"Because I am His" -2

"Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture." (Psalms 100:3)
There really is good reason that we can celebrate; after all, all that we need to really do, is to know that He loves us and cares for us. Once we have completely accepted that fact, then we can actually start living in the power that comes from knowing that we are children of God. I am not talking about the Holy Spirit, because the Holy Spirit guides and give us comfort, and when He needs to, He can do mighty works through us. No, I am taking about the actual power we have in knowing our position in Christ; how that we are secure and that our position has been planted firmly in heaven. I heard some pretty good teaching yesterday, much of which had to do with our security in Christ. That said, I heard something that I don't know that I totally agreed with; it had to do with the Prodigal Son, and how that if the son had not returned to the father, and he had died with the pigs, then he would have died separated from the father. Maybe in this life, that might be the case; then again, the son never stopped being the son of his father. He might not have been living as though he was the son; even going home, he was not thinking as the son, but was hoping just to be treated like a servant; that is, if his father would welcome him back. So there are two sides to this issue, one that is the way we look at our position in Christ, and one that is how God looks at it. Ours is usually based upon merit, as in our constant concern with our ability to measure up to the love that we have been given. That is a total waste of time, because there is no way we can ever measure up to what God has done for us; what He has done is good enough to supply for all that we could ever try to do to pay Him back. Our part in the process is to become His child at heart; to live as though we are His child, because we are His child; not because we could be, or will be, but because that is what we are. There is a very big difference between the flesh and the spirit, especially when it comes to the eternal security that we have in Christ. So, the issue I take with that statement, is not based upon where our flesh might take us, because this flesh has no place in the kingdom of God. The issue that I am counting on, hoping in, and praying for on a daily basis, is the my spirit is securely one with God in heaven, for all eternity. Not based upon my performance, not based upon my wrong judgment, not even based upon my fleshly body dying in a place that it should not be; but based upon Jesus Christ dying on the cross for me! He took my place! And when He was risen from that grave, He made it so that I will rise also; no matter where this broken down piece of flesh might end up, my soul is going to be with the Lord...
"But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God's grace that you have been saved!) For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus. So God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of his grace and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us who are united with Christ Jesus. God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can't take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. For we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago." (Ephesians 2:4-10) NLT