Tag: children of God

Little Kids Grow Up to be Big Kids ~ Goats

On By francesrogersIn GOD'S GLORY, GOD'S GRACE, GOD'S WORD, MUSICLeave a comment

Jesus warns us that there will be a separation of the sheep from the goats.

“And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats.” Matthew 25:32

Where did parents get the idea of calling children “kids?”  I can’t find any solid information on this expression.  But besides searching for this in history, what are we saying when we use this word for the children God has given us?

Does God anywhere in His Word call us kids?  No ~ His children are sheep.  This puts a totally different light upon how we look at, and bring up our children.
They are lambs ~ not goats.  We may all act like goats at times, pushing and shoving one another, wild in our nature; but God, our Father has born us into a new nature through Jesus Christ’s work, and life,  and His Spirit within us.

Should we not also treat our children as if they are His children, though they do not yet act like it.  If we treat them as kids, letting them run wild in the field of this world they will indeed fulfill such vision as we have for them.

On the other hand if we consider them as “lambs,” doing for them what our heavenly Father does for us, we will provide for them, lead them, assure them, and nurture them ~ bringing them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.”  (Ephesians 6:4) “discipline and instruction.” (ESV)

We will be a shepherd to them.  We will protect them, direct them, and correct them.
We will project to them the path, in which ~ and the goal ~ to which,  we are going together.  They will, in the process, come to understand their true role, and the purpose for their being a lamb of God.

The “kids” of this world are becoming the “goats” of tomorrow.  God’s “lambs” are becoming the sheep He expects them to be.  Only He can take a goat and make him a sheep.  “If anyone is in Christ he is a new creature” (2 Corinthians 5:17); “and have put on the new self, which is renewed in the knowledge of Him who created him.”  (Colossians 3:10)

The “lamb that was slain” became the shepherd that leads us to be the parents of His children ~  special gifts of life to us.  Give yourself to the “true Shepherd” and allow Him to work in you to bring up His children for His glory, your joy, and the joy of your family and others.

“Now to Him who is able to do exceeding abundantly more than we can ask or think,”
by His power of grace working in us.
Ephesians 3:20

Psalm 23

Dear Father in heaven, “hold me by my right hand; guide me with your counsel.”  “Lead me in the paths of righteousness, for your name’s sake.”  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.

The Saints of God are Never Lucky

On By francesrogersIn GOD'S GLORY, GOD'S GRACE, GOD'S WORD, MUSIC1 Comment

 The saints—children of God— are never lucky. We are blessed, whether in good times or adversity. And since we depend on God and not “luck” we are never “unlucky,” so Friday the 13th, which is supposed to be an “unlucky” day for some, has no meaning for us.

You will not find the word “luck” in the Bible; but you will find many references to “blessings” throughout God’s Word; and they always bear witness of God who promises them, and gives them.

 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who, in Christ,
has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places.”
Ephesians 1:3

 Superstition
We continue to hear Christians using the word “luck,” without realizing what they are saying.  It is a common expression in our culture, one that has held over through many generations of superstition.  I grew up in the 40’s & 50’s hearing the old wives’ tales, and the things that were supposed to be “bad luck”—“don’t let a black cat cross your path,” “don’t walk under a ladder,” etc.  And while they do not mean anything to us today, they were very real to people who believed in these sayings.

In the Reader’s Digest Illustrated Encyclopedic Dictionary printed in 1987 we found the meaning of “luck” —“The fortuitous happening of fortunate or adverse events; fortune.  The word “fortuitous” means “accidental or unplanned.” The online dictionary defines “luck” as “good fortune, chance, event determined by chance.”

 Those who accept life that is controlled by chance are negating the sovereignty and power of God.  According to His Word these have been, before the foundation of the world, through its creation and the maintenance thereof, its only means of survival and its completion.  What hope do we have if the only thing we can depend on is chance?  If “luck” is all we have wherein is our faith?  This is the religion of those who will not accept “the whole counsel of God”—we are but as a clock wound by the creator and left to run on its own.  What happens when the clock runs down?  What use is a clock if that is all we have?   What use is God if all He gives us is a clock?

