Adopted by Our Holy God

In our humanistic society, it is impossible not to keep our focus on our self. We think about #1, sometimes to the exclusion of those whom we should cherish more than our own self.

We forget that Christ laid down His life for us and calls us to lay down our life for others. It is easier for most women to lay down our life, because our genes tend to be hardwired with the codependent nature.

However, there are also men in our society that have this emotional, compassionate nature that makes it easier for them to put others above their self.

The issue here is more about Christ increasing within our spirit and soul as our focus on our self decreases (John 3:30). We consider others as better than our self (Philippians 2:3-4).

This does not mean that we neglect our self - we are people too and we can minister to our needs in the same way that we care for everyone else. In fact, this habit keeps us healthy and more able to help others (Mark 12:31).

Yet, as our flesh decreases, we are new creatures in true righteousness and holiness (Ephesians 4:23-24). We are offspring of our holy God and His divine nature infuses every part of our body, spirit and soul - thoughts, choices and feelings (Acts 17:28-29).

In eternity, Christ will even transform our body to mirror His glorious, immortal one (Philippians 3:21).  God's Spirit completely sanctifies us, conforming us to the image and likeness of Christ, God's first born Son (1 Thessalonians 5:23).

Prayer:

Father God, You adopted us as individual members of Your Body, and placed Jesus is our head (1 Corinthians 12:27; Ephesians 4:15). Our body is Your temple and as the corporate Body of Christ, we are one with Your Spirit (1 Corinthians 3:16, 6:17). The world recognizes that You sent us on their behalf, because our life is a testimony of You to them (John 17:21-23).

Jesus gives us the glory, which You gave to Him, so that we can be one with Him, You and with one another (John 17:22). Help us to be patient and diligent as You slowly mature our spiritual growth until we share in the divine nature of Christ (Ephesians 4:13).

Thought for the Day:

We are crucified with Christ, and therefore, we live in this world for the glory of Christ; yet, it is not we who live, but Christ who lives in us and through us. - Philippians 1:21; Galatians 2:20

The Healing Journey - Our Priceless Inheritance

I was born into an Italian family, the oldest child of my parents and the first grandchild in the family. To say that I was loved, expected, wanted and spoiled is an understatement.

Then, three years later on the exact date of my birth, my baby brother was born. Of course, all the attention and acclaim went to the new baby and the first boy of our family.

I remember standing outside of the nursery door and wondering why my parents were giving this screaming bag of bones all of my attention. I was told to go outside to play; and from that day forward, outside became my happy place.

Yet, I experienced all of the deprivation, abandonment, rejection and loneliness that accompanies having a new baby in the family. 

My defense was to be a good little girl and mommy's helper with my baby brothers, as two more boys came into our family. I received less and less personal attention with each new birth. 

As the only girl and oldest child, I was given household chores. We fell into this routine until, during my adolescence, I started to assert my independence, which my parents termed as "stubbornness".

This earned me the increasing wrath of my bipolar father, who resorted to violent physical punishment. He even used brutal force and sexual abuse on one occasion in an attempt to force me into submission.

My resentment grew and I turned more inward, often hanging out in our tree house with a good book. I preferred to be alone than to put myself in situations that brought me further hurt.

My mom attempted to compensate for my dad's wrath by leading my Girl Scout troop while I was in junior and senior high school. She helped me to apply to national and international events, which allowed me to travel.

I appreciated her constancy in doing all the right things for me; but since her mother died when she was three, and she grew up with a stepmom who worked long hours every day, she never personally experienced nurturing and never learned to cherish us emotionally.

My mom was required to do household chores, serve her alcoholic father and four older brothers and to care for her two younger brothers. Her emotions were locked up tightly within her soul, just as mine were, and she found her fulfillment through service in her community.

I married when I turned 20 and parented my own three children with this same aloof attitude of my mom and easily angered response that I learned from my dad. I did not know what it felt like to experience or to give nurturing.

Over the ensuing years, the sanctifying power of the Holy Spirit gradually healed my wounds and painstakingly replaced my negative learned behavior and personality characteristics with His fruit (Galatians 5:22-23).

