Accepted
The way God looks at us and speaks about us is different than we look at and speak about ourselves. We form our opinions based us our current situation and what has happened in the past. But God sees the future. He looks at what we will become, not just at where we are at a certain time.
And even after the fact, God does not emphasize the things we did wrong or the struggles we went through on the way.
People usually act opposite to that. When we look at things, we seek out what is wrong and not perfect, rather than celebrating what is good and right.
Celebrate Progress
Celebrate progress, not perfection. God is happy when He sees growth.
Galatians 6:3-5 3 For if anyone thinks himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself.
4 But let each one examine his own work, and then he will have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another.
5 For each one shall bear his own load.
The word in Greek is rendered rejoicing in the NKJV, boasting in NASB, and take pride in himself in NIV.
We are not to compare ourselves to each other. It’s not a competition. But you can compare yourself to where you are now vs. where you have been – and have reason to boast/rejoice/take pride in yourself. Not to boast to others, but to ourselves.
This means you can celebrate your progress.
“Each must bear his own load”: we each have our own individual things we are working on that differ from each other. The Lord doesn’t work on all your shortcomings at once, or you’d be overwhelmed.
You might see something where you are farther along than someone else. But the Lord might not be working on that issue in that person yet. How have you progressed vs. how someone else has progressed in the areas where God is working on you to change/improve?
2 Peter 1:5-8 5 But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge,
6 to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness,
7 to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love.
8 For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
We have here what we might call a list of Christian virtues. Vs. 8 says if these are yours and increasing – i.e., progressing, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful. Barren is idle in Greek.
“God accepts me where I am”. There is truth in this, up to a point. God will accept you wherever you are, as a starting point. But we can only enter His kingdom on His terms – and that is that we become believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, and His death burial, and resurrection for the forgiveness of our sins.
Ephesians 1:6-7 6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He has made us accepted in the Beloved.
7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace
We are accepted – “in the Beloved”. The context makes it clear that the “Beloved” is Jesus Christ.
We use the terminology, “accept Jesus as Lord”. Americans don’t come from a monarchy background, so we don’t really have the concept of what a “lord” is. It means you make Him boss. You take on His worldview and value system.
The fallacy that some people who say “God accepts me where I am” is that they think it is OK to stay there.
Romans 12:1-2 1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.
2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
Looking at vs. 1 and the first part of vs. 2, you might think that Paul was saying we should concentrate on changing our behavior. And behavior is definitely important. But he tells us the way to do this is by renewing the mind – or changing the way we think. The “conforming to this world” that we should not be doing is thinking like the world – having worldly values and worldview.
“Transformation comes not so much by trying to act like Jesus, but by thinking like Jesus” – Steve Backlund
This follows the pattern of Matthew 16:13-19. Jesus asks the disciples, “Who do you say that I am?” Simon answered by revelation, that He was the Christ, and then Jesus told Simon who he was – Peter, a rock.
We tell Jesus who we believe He is – our Savior, Redeemer, and Lord – and then He will then tell us who we are: a new creation, accepted, righteous, a holy priesthood.
And once Jesus tells you who you are, who do you say that you are? See Who Do You Say That I Am Part 1 and Part 2.
In Ephesians 1:6, the word accepted means highly favored. Not just favored, but highly favored. Think of it this way: you apply to a college, they look over your qualifications, and they accept you to enroll. That’s being favored, because you were chosen over some others that were not accepted.
But being highly favored would be like multiple colleges and universities contacting you and offering all kinds of scholarships because they want you in their school.
God Sees Potential, Not Just Flaws
Human beings often focus on their mistakes, weaknesses, and inadequacies, but God sees the potential within.
God’s Love is Unconditional
As humans we often struggle with our image of ourselves and our own self worth. We can feel judged or unloved, because that is actually how we are viewing ourselves. But it is not how God sees us.
The most famous verse in the Bible begins with “For God so loved the world…” The world, with all its flaws, and even outright evil. God so loved everyone in the world that He was motivated to send His son to die for us and take the punishment for our sins upon Himself, in our place.
1 John 4:18 18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.
It is not so much that we have to be perfect in our love walk to get rid of fear, but that we should recognize God’s love for us.
1 John 4:10 10 In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
1 John 4:16 16 And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.
God’s Perspective is Eternal
We view life through the lens of temporary struggles and fleeting moments, but God sees the bigger, eternal picture. He knows where you will end up because He sees the future.
Some of the events and circumstances in our lives that we might view as defeats or setbacks actually become things that mold us.
