Living In Sonship by Pastor Susan Fochler

Starting out as Orphans As I look back on my life, I can see a clear progression from having an orphan mindset to a growing confidence in my identity as a child of God.  As an orphan, I derived my worth from external measures such as performance and popularity.  Neither of which was ever enough, but for a little moment it seemed to satisfy.  Becoming a son/daughter means my security is increasingly drawn from belonging to and being with God.  Any fruitfulness from my life is wonderful, but not the source of my joy.  Being rooted and grounded in His love has become my goal and I am ever aware nothing less will do. Recently I had an experience that vividly revealed the nature of this unconditional love.  I had to give someone some news they did not want to hear.  As an orphan, their initial response was to lash out with rage because they felt so hurt.  I was shocked; news that seemed like a mild inconvenience to me felt like a personal attack to them.  His Constant Love is Always Enough During a time of prayer after this happened, God took me back in the spirit to that moment.  But this time He completely enveloped me in His love; I was inside Him, He was inside Me; we were as one.  And as we stood there facing a very angry person, I could feel God’s unwavering affection and kindness pouring through me.  It was like He was oblivious to the hostility.  His love was pure and holy, completely undeterred by any temper tantrum!   His Love sees Us I could sense His love flowing, unrelenting, so like the river of life we read about in the scriptures.  His smile, unflinching, His joy-filled eyes so glad to be there, seemingly oblivious to the turmoil He was facing.  His focus was on who the person was, not how they were behaving.  I became keenly aware that there is no situation, no matter how stressful, that can diminish His perfect love in any way.  That’s exactly how a loving Father treats His kids.  He sees our true hearts, not our momentary wobbles, and because He is the source of all love, He can do nothing else than pour unconditional affection and acceptance upon us.  Limitless Love that Flows like a River It is interesting that the root word for river in the Hebrew has to do with inheritance.  Just as a child receives his inheritance freely, without earning or deserving it, so do we receive freely of the unconditional, limitless love from our Father.  Come and drink your fill of all you need of belonging, approval, mutual enjoyment; there is always enough!   I encourage you to drink and delight in God’s sweet, never-ending acceptance as we read in the Psalms: All may drink of the anointing from the abundance of your house. All may drink their fill from the delightful springs of Eden. To know you is to experience a flowing fountain, drinking in your life, springing up to satisfy. In the light of your holiness we receive the light of revelation.   Psalm 36:8-9 TPT. Keep on drinking in the love! Pastor Susan