I also borrowed books from local libraries and learned how to nurture the wounded "child" within me; as well as my own children, my mom and the wounded members of the churches in which I served as a Pastor's wife.

The husband of my youth, wounded from his childhood, remained as aloof as my mom and as exacting as my father. Only our Father God cherished me as His little girl and gave me comfort and safety under the shadow of His wings (Matthew 6:6-9).

God's Spirit revealed to me the devil's lies which kept me in bondage to the wounds of my past ( www.theophostic.com ). He helped me to forgive my parents and husband, and to let go of Satan's deceptions and the resulting wounds.

I learned that my inheritance with Christ of God's Kingdom is priceless and that there is forgiveness for my own sins and healing for the results of the sins others perpetrated in my life. God is our good, good Father and we are loved by Him as the apple of His eye (Psalm 17:8).

Prayer:

Father God, we could never thank You enough for adopting us into Your family, forgiving all of our sins, transforming our short-comings and healing our past. You care for us all the days of our life and even look forward to us joining You in eternity (Psalm 116:15). We anticipate that day when we gather around Your throne with all of Your Saints in order to praise Your goodness and mercy for eternity.

As we spend time in solitary prayer now, just as Jesus did, You energize our body, soul and spirit with Your continual presence within us. We find spontaneous tears of gratitude flowing down our cheeks as we dwell through each moment of our day in communion with You and by walking in Your Spirit.

Thought for the Day:

When we catch a glimpse of our priceless inheritance with Christ of all that is the Kingdom of God, we are filled with the wonder and humility that we feel at the magnitude of His presence in us and His provision for us both now and throughout eternity.

Emotional Disconnect during Holiday Celebrations

The first Mother's Day I celebrated after my husband decided that there was no option for us but divorce was the hardest day of my life. I felt a deep loss because I was separated from my children by hundreds of miles.

I went to fellowship with my church as usual, but did not celebrate, because I was too full of grief. I ended up leaving the service early, going to my tiny duplex and eating my homemade ravioli and marinara sauce to assuage my emotional pain.

Mother's and Father's Day, as we celebrate them every year, leave out those men and women who were not able to have children. They grieve this loss every day of their life, but especially on Mother's and Father's Day.

What about men and women who lost a child during pregnancy or maybe even at birth; or those people who chose abortion or adoption in a moment of crisis and are now full of grief, remorse and guilt?

There are people who came to Christ after a period of suffering through jail time, addiction, mental illness or estrangement from their mate; and now it is too late for them to bear children.

Other individuals lost their beloved mother or father through death, and many lost them way too early in life. Some have a parent drifting away from them through Alzheimer's, dementia, cancer or some other debilitating disease.

They are forced to put on happy faces during the hardest day of the year for them. Their grief is invisible to the rest of us, but it is eating them alive as the rest of us celebrate our children and our role as mother and father.

Then there is that percentage of people who suffered cruel treatment at the hand of a parent who was debilitated by health and psychological issues. Insecurity and the loss of their basic human needs, which were never met, affect every moment of their life.

These beloved persons suffered mental, emotional and physical abuse, deprivation, humiliation, degradation and belittlement as children and are still crippled today with physical, emotional and mental handicaps.

Many of us come to Christ and receive His healing, hiding our self with Christ in God (Colossians 3:1-4). Some of us teach our self how to parent our self with nurturing, cherishing and constant care; and to come to God for His nurturing care (1 Peter 5:7).

Some of them suffer alone, because we no longer allow our self to get to know one another in churches. We smile at each other when we enter and leave the one hour service on Sunday morning, but we do not know one another's heartaches and trials.

Prayer:

Father God, help us to get to know one another in the church; so that we can support each other, especially those men and women who suffer silently with deep wounds that may still be raw and infected, or that created a gaping chasm in their life.

Remind us that as a church, we can make holidays less of a challenge and more of a blessing by celebrating all people, not just with those who actually bore children and have healthy and nurturing parents, but also by sharing in the loss and grief of every person in our congregation all through the year.

Thought for the Day:

Our church can have ministries that do more than celebrate or help spouses and parents, but that also minister to all men and women regardless of their marital or parental status. We can learn each other's stories of loss, grief and suffering; and support one another each day of the year.