Romans 8:28 28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
The poster child for this principal would be Joseph. The things that happened to him actually equipped him to become a ruler in Egypt. However, a mistake is to think that everything that happens to us was planned and purposed and caused by God. For example, in Joseph’s life
- God gave Joseph the dreams that he would be exalted over his brothers and parents. However, it was not wise of him to go blabbing it to his family at that time.
- It was his brothers’ own jealousy that caused them to plot to kill Joseph, and ultimately settle on selling him into slavery.
- It was God that prospered everything that Joseph did as a slave in Potiphar’s house, so that he was put in charge of everything Potiphar had. Genesis 39:2 even calls Joseph a successful/prosperous man, even while he was a slave.
- It was not God that cause Potiphar’s wife to get the hots for him and try to seduce him, and then falsely accuse him when he refused her in his integrity. And so he was thrown into prison.
- It was God that prospered Joseph so much, that even in prison he was put in charge of all the prisoners.
- It was God that gave Joseph the ability to interpret the baker and cup bearer’s dreams. It was not God that caused the cup bearer to forget about Joseph for two years.
- It was God that gave Pharoah dreams that he recognized were significant. This brought Joseph back to the cup bearer’s mind, he was called up from prison, and interpreted Pharoah’s dreams.
- It was God that gave Joseph favor in Pharoah’s eyes to promote him. But the ability he had to basically run Egypt, he learned as a steward in Potiphar’s house and as head of the prisoners.
One thing we see about Joseph is he never let the things that happened to him cause him to become bitter. I’m sure he had periods where he bemoaned his condition, especially right after he was sold into slavery or put in prison, but he didn’t stay there. Genesis 40:6-7 when Joseph first met the cup bearer and baker in prison, asked them, “Hey boys, why the glum faces?” Joseph was cheerful, in prison.
Saul vs. David
We see a great contrast between the first two kings of Israel, Saul and David.
Saul
Why did God choose Saul to be king, when he obviously did not have the qualities to be a good king? Look at the circumstances on how Saul became king. The people wanted a king to go in and out before them, lead in battle, etc. 1 Samuel 8. And look who God chose: He gave them someone who looked good, because the people would judge by outward appearance.
1 Samuel 9:1-2 1 There was a man of Benjamin whose name was Kish the son of Abiel, the son of Zeror, the son of Bechorath, the son of Aphiah, a Benjamite, a mighty man of power.
2 And he had a choice and handsome son whose name was Saul. There was not a more handsome person than he among the children of Israel. From his shoulders upward he was taller than any of the people.
Saul was insecure and thought he was insignificant. He felt his family line was insignificant, even though there was greatness in his lineage (vs. 9:1 Saul’s great great grandfather, was a mighty man of power).
1 Samuel 9:20-21 20 But as for your donkeys that were lost three days ago, do not be anxious about them, for they have been found. And on whom is all the desire of Israel? Is it not on you and on all your father’s house?”
21 And Saul answered and said, “Am I not a Benjamite, of the smallest of the tribes of Israel, and my family the least of all the families of the tribe of Benjamin? Why then do you speak like this to me?”
1 Samuel 10:6-7 6 Then the Spirit of the Lord will come upon you, and you will prophesy with them and be turned into another man.
7 And let it be, when these signs come to you, that you do as the occasion demands; for God is with you.
Saul could have been great.
1 Samuel 12:13-15 13 Now therefore, here is the king whom you have chosen and whom you have desired. And take note, the Lord has set a king over you.
14 If you fear the Lord and serve Him and obey His voice, and do not rebel against the commandment of the Lord, then both you and the king who reigns over you will continue following the Lord your God.
15 However, if you do not obey the voice of the Lord, but rebel against the commandment of the Lord, then the hand of the Lord will be against you, as it was against your fathers.
What was Saul’s downfall? He feared the people – he was overly concerned with what people thought about him.
When Samuel was delayed, Saul took it upon himself to offer sacrifices.
1 Samuel 13:8-12 8 Then he waited seven days, according to the time set by Samuel. But Samuel did not come to Gilgal; and the people were scattered from him.
9 So Saul said, “Bring a burnt offering and peace offerings here to me.” And he offered the burnt offering.
10 Now it happened, as soon as he had finished presenting the burnt offering, that Samuel came; and Saul went out to meet him, that he might greet him.
