What We Are

“See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!” (1 John 3:1 NIV).

 Do we really grasp what we have been given?  We are children of God because of Jesus Christ our Lord.  We have been given everything from the riches of heaven.  We are heirs in His kingdom and cannot be displaced or separated from Him as His child.

No matter who we are … whether we are rich or poor, neglected or privileged, forgotten or remembered or loved or unloved … there is a God who loves us. Beyond all circumstances, relationships, needs and pain there is a Heavenly Father who loves all the people of the world without partiality (Romans 2:11).  There is not one person alive on this earth that He does not desire to adopt as His child through the redemption and grace of Jesus Christ.

All who come to Him and become children of God are given riches that do not fade or pass away and satisfy every need of the soul.  All who come to Him are given a secure and the blessed relationship that is overflowing with the goodness and richness of God as our Heavenly Father throughout our days on this earth and into the fullness of eternity.  Our Heavenly Father knows everything about us and desires to give us everything that will nourish and sustain us as He makes and forms us into His true children, reflecting His love and grace.  He has placed this precious gift of true and full relationship into our hands as a free gift through Jesus Christ our Lord. In that relationship we also become heir to the riches of the Father who freely gives “more than we can ask or think” (Ephesians 3:20).

We are all poor in ourselves and lost in our sins but we can all become children of God and heirs with Christ to the great inheritance of riches in grace that comes in our precious relationship with our Heavenly Father.  We can know we have a Father loving us more dearly than we can ever imagine. No matter what we face or endure, we have in Christ … abundantly more than we need to be victorious in it by the constant power and presence of the Holy Spirit .   We have been given a relationship and inheritance beyond our understanding.  Rejoice in it, treasure it, be ever aware and thankful for it. Live fully as a child of God for that is what we are!

 “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.  For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, ‘Abba, Father!’ (Romans 8:14-15 KJV).

 Suggested Bible Reading Romans 8 & 1 John 3

 

Tears and Joy

How can it be that our eyes can overflow with liquid emotion and our hearts can ache with intense joy at the same time? How can it be that the journey between tears and joy is as short a time span as it takes to wipe away a tear and touch the place where your heart is overflowing with joyous emotion?

What do tears have to do with joy? During the moments of intense stirrings in our heart we may feel joy intermingled with tears as we can experience both overwhelming emotion and elation because of the deeply held connections in relationships or ib the convictions of faith or belief. Holding a newborn child or hearing expressions of love from someone who loves us which overflow with feeling and significance might bring tears and joy. Seeing something special or rare with our eyes can bring tears and joy intermingling with each other because of an incredible vibrant sunset in the physical world or a moment of compassion, reconciliation or forgiveness in the relational realm between estranged or distanced family members or friends.

Sometimes the joyous realities of the love of God and His ever-flowing grace towards us in our need for salvation and forgiveness can become overpowering to our senses and our emotions to elicit both tears and joy at the same moment.

At other times, tears flow from our deepest anguish when words falter and fail. They can seem to come from an endless source of heartbreak as they bathe our face as grief and sorrow pour forth. These tears ache with questions and broken-ness in endless waiting and joy cannot be seen or much less found. At times our tears come as think of our gracious and loving God and remember His grace as we travel through difficulty or repentance.

Jesus walks with us, throughout all of our days upon the earth gifting and granting us incredible experiences with Him. He celebrates with us in those joyous times and weeps with us in our deepest anguishes. In addition, He waits for us to join Him in eternity when “Death is swallowed up forever, and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces” (Isaiah 25:8). This is really too deep for us to really comprehend. It is beyond our human understanding to comprehend an eternity when our tears will be wiped away and our joy will be fulfilled in the presence of our Lord forever. Still, we get a tiny glimpse and small sense of those feelings in the blessings we have when we experience tears and joy at the same time.

