His Prized Possession
Whatever is good and perfect is a gift coming down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow. He chose to give birth to us by giving us his true word. And we, out of all creation, became his prized possession.
—James 1:18-19 (NLT)
Out of all creation, we are God’s prized possession. He fashioned us in His image and created us to know Him. The Word existed with God, and in Jesus, it became flesh just like Him. God chose to birth His life in us through the gift of His Son’s life for our sins. When we believe by faith in Jesus, the righteousness of Jesus is gifted to us. God claims us as His children. We are prized and loved by Him—heirs to all of His promises.
Our Father never changes. He is the same as He was yesterday, and He will be the same in the future. God is not the author of evil. Whatever is good and perfect in our lives is His gift to us. Jesus came into the world to save it—not to condemn it. There is no condemnation in Him. God is redeeming love.
Have you experienced the redeeming love of Jesus, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth? Do you really believe? If so, wouldn't you walk in His freedom unhindered by fear? Wouldn’t you be free in His grace to experience forgiveness without retribution—to receive peace without questioning—to know joy without a doubt? Perhaps you haven’t been renewed in your mind to believe the life-changing truths of what you have received.
If you believe something, you unconsciously act upon that belief. That belief defines how you experience life. Are you positive or negative? Do you forgive? Do you go freely to God and rest in His presence? God sent His Word and healed you. His Word sets you free to believe that your sinful nature was taken to the Cross, and you have risen with Him to walk in the righteousness of God.
Just as your Father is three-in-one, so are you. You are spirit, mind, and body. His righteousness lives in your spirit because that is where you were born again. When you are renewed in your mind by the righteousness you received at salvation, you are transformed in what you believe by the gift of His life for yours. Your flesh lives what your mind believes. When you truly believe that the grace of Jesus accomplished your freedom, you experience His presence without analyzing the peace and joy of His love. You need no explanation. You just bask in His glory. You live His unchanging truth. You know there is no variance in Him.
Out of all creation, you are God’s prized possession. Jesus said on the Cross that His work for you was finished. There was nothing more to be done. God sent His Word and healed you in spirit, mind, and body. His Word was flesh in Jesus, and that Word died and rose again so you might have its new life.
“May God himself,” Paul wrote, “the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thessalonians 5:23, NIV).
© 2020 Lynn Lacher
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