Tag: Child of God

Daddy Issues

Today’s readings are 1 Kings 3, 2 Chronicles 1, Psalm 42, and Romans 8.

This weekend my 10-year-old son Deklin and I attended DADCAMP which is a camp for Dads to bring their son or daughter from 1st grade up through high school. It was an amazing experience I won’t forget, and hope Deklin won’t either. DADCAMP is a Christ-centered. biblical organization with a focus on inspiring Dads to be the best Dad they can be. Check out https://www.dadcamp.info/our-story.html for more info.

At DADCAMP they spoke about how 80% of those incarcerated have an absent father. Younger generations are leaving the church and their faith at the largest rates ever, yet when a Dad follows Jesus, 93% of the time so will his children.

I’m always amazed at how when we dig into God’s Word, He speaks to us directly related to what is going on in our lives. 1 Kings 3:3 says…

“Solomon loved the Lord, walking in the statues of David his father…”

We know not only did Solomon follow God, but he ultimately showed his level of commitment by building a temple to honor Him. We see right here in the Word where David followed God, and as a result, so did his son Solomon.  This still holds true today.

At DADCAMP we covered a book called, Father God:Daring to Draw Near by Dave Patty. This book discusses how there are 2 conversations recorded with God the Father and Jesus in Matthew 3:16-17 and Matthew 17:5. In these verses, we find God the Father communicates 4 things to Jesus, His Son.

  1. Identity – “This is my Son.”
  2. Love – “Whom I love”
  3. Pleasure – “With Him I am well pleased”
  4. Place – “Listen to Him!”

The author Dave Patty says the following…

  • Identity gives value
  • Love brings security
  • Pleasure gives motivation
  • Place brings honor

We see how God the Father felt about His Son. Not so ironically, Romans 8:12-17 tells us as a result of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross, we who believe are now children of God. In fact, those verses in my Bible are under the heading “Heirs with Christ.”

12 So then, brothers,[a] we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh. 13 For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons[b] of God. 15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” 16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with Him.

You can read for yourself here where when you believe you are now seen in the same way as Jesus, as a child of God who is glorified with Him. This tells us we now have an identity which brings value, love which brings security, pleasure which gives us motivation, and place which brings us honor from our Heavenly Father.

Romans 8:37-39 expands on this to tell us we are victorious, and nothing will separate us from His love and the way God feels about us now that we are His children through Jesus.

37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Some reading this may not have had the best relationship with your own father, but we can all go forth and live life with confidence based on the relationship with have with our Heavenly Father through Jesus.

 

Equally Qualified

Today’s reading is Isaiah 56.

The prophet Isaiah foretells of Jesus’ coming and describes how God’s salvation would be for all people, not just those of Jewish descent. For this most of us reading this should be extremely thankful, as we may not come from a Jewish heritage. In Isaiah 56:8, God says He will “gather the outcasts of Israel.” In Isaiah 56:7, He says He will make His house of prayer one for “all peoples.” Earlier in Isaiah 56:6 and the beginning of Isaiah 56:7 He uses the pronoun “everyone” when describing those who keep His covenant. And even more exciting in a reference to eternal life in Heaven, He says He will bring these people to His “holy mountain.” These days we hear a lot about diversity and inclusion. It should be no surprise that God was ahead of what the rest of the world is just now latching on to. God’s love, grace, and opportunity for eternal life is for everyone. We are all equal and blameless in the eyes of the Lord when confess our sins and admit the only way we will be right with Him is through Jesus’ saving grace on the cross.

My challenge for us Christians today is to reflect on whether or not our thoughts are representing the reality that Jesus came for every human being we see and interact with. We commonly say to our kids, “Dislike the sin, love the sinner.” We can love someone who sins by a certain action we do not agree with, and my sin, albeit maybe different, is equally as bad in God’s eyes and separates me from God eternally without Jesus. This is a true statement and a good one to adhere to in my opinion. But in addition to that, what are my thoughts when I see someone who dresses in a way I would not? What are my thoughts when I see someone who’s hair is done in a way I would never dream of or has a tattoo or a piercing in a place I wouldn’t? Am I immediately judgmental thinking, why would anyone do that to themselves? Or, do I think like I should and see them as a child of God who is equally qualified for the same amount of God’s forgiveness and grace that I have been given through Jesus if they have also given their heart to him? What are my first thoughts?

Let us Christ followers move forward monitoring our thoughts and focusing on seeing each and every individual the way God does, as a child of His who He came to die for and who is loved and forgiven the same  through Jesus’ grace on the cross.

