God's Holy Children

Our precious Kayla & her dear friend Angela.

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."- Jeremiah 29:11

For He chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and 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. Ephesians 1:4-5

God wants us as his holy children. That was his plan for us even before the world began. God paid the huge price, the sacrifice of his Son Jesus, for our adoption into his family. God's motive in doing this? His desire and delight in loving us!

You are called to belong, not just believe. We were created by God and for God.

“You are members of God’s very own family, citizens of God’s country, and you belong in God’s household with every other Christian.” Ephesians 2:19

Even though we are God's holy children, we also need to be aware of what time it is in our world. The evil one still exercises his control over the hearts of many people. God wants us to "redeem the time," making the most of every opportunity we have to touch the lives of others with his grace and to resist the temptation and overcome the opposition of the evil one.

Be very careful, then, how you live - not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Ephesians 5:15-16


Holy Father,

I am blessed and honored to be one of your adopted children and want to bring you joy in the way I live. Forgive me for the times I have disappointed you or not lived up to what you desire of me. I want my life to be a holy thanksgiving to you for your grace. Give me courage to boldly stand for you and sensitivity to know the best way to bless others according to their needs.

In Jesus' name I pray.
Amen
Always be joyful. Keep on praying. No matter what happens, always be thankful, for this is God's will for you who belong to Christ Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Developing Your Friendship With God

He offers his friendship to the godly. Proverbs 3:32

Draw close to God, and God will draw close to you. James 4:8

Question to consider: What practical choices will I make today in order to grow closer to God?

If you want a deeper, more intimate connection with God you must learn to honestly share your feelings with God and trust Him. It takes desire, time, and energy.

I must choose to be honest with God. The first step of building a deeper friendship with God is complete honesty about your faults and your feelings. God doesn’t expect you to be perfect but he insist on complete honesty. Because of God’s grace, Jesus is still friend of sinners. Matthew 11:19

In the Bible, God’s friends were honest with their feelings, often complaining, second-guessing, accusing, and arguing with their Creator. God encouraged it.

Bitterness is the greatest barrier to friendship with God. God always acts in your best interest, even when it is painful and you don’t understand it. Tell God exactly how you feel.

I must choose to obey God in faith. Every time you trust God’s wisdom and do whatever he says, even when you don’t understand it, you deepen your friendship with God. Jesus made it clear that obedience is a condition of intimacy with God. He said, “You are my friends if you do what I command.” John 15:14

We obey God, not out of duty or fear or compulsion, but because we love Him and trust that he knows what is best for us.

Unbelievers often think Christians obey out of obligations or guilt or fear of punishment, but the opposite is true. Because we have been forgiven and set free, we obey out of love and our obedience brings great joy!

Jesus said, I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Remain in my love. When you obey me, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father and remain in His love. I have told you this so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow! John 15:9-11

True friendship is not passive; it acts. When Jesus asks us to love others, help the needy, share our resources, keep our lives clean, offer forgiveness, and bring others to Him, love motivates us to obey immediately.

God is more pleased when we do small things for Him out of loving obedience. They may be unnoticed by others, but God notices them and considers them acts of worship.

God treasures simple acts of obedience more than our prayers, praise, or offerings. The Bible tells us, “What pleases the Lord more: burnt offerings and sacrifices or obedience to his voice? It is better to obey than to sacrifice.” 1 Samuel 15:22

I must choose to value what God values. The more you become God’s friend, the more you will care about the things He cares about, grieve over the things He grieves over, and rejoice over things that bring pleasure to Him.

What does God care about most? The redemption of His people. He wants all His lost children found. That’s the whole reason Jesus came to earth.

The dearest thing to the heart of God is the death of his Son. The second dearest thing is when his children share that news with others. To be friend of God, you must care about all the people around you whom God cares about.

Friends of God tell their friends about God.

I must desire friendship with God more than anything else. David passionately desired to know God above all else. He used the words like longing, yearning, thirsting, and hungering. He craved God.

Your love means more than life to me. Psalm 63:3

Intimate friendship with God is a choice. You must intentionally seek it. Do you really want it – more than anything?

Pray this throughout your day:

“Dear Jesus, more than anything else, I want to get to know you intimately.”

When you get serious about finding me and want it more than anything else, I’ll make sure you won’t be disappointed.” Jeremiah 9:24

It’s a relationship what will last forever. Paul told Timothy, “Some of these people have missed the most important thing in life – they don’t know God.” 1 Timothy 6:21

Have you been missing out on the most important thing in life? You can do something about it right now. Remember, it’s your choice. You are as close to God as you choose to be.

How Can You Come Near To God?

Submit yourselves to God. James gives 5 ways:

1) Submit to God. Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. James 4: 7 Yield to His authority and will, commit your life to Him and His control, and be willing to follow Him.

