Understanding I am Beloved of God, stirs an emotion I have not felt often; Awe. Being chosen by the Most High to be loved isn’t taken lightly. It is a privilege and I treat it as such. I smile as I flip through his love letter, reading what He thinks of his Beloved.

Psalms 33:12, 18, NIV

“Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people he chose for his inheritance… but the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love.”

Isaiah 42:1, NIV

“Here is my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen one in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him and he will bring justice to the nations.”

1 Peter 2:9, NIV

“But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.”

What a privilege to know that I am the chosen one in whom He delights. I double dare myself to read that without smiling. It’s impossible. It is more than flattery to read that God delights in me. The million and one verses of God’s thoughts of me are overwhelming, impressive, wonderful.

As a romance writer, it is my duty to express the feelings of both the lover and the beloved. Overwhelming passion are described with illustrative imagery of blushed skin, palpitating heartbeats and breath caught. But the most important are the profound words of the beloved in response to the lover’s affection. She speaks of her awe of his attention, and her desire to be with him – to be loved by him. When I read a book about a beloved’s thoughts of her lover, I often blush when she speaks of her love for him.

So what is to be my response after a million and one verses of how God feels about me? Should it a casual thanks for his thoughts of love? But how can that be when I’m smiling and fully in awe of his love for me?

Delight yourself in the Lord…

King David knew of such love, for he like me was a wretched person unworthy of love. I speak with a vulnerability that I often ignore, but it is hard to when I read David’s account of self-disdain and helplessness. He is an imperfect man who has made his share of mistakes, as I have, and yet God still chose him. Just as God has chosen to call me Beloved. I can’t help but nod in agreement as David recants God’s affection towards him.

Psalm 116:5-7, NIV

“The Lord is gracious and righteous; our God is full of compassion. The Lord protects the simple-hearted; when I was in great need, he saved me. Be at rest once more, O my soul, for the Lord has been good to you.”

Amen, Hallelujah! I testify along with King David that the Lord has been good to me. If I begin to recant the blessings he has given me, His beloved, I would have volumes of testimonies.

Knowing I am loved by God, the automatic response is not only gratitude, but awe and delight. So I return to Psalms, searching for words to explain just how I feel, to put words to what my smile and blush mean.

Psalm 119:103, NIV

“How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth.”

Psalm 108:4-5, NIV

“For great is your love, higher than the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies. Be exalted, O God, above the heavens, and let your glory be over all the earth.”

Psalm 104:33-34, NIV

“I will sing to the Lord all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live. May my meditation be pleasing to him, as I rejoice in the Lord.”

Rejoice. That’s it. I rejoice in the knowledge of his love for me; that God and Creator of all things, thinks of me as His chosen one and Beloved. Rejoice and delight are synonymous; reveling too. My reaction is to repeat the declaration of love, rest in the truth of that love, and put it on like a cloak. To take ownership of that love and wear it like an ID card. I admit that since Day 2, I have repeated the words ‘I am His Beloved and He is mine’ all day and smiled like a fool. I wear His love like a cloak, like a banner.

Songs of Solomon 2:4, NIV

“He has taken me to the banquet hall, and his banner over me is love.”

Prayer: Dear Father, I thank you for your sweet and unconditional love. I am in awe that you have chosen me as your own, as your Beloved. It makes my heart glad to know that your banner over me is love and I wear it like a cloak, reminding myself that you delight over me. Help me to rest in your love and to properly wear my identity as your Beloved. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

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