11 And Samuel said, “What have you done?” And Saul said, “When I saw that the people were scattered from me, and that you did not come within the days appointed, and that the Philistines gathered together at Michmash,
12 then I said, ‘The Philistines will now come down on me at Gilgal, and I have not made supplication to the Lord.’ Therefore I felt compelled, and offered a burnt offering.”
What threw Saul into a jealous rage about David? When he heard the people singing “Saul has slayed his 1000’s, but David his 10’s of 1000’s”. It was his own perception in the eyes of people. His conclusion after hearing this, was that David was after his kingdom.
David
Samuel was sent to anoint one of Jesse’s sons as the next king.
1 Samuel 16:1-3 1 Now the Lord said to Samuel, “How long will you mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? Fill your horn with oil, and go; I am sending you to Jesse the Bethlehemite. For I have provided Myself a king among his sons.”
2 And Samuel said, “How can I go? If Saul hears it, he will kill me.” And the Lord said, “Take a heifer with you, and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.’
3 Then invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do; you shall anoint for Me the one I name to you.”
1 Samuel 16:6-7 6 So it was, when they came, that he looked at Eliab and said, “Surely the Lord’s anointed is before Him.”
7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have refused him. For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”
Saul was chosen as king to please the people, who wanted a king. So God gave them someone who looked kingly. But, lacked inward qualities that would make him a good king. This time, God was going to choose the man He wanted, that had the inward qualities that were necessary.
All of Jesse’s sons are paraded before Samuel, but the Lord said “This is not the one” to each. So Samuel asks, “do you have any more sons?” Which begs the question, why didn’t Jesse invite David into the lineup?
Many scholars believe it was because David was illegitimate – that he was the son of Jesse, but not the son of Jesse’s wife.
1 Samuel 16:11-13 11 And Samuel said to Jesse, “Are all the young men here?” Then he said, “There remains yet the youngest, and there he is, keeping the sheep.” And Samuel said to Jesse, “Send and bring him. For we will not sit down till he comes here.”
12 So he sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, with bright eyes, and good-looking. And the Lord said, “Arise, anoint him; for this is the one!”
13 Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers; and the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel arose and went to Ramah.
David was the youngest – just a teenager. He is described as “ruddy”, which means red – either red faced, or red haired. But it does say he was good looking.
The very next verse says that the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul. Apparently there was a transference of the anointing from Saul to David. It also says that a distressing spirit “from the Lord” was sent to trouble Saul.
I’ve wondered about that. What was this distressing spirit? It sounds like it may have been a demon, but why then does it say it was from the Lord? I don’t know the answer for sure, but here are some possibilities:
- The people, including those who wrote the books of Samuel, believed that God sent the distressing spirit even though He didn’t; much in the same way Job’s friends believed it was God that sent Job’s calamities when we see it was Satan.
- When people get away from God, it gives authority for evil spirits to move in to influence and oppress. In this was it was an allowed or permitted evil spirit.
- Some interpret the “distressing spirit” as a mental or emotional turmoil rather than a literal spirit. Saul’s rejection by God may have let to paranoia, depression, and instability.
- Some commentators believe this was a divinely appointed spirit meant to afflict Saul as part of God’s judgment. In this view, the spirit could have been angelic rather than demonic, and an agent of divine correction.
It was recommended to Saul that he find someone who could play anointed music as a means of relief. And who did they call? David! So David became known to the king’s household. And the advice worked, David’s playing calmed Saul down and gave him relief.
The very next chapter, David slays Goliath, and became known to the whole nation of Israel.
Other Examples
There are many other Biblical examples where God looked at an individual differently because He saw their future state and potential.
Gideon
Judges 6:11-15 11 Now the Angel of the Lord came and sat under the terebinth tree which was in Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, while his son Gideon threshed wheat in the winepress, in order to hide it from the Midianites.
12 And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him, and said to him, “The Lord is with you, you mighty man of valor!”
13 Gideon said to Him, “O my lord, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about, saying, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the Lord has forsaken us and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites.”
14 Then the Lord turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours, and you shall save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Have I not sent you?”
15 So he said to Him, “O my Lord, how can I save Israel? Indeed my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my father’s house.”
When the angel addressed Gideon as a “mighty man of valor”, Gideon looked around and said “Who, me?” He went on to detail how he was a nobody. He did not have a very good self image. It took a bit of persuasion to convince him that he really could deliver Israel from the Midianites.
First, it was the miracles of fleece: the first night he asked that a fleece he put would be wet with dew and the ground dry. And then the next night, the opposite: that the ground all around would be wet, but the fleece dry.