 No!  God, Almighty God, our heavenly Father, is an “ever present help in trouble.”  He is “the strength of my life.”  (Psalm 27)  Whatever He has “predestined is according to the counsel of His will,” (Ephesians 1:11) with a definite purpose and plan in mind for each of His children—that we should be to the praise of His glory.”

 The Almighty Has Afflicted Me
Though I have not lost a husband and two sons, I relate well to Naomi, in the book of Ruth.  Was she bitter, or understanding the hand of God ruling in her life when she said, “I went out full and the LORD hath brought me home again empty: why then call ye me Naomi, seeing the LORD hath testified against me, and the Almighty hath afflicted me?”  Ruth 1:21
And from the Psalmist we read “And I said, This is my infirmity: but I will remember the years of the right hand of the most High.” Psalm 77:10

 There is a great purpose in the adversity we experience in this world.  Knowing this gives us hope and faith in what lies beyond this world and our circumstances.

 John 16:33 “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

James 1:2-4 “My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.”     Count It All Joy

1 Peter 1:7 “That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:”

Romans 8:28-29 “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.”

Acts 14:22 “Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.”

Hebrews 12:11 “Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.”

1 Peter 3:14-15 “But and if ye suffer for righteousness’ sake, happy are ye: and be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled; But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:

1 Peter 4:12-13 “Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.

Father, I thank you that you leave nothing to chance for us as your children, but that you know your plans for us, and that you will bring all things to completion for us in Christ, our Lord and Savior.  In Jesus name I pray.  Amen.
(Join us for devotions at agoldentreasury.com)

Father of Grace and Glory (Part 3)

On By francesrogersIn GOD'S GLORY, GOD'S GRACE, GOD'S WORDLeave a comment

Meditation on the Father’s grace and glory did not come so easy this morning. It was not until after fellowship with Him, time in His Word, study, and meditation, that I was able to begin to think about this third part.  There is much more to this subject, and how Jesus, the Son, speaks of the Father, than I had known before.  The more desire to know, the more humbled He makes me, to realize that I know nothing as I ought to know; nor can I, in this life.

Jesus is recorded in the New Testament as referring to His Father at least 171 times, and reference made to God, 166 times. When God spoke through the prophets and writers of the Old Testament they did not normally refer to God as Father.  Jesus was “the first-born among many brethren.”  (Romans 8:29)  It was Jesus, the Son, who was sent to reveal God as Father to His children.  As we found so many references, we will, in this 3rd part, share the most important things that are recorded in the Synoptic gospels—Matthew, Mark, and Luke.  In the concluding Part 4, we will share John’s recollection of Jesus’ words.

First, how is the name God, and the name Father, distinguished? Strong’s Concordance gives us the Greek word for God, as theos—a diety; the supreme Divinity; fig. a magistrate.  The word for Father is pater—father; near or more remote.  These definitions give me a clearer understanding of both. God is our lawgiver. His kingdom rules over all  (Psalm 103:19). Some people believe in God, as creator, and judge, but only those who have been born of Him, of His Spirit, know Him as Father.

As God, He is described by some (such as the deists) as transcendent, far removed from His creation, not relative to anything on the earth. As Father, He is “near” in Spirit, to His children.  As Spirit He is omnipotent (all-powerful),  omniscient (all-knowing), and omnipresent (present everywhere). Although “we move, and breathe, and have our being in Him”  (Acts 17:28), not all acknowledge His power and presence.  As children we desire the presence and power of  “our Father.”  There is no fear of His judgment, but He is loved and worshiped, as a child loves a father.

Jesus speaks first,and last, of the Father’s glory. (See God’s Glory  ~  First and Last.)  In the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:16) Jesus reveals to His disciples that the Father is glorified through them. In Matthew 16:27 He reveals that He, Himself, will, in the end, come in the glory of his father, with his angels.

