We are Known, Loved Children of God - by Joe Lapazinski

As we approach Thanksgiving I recall how we move in an “attitude of gratitude”.  There are many things that come to mind that we are thankful for in the natural world in which we live and breathe.  It can be a challenge to “see” the spiritual and natural realms as one realm. The Word of God can lead us to keep the spiritual realm in focus as we live out our daily lives. Thank you Holy Spirit for leading us today. God intimately knows us. He made us mysteriously complex children of God! Everything that God has done is marvelously breathtaking!  Standing in this light, we can regularly feast on the Word of God, and then rest in confidence in Him. Here are some truths from David in Psalm 139.  As you read this, which of these truths is the Spirit reminding you to Engage in this week?     O Lord, you have examined my heart     and know everything about me. You know when I sit down or stand up.     You know my thoughts even when I’m far away. You see me when I travel     and when I rest at home.     You know everything I do. You know what I am going to say     even before I say it, Lord. You go before me and follow me.     You place your hand of blessing on my head. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,     too great for me to understand! I can never escape from your Spirit!     I can never get away from your presence! If I go up to heaven, you are there;     if I go down to the grave, you are there. If I ride the wings of the morning,     if I dwell by the farthest oceans, even there your hand will guide me,     and your strength will support me. I could ask the darkness to hide me     and the light around me to become night— but even in darkness I cannot hide from you. To you the night shines as bright as day.     Darkness and light are the same to you. You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body     and knit me together in my mother’s womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!     Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it. You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion,     as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. You saw me before I was born.     Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out     before a single day had passed. How precious are your thoughts about me, O God.     They cannot be numbered! I can’t even count them;     they outnumber the grains of sand! And when I wake up,     you are still with me! In Christ, Joe

Let's Talk Adoption - by Brent Lokker

Me:     Did you hear the great news? You’ve been adopted by your heavenly Father!   You:    Cool, but I didn’t know I wasn’t already God’s child.   Me:     Well, you are his child, but you’ve also been adopted.   You:    Wait, huh?   Yes, you have ALWAYS been God’s child and you always will be! But the Apostle Paul, in his writings, also uses adoption language to get across a point that wouldn’t have been missed by his audience at the time.   Children adopted into a family in that day were given all the rights of the firstborn, which included a double portion of the estate. Why is that significant? Because Paul is making the point that while we are already God’s children, as a consequence of Jesus’ redeeming work, we have been adopted as sons and daughters as well, sharing in the spiritual inheritance as heirs of all that God promises. We have all the rights of the firstborn, and the firstborn of all creation is none other than Jesus (Col 1:15).   What’s his is ours! Isn’t that the heavenly exchange that’s taken place? A crown of beauty instead of ashes! The oil of joy instead of mourning! A garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair! (Is 61:3)  Does it get any better than this?   And when was this glorious decision made by our very dear Father?  The stunning truth is that you’ve always been his and you were adopted before the foundation of the world!   “Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes.  God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ.This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great delight.” Ephesians 1:4-5 (NLT)   This is what HE wanted to do—by his choice—to make a covenant with us of astonishing proportions. Always for us, never against us, blessing us at every turn by including us in Christ’s death and resurrection so that everything that belongs to Jesus is ours. Everything.   The Son stands first in the line of humanity he restored. We see the original and intended shape of our lives there in him. After God made that decision of what his children should be like, he followed it up by calling people by name. After he called them by name, he set them on a solid basis with himself. And then, after getting them established, he stayed with them to the end, gloriously completing what he had begun.So, what do you think? With God on our side like this, how can we lose? Romans 8:29-31 (MSG) How can we lose? It’s abundantly clear that because of what Christ has done…we can’t!

Encountering A Loving Father - by Brent Lokker

We’re all on a lifetime journey but we often don’t know where that journey is supposed to take us. What if our primary purpose in life is to be loved? Could it be that simple? When each of my sons were born, it was that simple.   Cradling each son when he was born, my emotions burst forth and I wept tears of wonder and awe. I couldn’t help it! It was a miracle beyond words. The sheer joy of tenderly securing each of my tiny, beautiful sons in my trembling hands was extremely moving. I felt so much love for my sons and I took great pleasure in them too. They were perfect! And here is a stunning truth: my sons couldn’t do a single thing for me to make me love them. No, I loved them with an extreme passion and I was wildly pleased with them for one reason alone: they were mine! My intense feelings of delight for them gripped me to the core of my being as I thought, How can I already love you this much?   These feelings of love and pleasure are the very same ones that your heavenly Father has for you every second of every day. His tender sentiments for you never change. You are that tiny, helpless baby in the outstretched hands of your heavenly Papa all the time. The stunning truth is that you can’t do a single thing to make Him love you. He just does. Your Father loves you, not for what you do or don’t do for Him, but because you are His. Period. He’s thrilled with you! He gazes upon you in amazement and says, My precious child, you have no idea what you do to Me. You are Mine. You’re beautiful and you’re everything I always wanted. When I made you, you were My dream fulfilled!   “You must see what great love the Father has lavished on us by letting us be called God’s children—which is what we are!” (1 John 3:1)