You Bring Joy to God

by Jon Walker

 “His unchanging plan has always been to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. And this gave him great pleasure.” Ephesians 1:5 (NLT)

Say the following as a prayer.

In faith, I know this to be true:

God is in love with me, and when he thinks of me, it brings him joy.

It was his good pleasure to create me, and he created me so he could love me and his glory could shine through me. He chose me “in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight” Ephesians 1:4 (NIV).

In his love, he determined to adopt me into his family, and, even then, he planned for my redemption through Jesus’ blood, bringing “the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on [me] with all wisdom and understanding” (Ephesians 1:7–8).

His love for me is continuous, so that I can say with confidence and joy, “When I awake, I am still with you” (Psalm 139:18b).

By his Spirit, I can live a life worthy of the Lord, and I am able to “please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God” (Colossians 1:10).

Jesus teaches me this confidence in God’s love, so that the same joy that is in him will be in me and so my joy will be complete, centered wholly in God (John 15:11).

•     What would it feel like to be “lavished” with God’s grace?

How does it feel to know God is pleased to have you in his family?

About Jon Walker

Jon Walker is the author of Costly Grace: A Contemporary View of Bonhoeffer’s ‘The Cost of Discipleship' and Growing with Purpose. He has served on staff at Saddleback Church and Purpose Driven Ministries. Join him on Facebook at GraceCreates with Jon Walker. Contact him atquestions@gracecreates.com. This article is copyrighted 2010 by Jon Walker. Used by permission..

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