What Does Adam Have To Do With Me?

Today we start a new series of focusing on people from the Bible, and appropriately today, we begin with Adam as we read Genesis 1:26-2:17.

As I read these verses, I asked myself….what can we learn from God’s creation of Adam and his message to him? What does that mean for me today? Two themes jumped out to me.

Theme #1

Find your identity through God in Jesus Christ.

Genesis 1:26 reads, “Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, after our likeness…’” As a side note, the use of the word “our” is the first sign of the Trinity and that Jesus and the Holy Spirit were there in the beginning. John 1 also reiterates that Jesus, the Word, was there in the beginning. Genesis 1:27 also reads, “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God He created him, male and female he created them.” The word image means shadow or shade. If God created us in his image, similar to Him, that tells us how highly he thinks of us and how much he loves us. He didn’t have to make us in His image similar to Him. He could have made us completely different. He created us because He wanted a relationship with us. That is why we exist. We should find our identity, and take peace, in that.

Theme #2

God gives us responsibilities that we are called to fulfill and calls us to use our God-given gifts and abilities to the absolute best we can.

In Genesis 1:26 He says….”And let them have dominion over the fish of the seas and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth…” He reiterates this again in Genesis 1:28-30 and again in Genesis in 2:15 which says, “The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work and keep it.”

What has God put you in charge of? What responsibilities has He given you…your family, money, career, and other things? Maybe you are young and not sure if any of these fit yet, but He has given you the responsibility to “work,” and use your God-given abilities and talents to the absolute best you can. And yes, He has given you some great talents and abilities to use in a big way… whether your realize it yet or not because He created you in His image! Colossians 3:23-24 are a few of my favorite verses. They read, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as though you were working for the Lord and not for human beings. Remember that the Lord will give you as a reward what He has kept for His people. For Christ is the real Master you serve.” We do not get our identity from our work, only from Him, but we are called to “work in the garden and keep it” to the best we can.

Let us pray to help us remember these lessons from the creation of Adam and God’s message to him…

Lord, thank you for creating me in your image which you didn’t have to do. Please help me find my identity in that today and everyday..knowing I’m a child of yours who you created out of love to have a relationship with you and to do big things and impact others by using the talents and gifts you’ve given me to the absolute best I can. I’m humbled by this blessing and responsibility. I love you. Amen.

Children of God

Today’s Reading: 1 John 3:1-3

See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2 Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears[a] we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. 3 And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.

We are blessed to have three beautiful children.  Jackson, Marshall, and Gianna.  Just 5 weeks since the birth of Gianna I can still pause and reflect on the amazing gift of birth.  Yet, no matter my love for them, it doesn’t compare to our verses today. I’m reminded about the love of our Father. reading our verses today reminds me of the love from our Father.  He loves us and our children more than we can imagine, inviting us into His family forever.  Just like when I paused to remember the birth of our children it’s more important to pause and land of the fact that we are part of God’s family. He’s adopted us  How amazing is that?  Our children, our siblings, our parents.  No matter our last names, origins, or any other family dynamic we are members of God’s family.  Amen!

Ephesians 1: 4-7 says  4 even as He chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love 5 he predestined us[b] for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, 

Often people will say we are  images of our parents, or our children have various characteristics that are similar to our caregivers. Actually,  we are reflections of our Heavenly Father.  We are reflections of our Father now, and we always will be.  This is something we should be growing towards each day.  It’s not easy. Our Christian life is a journey of growing more Christlike daily.

I remember running away from home when I was younger, I remember times when I didn’t want to come home when I was out doing my own things, I remember even times when I didn’t claim my family.  I was set on the world and the lies it can bring making you believe you can do it all on our own.  The truth is we have a Father.  A Father who loves us before we knew ourselves, who loves us now more than we can ever imagine.  A Father who calls us His own. One day we will come face-to-face with our Lord.  What an amazing day this will be.

Philippians 3:20-21  But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.

This Hillsong Worship song reminds me of our verses today. Enjoy!

Who am I that the highest King
Would welcome me
I was lost but He brought me in
Oh His love for me

Who the Son sets free
Oh is free indeed
I’m a child of God
Yes I am

Free at last He has ransomed me
His grace runs deep
While I was a slave to sin
Jesus died for me
Yes He died for me

Who the Son sets free
Oh is free indeed
I’m a child of God
Yes I am
In my Father’s house
There’s a place for me
I’m a child of God
Yes I am

 

Yes I am!