Happy Tuesday,


How blessed is God! And what a blessing he is! He's the Father of our Master, Jesus Christ, and he takes us to the high places of blessing in him. Long before he laid down earth's foundations, he had us in mind, had settled on us as the focus of his love, to be made whole and holy by his love. Long, long ago he decided to adopt us into his family through Jesus Christ. (What pleasure he took in planning this!) He wanted us to enter into the celebration of his lavish gift-giving by the hand of his beloved Son.
-Ephesians 1.3-6 (MSG)


I remember when I was growing up in a fit of rage I would say "I must be adopted!" Figuring that I was different than the rest of my family and the only logical explanation would be that these people aren't really related to me. I held this belief in the back of my mind until someone could prove me wrong. Until one day I saw a picture of my father when he was 18 or 19 and it felt as if I was looking in a mirror.

I believe there is a point in our childhood that we are connected with God in a way that is indescribable. We may not have even been conscience of it but it was there. We were untainted by this world of corruption. Sin and deceit hadn't crept into our consciousness yet. We were connected with God. Then one day we had to come to terms with the fact that this world hurts. Pain is a very real thing. People will harm you to get what they want. All the ugliness of this cruel world had to come crashing down on us at some point... and the weight of that knowledge hurt.

It's like we realized that God wasn't our real Father; he just adopted us. There was a harsh reality that he was trying to keep us from that he couldn't any longer. It's like he was just trying to do the right thing.

in loco parentis
Latin= (in place of a parent; in a parental capacity)

But maybe the truth is that He is our true Father and He just letting 'our parents' borrow us for a while. Maybe the truth is that this reality that smacked us so hard in the face isn't truly reality at all. I think we all carry a thought of not belonging with God, a sense of imperfection that haunts us that will lead us to believe that we can't be apart of His family. But one day we'll be able to look into the face of our Father (God) and it will cure any disbelief that He truly is your Daddy. (Romans 8.15)

I can hear Maury reading the results "The test is..... ........ POSITIVE, God IS your Father!!!" (And the crowd goes crazy)

Take care,
PC