Howdy! Buckaroos and Lil Cowpokes!!!
This is Sheriff Woody (Pastor Ben) from Cactusville.
Today, I have a message not just for the crew members, but to everyone who might experience the Cactusville tomorrow at Church!
One phrase has been echoing in my heart lately:
“You are Mine.”
As I read through the Bible, I can’t help but notice a beautiful pattern.
Humanity keeps running from God, but God never stops pursuing humanity. From the Garden of Eden to the empty tomb, His story is one of relentless love.
It’s much like a newborn child. A baby doesn’t know who Mom or Dad is. They don’t understand who stayed up through the night or whose arms have been carrying them since the beginning.
Yet the parents already know: “This is my child.”
The child doesn’t become part of the family by recognizing the parents. They simply grow into the love that has always been theirs.
I think our relationship with God is much the same.
Long before we searched for Him, He searched for us. Long before we called on His name, He called us by ours.
The world tells us to earn our value, prove ourselves, and build our identity through what we accomplish. But the gospel begins somewhere entirely different. It begins with God’s declaration: “You are Mine.”
Everything else flows from that.
We are called to be DIFFERENT.
We are called to be FAITHFUL.
We are called to FORGIVE.
We are called to SERVE.
We are called to GIVE.
*(this is what our kids learned during VBS/VBX in Cactusville)
And we accept this call not to belong, but because we already belong.
“For God saved us and called us to live a holy life. He did this, not because we deserved it, but because that was his plan from before the beginning of time—to show us his grace through Christ Jesus. And now he has made all of this plain to us by the appearing of Christ Jesus, our Savior. He broke the power of death and illuminated the way to life and immortality through the Good News.” (2 Timothy 1:9-10).
May we never forget that our Christian life isn’t about earning God’s acceptance—it’s about learning, day by day, what has been true all along:
… We belong to Him.
God bless,
Sheriff Woody (Pastor Ben)