Tag: adopted

Posted on

Do You Hear It?

How many of you have seen the movie “Ever After: A Cinderella Story”? It’s been nearly 30 years since it was released but it’s a movie I enjoy watching over again.

A Cinderella story. Reminds me of my life with Christ. Let me explain.

I grew up thinking I had to work hard enough, be good enough, and then, possibly, God would really love me. My relationship with the Lord was based on me and what I was doing – right or wrong – and not on God’s grace.

When the Lord opened my eyes to His grace and I found my righteousness in Him, it was like I have been fitted with the glass slipper. My value, my worth, was not in my efforts but in who He created me to be.

In this movie, Cinderella is abducted and is taken to the castle of an evil lord. Prince Charming comes to rescue her – I know it cheesy right?

But let me ask you, how many times have you found yourself in a situation where you felt imprisoned by circumstances out of your control? That’s when we truly come to recognize God’s grace and mercy.

His promise to never abandon us becomes as real as our next breath.

In the movie, as the Prince arrives to rescue her, for the first time he calls her by her real name. She says “…Say the part where you call me by name again.” And then he says her name, Danielle, and declares his love. AWWWW!

Even now, that phrase touches me. You see, I remember the first time I really heard the Lord call me by name. In my heart, I heard Him say “Kristi”. His voice was soft and low, kind and filled with love.

“Do not be afraid. For I have bought you and made you free. I have called you by name. You are Mine! 2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you. When you pass through the rivers, they will not flow over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned. The fire will not destroy you. 3 For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, Who saves you.” Isaiah 43:1-3 NLT

Can you imagine? The voice of God calling your name, what a joy!

Then I remembered that God called others by name as well it started with Adam & Eve; Noah, David, Daniel, Jeremiah, Zacchaeus, the disciples, Mary at the garden tomb, Saul on the road to Damascus and John on the Isle of Patmos; all of these and more had that same wonderful experience of hearing God call them by name.

God the Father has called us by name as well. Yes, He has! In His love He called our name telling us that He has a plan for our lives; a plan to be in fellowship and relationship with Him; a plan of adoption so that we can call Him “Abba Father.”

Hearing God speak our name isn’t a one-time experience, limited only to the day we accepted Him as Savior. How sad it would be if that were true.

Daily God is calling our name and telling us He loves us. Do we hear it or are we too busy and distracted? Take time to listen…and take time to respond.

Can you imagine how it thrills His heart to hear us say, “Abba Father, I love you. I want to spend time with you today.”?

Posted on

Shining a Light on #1

Do you remember the blogs I posted in January? I said I wanted us to start the year focused on the Father’s love. Well, here we are halfway through the year and I think it might be time for a refresher course.

This morning, I found myself starting to read through the book of Ephesians – again! It really is one of my favorite letters that Paul wrote. For the next little while, I will be sharing thoughts with you from his writings. I encourage you to read it along with me and let the Holy Spirit speak to you personally.

“I pray that God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ will be kind to you and will bless you with peace!

3 Praise the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ for the spiritual blessings that Christ has brought us from heaven! 4 Before the world was created, God had Christ choose us to live with him and to be his holy and innocent and loving people. 5 God was kind and decided that Christ would choose us to be God’s own adopted children. 6 God treated us with undeserved grace because of the Son he dearly loves, and so we should praise God.” Ephesians 1:2-6 CEV

Now, that’s a lot to grab hold of and it’s only the first six verses of the book!

You and I – WE – have been chosen before the world began to receive God the Father’s kindness and blessing of peace. Christ brought spiritual blessings from heaven to earth and gave them to us because He choose us to be God’s very own children.

We have done nothing, nor can we do anything, to earn this adoption. It has been given to us as a free gift of undeserved grace.

Do you know what the the word unmerited means? Merriam/Webster defines it this way: not adequately earned or deserved : not merited

We could not adequately earn or deserve God’s favor. It is freely given, a precious gift of paramount importance. It’s free but it isn’t cheap. It is the most costly gift that we will ever be offered because it required the life of the giver.

“Christ sacrificed his life’s blood to set us free, which means our sins are now forgiven. Christ did this because of God’s gift of undeserved grace to us. God has great wisdom and understanding, 9 and by what Christ has done, God has shown us his own mysterious ways. 10 Then when the time is right, God will do all he has planned, and Christ will bring together everything in heaven and on earth. 11 God always does what he plans, and this is why he appointed Christ to choose us.” Ephesians 1:8-11 CEV

Our sins are forgiven because of God’s grace!

Oh yes, God is very kind to us. Our hearts should be filled with peace because of His amazing love. There’s only one thing we should do after being offered such a wonderful gift. We should accept it humbly and then spend the rest of our days thanking Him for choosing us.

We should shine a light on the One who gave His all for us.

Posted on

Heavenly Father Watches Over Me

Do you know that our Father loves us dearly and watches over us carefully?

Have you seen a new mother watching over her baby? She responds to every squirm and squeak. Then as the child grows, she tries to shield it from scratches or scrapes, germs or harmful things. That nurturing heart comes from Father God. This little child is part of its mother and she is committed to its welfare.

