Tag: God’s children

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2 Kings Devotionals

Remembering whose we are

En Gedi caves
Joe Goldberg from Seattle, WA, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

So Ahaz sent messengers to King Tiglath-pileser of Assyria, saying, “I am your servant and your son…” (2 Kings 16:7)

If you want some background to this story, read Isaiah 7.

It was in the midst of Ahaz’s problems with Aram and Israel that Isaiah made his famous Immanuel prophesy.

The sad thing is that in Isaiah 7, God was telling Ahaz, “Trust me. Your enemies won’t succeed. I’ll even give you a sign so that you can believe me. Just ask for one.”

But Ahaz refused to trust God, declining to ask for a sign. Instead, he sought Assyria’s help.

He got it, but it came at a great price. Eventually, Ahaz’s “master” and “father” turned against Israel and became its enemy.

How much different would things have been if Ahaz had turned to God, saying, “I am your servant and your son”?

I’m facing my own issues right now, and I just felt God reminding me, “Remember whose you are. You are my servant. More importantly, you are my beloved child. Seek me. Trust me.”

He then brought this psalm to mind.

God is our refuge and strength,
a helper who is always found
in times of trouble.

Therefore we will not be afraid,
though the earth trembles
and the mountains topple
into the depths of the seas,
though its water roars and foams
and the mountains quake with its turmoil…

“Stop fighting, and know that I am God,
exalted among the nations, exalted on the earth.”

The Lord of Armies is with us (Immanuel!);
the God of Jacob is our stronghold.” (Psalm 46:1-3, 10-11)

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1 Peter Devotionals

Never ignored

the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous
and his ears are open to their prayer. ” (1 Peter 3:12)

Recently, I gave a message at church, and one of the things I talked about was the times when God says no or seems slow in answering our prayers.

For me, it seems like God has been awful slow recently as I’ve been struggling with some health problems for the past month.

But Peter’s words, really David’s words (Psalm 34:15), really encouraged me today.

Whether God seems slow or says no, his ears are always open to our prayers. He’s not ignoring us.

And his eyes are always on us.

Not because we’re such good people or more righteous than others.

But because we are his beloved children, clothed with Christ’s righteousness.

That’s an awesome thought.

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Mark Devotionals

Because God loves us

Mark

In those days Jesus came from Nazareth in Galilee and was baptized in the Jordan by John.

As soon as he came up out of the water, he saw the heavens being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove.

And a voice came from heaven: “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well-pleased.”

Immediately the Spirit drove him into the wilderness. He was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. (Mark 1:9-13)

It always strikes me that just one sentence after we see the Father saying to Jesus, “You are my beloved Son; with you I am well pleased,” it says the Spirit drove Jesus out into the wilderness to be tempted by Satan.

Sometimes we think, “Though God loves us, he sometimes lets us go through deserts.”

But the thought that came to me today was this: “Because God loves us, he sometimes drives us into the deserts.”

Why?

I think we see the answer in Hebrews 12:6-7.

for the Lord disciplines the one he loves
and punishes every son he receives.,

Endure suffering as discipline: God is dealing with you as sons. For what son is there that a father does not discipline?

Even Jesus, who never sinned, experienced the Father’s discipline. And we see it here in Mark. But why did Jesus have to undergo discipline if he never sinned? 

That answer is also in Hebrews.

Although he was the Son, he learned obedience from what he suffered.

After he was perfected, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him... (Hebrews 5:8-9)

As a man, Jesus had to learn obedience just like we do. And obedience is tested not in the easy times, but in the difficult.

It’s easy to obey God when all is going well. It’s hard to obey God when we’re going through a desert. Through his time in the desert, Jesus learned obedience. It was an obedience that would be tested again in Gethsemane. (Mark 14:36-40)

But now, because Jesus has learned obedience, the writer of Hebrews says,

For since he himself has suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are tempted. (Hebrews 2:18)

So don’t get discouraged when you go through deserts. God doesn’t drive you there because he hates you. He does it because he loves you.

Just as he disciplined Jesus, he disciplines us. Not to destroy us. But for our good. (Hebrews 12:10-11)

And if you’re struggling through a desert right now, know that Jesus understands you. Because he has experienced the Father’s discipline too.

Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.

Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. (Hebrews 4:14-16)

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Matthew Devotionals

Following Jesus’ example

child of God

I can’t help but notice in this passage that Jesus sets us an example for how we should live as Christians.

