He is my Father

Fiction in books or movies sometimes tells of a person who discovers they are not the natural child of their parents but were adopted. In most of these stories, that news is not welcome or at least very shocking. My imagination takes me there at times. Was I adopted? Did my parents pick me from a list of available infants? If that were true, how would I react? Would I be glad that I had been selected? Or dismayed that no one told me?

In the spiritual realm, the idea of adoption is good news. Scripture tells me that I have been taken from a life of bondage to sin and put into the household and family of God.

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!” (Romans 8:15)

The question is: do I know it? Do I really understand the implications of being an adopted child of God? Or does that old spirit of bondage still rule my innermost attitudes? The change that comes to a person when they discover that they are adopted is often negative, at least at first. However, for a sinful person who cannot break free from the habits of sin and discovers that a spiritual adoption has taken place — this should be the greatest news, a news that brings great comfort and joy to the heart.

So the question is what idea rules? As today’s devotional says, no amount of wrestling or agonizing, no prayers and no effort, can bring comfort while the “spirit of adoption” is missing. Yet this is something to realize rather than receive. It is that discovery that God is my Father and I am His child. Whatever focus I have will be reflected in how I think about my relationship with Him. The emphasis for these past few days is that God is my Father beyond any other thought about Him. Yes, He is King, Judge, Lawgiver, Provider, and a host of other things, but that Father-child relationship puts all other notions about Him into perspective.

The great need for every soul is this supreme discovery. Read what Christ says about the Father and how the NT repeats that truth and believe it. How sad for anyone who will not:

Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony. (John 3:11)

The implication of not believing is serious business concerning the authority of Christ:

Whoever believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. Whoever does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne concerning his Son. (1 John 5:10)

By not believing, I would be saying God is a liar. If that is so, where then is truth? Society says whatever each person believes is true is “true for them” causing all sorts of contradictions in theology, and life itself. A careful reading of today’s verses also shows that this rejection of God’s truth means the rule of a spirit of slavery (to sin and selfishness) and the rule of fear which is characteristic of that bondage.

PRAY: Our Father, my Father, how blessed to know that You adopted me and are setting me free from bondage and fear. I can trust You with all my heart for You are worthy and true. Thank You for the freedom that being adopted has given me.

Keeping promises

Genesis 15; Nehemiah 4; Matthew 14; Acts 14

When intensely praying for someone in our family who is far from faith and whose lifestyle shows it, God interrupted me and clearly said, “She is mine.”

I was startled, tried to pray again. Again, He stopped me with this unexpected but incredible promise, “She is mine.” It was not verbal, but a clear impression in my mind. I was surprised more by the content than by hearing Him speak.

It should not have been a shock. God is into doing that sort of thing, not often yet He has a history of making promises to do what looks impossible to the person hearing it. For instance,

After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.” But Abram said, “O Lord God, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?” And Abram said, “Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir.” And behold, the word of the Lord came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir.” And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” (Genesis 15:1–5)

The very next verse is well known and often quoted. It says: “And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.” (Genesis 15:6)

God’s promises are many. Some are like this one — made to a person and later fulfilled. Some are to His people and are usually conditional. Others are for anyone who believes Him.

In Nehemiah’s case, God gave him the task of rebuilding the crumbled wall around Jerusalem. This means this task should and would be done, like a promise, only it was not without a great deal of opposition and struggle. I rather suspect that this will be true concerning our family member. We will pray for her and battle spiritual enemies as God takes claim of her soul and redeems her from her entrapment.

Walking with Jesus is not automatic success either. John the Baptist believed but was beheaded (Matthew 14:1-12). However, it has its high points. The disciples had five loaves and two fish for a crowd of at least 5000 and Jesus multiplied that little bit to feed all of them. They wound up with leftovers (Matthew 14:13-21). After that, He walked on water and Peter joined Him, at least for a little while until the wind and waves overwhelmed his faith (Matthew 14:22-33). Yet in these incidents, His disciples were able to say, “Truly you are the Son of God.” (14:33)

Later after Jesus had been crucified, resurrected and ascended to heaven, the disciples faced both opposition and victories as they trusted the promises of God and did as He asked them to do. They shared the Gospel; some believed and some tried to kill them. They healed the sick; some praised God and others praised them, thinking they were gods like Zeus and Hermes. They pressed on, not relying on results as their motivation but on the Word of the Lord. (Acts 14)

This both comforts and convicts me. My mother had this written in her Bible: “God says it. I believe it. That settles it.” Sometimes this is easy but sometimes my faith takes a nosedive when I see that my prayers are not quickly answered or there is no evidence at all of God working according to His promises.

