JOHN 17:20-23 – “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, 21 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 have sent me. 22 The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, 23 I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.

THEME OF THE DAY. SEEING OURSELVES AS GOD SEES US. The truth in today’s nugget is so important. I would even go further and say, “This truth is the single determining factor in living the Christian life as God intended.” And just one more statement of the significant truth of today’s nugget, “Our joy in the Lord and actual enjoyment of Him in prayer, His Word, service, and obedience hinges upon our minds being renewed and disciplined to think on this truth.” What is this truth? Learning to see ourselves as God sees us. It is being enabled by God’s Spirit through His Word to stay our mind on how He views our relationship with Him.

This is not easy for a couple of reasons. First, we have an accusing devil (Revelation 12:10). In his work of accusing us, his goal is to draw our thinking upon our many failings and sins against God. If he is successful, we will develop a warped view of God. He will be an unyielding taskmaster who grows easily impatient with us. Soon such thinking will lead to a doubting of His love and when that happens, gone is joy, peace, and confidence in God. Our Christianity will become religious form lacking Biblical substance and life. The other reason making it difficult to see ourselves as God does is the performance factor that often defines many Christians’ understanding of the Christian. We believe God “likes” us when we are doing all the right Christian things, but He is greatly displeased, and even ignores us, when we are spiritually falling on our faces. This, too, is unbiblical, and a direct assault on God’s character. Yes, it is hard to have our minds renewed to think of ourselves as God does, but not impossible. It begins by looking into His Word to see how God sees us.

First, He cherishes us as His beloved children – “Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved”, “Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James, to the those who are called, beloved in God the Father” (Colossians 3:12; Jude 1). Friends, the word “beloved” is the highest form of love and comes from God. He sees us as His beloved and will never change that view.

Next, He rejoices over us as His delight – “The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing” (Zephaniah 3:17). Stop now and meditate, pray through, and be in awe of what we just read. God rejoices over us. He really does delight in us. We are the apple of His eye! That is how He thinks of and sees us. Oh, to think this way would transform our walks with Him!

A third way God views us is the most beautiful of all – His Bride; “Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish” (Ephesians 5:25-27). Our Lord Jesus Christ boasts of being our husband – “For your Maker is your husband, the LORD of hosts is his name; and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer, the God of the whole earth he is called” (Isaiah 54:5). And here is a heart-thrilling truth about our marriage relationship with the Lord; He never divorces. No matter how unfaithful His bride (redeemed sinners) are, He never entertains releasing her. That is how He thinks of us; His bride; His delight; His beloved. May the Lord help us to see ourselves in the same ways. It will propel us to live the Christian life as He desires of us.

PRAYER: “Father, help me to renew my mind to think of me as You think and see me.”

QUOTE: “Our joy will be deepened when we learn to see ourselves as God sees us”