Part 3: LISTEN TO GOD AS HIS DEARLY LOVED CHILD!
Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children!
Ephesians 5:1 NIV
Be imitators of God in everything you do, for then you will represent your Father as his beloved sons and daughters.
Ephesians 5:1 PBT
From God’s view point, we are His dearly loved children. We are His favorites. Never doubt His love for you nor His desire to listen to you. For example, consider King David’s words:
Give ear to my words, O Lord, consider my sighing [or meditation]. Listen to my cry for help, my King and my God, for to you I pray. In the morning, O lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation. Psalm 5:1-3 NIV
Learn to think as a dearly loved child. Dearly loved children climb up in daddy’s lap and rest securely in the truth that they are welcomed. Again, I remind you that the redeemed version of yourself is not hinged to your failures, mistakes or past. All redeemed children are dearly loved. Knowing that we are dearly loved should bring up back again and again to the Throne of Grace.
All believers need the tenderness of our Heavenly Father. We’re not perfect, but in Christ we are being perfected. His love is part of the process. Listening to His wisdom and expecting His truth molds us into the expectant version of a well-loved child. Listening and meditating on God’s Word brings us confidently to the One who loves us.
What if we feel unloved by God? Those emotions and feelings do not come from God. Our human mind must learn to think as a dearly loved child of God. Regardless of what our earthly parents did or did not do, has nothing to do with the love of Father God. It is not on them. It is on us to allow God to love us even when we’re less than the reflection of His love.
We have to learn to come to Father God and allow Him to love us through His Word. Dearly loved children exhibit a sense of ‘worship’ in the presence of their earthly parents. Dearly loved children of God, in the same way, must practice worshiping their Heavenly Father. We know He hears our sighing and meditations. He responds in ways that only dearly loved children will understand.
Telling God that you love Him is the gateway to believing you are dearly loved. Resting in His presence and quietly expecting His response comes with ‘practice’. Practice loving on the God who hears. Wait expectantly for His response. Practice letting Him remind you of His Word.
Listen for Him in the scriptures you quietly read. Hear Him in the thoughts He randomly brings to your mind. Expect Him to connect with you in the ways you will recognize. Make requests to Him not because you are righteous in your own efforts but because He is a merciful Father who loves you as His dearly loved child. Tell yourself often: “I am a dearly loved child of God!” Then you will begin to imitate Him as a dearly loved child. It’s in your spiritual DNA. He loves you.
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