Scripture
And I will be your Father,
and you will be my sons and daughters,
says the Lord Almighty.
2 Corinthians 6:18
Observation
When Jesus was baptized in the water by John the Baptist in Matthew 3 The Heavenly Father spoke from Heaven saying, “This is my beloved son and I’m so proud of him.” This moment wasn’t just for Jesus who was about to face down the devil’s temptations in the wilderness, but was for each of us. The Father said He was proud of His son before He had done a single miracle. No blind eyes had yet been opened, no bread and fish multiplied, no demons cast out, no Lazarus raised from the dead. He wasn’t proud of Jesus based on His performance, but simply because He belonged to Him. After the Apostle Paul has walked this performance based church in Corinth through all of the misuses and abuses of gifts and position he reminds them of their core identity. They are sons and daughters of the Lord Almighty. When we know who’s we are we know who we are.
Application
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9 times in the Gospels we read of Jesus going away and getting alone with The Father. This was His daily rhythm to stay connected with the One who loved Him. Last week I was away in Bend, Oregon for a study retreat. I usually take two a year to pray over the church and study to prepare a road map of messages for the next six months. I was alone in a cabin right on the Deschutes River. Fall had set in and temperatures were dropping and it was absolutely what my soul needed. I had to acclimate, not just to the temperatures, but also to the solitude and silence. Being a task driven guy, I had things to do with my limited time and come to find out, God wasn’t nearly as interested in my to do list as I was. He just wanted me to be with Him. So the first day was really about Him reminding me that my identity and security and purpose wasn’t based on the epic sermon series I would write, but rather it was based on sonship. I had to stop “doing” and had to start being again. He was already proud of me before I wrote a single sermon. In fact, what I realized afresh was that if I wasn’t refreshed in Him then anything I wrote out would come out as stale and shallow. In fact, that was the word God gave me for 2024. Deeper/Still. To go deeper I had to be still. To be still was to remember I am His son and He is my Father and I have nothing to prove. I had the chance to spend some with Pop for his 74th Bday. I sure did miss his hugs. When I saw him at the airport he didn’t ask me how much I had accomplished this year, if my sermons were all home runs, if the church was growing. Nope, he just pulled me in and gave me a big bear hug and held me good and tight for a while. It turns out it’s enough to just be a son in the arms of my Father.
Prayer
Lord, forgive me for so often making my relationship with You about what I’m doing for You rather then simply being with You. What If I did that with my boys? They would feel like a task on a list rather than ones I loved and wanted to be with. This is one of the busiest times of the year. I don’t want to wind up at the end of December with the regret of having spent all my time doing stuff for You while never truly just being with you. Thank You for calling me back to Yourself and reminding me who I am.
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