You Are No Longer an Orphan

“Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,”

Ephesians 1:5

I want you to understand something today: you are not a tolerated guest in my house. You are a child, adopted by my own decision, on purpose, long before you did anything to deserve it. Adoption isn't a last-minute favor — it was planned with pleasure, 'according to the good pleasure of my will,' which means: I wanted it, I chose it, I made sure of it.

If you grew up feeling like you didn't quite belong anywhere, feeling like you were there out of charity, feeling like you had to earn your seat at the table — that doesn't come from me. In my house you have a name, you have an inheritance, you have a place reserved since before the foundation of the world.

Stop living like an orphan in a child's house. The papers are already signed, the name is already in the family, and no one — not even you — can tear up that adoption.