2) Resist the devil. Don't allow Satan to entice and tempt you.

3) Wash your hands and purify your hearts, that is, lead a pure life. Be cleansed from sin, replacing your desire to sin with your desire to experience God's purity. Come near to God, and He will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. James 4:8

4) Grieve and mourn and wail in sincere sorrow for your sins. Grieve, mourn, and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. James 4:9 Don't be afraid to express deep heartful sorrow for your sins.

5) Humble yourself before the Lord, and He will lift you up! Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will lift you up. James 4:10

Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up and due time. Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you. 1 Peter 5:6-7

Humbling ourselves means recognizing that our worth comes from God alone. Althought we do not deserve God's favor, He reaches out to us in love and gives us worth and dignity despite our human shortcomings.

We give ourselves to Him, not out of fear or duty, but in love, because He first loved us.

This is how God showed His love among us: He sent His only Son into the world that we might live through Him. This is love: not that we loved God, but He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 1 John 4:9-10

God Chose YOU!

God chose you. He loves you even when you were unlovable. He adopted you into His kingdom. He desires for all who have been chosen by Him to have the traits of their heavenly Father.

Long ago, even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. His unchanging plan has always been to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. And this gave him great pleasure.
Ephesians 1:4-5

Furthermore, because of Christ, we have received an inheritance from God, for he chose us from the beginning, and all things happen just as he decided long ago. God's purpose was that we who were the first to trust in Christ should praise our glorious God. Ephesians 1:11-12

Since God chose you to be the holy people whom he loves, you must clothe yourselves with tenderhearted mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. You must make allowance for each other's faults and forgive the person who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others. And the most important piece of clothing you must wear is love. Love is what binds us all together in perfect harmony. Colossians 3:12-14

Ask God to give you a heart of compassion, kindness, gentleness, and patience.

Ask God to give you His strength to bear others and to forgive others.

Ask God to let all the members of your church work together in unity to reach those who are the least and those who are lost.

Dear Father,

You are the God of compassion and kindness. You have loving gentleness and patience toward to your children. Your love and forgiveness toward us is amazing. You are holy. Let our lips always praise You. Thank you for choosing us before the foundation of the world. Thank you for forgiving us when we confess any sins we have brought against You. I ask You to give us the strength to turn away from our sins. To repent of all wrongdoing. Give us the will to forgive others just as you have forgiven us. Let us strive for unity with our brothers and sisters in Christ.

In Jesus' name we pray..
Amen.

Bible Teaches Us About Prayer

God,
I pray that we will dedicate ourselves to prayer for the 40 Days Of Purpose Campaign. Get us spiritually ready for what You want us to do. We know what without your power, we will labor in vain. Encourage us to saturate these important 40 days in prayer.

Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart. Don't forget to pray for us, too, that God will give us many opportunities to preach about his secret plan – that Christ is also for you Gentiles. That is why I am here in chains. Pray that I will proclaim this message as clearly as I should. Live wisely among those who are not Christians, and make the most of every opportunity. Colossians 4:2-5

Paul encourage us to be consistent in prayer. When he says "devote yourself to prayer," the word devote means "to persist at." It means "to remain at something" or "to cling to something" or "to continually be available for something".

What would it be like if you really devoted yourself to prayer on a daily basis?

What does it means to be "watchful" in prayer?

As we read Scripture, we discover a very crucial reason for devoting ourselves to prayer. Christians have an unspeakable privilege of having immediate and welcome access to God and His power to change things!

In Hebrews 4:14-16, the writer says that because we have so great a high priest, which is Jesus, let us approach the throne of grace with boldness that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Regarding prayer, how and why and when should we approach Christ? What do you think it means to approach God with "boldness"?

As we approach God's throne with boldness, we now "tap into" His unlimited power and resources. The results is that God responds. Our prayers matter.

In Colossians 4:3, Paul says, " And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message." Paul beleived that the intercession and prayers of these beleivers would open doors for the message of Christ.

Tired Of Praying?

Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. Colossians 4:2-3

Have you ever grown tired of praying for someone or something? Paul says we should "devote" ourselves to prayers. and be "watchful" in prayer. Our persistence is an expression of our faith that God answers our prayers. Faith
should not die if the answers comes slowly, for the delay may be God's way of working his will in our loves. When you feel tired of praying, know that God is present, always listening, always answering - maybe not in ways you had hoped, but in ways that He knows are best.

The mystery of Christ is Christ's Good News of salvation, the gospel. The whole focus of Paul's life was to tell others about Christ, explaining and preaching this wonderful mystery.

Paul asked for prayer that he could proclaim the Good News about Christ clearly and we can request prayer to do the same. How many people in your life could be touched if you prayed in this way?