And it will be said in that day:
“Behold, this is our God; We have waited for Him, and He will save us.
This is the Lord; We have waited for Him; We will be glad and rejoice in His salvation.” Isaiah 25:9

 

The warm Place

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows (James 1:17, NIV)

In most places on the earth there are seasons where life in its elaborate and complex multifaceted forms unfolds and enfolds with times of new life, growth, rest and the passing away of what was before. In most places there are also changes in the temperatures of the seasons and the colors that associated with each of those chapters of the year. As each season transitions from the old to the new, people might long for a particular season to linger or for the new season to come with haste. For instance, as winter passes with its white and cold, people long for the new life of spring and are anxious for the warmth of summer.

As the seasons change and as we go through good days and bad, it is always good to remember the faithfulness of God in the days that have passed by. No matter what you have gone through, He was there with you. As you look back on the blessings and what you have been privileged to be granted as gifts of grace, we can be thankful. As your life changed and as you aged, felt joy or adjusted to difficulties or pain … He has not changed. His mercies were upon you.

It is a comfort to know the warm place that we have in our relationship with our gracious Heavenly Father. It is not a place of coldness nor is it a place of extreme uncomfortable conditions such as searing heat but a place of true warmth and joy.

His love is steadfast. His interest which is ever protective and ever watchful … it has never turned from gazing upon your life. His loving comfort is always being applied through the presence of the Spirit and is even now being applied, even if we are just slightly aware. Yet we are given more, as our God, also brings new mercies to us to add to all we have. Amazing! Be thankful for His great love, no matter what the season and know this same love is the only real hope for all the seasons to come. This is by far the most important reality and truth of His great love for us as His children. As we dwell with our Heavenly Father in the relationship as His child, it is a warm place of comfort, strength and provision beyond compare. Take time to rest in the warm place, God will always provide. It is a warm place like no other.

“This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope. It is of the LORD’S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness” (Lamentations 3:21-23 KJV).

Made Precious

Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us (Romans 5:1, NLT).

We can hold in our hands, objects that are deemed precious because of their intrinsic value in their content such as precious metals or jewels. We can also hole in our hands, things that have become precious in their rarity as they have accumulated or been assessed great values such as antiques, collectible items of countless variety and substance.

We can treasure in our hearts and memory: moments, occasions and seasons in our relationships with others that become precious because we both value and esteem them in the highest regard because of their meaning, significance and rarity.

Yet what is most precious in our time on this earth is being precious to someone or having someone precious in our lives. It is in these invaluable relational aspects of connecting and becoming beloved or having someone beloved in our lives, that we find the most precious of all that is precious.

Even beyond our relationships with those precious to us, is the most precious of relationships with our Shepherd, Savior and our Heavenly Father. To be named precious and held as precious by Jesus as our tender Shepherd brings comfort in the most of discomforting moments. To be redeemed by a dying Lord even though we are completely unworthy, sinful and hopeless in our position and to be made holy and precious by His loving sacrifice is absolutely indescribable. To be considered precious by the Living God liberates us with a living hope beyond compare. Finally when we realize we are beloved and precious as a child of the Heavenly Father, we find a security and peace in our spirit and soul that is simply amazing. What an amazing thing it is to be loved and precious in our relationship with the Living God! Amazing, simply amazing!

Because you are precious in my eyes, and honored, and I love you, I give men in return for you, peoples in exchange for your life (Isaiah 43:4, ESV).

Suggested Reading … Isaiah 43

The Greatest Treasure in the World

“The Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure that a man discovered hidden in a field. In his excitement, he hid it again and sold everything he owned to get enough money to buy the field.” “Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a merchant on the lookout for choice pearls. When he discovered a pearl of great value, he sold everything he owned and bought it!” (Matthew 13:44-46, NLT)

If we come across a great treasure … would we not go after it with abandonment? Would we not do everything we could to claim it or do whatever is required to possess it? Would we not sell everything else, sacrifice of our time and efforts and possibly be willing to even mortgage the future because we realize the true value and worth of the treasure to us?

