Children by Choice

Today is a happy day.  We got to go to an "adoption day" party.  Two beautiful little girls were (finally) formally, legally adopted today into a wonderful, loving family.  We got to share in the joy of the family, and it got me thinking about a different kind of family--God's Family, His Church.

I know I keep jumping around a lot, but I went to Romans 8 today for my devotional.  I've been talking a lot about redemption lately, and this scripture continues that thread, talking about how we are separated from our sinful selves by God, and how we have to WORK at living that out.

We have to deny our sinful natures, and not let our lives be dictated by what we know we shouldn't do, even when we feel like we want to do it.  And we do it because of the gift God has given us, life through His Son.

Paul, the author of Romans, tells us that when we accept God's Spirit, He brings us into His family.  Romans 8:15b says, "Instead, you received God's Spirit when He adopted you as His own children.  Now we call Him, Abba Father."  We get to call Him Daddy.

This passage really blessed me today because it dealt with two separate issues I was thinking about.  This family I was talking about earlier, the one that adopted the two little girls?  They have already adopted another boy and have an older foster daughter.  These children have been given the chance to have a Dad, just as we have.  But, like any family, there are expectations and rules, love and compassion.

Lord, thank you for the opportunity to be called your son.  Thank you that you chose to adopt me, and that you give me purpose, family, and a future.

Crazy Love

Staying in the era of the Judges, I needed to read something happy.  For any of you who don't know, I struggled with gall bladder issues for awhile before I had it removed, and I have been continuing to struggle with some digestive issues enough that my surgeon wants me to have some further testing done.

Enough, Already!

 

So today, I've been nervous, because tomorrow I'm having a "minor" procedure ... and I wanted to read a story about something good coming from a tough situation, so read the book of Ruth.

The story of Ruth is one of my favorite love stories of all time, but I'd forgotten an element that reminded me of another of my favorite love stories ... Disney's Aladdin.

Ruth, like my friend Aladdin, is a "diamond in the rough."  She marries into an Jewish family, apparently accepting their traditions and religion, and sticks with her mother-in-law after all the family providers have died.  In that culture, women only had a few options:  wife/mother, prostitute, or beggar was the typical list.  Ruth, though LOVED her mother-in-law Naomi so much that she chose to stay with her, rather than go back home to possibly try again for a young, fertile, respectable husband from her own people.

Ruth's love is poured out to Naomi in her famous proclamation:  “Don’t ask me to leave you and turn back. Wherever you go, I will go; wherever you live, I will live. Your people will be my people, and your God will be my God. Wherever you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord punish me severely if I allow anything but death to separate us!”  (1:16-17)

Not only does Ruth give everything she has to stay with Naomi, she goes with her, knowing she is headed into poverty.  But she doesn't stop.  She gets to Judah, scrounges for food, and meets a man who is willing--actually happy--to redeem her, Naomi, and their ancestral land.  (There's that recurring theme of redemption again!)

The short of the story is Ruth bears a son who is the grandfather of the most famous (and probably best) king the people of Israel ever had ... David.  This foreigner who had nothing shows by her character her value; she is a gem of a woman.  And God blessed her.  

I read this story looking for my happy ending, and I found it.  But reading it reminded me of so much more.  God looks for the insignificant and the broken to use and restore, so He can do great things--things that can impact people and history far beyond the lifetime of the vessel he uses.

        

Lord, thank You for giving me a measure of peace through Ruth's story, that everything CAN turn out for good.  Thank you even more for choosing to work through Your creation--me--even though I really don't have much to offer on my own.  Let everything I accomplish of good be credited to Your work in my life, even by those who might not believe in You.  Let them "see [my] good works, and glorify [my] Father in Heaven."

Judge Me

I'm behind in my blogging ... I've been reading and praying, but I haven't been recording, so for those of you who have been following and might have been concerned ... well, I'm back!

Anyway, I skipped around the Minor Prophets a bit, and kept getting the same message over and over again.  God wants to redeem His people, and Israel/Judah/God's enemies will be defeated and punished for going past what He wanted them to do to bring His people back to Him.  There are a lot of smaller nuggets of truth buried in these books, a lot of wonderful promises, a lot of horrific judgments.  But I felt like I needed a different perspective, so I went back a little bit in the Old Testament (and in history) to the Book of Judges.  And I found the bottom line--I found why the Israelites, and I, continued to fail over and over and over again.

The first chapter/section of Judges starts out pretty well.  The Tribe of Judah drives out (almost) all the enemies in the territory that is set aside for them.  Then Judges starts describing how the other tribes fared.  And there is a common thread, "[they] didn't drive [the enemies] out of the land," but tried to subjugate them.  God's people didn't strive for ultimate victory--they settled for mediocre success.

In my own life, why do I continue to struggle with the same issues time and time again?  I used to think that it was just because those issues erupted from some personality flaws that were part of my human make-up.  This passage makes me question that assumption.

I think it may have more to do with the fact that I don't keep pushing to destroy those things that cause me to fail.  My "secret sins."  My "weaknesses."  I use my frailty as an excuse to fail, instead of allowing God to work through me to purge me of my shortcomings.  I let Him in far enough to get me through, but not far enough to change me forever.

I take the quick win, and miss out on the ultimate victory.  

I'm not going to list all my issues here ... for one, this is not the right forum for that kind of transparency; for another, my list is way too long for any of you to stay interested ...

But if you understand what I'm saying, and if you can agree with my premise, I challenge you to go one step further on my journey with me--delve deep, search yourself (like I will), and let God start the cleansing of your inner "land."  The territory ultimately belongs to Him, He just wants us to live in it and prosper.

      God, help me to give over my failures to You totally and completely, so You can keep me from falling again and again.  Remind me daily that by not claiming total victory, I allow my enemies (sometimes including myself) to keep a foothold that can develop into a stronghold.  I need You to bring complete change to replace my temporary successes.  Thank You for not giving up on me.