People talk about “putting out a fleece before the Lord” – i.e., have some sign occur in the natural to convince them of what God is saying. But there is a problem with that, because Satan can influence the natural realm, and you could be deceived. As Christians, we have the Holy Spirit to guide us, and don’t need to “put out fleeces”.
The thing that really convinced Gideon (especially after God whittled down his army from 20,000+ to 300) is found in Judges 7:
Judges 7:9-15 9 It happened on the same night that the Lord said to him, “Arise, go down against the camp, for I have delivered it into your hand.
10 But if you are afraid to go down, go down to the camp with Purah your servant,
11 and you shall hear what they say; and afterward your hands shall be strengthened to go down against the camp.” Then he went down with Purah his servant to the outpost of the armed men who were in the camp.
12 Now the Midianites and Amalekites, all the people of the East, were lying in the valley as numerous as locusts; and their camels were without number, as the sand by the seashore in multitude.
13 And when Gideon had come, there was a man telling a dream to his companion. He said, “I have had a dream: To my surprise, a loaf of barley bread tumbled into the camp of Midian; it came to a tent and struck it so that it fell and overturned, and the tent collapsed.”
14 Then his companion answered and said, “This is nothing else but the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel! Into his hand God has delivered Midian and the whole camp.”
15 And so it was, when Gideon heard the telling of the dream and its interpretation, that he worshiped. He returned to the camp of Israel, and said, “Arise, for the Lord has delivered the camp of Midian into your hand.”
That Midianite soldier prophesied their own defeat!
Abraham
We know the story of Abram, how God promised that he would become the father of many nations, even though he was childless. God even changed his name from Abram, which means father, to Abraham, which means father of a multitude. So now every time someone called Abraham’s name, he was reminded of the promise.
Abraham is called the father of our faith, and this is what is said about him:
Romans 4:16-21 16 Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all
17 (as it is written, “I have made you a father of many nations”) in the presence of Him whom he believed–God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did;
18 who, contrary to hope, in hope believed, so that he became the father of many nations, according to what was spoken, “So shall your descendants be.”
19 And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah’s womb.
20 He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God,
21 and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform.
God called those things that did not exist as though they did when he renamed Abram to Abraham.
In vs. 18-21 it talks about how Abraham was full of faith about the promise and did not waver. And yet when you read the account in Genesis, you see he did waver and doubt.
Sarai was under a lot of pressure being childless. So she came up with an idea, based on superstition, to take her maidservant Haggar and have a child through her. Thus Ishmael was born (Genesis 16:1-4). Abaraham was 86 at the time.
God didn’t speak to Abraham for another 13 years. When we take matters into our own hands to manipulate things to bring the promise of God to pass, it can delay things.
In Genesis 17, when Abraham was 99, He speaks with him again and gives him the covenant of circumcision. Then He also gives Sarai his wife a new name. But Abraham is not convinced, he falls on his face and laughs.
Genesis 17:15-21 15 Then God said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall be her name.
16 And I will bless her and also give you a son by her; then I will bless her, and she shall be a mother of nations; kings of peoples shall be from her.”
17 Then Abraham fell on his face and laughed, and said in his heart, “Shall a child be born to a man who is one hundred years old? And shall Sarah, who is ninety years old, bear a child?”
18 And Abraham said to God, “Oh, that Ishmael might live before You!”
19 Then God said: “No, Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac; I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his descendants after him.
20 And as for Ishmael, I have heard you. Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly. He shall beget twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation.
21 But My covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this set time next year.”
Sarah also had some problems with the promise. In Genesis 18, she laughs also. But Hebrews 11 lists her, along with Abraham, in the heroes of faith. (see Judging Him Faithful).
Us
God always looks at us in line with His Word.
- You are the righteousness of God in Christ (2 Cor 5:21)
- You are more than a conqueror (Rom 8:37)
- You are a holy priest (1 Pet 2:9)
- You are a world overcomer (1 John 4:4)
- You are blameless in His sight (1 Cor 1:8; Phil 2:15; Col 1:22; 1 Thess 3:13; 1 Thess 5:23)
There are promises He has given us
- You are healed (1 Pet 2:24)
- You have an abundance in everything (2 Cor 9:8)_
- God always causes you to triumph (2 Cor 2:14)
Some of the things He calls us, and the promises He has made, might not look so true in the natural right now. That is where faith comes in. We need to agree with what God’s word says, not with what circumstances and our past experience says. Maybe you need to “call those things that do not exist as though they did” like God did with Abraham.
