N E I L   A N D E R S O N   D A I L Y   D E V O T I O N A L
             from Freedom in Christ Ministries

April 1

HOPE FOR TODAY AND TOMORROW

Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as
yet what we shall be. We know that, when He appears, we shall be
like Him, because we shall see Him just as He is. And everyone
who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is
pure (1 John 3:2, 3).

As children of the sinful first Adam, we were obstinate and
ornery, helpless and hopeless, with nothing in ourselves to
commend us to God. But God's love overruled our unloveliness.
Through Christ God provided a way for us into His family. As
God's adopted child, you have been given a new identity and a new
name. You're no longer a spiritual orphan; you're a son or
daughter of God. Romans 8:16, 17, tells us, "The Spirit Himself
bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if
children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ."

If you're beginning to think you are some one special as a
Christian, you're thinking right--you are special! Your
specialness is not the result of anything you have done, of
course. It's all God's doing. All you did was respond to God's
invitation to be His child. But as a child of God, in union with
God by being in Christ, you have every right to enjoy your
special relationship with your new Father.

How important is it to know who you are in Christ? There are
countless numbers of Christians who struggle with day-to-day
behavior because they labor under a false perception of who they
are. They see themselves as sinners who hope to make it into
heaven by God's grace, but they can't seem to live above their
sinful tendencies. Why can't they live the victorious Christian
life? Because they have a misperception of who they are in
Christ.

But look again at the hope-filled words of 1 John 3:2, 3. What is
the believer's hope? That he will someday be changed into
Christ's image? That's part of it, but that's only a future hope.
What is your hope for today and tomorrow? That you're a child of
God now! You must see yourself as a child of God in order to live
like a child of God. The blessed hope for the believer is "Christ
in you, the hope of glory" (Colossians 1:27).

Thank You, Father, for the glorious hope of being Your child. I
want to live in the security and blessing of that reality today.


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This daily devotional is published and distributed by
http://www.GOSHEN.net/ .  It is written by Neil Anderson at
http://www.ficm.org/ .

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http://www.Devotionals.net/

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