Living should never be defined by getting what we think we deserve whether that is a gift, cash, job, promotion, trophy, applause, position, or whatever. For those who are in Christ really living is defined by the relationship we have with the Creator of the universe. This relationship isn’t something we truly sought for and definitely not something we deserved.

God adopted us into His family through the costly sacrifice of His one and only unique Son, Jesus Christ. We could never try hard enough nor pay enough to gain entrance into the family of God. Through a great act of mercy, compassion, love and grace God sovereignly gave His Son and Jesus willingly laid down His life to secure our place back home with God.

Everything we enjoy now had its beginning, middle and end with Jesus. We can’t name a blessing we enjoy that doesn’t ultimately find its source in the holy Trinity – Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Think about it in light of two verses:

“All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made” (John 1:3).

“For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities – all things were created through him and for him” (Colossians 1:16).

These verses just don’t apply to believers, they apply to everyone, whether they are a child of God or not. However, only God’s children will recognize that everything comes from the hand of a gracious God; therefore, only those who are His will return genuine thanksgiving for the gifts they receive.

Have you counted your blessings lately and given thanks to God for them?

Grace & Peace,

Barb and I never wanted our kids’ past failures to define them. We wanted them to recognize their problems, confess their sin, change their direction or behavior, and wake up to a brand new tomorrow without something hanging over their heads. That’s why we didn’t do a lot of grounding or long-term punishment that went on for days, weeks or months. If my parents took the grounding approach to my sinful behavior then I would still be in my room not eating dessert – and they sold our house two years ago!

God is a perfect Father and knows exactly what we need to grow us spiritually. The Bible promises that He will discipline His unruly child.

“My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives” (Hebrews 12:5-6).

Discipline is a sign of relationship. God will only discipline His own children with a trajectory toward conformity to the holy character of His perfect Son, Jesus Christ. He has a prefect goal with His perfect discipline.

But what about when we suffer and didn’t do anything wrong? For example, what about Job? Even Job eventually realized that God’s “secret” workings were not arbitrary and capricious. In the middle of trying to figure out what in the world was going on in his life Job declared,

“But he knows the way that I take; when he has tried me, I shall come out as gold” (Job 23:10).

That is pain with a purpose. God is in control of the good and the bad in our lives. It is our responsibility to submit to His good plan and rest assured that His moment-by-moment grace will be sufficient during our weakness. God doesn’t want our past failures to define us. He desires us to repentant of sin and move into a brand new tomorrow experiencing His mercy. He is a perfect Father and knows exactly how to get us to this point. So, what’s holding you back from obedience to the heavenly Father?

Grace & Peace,

J. I. Packer begins the nineteenth chapter in his book Knowing God:

“What is a Christian? The question can be answered in many ways, but the richest answer I know is that a Christian is one who has God as Father.”

I would like to think about his definition of a Christian on two levels:

First, not everyone knows God as Father; therefore, we cannot say that everyone is a Christian. The Bible never teaches a universal sonship, like, everyone gets to heaven (the Father’s house according to Jesus in John 14) because of some sort of sincerity test. No, Jesus is the only way to get to the Father, and faith in the substitutionary sacrifice of Jesus to save is the only right response to this extraordinary grace (cf. John 14:6). Paul also made it very clear how we become sons and daughters of God:

“For in Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith” (Galatians 5:26; cf. John 1:12-13).

God becomes our Father through the exclusive path of faith in what Jesus accomplished for us at Calvary. He gave His life in death so we could have eternal life (cf. John 3:16).

Second, God primarily relates to Christians as His children and we should primarily relate to one another then as daughters and sons of God. We must use the same glasses God uses to see one another, through the lens of adoption.

“But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son…to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons” (Galatians 4:4-5).

This means we are in the same family; we are spiritual siblings. And since we are in the same family we should love one another with a pure heart. A “pure heart” love is loving without an agenda or seeking something for selfish reasons from the relationship. It is loving un-hypocritically, authentically, and sacrificially. And I don’t think God wants us fighting over the kingdom toys like selfish two-year-olds.

Do we see one another as God’s sons and daughters? Or do we see one another as competitors? How we treat one another will reveal how we see one another.

Grace & Peace,