But now you have been united with Christ Jesus. Once you were far away from God, but now you have been brought near to him through the blood of Christ (Ephesians 2:13).

If I were to ask you to name the TV show you watched more than any other as a child, there’s a good chance you would say Sesame Street. It’s been on the air since the 1960s, and broadcasted in more than 120 countries, so odds are you’re familiar with it even if you grew up outside of the United States.

I don’t remember a whole lot from the show, but one segment has remained cemented in my mind for over 30 years now: the one where the furry blue Grover monster was determined to teach us the difference between near and far.

The sketch begins with Grover standing right in front of the camera. “Near!” he proclaims boldly. He then proceeds to run quite a few paces backwards, muppet arms flailing about humorously as he yells “FAR!” loud enough for us to still hear him. This shtick goes back and forth a dozen or so times as Grover becomes more and more exhausted trying to communicate his point. As a finale, he collapses in dramatic fashion, which of course is pure comedy gold to a four-year-old.

Yes, this may just be a silly sketch meant to teach children about “near” and “far,” but it’s also a good illustration of how we as believers can burn ourselves out trying to get closer to God through our own self-effort.

Remember, every one of us was born separated from God because of our sin. In other words, we were “far” away from Him. Many of us, myself included, tried to close this distance by being a good person, trying really hard to please God, and relying on our own abilities to run closer to Him. But our unification with God was never meant to work that way, so no matter how hard any of us tried, we could never get closer to God through human striving. The only thing our efforts could produce was exhaustion.

But now that you are in Christ, that devastating reality no longer applies to you! You may have come into this world far from God, but He wanted you close to Him. That’s why He sent Jesus to cover the penalty for your sin with His blood. It was Christ who brought you near to God.

You could have spent your entire life running, trying to save yourself, but it never would have brought you any closer to God. But now, you finally get to stop running, because you’re already where you’re supposed to be.

This post is an excerpt from my new book, 52 Amazing Things That Became True of You the Moment You Trusted Christ. If you enjoyed what you read here, be sure to check out the book for 51 more awesome truths about how God sees you!

We are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago (Ephesians 2:10).

A few days ago, after sharing this verse with my daughter, she asked me what a masterpiece was. Even though I’m an artist by trade, I still struggled to explain it in a way that a 6-year-old would understand. What I eventually told her is that a masterpiece is an artist’s favorite work. I asked her to think of all the drawings she had taped to the wall of her bedroom and to choose which one she was most proud of. Whichever one she picked was her masterpiece.

So how amazing is it that God, who created the entire universe—Redwood forests, the Himalayas, snow leopards—still considers you and me to be His favorite works of art? I like to think that God’s got pictures of us on His fridge, and whenever He invites the heavenly saints over for dinner, He points to my picture and says:

“Check out this kid! He was so messed up, but then My Son got ahold of him and now look at him. Talk about turning coal into a diamond. He turned out even better than I expected. He’s one of My masterpieces!”

Furthermore, it’s important to remember that a masterpiece doesn’t have to be a perfectly flawless work either. I heard a fascinating story regarding an interaction between the great composer Igor Stravinsky and one of his best concert violinists that illustrates this idea wonderfully.

Stravinsky had just completed a piece which he considered to be his masterpiece. When it came time for the musicians to begin practicing the piece, the violin player became increasingly frustrated. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t master it. It seemed impossible to get his fingers to move up and down the neck of his instrument in the manner and timing Stravinsky had dictated.

This man went up to the composer and humbly stated his concerns. “Mr. Stravinsky, the music is impossible to play. No matter how hard I try, I cannot do it perfectly. I fear I will ruin your masterpiece”

Stravinsky’s response to him was unexpected. “I wrote your part knowing no one, not even the best violinist in the world, could ever play it perfectly. But I am not interested in perfect. I am interested in hearing the beauty of your attempt at perfection. That will lead to the most powerful music. That will make it a masterpiece.”

My daughter’s art isn’t perfect, but I love it because she has put her heart into it. The violinist couldn’t play his piece perfectly, but Stravinsky loved his passion behind it. Your life is likely full of flaws, but God still loves you because you’re exactly who He created you to be.

So, the next time you are feeling down on yourself, just imagine your picture on God’s fridge. I bet you’ll find it right next to mine.

