November 2, 2021 – “Belonging!”

One of the most cherished needs we have is knowing we belong to someone or something of value.

The first thing we need to know is our name. It is a clue to where we belong. Named after both of my grandmothers helped me know I belonged.

One day my Dad told me something about names that intrigued me, at 17. “I want you to know that I don’t have a lot to leave you, except my good name.” Dad did everything with all his being. He delivered mail with care and precision. He often told us of the extras he did. He delivered baby chickens and read the note the owner left. He put the baby chickens in the brooder house and left them with food and water.

He translated letters sent during WWII written in German; he arranged for weddings, with the help of my Mother who played the organ or piano for the weddings.

The words to describe my parents would be integrity built on love. When Dad came in from doing chores, he hugged Mom first and did so with his whole heart.

He often told us Bible stories… and we knew we were loved by Jesus. As the years went by, I learned more about belonging when I read these verses. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as He chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him. Ephesians 1:3 – 4.

Even before God created this world, He chose us, and He knows my name. Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands. Your walls are continually before me. Isaiah 49:16.

After God created Adam, He gave him a job to do. Now out of the ground, the Lord God had formed every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. Genesis 2:19.

God named the stars. He determines the number of the stars; He gives to all of them their names. Great is our Lord, and abundant in power; His understanding is beyond measure. Psalm 147:4-5. Have you ever tried to count the stars?

Since God set great store upon names, what was His Name? Then Moses said to God, “If I come to the people of Israel and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is His name?’ what shall I say to them?” God said to Moses, “I Am who I Am.” And He said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I Am has sent me to you.’” God also said to Moses, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘The Lord, the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is my name forever, and thus I am to be remembered throughout all generations.” Exodus 3:13-15.

I Am is a present tense name. It extends from before time and into eternity. Behold, He who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. Psalm 121:4.

Yet, there is more to belonging. It is knowing our identity. This entails more than a list of numbers or a card we show. It is belonging and obeying the Lord’s commands. This is identity. It is evident by the way we talk, our actions, and how we treat others.

But to all who did receive Him, who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. John 1:12-13. Belonging to God begins with believing in Him and obeying His Commands.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.  2 Corinthians 5:17. This is a ‘make-over’ that lasts for an eternity. This entails Love, Joy, and Peace from God Himself.  He shows us love, and we will know His Joy.  “And do not be grieved, for the joy of the Lord is your strength.” Nehemiah 8:10b.

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. Lamentations 3;22-23.

The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness; He will quiet you by His love; He will exult over you with loud singing. Zephaniah 3:17.

This then is our strength, how He loves us if we delight in Him. Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in Him, and He will act. He will bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your justice as the noonday. Psalm 37:4-6.

This is belonging to the Body of Christ. We, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Romans 12:5.

Belonging is learning through family life, to love one another and helping. It grows when we accept Christ and belong to the Body of Christ and learn to love one another by serving others.

How do we love one another? For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. Romans 12:3.

As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace: whoever speaks, as one who speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies—in order that in everything, God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. I Peter 4:10-11.

Belonging in God’s Body means Loving and Serving.  And praising God for all the blessings and wonders He provides for us with each day.

The Lord is my strength and my song, and He has become my salvation; this is my God, and I will praise Him, my Father’s God, and I will exalt Him. Exodus 15:2.

Shout for joy in the Lord, O you righteous! Praise befits the upright. Give thanks to the Lord with the lyre; make melody to Him with the harp of ten strings! Sing to Him a new song; play skillfully on the strings with loud shouts. Psalm 33:1-3.

Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth! Serve the Lord with gladness! Come into his presence with singing!  Know that the Lord, He is God! It is He who made us, and we are His; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Psalm 100:1-3.