John 14:15-21
"I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you."
(JOHN 14:18)
Layered on top of God's birth and marriage pictures of His perfect love for us is another image, that of adoption. I understand being born again; after all, I was born and have seen many babies who were born. For 25 years of marriage, I have understood more clearly how God is our groom and we are His bride. But the image of Christ's deep, unsearchable love reached me at new levels when my husband and I became adoptive parents. His assurance to us of comfort through the Holy Spirit carried us through long years of waiting. But when that first baby was placed in our arms and our love was immediate, we grasped deeply what it means to be placed in the family of God, to be wanted and to belong, to be grafted into a new life that we hadn't earned, to have our place in His family finalized and irreversible.
These facets of our lives as believers in Jesus are made richer through the reality of adoption. Perhaps you know of an adoption story; let it point you to your heavenly Father who has not left you orphaned.
INSIGHT
WE HAVE A FATHER, AND HE CALLS US HIS OWN!
READ THROUGH THE BIBLE IN A YEAR
Ezekiel 21-22
Psalm 141
Colossians 3-4
John 14:15-21
New International Version (NIV)
Jesus Promises the Holy Spirit
15 “If you love me, keep my commands. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be[a] in you. 18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19 Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20 On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. 21 Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.”
Footnotes:
a. John 14:17 Some early manuscripts and is
A PRAYING LIFE [PART 3]
with Paul Miller
With more Americans behind on their mortgages and in danger of losing their homes, people are looking for answers. Where is our security? Where do we go for help?
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