Tag: adopted
“Abba! Father!”
Scripture reading for August 20th: Galatians 4, Psalm 16, Proverbs 12
Key Scriptures: Galatians 4:4-7 “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.”
Those who place their faith in Jesus Christ are adopted into God’s forever family, the Church, as sons of God. The proof of this is the cry of the Holy Spirit within the believer “Abba! Father!” We are no longer slaves of sin and Satan, but truly free. The Holy Spirit enables us to confess this truth.
Faith Confession: I am adopted into God’s forever family, the Church, and now call God my “Abba, Father!” I have been set free from slavery to sin by faith in Jesus Christ. Jesus is my Lord!
Proverbs 12:28 “In the path of righteousness is life, and in its pathway there is no death.”
Sin’s deceitfulness!
Scripture reading for November 1st: Hebrews 3:1-19
“Therefore, holy brothers, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, the apostle and high priest whom we confess. He was faithful to the One who appointed Him, just as Moses was faithful in all of God’s house. … Moses was faithful as a servant in all God’s house, testifying to what would be said in the future. But Christ is faithful as a Son over God’s house.” (Hebrews 3:1-2, 5-6a)
Jesus is the focus of all true believers. When we put our faith in Jesus Christ to save us, we are adopted into God’s family and become ‘holy brothers’ with Jesus, the Son of God. (Romans 8:14-15) (Galatians 3:26) Jesus was appointed by His Father to the roles He obediently assumed. The Son of God was obedient and faithful to His calling. In fixing our thoughts on Jesus, we can grow in our worship and understanding of who He is and who we are in Him!
The writer to the Hebrews was contrasting Jesus with Moses. Moses, picked by God, was faithful to lead God’s people out of slavery and through the desert for forty years. This journey should not have taken forty years. The sin of unbelief caused the people to turn back and die in the desert! Jesus Christ was and is God’s Son, holding a position of greater honor than Moses! Jesus is leading us to Father’s house!
“So, as the Holy Spirit says: “Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion, during the time of testing in the desert,. . See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at the first.” (Hebrews 3:7, 12-14) The Hebrews had not listened to God speaking through Moses during the Exodus. They had let their flesh turn their hearts back to Egypt and this kept them from entering the promised land. The sin was failure to trust God to bring them into their land! Jesus promises to take us in–Today! We must continue to pay close attention and follow Him to Glory!
A letter to the Saints!
Scripture reading for September 22nd: Ephesians 1:1-23
Paul wrote a wonderful letter to the church at Ephesus that is a legacy to us today. Paul describes who we are in Christ and records some classic prayers that he as a pastor prayed for the church. This book has been an encouragement to Christians of every age and time and speaks to us today from the heart of God! It’s opening address, “To the saints in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus”, can be taken personally by those who belong to Christ! A saint is one set apart for God by faith in Jesus Christ.
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy ad blameless in His sight. In love, He predestined us to be adopted as His sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will–to the praise of His glorious grace, which He has freely given us in the One He loves. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that He lavished on us in all wisdom and understanding.” (Ephesians 1:3-8)
As we read Paul’s opening call to these faithful saints to praise God, we are swept into consideration of what God, our Father, has done for us. The magnitude of our blessings–“every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms”–is more than we can comprehend! We note that God initiates everything that we receive. He chose us to be in Christ before the foundation of the world. (Romans 5:8) He provided His Son, Jesus Christ, for our redemption through the shedding of His blood that we might receive forgiveness of our sins and adoption as sons. God did it all with a lavish display of His love in Christ’s sacrifice and resurrection!
“And you were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the Gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in Him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit.” (Ephesians 1:13) It is by faith, through believing in Christ, that we are included in the company of the saints. The Holy Spirit is a gift, marking us as His own! What a revelation of the love of God!
More than conquerors!
Scripture reading for July 24th: Romans 8:24-39
Winning teams are composed of outstanding individual players who work well together. Paul described our winning team that will enable us to be more than conquerors! We know about this team by faith in what God has told us! As we read about this team, let new faith arise in God’s wonderful care for you.
We have been adopted into God’s family and now are waiting in hope for the redemption of our bodies. All of creation is awaiting this glorious change. God has given us the Spirit to help us through this waiting time and the sufferings we will endure here on earth. “In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And He who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will.” (Romans 8:26-27) The Holy Spirit is on our winning team! He is helping us through prayer to see all things work for our good and God’s purposes!
Also on our winning team is God the Father. “If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all–how will he not also, along with Him, graciously give us all things?” (Romans 8:31-32) God is on our side, providing for all our needs. Our greatest need was forgiveness of sins and God supplied this at the cost of His own Son! We can trust Him to provide whatever we need and give us the eternal inheritance He has promised as well!
We have not only the Father and Spirit on our winning team, but also the Son of God! Jesus Christ has ascended to heaven and is at the Father’s right hand. He is praying for us and showering us with love! What an amazing team we are a part of! The Holy Trinity insures that we are more than conquerors in any battle we will face! There is no trouble, persecution, sickness or demon from hell who can separate us from our winning team! That should give us hope and make us shout!
“To the Saints, faithful in Christ Jesus”
Scripture reading for September 22nd: Ephesians 1:1-23
Paul wrote a wonderful letter to the church at Ephesus that is a legacy to us today. Paul describes who we are in Christ and records some classic prayers that he as a pastor prayed for the church. This book has been an encouragement to Christians of every age and time and speaks to us today from the heart of God! It’s opening address, “To the saints in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus”, can be taken personally by those who belong to Christ! A saint is one set apart for God by faith in Jesus Christ.
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy ad blameless in His sight. In love, He predestined us to be adopted as His sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will–to the praise of His glorious grace, which He has freely given us in the One He loves. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that He lavished on us in all wisdom and understanding.” (Ephesians 1:3-8)
As we read Paul’s opening call to these faithful saints to praise God, we are swept into consideration of what God, our Father, has done for us. The magnitude of our blessings–“every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms”–is more than we can comprehend! We note that God initiates everything that we receive. He chose us to be in Christ before the foundation of the world. (Romans 5:8) He provided His Son, Jesus Christ, for our redemption through the shedding of His blood that we might receive forgiveness of our sins and adoption as sons. God did it all with a lavish display of His love in Christ’s sacrifice and resurrection!
“And you were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the Gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in Him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit.” (Ephesians 1:13) It is by faith, through believing in Christ, that we are included in the company of the saints. The Holy Spirit is a gift, marking us as His own! What a revelation of the love of God!