.png)
CHRISTIAN LIVING TODAY
As I write these articles, I imagine you — the readers. I try to share things that God has done for me or what He has taught me, things that are memorable with the hope you’ve had similar experiences.
I share things that encourage me, like passages that prompt security and confidence. I imagine that if I need such help, then my Courier friends may need this encouragement also.
Years ago, I began putting dates beside scriptures that seemed particularly significant to me. The date became meaningful too, matched with memories.
Often, God asked His followers to mark a special spot, remember a particular event, memorialize something in identifiable ways, so that they can recall His presence, provision and activity. So that they can share with their children and family later. So that they remember and are encouraged.
God loves us. He sees us. Not as part of a collective or group, and not as part of some category or congregation … but He sees us uniquely. Individually.
The Bible says He calls us a peculiar people.
You may not be elated to be called peculiar, however, take heart: This word means private property, pertaining to an individual. In the Bible it means a unique and particularly prized possession (Deuteronomy 14:2, Malachai 3:17, I Peter 2:9).
I share because when I realized God’s love for me, individually, it made a huge difference in my life. Now I belong securely to One. God saw me — not merely part of a group — I was His family, and a child He loved uniquely, yet equally among all the others.
My security in God’s love grew when I began searching the Bible for evidence I’d missed before. I found references from Genesis to Revelation as I scanned through the pages, long before the capability of a computer search.
Check out the word “demonstrated” in Romans 8:5. What was demonstrated?
Today, I looked at Psalm 91, and saw notations from 1997, 1991 and 2012. It reminds me that He is my dwelling place, protection and deliverance. He gives assurance of His presence.
The psalm concludes with “let him behold My salvation.” So, what is the salvation I am to see?
His deliverance, welfare and help. Provisions God initiated and provided.
Do you look for God’s hand in life’s details? I hope so, for it is amazing.
In all the world, among all the millions of people, God sees me (and you) as individuals. Until next week, Anita
Onarecker, an Elgin resident, author of “Divine Appointment: Our Journey to the Bridge” and minister to women and adults, earned a Master of Christian Education from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in 2007.
