We’re in part 5 (should be the last one, but who knows) of a word of encouragement from the Lord for those of us bold enough to admit we’re insecure. God has a Secure place for us. We learned in Part 1 that we can each declare, “I Praise God; For Choosing Me to Love; For Bringing Me Home, and For Accepting Me As I Was.”

For Accepting Me As I Was

Eph 1:6 to the praise of the glory of His Grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved,

As I Was, we usually see the phrase “He accepted me as I am.” However, Jesus does not accept us as we are because He formed us in our mother’s wombs, and He knows our end before the beginning. He accepts us as “As I Was” because the minute we say “Yes” to Jesus Christ, our past no longer matters. Because of Christ’s shed blood, all our sin and bad decisions are removed, never to be seen again. Sure, people will remember them and try to remind you of them, yet God says, “For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more ” (Heb 8:12).” 

1. God’s Grace is Praiseworthy: to the praise of the glory of His Grace.  God’s Grace is the most influential force in this world. It gives supernatural power, innovative ideas, unprecedented wisdom, and even compelling vision. The magnitude of this gift is worth praising God for, so we should be honored to receive this Grace. God’s Grace is honorable and dignified, much like the very savior who died to provide it to us. His Grace covers a multitude of sin, reconciles us to God, empowers us to overcome weakness, and guides us into purpose, and that is Praiseworthy. 
2. We’re God’s Perfect Creation: by which He made us. When God created the earth, He said it was good (Gen 1:25); when He created Adam and Eve, He said it was very good (Gen 1:31); and when He created you and me, He said we were masterpieces (Eph 2:10). He created man in perfection, then Adam fell and caused us to be born into sin. Yet, since we were in God’s mind before the foundation of this world, He already had a plan for our redemption, which would restore us in God’s eye to the perfection of Christ, His Son (Eph 1:7-14). God made us perfect, and Jesus made us “perfection.” 
3. We’re Acceptable to God: accepted in the Beloved. The word accepted in this text is χάρις charis; from the word graciousness, favour, gift, and Grace. Therefore, the text says that we are graced into the beloved. The word also means to grace, to indue with special honor, to make accepted, and to be highly favoured as in the process of receiving this Grace. So, there is an immediate acceptance into the beloved and a process of becoming the beloved. God immediately received us when we accepted Jesus Christ as Lord. And…our process of believing we are the beloved, our actions reflecting the beloved, and our understanding of our place in the Beloved often takes time. However, as He is, so are we in this world (1 Jn 4:17); when our faith lines up with God’s truth, our position in the beloved becomes our reality. 

God “Accepted Me As I Was” because of the gracious work of Christ on the Cross. That enormous act of Grace is Praiseworthy because of the one who gave us the Grace. This Grace was the finished work to restore us to the original perfection God created in us before the foundation of this world. God graced us to be accepted into His Beloved, and as our faith aligns with His, we will walk boldly as His Beloved Sons & Daughters.