The true treasure of a relationship to God and to be part of His kingdom as His child through Jesus Christ is the “Greatest Treasure” one can find on this earth and yet it goes beyond our days on this earth. Thus it has more value than all the treasure of the earth. It is totally priceless. Having a relationship with the Living God as our Heavenly Father is so great and so astounding in comparison to any other treasure on the earth that to evaluate, assess, or appraise the contrasting importance to other treasures would border on absurdity and madness. Yet the “Greatest Treasure” in the world is often not even noticed or claimed even though it is freely available to all by the grace of our Savior for the taking.

Other times the priceless treasure of knowing Christ is set aside for treasures of the earth that will pass away with as valuable as moth ridden useless cloth or old rusted metal. Other times the priceless treasure of being a disciple of Christ is abused by neglect, carelessness and lack of appreciation of its real and eternal value. Other times people worry about the cost of the sacrifices in possessing the treasure of Christ while at the same time holding unto the useless treasures of the world. The greatest treasure in the world is being a child of God through Jesus Christ! When we truly seek, follow, respect and trust in Christ with all our heart … we will find and realize He is the greatest treasure and sweetest reward in this world and the only treasure which will go with us into eternity. There is no other treasure like it! There is no other treasure like it!

“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matthew 6:19-21, ESV)

Suggested Reading … Matthew 6

 

The Dwelling Place

Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” (Psalm 91:1-2, NIV)

God purposes for a relationship with us as His children are not for us to come and call on Him from time to time at our convenience as a place of visitation. His love is unlimited and extravagant for us (1 John 3:1) and His desire in that great love is abundant provision, powerful protection and to lavish upon us favor and grace as His children.

How often we knock on the door of the shelter of His love only to be lured away by glitter of false abodes that offer only momentary comforts and elusive provisions. How often we come into the shelter of God’s provision and protection only become dissatisfied and walk out the back door because we think there are better accommodations in other locales.

We cannot find rest for our eternal spirit in the transitory dwelling places that surround us nor can we really find a place of guaranteed shelter for all the days of our lives. We cannot find refuge and relief for our soul from the assaults against us in a fallen world, in our fractured, frail and fruitless attempts at self-preservation that we hobble together as defensive protection. We can only build up or bolster together so much structure to protect us from the harmful and destructive forces around us.

God does not want us to visit Him from time to time. He wants us to dwell and abide with Him. He wants to shadow us with His favor. He wants us to trust Him and His ways that we might always have true rest. He longs to offer His protection and provision in all things and for all times. There is no refuge, fortress or shelter that will satisfy our soul and spirit as a dwelling place. We were created to dwell with God and through the forgiveness of Jesus Christ we can abide with Him every day on this earth and throughout the countless days of eternity.

Suggested Reading … Psalm 91

What would it be like … if we were truly like God?

In many countries, little children wander the dirty streets picking through the rubbish thrown in corners of buildings and doorways, ever looking with fragile hope for something to eat or any items of value. In wealthier places, teenagers with cell phones connected to the world … long for an ever allusive friend to connect to, who would not just speak words of concern but would truly care. In a darkened room sitting on the corner of bed, a woman weeps stinging tears as the walls push in with impending misery as her marriage breaks apart as her desperate shaking hands try to reach out for her fleeing husband. Across the city in a glittering building of steel and glass with windows clear and open for everyone to see and yet no one can perceive the man contemplating the taking of his life because possessing everything he dreamed of, is not enough to anchor his soul in the storm that rages in his search for meaning in his existence.

There are real people who are abandoned, helpless, hopeless, neglected, forgotten and empty, yet full of discouragement, desperation, desolation and despair. Still, there is a truth that remains. There is a Heavenly Father overflowing with mercy, compassion, grace, hope and love that they don’t know of or cannot find.His love is unwavering and without end in the scope of being merciful (Lamentations 3:22). This Father sees the fatherless, broken and lonely and longs to love them (Psalm 68:5). He longs for all to find Him and the hope only He can give to anchor the soul (Hebrews 6:19).