God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of his grace and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us who are united with Christ Jesus (Ephesians 2:7).

Now that my daughter is getting a bit older, I decided it was finally time to introduce her to the world of Harry Potter. Ideally, this would have been done through the books, but since I only have her for short periods of time each week, we chose to watch the movies instead.

At the beginning of the first film, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, Harry still doesn’t know the truth about himself, and much of the movie is dedicated to him discovering that he’s actually a powerful wizard. This has been true about him all along, but it had been hidden from him. Without knowing his true identity, he believed the false description of himself he’d received from his abusive foster parents—that he was unwanted, unloved, and a worthless nuisance.

In one of the scenes where Harry begins to discover the truth, we see him shopping for all the supplies he will need as a student. He asks Hagrid, the giant-man who has come to take Harry to wizard school, how in the world he’s supposed to pay for all the required items. Hagrid responds by casually telling Harry not to worry about all that. In the next scene, we see Harry’s face begin to glow as the door to his family’s vault swings open. It’s full of gold coins—more than Harry will ever need—and it all belongs to him.

As I watched this scene, I was reminded of how we as believers have already received the incredible wealth of God’s grace and kindness. How many of us, though, have lived much of our lives unaware of the treasure we’ve been given? Much like Harry, we still believe we’re penniless beggars relying on the generosity of others to meet our daily needs. In reality, we have been given the key to heaven’s vault and received full access to God’s grace for our lives today.

But that’s not really the main idea of this verse. What Ephesians 2:7 is telling us, is that God’s main purpose for showering us with His grace and kindness wasn’t for our glory—it was for His. He did it, in today’s language, to show off.

I like to think this is already playing out in heaven today. I imagine the angels looking down as they watch mankind destroy our own lives and the lives of those around us, which would lead them to question how anyone could see anything worth saving in humanity. But then I imagine God responding, “Just wait. You’ll see. When the time comes and heaven is full of My redeemed saints, you will understand. My grace and kindness will never be more apparent to you—or to all of creation—than it will be in that day.”

Our salvation will be a shining example for all eternity of how vast and powerful God’s grace and kindness truly are.

This post is an excerpt from my new book, 52 Amazing Things That Became True of You the Moment You Trusted Christ. If you enjoyed what you read here, be sure to check out the book for 51 more awesome truths about how God sees you!

[God] raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus (Ephesians 2:6).

There seems to be a lot of talk in churches these days about believers being crucified with Christ. That’s a good thing of course, because it’s true. But what I don’t hear as much of, is how those who’ve trusted Christ have been raised up from death with Him as well.

It’s almost like we’re only hearing the first half of the gospel.

Paul reminds us of that sometimes forgotten second half of the gospel here in Ephesians 2:6: The reality that everything God did for Jesus (including raising Him from the dead and seating Him in heaven), He did for you as well because of your unification with Christ.

This means you were not only connected to Jesus in His death, you were connected to Him in His resurrection and ascension as well.

Your soul already has eternal life and already lives in heaven.

This concept can be hard for us to wrap our brains around. After all, if you’re reading this, odds are good that you’re still living with a physical body. Every day you will touch, feel, smell, and taste things from the world around you. Your physical reality is likely to feel much more real to you because you’re constantly experiencing it in tangible ways.

All of which can make it that much harder to grasp this idea that your soul—the truest, deepest part of who you are; the part of you that will live for eternity—is already seated in heaven (no longer here on earth).

Someday, your body will shut down for good. At that point, you’ll be given a new body and your physical and spiritual realities will merge together for the rest of eternity. But until then, I find it can be helpful to remember it this way: Everything that happened to Jesus physically, has already happened to you spiritually:

• Jesus was crucified physically; you were crucified with Him spiritually.
• Jesus was resurrected physically; you were resurrected with Him spiritually.
• Jesus is currently present in heaven physically; you are currently present in heaven spiritually.

But what’s the point of all of this?

I find this truth to be most helpful on those days when it’s difficult to face the broken reality of this world. Whether it’s the constant evil I hear about in the news, or pain and heartache present in my own life—trusting that my soul is seated in heaven next to my Savior helps me to not lose hope.

I receive great peace through knowing that no matter what happens to me here on earth, my eternity in heaven with Jesus is eternally secure.

And how can I know that?

Because I’m already there.