am and what God's grace means. Brennan Manning Even the darker parts of our journey become a homecoming. In the state of belonging we can truly rest. Read the following scriptures and settle in to belonging.
You’re no longer wandering exiles. This kingdom of faith is now your home country. You’re no longer strangers or outsiders. You belong here, with as much right to the name Christian as anyone. God is building a home. He’s using us all—irrespective of how we got here—in what he is building. Eph 2:19 Msg
All the nations in the world shall see that you belong to the Lord, and they will stand in awe. Deuteronomy 28:10 TLB
If you belong to the Lord, reverence him; for everyone who does this has everything he needs. Ps. 34:9 TLB
“My plea is not for the world but for those you have given me because they belong to you.
And all of them, since they are mine, belong to you; and you have given them back to me with everything else of yours, and so they are my glory! John 17:9-10 TLB
So there is now no condemnation awaiting those who belong to Christ Jesus. Rom. 8:1 TLB
Just as there are many parts to our bodies, so it is with Christ’s body. We are all parts of it, and it takes every one of us to make it complete, for we each have different work to do. So we belong to each other, and each needs all the others. Rom. 12:4-5 TLB
He has put his brand upon us—his mark of ownership—and given us his Holy Spirit in our hearts as guarantee that we belong to him and as the first installment of all that he is going to give us. 2 Cor. 1:22 TLB
Ephesians 1:3 How we praise God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every blessing in heaven because we belong to Christ.
Ephesians 1:6 Now all praise to God for his wonderful kindness to us and his favor that he has poured out upon us because we belong to his dearly loved Son.
Ephesians 1:13 And because of what Christ did, all you others too, who heard the Good News about how to be saved, and trusted Christ, were marked as belonging to Christ by the Holy Spirit, who long ago had been promised to all of us Christians.
Ephesians 2:13 But now you belong to Christ Jesus, and though you once were far away from God, now you have been brought very near to him because of what Jesus Christ has done for you with his blood.
Ephesians 2:19 Now you are no longer strangers to God and foreigners to heaven, but you are members of God’s very own family, citizens of God’s country and you belong in God’s household with every other Christian.
2 Thessalonians 1:12 Then everyone will be praising the name of the Lord Jesus Christ because of the results they see in you; and your greatest glory will be that you belong to him. The tender mercy of our God and of the Lord Jesus Christ has made all this possible for you.
Your greatest glory will be that you belong to him! Ron Ross
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