God’s great love is lavished on His children (1 John 3:1) not as a possession, but as a gift of comfort and strength (2 Corinthians 1:3-7). It is to be given to others as freely as it was given to us. If God’s love does not flow from us, it gives evidence that He is not really in us. What would it be like, if we were truly like God? The world around us is waiting!

 

Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. (1 John 4:7-8, KJV)

Suggested Reading … 1 John 4

There is life in the Word of God.

Jesus spoke to the people once more and said, “I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.” (John 8:12, ESV)

And Jesus said unto them, “I am the Bread of Life. He that cometh to Me shall never hunger, and he that believeth in Me shall never thirst.” (John 6:35, KJ21)

“But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.” ( John 4:14, KJ21)

God gives us many things but one of the greatest things He gives to us, is His revealing Himself to us, in the Scriptures. We should honor Him and His ways which shows respect that He is God. The Bible calls this the “fear of the Lord.” We understand following His commandments will bring joy and true direction in our lives and we should want to listen to Him. Finally we should trust in our Lord God in all He does.

Our greatest desire, purpose and meaning as followers of Christ, is found in desiring the living Word of God become our very life, by the presence and power of the Holy Spirit in our hearts. Thus God’s Word cannot be considered or thought of as just sayings, words, themes and guidelines that we learn or even memorize. The Word of God must be our very light by which we see with for the moment and the future. The Word of God must be the breath to sustain our living in and through every situation and encounter day by day, month by month and year by year. The Word of God must be the bread by which we are nourished and strengthen to for the challenges and stresses that we face. The Word of God must be the water that clenches the thirsting in our body and spirit yet remaining inexhaustible and life giving even as we drink it in over and over again. There is life in the Word of God but must see it as essential for our lives and we must let it become life to all of us.

“The precepts of the Lord are right, giving joy to the heart. The commands of the Lord are radiant, giving light to the eyes. The fear of the Lord is pure,
enduring forever. The decrees of the Lord are firm, and all of them are righteous” (Psalm 19:8-9 NIV).

Suggested Reading – Psalm 19

Desiring the Spirit of God

“Do not be filled up with the empty beverages of the earth focused life … this only leads to foolish living and endless unfulfilled stupors, but desire the eternal nectar of the Holy Spirit so that you may be filled to overflowing with the presence of God in every aspect of your life and find the countless blessings He wants to give you (Paraphrase – Ephesians 5:18).”

We seek so much of what the world values as we live our lives out on this earth. Many times we are seeking clichés, fame, fortune and fanfare which in the end are very shallow in significance and empty of any lasting value. God’s purposes and plans and the leading He brings through His Spirit take us to attributes and new life brimming with great significance and overflowing with eternal value. What would our lives be like, if we truly desired more and more of the direction of the indwelling presence, fruit and ministries of the Spirit of God?

The Holy Spirit creates new in us, crusades beside us, comforts us in all times, clarifies us, convicts us, and completes us by bringing forth new revelation while deepening our understanding of the revealed and eternal Word of God by His abiding and living presence in our spirit, heart and mind.

The Holy Spirit is “The Creator” as creates us as a new creation and brings forth fruit in that new creation. He is “The Crusader” because not only does He battle alongside us and His power is endless, as He is God. The Holy Spirit is “The Comforter” because He speaks the truth and brings the promises of God to us at all times. He is “The Clarifier” as He teaches us and deepens our relationship with the Living Christ. He is perfect as “The Convictor” of sin because His convicting is perfectly and completely true serving only the purposes of God in sanctifying us. The Holy Spirit is “The Completer” of all prayers as he carries and completes all prayers before the throne of God and is the seal of our inheritance of eternal life.

The Holy Spirit is God and what He gives us, is truly beyond our comprehension. The Holy Spirit is Christ alive in our life, thus we should be as desperate for Him as we are for air itself. In order for us to be fully alive in the spirit, we must breathe deeply of the Holy Spirit. Desire ever more of Him and yield your heart, soul, mind and spirit to Him, and you will never be disappointed. He will fill you over and over again, and you will overflow with the richness and bounty of all He will give to you.

Suggested Reading – John 14