A Child of the King

I recently came across this vision.

One day I was crying out to God and telling Him, “I don’t have a good testimony, I’ve grown up in the church and … you know I’ve grown up around the things of the Lord. I don’t have a great testimony like some of these people have.” And God answered my prayer and He said, “Let Me tell you what has actually happened in your life.” Immediately I saw myself as a small child and I was dressed in rags. I was a slave amongst hundreds of millions of people. There were chains about our ankles and we were slowly walking on our way to death. We were so sad, so oppressed, and so lifeless. As we were stumbling along on our way to certain death, we passed by this beautiful palace. The doors swung open and this beautiful King came through the midst of the crowd. He came right up to me, he pointed at me and He said, “You! I choose you. I want to be your Father; would you like to be My child? I want to adopt you, and take you into My kingdom and raise you as My child. Do you want that?” I instantly replied, “Yes!”
Immediately I was taken into the courts of the Lord. I was rushed off by these maids. These maids took me, they scrubbed me down, they groomed me, and they dressed me in the most beautiful robes. When they stood me before the King, I will never forget what happened next. The King got down on His knee, He looked me right in the eye and said, “You have to get one thing straight. From this day forward I am your Father and you are My child. You are never, ever to think or act or behave or dress like a slave again. You are royalty.” Something inside of me happened and I knew who I was! I knew it would so desperately break His heart for me to act like a slave when He was my Father who loved me and wanted me to be His child. Oftentimes we are in His courts and we still think like slaves.” And that was the end of the vision.

And then this hymn. It was written in 1877 by Harriet E. Buell


My Father is rich in houses and lands,
He holdeth the wealth of the world in His hands!
Of rubies and diamonds, of silver and gold,
His coffers are full, He has riches untold.
I'm a child of the King,
A child of the King:
With Jesus my Savior,
I'm a child of the King.
My Father's own Son, the Savior of men,
Once wandered on earth as the poorest of them:
But now He is pleading our pardon on high.
That we may be His, when He comes by and by.
I once was an outcast, stranger on earth,
A sinner by choice, an alien by birth.
But I've been adopted, my name's written down,
An heir to a mansion, a robe and a crown.
A tent or a cottage, why should I care?
They're building a palace for me over there;
Though exiled from home, yet still may I sing;
All glory to God. I'm a child of the King.