Ephesians 1:4-6

 For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight.

In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ,

in accordance with his pleasure and will-  

to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.

From the very beginning of time, God had a plan.

It's easy to read Genesis and get distracted by the humanness of the first people who lived on this earth......

see their sins, their constant wanderings

and

forget that all along the way,

God had a plan.

From Adam to Noah to Abraham,

God was in pursuit of all of us,

and He was preparing the way for His Son to come and make "everything better."

When God said, "Let there be light....."

He already knew that One day His Son, His Light, would enter this same creation and through that entrance make it possible for each of us to be adopted into His family.

Sometimes if I think about this too long, I can get all caught up in questioning lots of things that happened along the way.

In my simple mind, it seems like Jesus could have shown up at the very beginning of time and prevented the entire Old Testament from having to happen.

But, deep inside, I know that it wasn't just in the "showing up" that Jesus did His work.

It was in showing up to a broken world, living a very difficult and human life, and then willingly carrying all of our sins to the cross and ultimately conquering death,

that Jesus' purpose was completed.

Adoption into God's family only means something when what you had without meant less.

If I were to go to a home where children had everything they wanted and parents who adored them and say, "I want to adopt you,"

they would more than likely think I was crazy.

But when a family scoops a child out of an orphanage, where a caretaker meets their physical needs but their emotional needs are longing for more,

adoption becomes a powerfully beautiful experience.

Without God's love, we are orphans on this planet.

Every time Sanjana gets upset, she packs her bags and empties her closet,

as if she is saying through her actions,

"I want to go back to the orphanage.  This is not my home."

We went back to see Sanjana on Christmas Eve, and Margo and Barry were sharing about how Sanjana has struggled to love them.

She loves her sisters and grandparents, but she refuses to love Margo and Barry.

Their hearts have been aching in the rejection, but every day they do all they can to show Sanjana how much they still love her.

Well, last night I received a wonderful message from Margo!

While riding in the car yesterday, Sanjana said,

"Sanjana loves her mom and dad!"

Margo was beside herself with joy!

Margo longed to hear these words.

God longs to hear them from you too.

Place your name in this blank,

"_____________ loves God."

Can you tell Him today?

He longs to call you His son or daughter.

He has been planning your adoption since the beginning of time.

We have other friends who have spent eight years working on the adoption of their daughter,

and finally, right before Christmas, everything was finalized!

Joy has been the emotion in this family ever since!

Your adoption paperwork was completed on the cross.

What is holding you back, keeping you from unpacking your bags and realizing that with God in your life, "You are home!"

I love this poster that greeted Sanjana when she arrived in America.

Look what words "home" offered her....

"Peace, shine bright, love, life, live, laugh, sparkly"

If Barry and Margo rejoiced at the words "I love you" from Sanjana,

can you even imagine what God does when He hears those words from us????

Love Him today!