On the day of his resurrection when Jesus first appeared to Mary Magdalene, he told her, “I am returning to my Father and your Father, to my God and to your God.” (John 20:17) Notice the possessive form of the personal pronoun, “your.”

Jesus was declaring that the God of all creation, who is responsible for bringing into existence all that is, was not just his God and Father, but our God and Father as well. This God and Father, though creator of the universe, is personal and allows himself to be possessed by us – an extreme act of humility! His becoming one of us in the person of Jesus was also an extreme act of humility. Submitting his human life to torture and death for our sake was an extreme act of love!

Jesus tells us that we can possess this extremely humble and loving God if we open the door to our hearts and accept his offer to dwell in us. “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.” (Rev. 3:20) If anyone will love Jesus and obey his teaching, he says, “My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. (John 14:23) Think of it – Jesus and the Father taking up residence in us through the power of the Holy Spirit!

Story: For several years Joe operated his dry cleaning business without much thought or concern for his customers or employees. As Joe observed, “I used to lie to my employees and they would steal from me.” His home life wasn’t much better. “I wasn’t really there for my wife and kids.

One day one of Joe’s customers invited him to a breakfast meeting of Christians in Commerce. “At first I felt strange,” Joe said, “but I was moved by what I saw in the men who attended. They were so genuine and supportive of each other and so free to praise God. Through these men, I realized that God was calling me to change.” At a subsequent weekend retreat, Joe said, “I experienced true forgiveness and acceptance, along with a great release of guilt.”

“The Lord has blessed me so much since then,” Joe continues. “He gave me a desire to love and serve my customers and to train and spend time with my employees. My customers say, ‘You’ve changed!’ Through a survey by the Southwest Dry Cleaners Association, my business was rated number one in customer service.

“One of the greatest blessings is my new relationship with my wife and kids. I am home every night now. My wife and I play games with our kids and spend a lot of time with each other. There is a new love in our family,” says Joe. (From Hope for the Workplace – Christ in You)

Joe opened his heart to Jesus Christ and now the God of all creation is Joe’s God and Father.

Would you like the God of all creation to be your God and Father?