You are mine!

Isaiah 43 says, "this is what the Lord says - he who created you, he who formed you: Fear not, for I have redeemed you by name; you are mine."
This incredible verse tells us that we are his, twice over. We are his because he created and formed us. And we are his because he redeemed us - he bought us back when we were lost to him.

We in the West grow up with such a sense of being 'our own person'. We are encouraged to be 'self-made'. We have no sense that we belong to our Creator. We are his because he made us and formed us and shaped us for his purposes. Scripture says that even before the world was created he had plans for us. And he created us in his image... he was our Father right from the start. We are 'a chip off the old block' as we say.

But we got lost. We were stolen away by the evil one. We lived without God and without hope. But he wanted so much for us to come home to where we belong - that he sent his own dear Son - wrapped in humanity, to bring us back through dying for us. He 'redeemed' us - he paid for our way home to the Father.

So we are twice his. His by design and creation, and his by redemption. It is only when we awake to these realities that life begins to make sense. We then can find out what he designed us to be and do in partnership with him in the world. It is glorious... it is fulfilling... it is full of eternal fruitfulness. It is a wonder to us when we begin to see this master plan and our part in it. We are caught up in a cosmic love story of the Father for his children. He is very, very fond of us!  Soak in that reality and ask him how he is loving you today. Your heart will fill with gratitude as you begin to see him loving you in a thousand little ways.

Can I recommend you look at Wayne Jacobsen's website and download the free mp3s there and listen. They are so wonderful and freeing. http://www.lifestream.org/