The Greatest Gift of All!

Photo by Andrea Piacquadio

Every spring before we celebrate Easter, I ponder and ask the Lord, “What do You want me to share this time with our beloved Becoming the One family?”

And every spring my sense is that God, in His infinite love, wants to resurrect something in our lives. 

When I started dating Leon, God put in his heart a strong desire to pursue my heart and to visit me in Ecuador often enough for me to understand he was serious about getting to know me more and that he delighted in spending time with me. Now as I travel back and forth to be with my widowed mom in Ecuador, part of me feels like I am going there to pursue her heart, to make sure she knows she is loved and taken care of. 

Recently she and I were at the hospital for one of her appointments, and I felt God speak to my heart:

“I have sent My Son, Jesus, for everyone to understand that I’m a good Father who desires intimacy with you—with every one of you. I have called you My beloved child, My own! Do you understand what that means? I would like everyone to understand the love and delight I have for each of My children.”  

This Easter I believe the Lord wants to “resurrect” in you a deep awareness of how much love and delight He has for you. You are His child.

For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons and daughters of God. For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons and daughters by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the eagerly awaiting creation waits for the revealing of the sons and daughters of God. (Rom. 8:14–19 NASB) 

Very often we don’t understand the beauty of the Father’s heart for us. He pursued us to the point of giving it all through Jesus because He wanted to bring us closer, without any veils or hindrances, to Himself. That is what happened on the cross two thousand years ago. God Himself gave His life away to undo the darkness that blocked us from what He wanted: intimate relationship.

Jesus’ blood shed on our behalf brought us back into the presence of our heavenly Father—so we could know He is Abba and we are His beloved. 

It's All About Intimacy

In the last thirty-eight years of my life, I’ve come to understand that the most amazing blessing we can have in the kingdom of God is our relationship with the Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit.

As we love God in return, receive His healing, and walk in our identity as beloved children, we also walk in His ways, allow the Holy Spirit to lead us, and look for opportunities to bless others. That is how we become more like Jesus and experience great joy and peace. We really do get to experience heaven on earth, and it is because of the quality of our relationship with God.

A Completely New Person

Sometimes being a follow of Jesus can seem like so much work! But the truth is, God makes it simple if we just believe what His Word says and accept He has all the power to change us. 

I became a new person the evening I accepted Jesus in my heart. Meeting Jesus is different for everyone. Some don’t immediately understand what He has done for them, but I took it to heart and believed He made me brand new. I noticed the difference right away. All my shame was just gone. God filled me with His love, and His Spirit transformed me—not because of anything I did or didn’t do but because of His great mercy.

When I chose to repent and give my life to my Savior, I became a new person filled with His love. He also gave me a deep longing to love Him back. I went from shame to love that quickly. I experienced the “oneness” Jesus prayed about the night before He was crucified:

I am not asking on behalf of these alone, but also for those who believe in Me through their word, that they may all be one; just as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me.

The glory which You have given Me I also have given to them, so that they may be one, just as We are one; I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and You loved them, just as You loved Me. Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.

Righteous Father, although the world has not known You, yet I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me; and I have made Your name known to them, and will make it known, so that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them. (John 17:20–26 NASB)

At Becoming the One, we are praying for you with joy and hope. May this Easter weekend and Resurrection Sunday bring you the greatest blessing of all—the total understanding that you are loved by our heavenly Father. We pray you would feel and know the delight and joy you bring to Him, as He sees you through the eyes of Jesus.

Do you want to see more kingdom marriages? So do we! Join us in prayer this Monday, April 1, at 8:00 p.m. (PST) as we pray for God to move in singles, couples, and families. Click here to learn more, or click the button below.

Your heavenly Father loves you more than you realize! For more about His amazing, unending love, check out Becoming the One by Salomé Roat. Click here to learn more. The book is also available in Spanish.