Those who were not my people ...

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As indeed he says in Hosea, “Those who were not my people I will call ‘my people,’ and her who was not beloved I will call ‘beloved.’” “And in the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’ there they will be called ‘sons of the living God.’” -Romans 9:25-26 NLT

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I think that, from the very beginning, God has always loved the whole world. For sure, certain people have often believed that He loved them more than others. Even so that kind of thinking goes against the idea presented by Jesus when he spoke to the pharisee Nicodemus. In that beautiful passage the Son of God told the religious leader that God loves the whole world. A foreign concept for the religious leaders of his day who believed that God only loved Israel.

The idea that God actually loves me moves me deeply. The notion that He calls me a son of the living God changes everything. The familial relationship with God that Jesus introduced in the gospels is so revolutionary. No longer are we foreigners but now we are beloved children. Now we can speak to the Lord and he will listen as a dad does with his child. The love of God changes so much. We who were hopeless now have hope of being with a loving Father forever.

Teach us to receive your love Lord. Help us to see ourselves as your beloved children.

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