Our Father

Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world:

But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law,

To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons.

And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.

Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ. 

                                                                            (Gal 4:3-7 KJV)

As the preacher reminds us in Ecclesiastes there is a time and a season for every purpose. (Eccl 3:1)  When the fulness of time came, God sent his only begotten Son so that through Jesus we too might become his beloved children. 

God chooses his time. He chooses his children. He chooses to care for us. He chooses to love us. He chose to save us by sacrificing His Son for us.  This is not a work of humankind. Our relationship with God is a direct consequence of His love for us and as His children He has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts that we might love him and one another as Jesus does. Without the abiding presence of the Spirit of Christ we cannot ever love as he loves us.

God bless you on this Sunday in Advent and everyday with the abiding presence of the one who died that you might live life in him.

God's Peace - Pr. J.

A Blood Thicker Than Blood

"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." 1 John 3:1

There is a blood that is thicker than blood. It is the blood of Christ shed for you. Jesus told us that the world would not understand those who believe. In fact, even as Jesus was persecuted, those who cling to this world will also fear, hate, and persecute Christians in various ways. Genealogically connected family members will even look with suspicion upon believing brothers and sisters. They, too, will join in the persecution of those who love the Lord. Families will suffer division.

But, the good news is that the family of God is reconciled to God and to one another for all time. There is nothing that can separate us from our Father's love which is found in Christ Jesus. (Rom 8:39) There is nothing in this world that can destroy the family of God.

There is a blood thicker than blood. It is the blood of Christ, shed on the cross, that binds us together as family.

God's Peace - Pr. J