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.
- Identity – “This is my Son.”
- Love – “Whom I love”
- Pleasure – “With Him I am well pleased”
- 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.