Belonging

 Belonging

I wrote a poem several years ago entitled “Do you long to belong?” You can find it nestled in the pages of my book “Messy Poems And Not-So-Private Prayers.”

This written piece came out of a prayer time of mine, but it is also a clarion call to anyone who has ears to hear it. It is based on the open invitation Jesus gives to anyone who will receive it. He is all about us being one with Him. 

In an age of stolen identities and so many diverse social perspectives, all calling to become connected to a system that says, “You should be one of us,” while all the while providing no substantiated truth to fold into. With all the worldly choices to choose from, identity issues have become more lonely, isolated, and divided.

But we have a unique song as the Children of our Heavenly Father. We have an anthem song of identity. 

The enemy of our Lord has unleashed lawlessness on the world. He is encroaching ever so suddenly. Boldly he has come out from behind his lair. Proudly roaring his desires to devour. He is so close you can almost see him in the crowd. He wants to consume those who have nowhere to belong, any wandering soul searching for a home. 

  Do you long to belong?

To be joined to, fixed to, or attached. To have your own inclusive title hanging as a banner over your life?

Do you long to belong as you gaze at this vast universe of great unknowns and to possess the great knowing of a for-sure?

Do you long to belong with a confidence that is for-sure? Cannot, will not, or could not ever be stolen from you?

Do you long to belong to a voice that shouts with authority? A voice that overpowers the principalities of darkness, ones that are longing to shut your mouth? To silence you with sickness, sadness, worry, doubt, isolation, rejection, or even abandonment?

Do you long to belong with a steadfastness that can close the void of the universe and bring heaven to earth by knowing that His Holy Spirit lives inside of you?

I was in my first moments of prayer time one day, and all I could seem to say was an anthem of truth, “I belong to you, Lord! I belong to you!” Louder and louder, my voice rang out. Soon, I was standing and praying to the air around me, “I belong to Him! I belong to Him!”

I knew at that moment that this great privilege was a shout of joy, a shout of victory, a shout of attachment, a shout of who I was to Him. 

And best of all, He was rejoicing with me. He was shouting right back to me. “Yes, yes, my beloved, you belong to Me! You belong to Me!”

In this current day and age, that may sound like a statement of suppression. But to those of us who know His love, this is our freedom song, that we belong eternally. 

This belonging is such a for-sure that it comes with the branding of intimacy. Our shouts become more personal, “I belong to you, Jesus, I belong to you, Lord.”

When I lay my head down at night and rise again in the early morning to a brand-new day full of grace, I can shout right from my bed. A fresh new cry of thanks. “It’s a great day to know your name. My day belongs to You.”

When I sit in a quiet place, like a piece of random silence that no one sees me in, I can still hear the silence around me, “Hello world! I just want to make it clear, I belong to His glorious kingdom, for He knows me. Even down to the hairs on my head!” 

When the enemy shouts his threats to devour my finances, my marriage, my children, my job, my very space, and place, I stand on the throne of my prayers and shout from this high place. “Don’t you dare, oh enemy of mine, because I am known by the Lord divine. He calls me friend and heir, and I belong to Him!”

Back in the biblical days, people flocked in those ancient streets to reach this man named Jesus, the Lord and Savior of the whole earth, for in their desperation, they longed for a touch. Desperate and driven with a purpose to connect. To connect even to the hem of His garment. To have a chance to receive a great healing. So many, so sick, no money to fix their plight. The neediest were stretching, pleading with their mouths, “Please, Sir, if you are willing, will you bring forth my healing?” 

We know from God’s word that each one who asked received from Jesus’ healing hand; not one was ever denied. But what they all did NOT know was the much more of what they were given, the much more He had to offer.

The healing, a sign of His divine power, yes. The touch of God’s own hand was a gift for sure, but the much more that lay before them was the offer of Eternal life. A gift of now belonging was being offered to them. His shout was, “You can now belong to Me; you can belong to Me for all Eternity!”

The promises to us who have received are too numerous to count. Our positions in Christ are too powerful for this short story right now. But the voice of our anthem, simple as it sounds, is a roar of his children, a vibration that says, “I belong to him!”

Will you personalize it with me and stand to your feet as we roar with one voice? A tribe in agreement, “I belong to you, Jesus, I belong to you, Lord!” 

May your shout be so loud that it drops down into your very own soul, creating a great attachment of joy, for in the end, this truth is always for you. For us to believe that He is our For-Sure, our longing fulfilled, the banner over our lives.

For we are His glory clouds, flying as His banners. We are large and bright, filling all the four corners of the earth. 

 We are His declarations that His kingdom is at hand. 

 We are a universe of people beating forth the rhythm of His time. 

 We all have been given giant banners stationed over our lives, waving for all the universe to see that we are the co-heirs in Christ. That He is coming back for us, that He is coming back for you, and for me, for we are His belonging.

We are His Bride.

I hope this poem piece roused your heart and soul to delight with the greatest of gratitude that you have been called and chosen by the Great I AM.

Love Melissa Norris

Messy Poems and Not So Private Prayers

https://mymessypoems.com/

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