Can you remember a time when you got something and you were finally able to say, “That’s mine”? Maybe it was a car or paying off the mortgage on a house or a new bike. This happens all the time after the Christmas or birthday gifts are opened. You can finally say, “That’s mine.” Hopefully you don’t say that in a selfish way, but I think you know what I mean. You finally have what you’ve long awaited for. The beauty is that nothing changes the fact that the new bike is now yours; nobody can take it back; you get to enjoy it everyday.

I was thinking about this in terms of our relationship with God after salvation. God claims us as His own. This is what the LORD said in Isaiah 43:1,

“But now thus says the LORD, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: ‘Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.’”

Once we belong to God nothing changes that fact. Is anybody greater than God? Can anyone take us from God? Does God lose anything that is His? Here are a couple of other verses that come to mind.

“I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” (John 10:28-30)

“And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.” (John 6:39-40)

Are we secure? Absolutely! Nothing, and nobody, has either the right or the power to take us away from God. So why do we feel so distant from God?

First, we let circumstances dictate security. We let events change the way we feel about how God feels about us. But honestly, has God changed His mind and decided He didn’t want us anymore. You know that’s not going to happen. We just can’t allow bad news to negatively affect how we view our relationship with God.

Second, we let sin disrupt fellowship. Sin devastates us and it throws a money wrench into our relationship with God. It definitely isn’t God’s fault; we have to own our own disobedience. God hasn’t gone anywhere. We are the ones hiding in the jungle trying to cover our own nakedness, and God is the One seeking us wanting to cover it for us (cf. Genesis 3:7-13, 21).

In either case we need to repent, soak our minds and hearts in God’s promises, and soar above and beyond both our sin and circumstances.

Grace & Peace,

Scott