He reveals the Father’s omniscience in Matthew 6:4, the Father sees in secret and rewards openly; in Matthew 10:29, the falling of a sparrow, the number of the hairs of our head; and, in Matthew 6:8, knowing all our needs before we ask Him.

He tells us to pray to the Father, in Matthew 6:6; that He forgives, in Matthew 6:14; and that He feeds His creatures, in Matthew 6:26.

He reveals the importance of the Father’s will, in Matthew 7:21; only those who do the will of the Father shall enter the kingdom of heaven.

He teaches us that it is the Spirit of the Father that speaks through His servants, in Matthew 10:20.

All things that were delivered to Jesus is from His Father, hidden from the wise and prudent, and revealed to babes. Matthew 11:25-27.

He reveals the omnipresence and protection of the Father for His children in Matthew 18:10, 14; that not one of His little ones should perish.

The Father is said to be merciful in Luke 6:36

Jesus said that He would send the promise of His Father upon his disciples in Luke 24:49

Jesus reveals the sovereignty and omnipotence of the Father, in Matthew 20-23; and Matthew 24:36.  The Father has prepared everything, according to His will; and He alone knows when all will be fulfilled.  Our prayer~(Parentheses, mine.)

“That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory,

 may give unto you (us) the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him.”

Ephesians 1:17

The Father of Grace and Glory

On By francesrogersIn GOD'S GLORY, GOD'S GRACE, GOD'S WORDLeave a comment

“In love he predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ

according to the purpose of his own will,”  Ephesians 1:7

“In the beginning” God was a Father.  Before He said, “Let there be light,” He desired light.  No one can put out that light because it was born of the Father.  For the Father so loved what He was and had that He desired and planned for sons to share in the wealth of His glory. He “so loved the world”  that He created because it was meant to be the realm through which He would reveal Himself, His glory, and His promises.

He could have sired children to share His glory anyway that He desired, but He chose to do it through this realm that we know as “grace “. Now is the day and time of grace.  The glory of this physical world shines brightly for the majority of human creatures.  It draws us to seek our own glory by its sights and sounds, its promises of happiness and success.  God, our Father draws us to His Son, Jesus Christ, whose life is the “light of all men” to see beyond this world to the glory of the Father, and the promises that await His children in the eternal realm.

Just as God the Father is Spirit (we cannot see Him) so is this realm of grace.  It has been provided for us; we live in the middle of it.  We are surrounded by it.  We learn about it by reading God’s Word, which even by His grace He has provided for us.  But, we must read with a heart that accepts it as His Word to us individually.  As sons and daughters we desire to know Him, to love, Him, fear Him, obey Him, worship, serve, praise, pray to Him, proclaim the truth of His grace in Jesus Christ, and live for Him. All of this comes from His own Spirit of grace working in and through us.

Much of how we understand God is based on how we see the role of fathers.  The light of the Father’s grace is mostly hidden because not many earthy fathers know the Heavenly Father.  And the world does not want to recognize any creature having authority over another, but if we are to receive anything beyond what this world offers we must understand the role of the father.  We have a tendency to read the Bible with out own slant, instead of accepting it as a means of God’s grace to inform us of His intentions, His desires, His plans, and the fulfillment of those plans in the different roles that He has created.

Before there can be a son there must be a father.  Fathers are first in origin.  Our Heavenly Father was first and will always be first of all, in heaven and on earth.  He must be first because He started it all.  If we believe this, then we must look to Him, “seek His kingdom and His righteousness,” ask for His Spirit of grace to fill us and guide us, knock at the door of His heart continually, to know Him, and as His children, to “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”  This is the grace that prepares us to share His eternal glory and keep us rejoicing in Him as we wait.

“Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us,

that we should be called children of God; and so we are.”

1 John 3:1

(Excerpt from Three Facets of God’s Glory That Every Christian Must See—in process.)