From the Back Deck: CHILDREN OF GOD (d365.org)

INVOCATION.... (d365.org - Elizabeth Evans Hagan)

It’s an important part of your identity, going to the root of who you are. It speaks to where you come from and, to a large degree, where you are going.

So whose child are you?

Since God is our source, we are children of God, made to be loved and to thrive. In these next few moments, consider who has birthed you into the world and who is nurturing you along the way.

THURSDAY, July 17  Abba! Daddy!

Romans 8:15b-16 VOICE

The Spirit you have received adopts you and welcomes you into God’s own family. That’s why we call out to Him, “Abba! Father!” as we would address a loving daddy. 16 Through that prayer, God’s Spirit confirms in our spirits that we are His children.

     I just returned from a lengthy visit with my mom and a stay in my father's pastoral study in the basement of the Bandon home.  I read old letters from my dad's first years of ministry, his hopes and dreams for the church.  Wow.  What a spiritual legacy I received from both my parents - what a welcoming into the family of God in a literal sense as well as spiritual.  While my parents are distinctly human, I can interweave the terms father, mother, abba, God together in some way because they all convey a sense of belonging and love.  It is a heritage to inspire gratitude and action.  What can and will I do with such a gift?

FRIDAY, July 18  Communal Anticipation

Romans 8:18-19  GNT

I consider that what we suffer at this present time cannot be compared at all with the glory that is going to be revealed to us. 19 All of creation waits with eager longing for God to reveal his children.

     I get lost in the middle of Paul's ramblings to the Romans.  In this passage, the apostle is reminding the struggling and suffering Christians of the glory that awaits them as Children of God.  We do well to remember still, and today I am thinking about the passage in the context of family. 

     When we wait for something marvelous (Christmas, a big trip...God!), it is always best to remember that 'misery loves company'.  It is easier and less painful to wait in communion with the rest of the family.  Together we can create ways to ease one another's suffering; together we can bolster each other's spirits; as family we support one another.  It is no fun to wait alone!  (Just ask the PYGS what the Boise airport wait would have been alone!)  Well, we are all children of God, so one BIG family, all awaiting the eventual glory of God's fulfillment for the world.  But in the meantime, we have work to do while we wait....

SATURDAY, July 19  A Journey

Romans 8:22-23 MSG

All around us we observe a pregnant creation. The difficult times of pain throughout the world are simply birth pangs. But it’s not only around us; it’s within us. The Spirit of God is arousing us within. We’re also feeling the birth pangs.

     It seems ironic that just a couple days ago I was writing about journeys and travel, and now in a totally different context, I am back to the word again.  Life is a journey, a time of growth and maturing, much as a baby develops in the mother's womb.  Time spent in the womb is not wasted; our time here on earth is not for negative gain.  We are BECOMING.  Journeys have bumps in the road, road blocks (just ask anyone trying to get past all the fire closures to Baker City right now!) and set-backs.  But each 'birth pang' is another step on the way to full realization as Children of God, as a Creation of God. 
     It has been a rough week for the world.  It is tough to see the events in Gaza and the Ukraine as birth pangs, the homes lost in western wildfires or hostages shot down as mere bumps in our journey of life.  But if we can continue to keep our focus on the whole picture, if we can keep seeking the face of God in those around and IN OURSELVES to be the hands of God, maybe we can endure another labor pain.  God IS with us.  How can we show it?

SUNDAY, July 20    HOPE
Romans 8:24-25 VOICE
But hope does not involve what we already have or see. For who goes around hoping for what he already has?   But if we wait expectantly for things we have never seen, then we hope with true perseverance and eager anticipation.
      We want. We hope.  We want now.  But as a child of God, we are not the one in control.  We can't stand there, as my little great-nephew, and say, "But I WANT it, God!"  As a child, we don't get everything we want when we want it.  But the knowledge that we have a good and loving parent God who wants the best for us and will provide that best in the best time frame is enough.  It allows us to wait, sometimes patiently, always eagerly, for the fulfillment of our hopes and dreams - for our fulfillment as a child of God.  That is worth waiting for!  
BENEDICTION BLESSING.... 

(From “Strong, Gentle Children” by Dan Damon)

      Strong, gentle children, God made you beautiful, gave you the wisdom and power you need; speak in the stillness all you are longing for; live out your calling to love and to lead.

   

NOTE:  As I work through the final chapters of Luke in a daily Scribble (I WILL get that book done!), I am returning to Passport's d365.org for my daily thoughts - written from the summer comfort and beauty of my back deck!