Held in the Father’s Heart, Seated with Jesus
The door is open, and the Father’s welcome is warm.
Devotional Credit: Abide Above, Miles Stanford
Photo Credit: Unsplash
Grace sets the table. Today’s reading from Miles Stanford reminds us that the Father has placed us in His Beloved Son, and from that secure place He means for our hearts to finally rest. We are not inching our way into favor. We are carried there by grace and welcomed as family.
Stanford highlights a simple wonder. Jesus has removed everything that kept us outside, then brought us inside to the love of the Father. Growth begins here. The Spirit’s first action is not to grade our progress, it is to assure us of the Father’s love, so that our gaze lifts from self to the Son.
This is not theory. The Father’s love is the environment of our new life. In Jesus, we have been made alive, raised, and seated. That is shared life, not ladder climbing. It means our old unsuitability no longer defines us, and our new suitability is Jesus Himself.
So we say thank You. We take our seat by faith. And from that seat, daily life begins to align. Not by pushing harder, but by relying on the One who lives in us. That is the difference between religion that exhausts and union that overflows.
Journal Entry – Voice of the Holy Spirit Through Scripture
I set you in the Son because I loved you with a forever love. I made you alive together with Jesus. I raised you and seated you with Him. From this place of nearness, you do not strive for belonging. You live out of it.
Abide in Me. Let My words remain in you. I am your life. You were crucified with Christ, and the life you now live you live by faith in the Son of God. Consider yourself dead to sin and alive to Me in Jesus. Present yourself to Me as one brought from death into life, and I will work in you both to desire and to do what delights Me.
Set your mind on things above, where your life is hidden with Christ in Me. There is now no condemnation for you in Jesus. I have given you everything needed for life and godliness. Walk in Him as you received Him, with a quiet yes. I am faithful to complete what I began. I am in you, and you in Me. My perfect love settles your fear. In My Beloved, you are a new creation. I became your wisdom, your righteousness, your holiness, your redemption. Live as one who is loved, and watch love lead.
Real-Life Analogy
Think of the moment a key clicks in a front door. You were standing outside in the cold, then the lock turns, the door opens, and warmth meets you. You do not earn the room’s warmth by shivering harder. You simply enter and let the environment welcome you. Life in Jesus is like that. The Spirit has placed you inside the Father’s love. Your part is not to generate heat, it is to live from the warmth you already have, and let that warmth reach others through you.
Try this today in a concrete moment. When you step into a difficult conversation, pause at the threshold and quietly say, Lord, I yield this moment to You. Live Your life through me as I listen and speak. Then proceed as one who is already inside the warmth of the Father’s love, trusting the indwelling Spirit of Jesus to express patience, honesty, and gentleness through you.
Prayer of Confidence
Father, thank You that in Jesus I have been made alive, raised, and seated with You. Thank You that Your love is my home and my horizon. I agree with You that I am no longer outside. I am in Christ, and Christ is in me. Today I rest in Your provision, I present myself to You, and I walk trusting Your Spirit to express the life of Jesus through me. All is gift. All is grace. All is Yours.
Scripture References for the Voice of the Holy Spirit Through Scripture Section
Ephesians 2:4-7; John 15:4-7; Galatians 2:20; Romans 6:4-11; Romans 6:13; Philippians 2:13; Colossians 3:1-4; Romans 8:1; 2 Peter 1:3; Colossians 2:6-7; Philippians 1:6; John 14:20; 1 John 4:16-18; 2 Corinthians 5:17; 1 Corinthians 1:30; Romans 5:17; John 17:23; 1 John 5:11-12