Do you think the Father cares any less for us than we do for our own children? Even when we disappoint Him, our Father is there for us. He does not and will not abandon us! As the scripture in Matthew 6 reminds us, if he sees the sparrow and the lily and cares for them how much more does He watch over and provide for us.

Where are we going today? Where have we been?

There’s no place we can go or are now that He doesn’t go with us. He has promised to never leave us or forsake, (I love that word) us. We can rest in the Father’s love. Trust Him on the freeway, at our job, in the grocery store. Trust Him with our broken heart and our weary body. Trust Him with our finances, with our spouse and children. He is faithful!

“You have looked deep into my heart, Lord, and you know all about me. 2 You know when I am resting or when I am working, and from heaven you discover my thoughts. 3 You notice everything I do and everywhere I go. 4 Before I even speak a word, you know what I will say, 5 and with your powerful arm you protect me from every side. 6 I can’t understand all of this! Such wonderful knowledge is far above me. 7 Where could I go to escape from your Spirit or from your sight? 8 If I were to climb up to the highest heavens, you would be there. If I were to dig down to the world of the dead you would also be there. 9 Suppose I had wings like the dawning day and flew across the ocean. 10 Even then your powerful arm would guide and protect me. 11 Or suppose I said, ‘I’ll hide in the dark until night comes to cover me over.’ 12 But you see in the dark because daylight and dark are all the same to you. 13 You are the one who put me together inside my mother’s body, 14 and I praise you because of the wonderful way you created me. Everything you do is marvelous! Of this I have no doubt. 15 Nothing about me is hidden from you! I was secretly woven together deep in the earth below, 16 but with your own eyes you saw my body being formed. Even before I was born, you had written in your book everything I would do. 17 Your thoughts are far beyond my understanding, much more than I could ever imagine. 18 I try to count your thoughts, but they outnumber the grains of sand on the beach. And when I awake, I will find you nearby.” Psalm 139:1-18 CEV

We are not alone – our Father is always watching over us with care!

Posted on

Happy Endings

I am one of those people who like happy endings. You know, the kind that come in the last ten minutes of Hallmark movies, Chick Flicks and musicals. The music softens, broken hearts are mended, true love reveals what was held secret and the kiss…awww.

As I read my Bible this morning I realized I was coming to a happy ending of my own. I know I told you that I am following one of those “Read through your Bible in a year” plans. About a month ago I marked off how much I have read and separated out how many more pages I will read to complete the year. This morning I counted and there are only one hundred seventy-nine pages to go to finish the year. Amazing.

However, that doesn’t mean I’m done, it just means that starting on January 1 I will begin again and discover new truths that I have overlooked or forgotten about. The Bible is the living word of God. It never changes; God never changes but as we grow spiritually we understand more and the truths become more profound.

Happy Endings.

God is the author of happy endings. He has made wonderful promises to all of us who love Him. He created heaven for our enjoyment. These are His words in the next to the last chapter of Revelation, the last book in the Bible.

“I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, “Look, God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them.4 He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.”

5 And the one sitting on the throne said, “Look, I am making everything new!” And then he said to me, “Write this down, for what I tell you is trustworthy and true.” 6 And he also said, “It is finished! I am the Alpha and the Omega—the Beginning and the End. To all who are thirsty I will give freely from the springs of the water of life. 7 All who are victorious will inherit all these blessings, and I will be their God, and they will be my children.” Revelation 21:3-7 NLT

Happy Endings.

There’s another happy ending that I read about this morning. It is the account of the blessings we received when Jesus life on earth was ended. The circumstances around His death were horrendous but the final result was glorious.

“What we do see is Jesus, who for a little while was given a position “a little lower than the angels”; and because he suffered death for us, he is now “crowned with glory and honor.” Yes, by God’s grace, Jesus tasted death for everyone. 10 God, for whom and through whom everything was made, chose to bring many children into glory. And it was only right that he should make Jesus, through his suffering, a perfect leader, fit to bring them into their salvation.

11 So now Jesus and the ones he makes holy have the same Father. That is why Jesus is not ashamed to call them his brothers and sisters. 12 For he said to God, “I will proclaim your name to my brothers and sisters.  I will praise you among your assembled people.”

13 He also said, “I will put my trust in him,” that is, “I and the children God has given me.” 14 Because God’s children are human beings—made of flesh and blood—the Son also became flesh and blood. For only as a human being could he die, and only by dying could he break the power of the devil, who had the power of death. 15 Only in this way could he set free all who have lived their lives as slaves to the fear of dying.

16 We also know that the Son did not come to help angels; he came to help the descendants of Abraham. 17 Therefore, it was necessary for him to be made in every respect like us, his brothers and sisters, so that he could be our merciful and faithful High Priest before God. Then he could offer a sacrifice that would take away the sins of the people. 18 Since he himself has gone through suffering and testing, he is able to help us when we are being tested.” Hebrews 2:9-18 NLV

You might need to re-read that. Take it all in – talk about your happy ending, this is it!

Jesus became flesh and blood like us, he died for us breaking the power of the devil over our lives and presented us to the Father as his brothers and sisters. He gave his life so that we could live a life in right relationship with God. He is able to help us each day of our lives, helping us when we are suffering and going through testing.

I love that Jesus has provided a happy ending!

Privacy Policy Proudly powered by WordPress