Abraham needed to hear several times the promise of God concerning his heir. When he didn’t see anything happening, he did what so many of us do — he took matters into his own hands and threw a large monkey wrench into the plan. That is also a lesson for me. God might say it and I might believe it, but if His timetable does not match mine, or if I see no progress toward the goal, I can get anxious, even pushy when patience is required. I know better; patience is produced by God through the Holy Spirit:

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. (Galatians 5:22–23)

So believing like Abraham, working like Nehemiah, and walking with Jesus requires His grace and the fullness of His Spirit. My part? Just ask: Lord, fill me today that I might live by Your promises.

Don’t keep my faith to myself . . .

In New Testament days, Rome was the center of the known world. This is one of the reasons that Paul could make this statement in his letter to the church in Rome:

“First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world.” (Romans 1:8)

In Christian circles today, some churches have that reputation, such as the Yoido Full Gospel Church in South Korea and a few in North America that have been noticed around the world. However, Paul was not talking about numbers, but their faith.

What makes faith the mark of the church at Rome? Another letter from Paul clarifies what he was saying. This one was to the Christians in Thessalonica:

“For not only has the word of the Lord sounded forth from you in Macedonia and Achaia, but your faith in God has gone forth everywhere, so that we need not say anything.” (1 Thessalonians 1:8)

Note the wording is about them sharing their faith everywhere. Paul did not need to say anything to this church because they were doing what they were supposed to do. They had turned from idols to serve the living and true God (verse 9) and were waiting for the return of Christ as they told others about what He had done to save sinners from eternal punishment. They had filled their world with the good news, just as the church at Rome was doing and for this Paul was thankful.

Tozer says that true faith means believing everything God has said about Himself and about us. Until we believe that we are as bad as God says we are, we can never believe that He will do for us what He says He will do. The sad part about Christianity today is that many who proclaim to believe “never quite accept the severity of God or the depravity of man.” Instead, most would rather stress God’s goodness and human misfortune. For these, our sin is merely a ‘pardonable frailty’ and God is not concerned about it. He merely wants us to trust in His goodness.

This belief system is one characteristic of the “emerging church” with proponents that have decided they can pick and choose whatever they want to believe rather than accepting that God speaks and faith believes Him, like it or not. They don’t realize their ‘faith’ is in their own ideas and not in God.

Sadly, this ‘faith’ appeals to the independence of people, an independence that turns hearts away from loving and obeying God with, “I will rule my own life.” Such an attitude also describes what the Bible calls sin.

Tozer says, “To hope for heaven by means of such faith is to drive in the dark across a deep chasm on a bridge that doesn’t quite reach the other side.”

^^^^^^^^^^

Jesus, Your Word says, “Without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.” (Hebrews 11:6) One of those rewards is that You forgive sin and extend to sinners new life, eternal life. It is not earned or deserved — only given to those who believe in You. Even faith (the ability to believe) is a gift from God for without it, no one will even seek You, let alone believe in You and in what Your Word says.

Only God?

If put in a dark cave without food like the soccer boys in Thailand, and even without another person to talk to, would I be at rest knowing that God is with me? Some days, I think I would be okay with that, but I cannot know for sure unless it really happened. God promises to be enough for me yet could I be content with having everything else taken from me?

Tozer says, “Being lonely in this world will only drive you to a closer communion with the God who has promised never to leave you or forsake you. He is altogether good and He is faithful. He will never break His covenant or alter that which has gone from His mouth. He has promised to keep you as the apple of His eye. He has promised to watch over you as a mother watches over her child.”

His Old Testament people were able to praise Him in many situations. One high moment was when they were delivered from bondage in Egypt. Moses and God’s people sang a song that included these words:

“The Lord is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation; this is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him.” (Exodus 15:2)

Life does have its high moments, but there are rough spots too. In the ups and downs of life, my worship tends to a similar pattern. There are great times of sensing His presence and focusing on nothing else. There are lows when I am stressed, forgetful of His faithfulness or worse, indifferent to His promises.

Thankfully, God is not like me. My estimate of my spiritual condition can be based on emotions, thoughts buzzing through my head, or the circumstances around me, but God never does that. He evaluates who I am and what is true about me according to Jesus Christ. As a current favorite chorus says, “I am a child of God.” As the Bible says, I am a new creation, redeemed and safe in the arms of Jesus.

Some days, a strong poke in the ribs or a slap on the side of the head is needed to remind me that God is my strength and my song, that Jesus Christ is my Savior (I am not), and that I ought to be praising Him rather than feeling blue or feeling sorry for myself. The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not be lacking anything — even if I was alone, in darkness, and without anything or anyone else.

^^^^^^^^

Jesus, there are days when I feel alone, abandoned, helpless and hopeless. You promise to never leave or forsake me. You are my strength and can put songs in my heart. You have saved me from sin and I need to use the energy You give to praise You and lift Your name on high — in or out of the valleys.