In getting baptized, though he had no sin to repent of, Jesus showed that he was submitting himself to the Father’s will. The Spirit then came upon him and filled him, and the Father said,

This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased. (Matthew 3:17)

From there, Jesus lived his life each day led by the Spirit.

If Jesus needed to do that, how much more do we?

Paul actually talks about this in Romans 8. He says that when we became Christians, we died to a heart that was rebellious towards God. (Romans 8:4-11).

Now the Holy Spirit dwells in us, and when the Father looks at us, he says to us, “My beloved child.”

Hearing that, we cry out in response, “Abba! Father!” (Romans 8:14-17)

Not only that, the Holy Spirit is there to lead us moment to moment, day to day. (Romans 8:4-5)

So let us thank God every day that he calls us his beloved children.

And let us continually ask the Spirit, “What is my next step?”

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Galatians Devotionals

Losing our blessedness

Galatians

What then has become of your blessedness? (Galatians 3:15, ESV)

That’s a good question.

Many Christians today have lost their blessedness. Why?

They’ve forgotten who they are. And they’ve forgotten how they came to be what they are.

What do I mean?

The thing that you see time and again in this passage is Paul trying to pound into the Galatians’ heads, “You are already God’s children.”

Certain Jews were trying desperately to make these Galatians think they had to become Jews and follow the Jewish law in order to truly become “children of Abraham,” and thus, “children of God.”

But Paul says, “No. there is no difference between you and the Jews. For that matter, there is no difference between male or female, slave or free; you are all one in Christ.”

Unfortunately, however, the Galatians had bought the lie and were trying to attain by works what they had already attained by God’s grace through faith in Jesus.

And in doing so, they had lost their sense of blessedness.

They lost the blessedness that comes from a right relationship with God, just like Abraham had.  The blessedness that came to Abraham not because of anything he had done, but because of what God had promised.

More, they lost the blessedness that David talked of (and Paul quotes in Romans 4) when he said,

How joyful is the one
whose transgression is forgiven,
whose sin is covered!

How joyful is a person whom
the Lord does not charge with iniquity. (Psalm 32:1-2)

But many Christians today don’t feel that blessedness. Instead, they constantly feel condemned because of their own sins. They feel that somehow they need to work themselves out of the pit they find themselves in.

But Paul says,

Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law or by believing what you heard? Are you so foolish?

After beginning by the Spirit, are you now finishing by the flesh? (Galatians 2:2-3)

We were not saved by our own efforts to be good. We came to God confessing our weakness and inability to save ourselves.

And God in his grace poured his Spirit upon us, washing away our sins by the blood of Jesus. When he did so, the Holy Spirit cried out with our spirit, “Abba, Father!” confirming us as God’s children.

Nothing changes once we become Christians. We don’t deal with sin in our lives by our own efforts to be good. We deal with it by coming before God, confessing our weakness and inability to save ourselves. (Does this sound familiar?)

And when we do, God in his grace, continues pouring his Spirit upon us, filling us with himself, and and washing away our sins. And the Spirit confirms to us once again, we are God’s children.

We don’t have to earn our status as God’s children. We already are God’s children.

And though we struggle with sin, God will not stop working in us until we are completely remade into the image of his Son.

That’s the blessedness of a child of God.

How about you? Have you lost your blessedness?

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John John 8

Whose child are you?

John

Things get pretty acrimonious in this exchange between Jesus and the Jews. And it came down to this question, “Whose child are you?”

It was a question that swirled around Jesus, and it’s possible that when the Jews protested, “We are not illegitimate children” (John 8:41), they were intimating at the rumor that Jesus himself was an illegitimate child as Mary had gotten pregnant with Jesus before Joseph married her.

There were doubtless many questions about his true father since they had no way to know that Jesus was placed in Mary’s womb by the power of the Holy Spirit.

But to get back to the question, whose child are you?

Jesus talks about the characteristics of a true child of God. First, they would act like Abraham did. (John 8:39)

He believed in God. He trusted God implicitly. (Genesis 15:6)

He acted on his faith. Both in leaving his own homeland to go where God led him. And in being willing to offer his son Isaac as a sacrifice.

He had room in his heart for God’s word. When God spoke, he listened.

Children of God are children of truth. That is, they love the truth, and will hold to it. Though the truth may hurt sometimes, they don’t close their ears because of it. Rather they hear, they listen, and they grow. (John 8:44-47)

The final characteristic of a child of God is that they love Jesus, and out of their love for him, they follow him. (John 8:42)

How can we not love the one who gave up heaven to die on the cross for our sins.

But the Jews in this passage did none of these things, and so proved who their true father was.

How about you? Whose child are you?