ICS Daily Devotions
Know that You Are Accepted
Ephesians 1:3-7 (NKJV) Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace.
When we find ourselves in our “cave of Adullam” experience like David in 1 Samuel 22, it is important to remember that we are accepted in Christ. The Bible tells us that we are blessed with all the spiritual blessings in the heavenly places the moment we are saved. Once upon a time, we were sinners destined for judgement and hell. Because God is holy, just and righteous, there is no way for any of us to draw near to God, let alone be accepted by Him based on our own strength and good works. However, it is the good pleasure of the Heavenly Father that we are saved, and He has found a way for us to be made acceptable by Him. It is God’s will that we are saved through the redemptive work of Jesus Christ and His blood and to be hidden in Christ. It is the good pleasure of God for us to be His children.
We need to remember that this is the only way for us to be accepted by Him. Isn’t it so comforting to know that we have been given the right to be children of God? God has it in His plan for us to be accepted in the beloved. We are accepted as children of God based on what Christ has done for us. His blood has completely erased our sins and caused us to be hidden in Christ. This is the only prerequisite for us to be accepted. We will never come to a position of rest by trying to gain acceptance before God based on what we have or have not done. We have been sealed with the Holy Spirit in our spirit man that we belong to God.
Because God has chosen to love us and see us in Christ, nothing shall be able to separate us from Him! Our personal and temporal experience of the “cave of Adullam” will not be able to destroy us. Instead, He will lead us out just like He led David!
Sermon Series: Handling Stress- The Cave of Adullam
