“He came to that which was His own, but His own did not receive Him. Yet to all who did receive Him, to those who believed in His Name, He gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God… Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of His household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus Himself as the chief cornerstone.
In Him, the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the LORD. And in Him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by His Spirit… See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know Him. Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will have not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like Him for we shall see Him as He is.”
John 1:11-13; Ephesians 2:19-22; 1 John 3:1-2
What’s it like to be in God’s Family?
A synonym for the family is blood.
And it is the blood of Jesus that covers you and makes you part of His family.
Do not compare His family to that of a human family. Human families are filled with dysfunction.
God’s is not.
As has been said so many times before and to come, you now live in brokenness, but His kingdom and His family are whole and will be restored on that Day when He makes all things new.
Until that Day, know you are part of God’s family and greatness awaits.
Your turn…
List on paper or in your mind all that is wrong or missing from your human family.
Now do two things; first, forgive and administer mercy and grace.
Next, cover this wrong or missing with hope and God’s truth and love.
Feel your hope and faith strengthen as you work through this process.
Knowing how blessed you are, pray,
“LORD, our LORD, how majestic is Your Name in all the earth! You have set Your glory in the heavens. Through the praise of children and infants, You have established a stronghold against Your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger. When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have set in place, what is mankind that You are mindful of them, human beings that You care for them?
You have made them a little lower than the angels and crowned them with glory and honor. And, You made them rulers over the works of Your hands; You put everything under their feet: all flocks and herds, and the animals of the wild, the birds in the sky, and the fish in the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas. LORD, our LORD, how majestic is Your Name in all the earth!”
Psalm 8
More Hope:
“But when the set time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to son(daughter)ship… So in Christ Jesus, you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ…Both the one who makes people holy and those who are made holy are of the same family.
So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters… He chose to give us birth through the word of truth that we might be a kind of first fruits of all He created… For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother.”
Galatians 4:4-5, 3:26-27; Hebrews 2:11; James 1:18; Matthew 12:50
As God’s child, you are part of His family.
How to do this as a weekly Bible study
Day One: Experience
Read the entire devotion. Do any verses stand out to you? If so, write it down and work on memorizing it over the week. I personally love the app “Scripture Typer.”
Day Two: Observe & Read
Chain. Look up and chain verses (For example on how to chain verses, see this video).
Day Three: Interpret
Read through the chain of verses starting with the first one. What do they say? Do you notice when it says “never” or “always” or “If, but, however, therefore, all…..”
Day Four: Application
Do “Your turn” and make a list of people that God has put on your heart when you read this.
Day Five: Testify
Who in your life, right now, can you share this with? There is somebody in your life that needs to hear this. Close your eyes. What name came to mind?
Would you like to get more involved in the beLydia Movement?
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~ Find out how to become a Host for this ministry –
http://www.belydia.org/preventing-modern-day-slavery/
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What’s it like to be in God’s Family?
