What's A Person Have to Do To Get Accepted Around Here Anyway?

Acceptance.

Depends by whom.

You can do things to win affection and attention.

To get noticed by a supervisor or a person in charge, I suppose you have to do your job well.

To gain notoriety as an entertainer you need to perform well.

To be accepted into a circle of friends you have to become a good friend yourself.

How about by God?

What's it take to be acceptable in the eyes of God?

One would think that it would be the most difficult to accomplish.

Paul says quite the contrary.

Romans 14:18 - "Whoever thus serves Christ is acceptable to God and approved by men."

To be acceptable to God you must accept His Son Jesus Christ.

Everything that God finds in us that is acceptable and good, is filtered through Jesus.

If we have received Him as Lord and are serving Him, that's what God sees and accepts about us.

We have no righteousness in and of ourselves except self-righteousness, which conflicts with God.

Those of us who serve Christ have exchanged our self for Him, and that is what pleases God and makes Him look upon us with pleasure.

Pretty simple actually.

A lot less hoops to jump through to be acceptable then your boss might make you do.

Or your spouse.

Or your friends.

Or your church (some churches might impose more stringent qualifications to get into heaven than God does).

God just looks to see that Jesus is all over you.

So how about you today?

What does God see when He looks at you?

You?

Or Jesus?

Your alleged good deeds?

Or Jesus?

Your wealth?

Or Jesus?

Need I go on?

Feeling like your the odd person out today?

Don't fit in?

If you have Jesus in your life you are loved and accepted by God.

I hope you can feel that today. 

Perhaps you need to get honest with yourself and with God if you're not.

I know it's been said to death, but Jesus really does have the answer.

Keepin' it Real,

Pastor Kevin <><

www.reallifect.com