Some of us adopt children. Some of us adopt dogs. Some of us get adopted, and it can be Heavenly!
Did you know only about 2% of Americans end up adopting children? Only 2%! Sadly, some children are never adopted.
Have you been adopted by God into His family? As I end each of my blog posts, I always say, “May God call you to Himself.”
Where did I get that idea from? Straight out of the Bible, which is the Word of God.
“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.” (Ephesians 1:5)
You see, God wants us to come to Him. He calls each one of us by name! He hopes you’ll answer His call with a resounding “yes.” Yet, God gives us the free will to choose Him or reject Him.
Many people lack the understanding that without Jesus Christ, the Savior, we are not free. We are held by bondage to the enemy and to sin.
That’s why: “God sent Him [Jesus Christ] to buy freedom for us who were slaves to the law, so that he could adopt us as His very own children.” (Galatians 4:5)
Every child who is an orphan yearns for parents to adopt them. Aren’t you at least open to being adopted by God? God is pure love, and He created us in love. We have the opportunity to be adopted by the best father of all, our Heavenly Father!
God tells us what He did when we were first created in the womb. He tells us that He already called us to Himself BEFORE we were ever born! That’s amazing! Not only that, the scripture that follows also tells us that He called us by our name!
“The Lord called me before my birth; from within the womb he called me by name.” (Isaiah 49:1)
“You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb.” (Psalm 139:13)
God explains that we are all a part of Himself, the olive tree. We are the branches that are grafted into the tree when we believe in God. We must confess our sins, forgive others, believe in our heart that Jesus Christ died and rose again as our Savior, and accept His forgiveness. When we accept the free gift of grace – our salvation, we are saved from the separation of our Heavenly Father, and we are joined with Him in Heavenly places and within our own heart. Before that, by nature, we were a branch cut off from the tree. Yet, God “did something contrary to nature” by grafting us into the tree when we first believed.
“You, by nature, were a branch cut from a wild olive tree. So if God was willing to do something contrary to nature by grafting you into his cultivated tree, He will be far more eager to graft the original branches back into the tree where they belong.” (Romans 11:24)
It is important to understand that the Jews were God’s original branches from the beginning, but these branches were cut off because they didn’t believe in Jesus Christ as their Messiah. In restoration, every Jew has the opportunity and will still have the ability to understand that he or she can be re-grafted back into the tree. God is “more” than “eager” to re-graft His own Chosen People (the Jews) back in.
“And if the people of Israel turn from their unbelief, they will be grafted in again, for God has the power to graft them back into the tree.” (Romans 11:23)
Don’t you want to be adopted into the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Heaven? There will be no more tears, no more pain, no more fear, and there will be amazing love, peace, and unity! Please consider being grafted in and realize that you have a Heavenly place awaiting your affirmative choice to be called a Child of God. You have a Heavenly Father whose name is God who loves you more than any other. He is calling your name!
Don’t be lost to the enemy’s hands. God wants you to seek Him. He wants you to know Him. He wants you to love Him back, but He will never force you. He gives us all the choice to be adopted! It can be heavenly, but it’s your choice!
Until we virtually meet again, may God call you to Himself.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
God’s Word for Today: “I tell you the truth, anyone who doesn’t receive the Kingdom of God like a child will never enter it.” (Mark 10:16 and Luke 18:17)
Copyright © 2018 by Patricia Shehan
All scripture is quoted from various translations of the Holy Bible (God’s Word) with permission. All scriptures are set with italics added (my emphasis).
