Because He Is I Am

(Before I began the message I gave each member a 3x5 index card and asked each person to do the following:

With 1 to 5 words describe yourself when you are done pass the card to someone else

*it is a little more fun if you are not related

ask them to use 1 to 5 words to tell you who they think you are

Once all the cards have been filled out and returned to their "owners" I began the message at the close of the message I referred back to the index cards )

who am I

where do I fit in

does the answer to either of these questions even matter

These may sound like trivial questions but in all honesty how we answer them provides the fuel for everything we do in life

I do feel that it is quite possibly the greatest weakness of all Christians ~ we fail to realize what we or who we are we spend the majority of our time arguing about the various implications of “Christian truth” or the applications of it but take away all the distractions and the one place we need to settle is… we need to know who we are.

Pastors look out from pulpits all over the world and ask themselves the same question… they say they believe yet they live like they don’t WHY?!?!?!

The answer is in their identity:

Godly conduct rests on our understanding of our true and great

Position as children of God

If we begin to see this truth and allow it to shape our identity

Then we become more aware of the father and his desires for our lives

And we begin to choose to imitate him more and more

Ill:

Matt n I were hanging a few pictures and little Bug got hold of

The drill and when we looked over at him we found him

Squatted down holding the drill with both hands

Up against the kitchen wall

Kids copy their parents!

READ: 1John 3: 1 – 3

A child of GOD! How and where do I even begin? Many pastors have avoided such texts because they are so rich and not wanting to diminish the potency and power I wont dare to claim to be any more adequate than any of my peers yet here I am 1 John 3

God is reminding me that I am his child, not that I will be but that I AM today right now his child

This past week my husband and I had the beautiful experience of attending the adoption proceedings of two of our previous foster kiddo's. What a treasure it was and a reminder for the two of us that God has gone to such extreme measures to bring us into the family. Fought battles I cant even wrap my head around all because he loves us.

Galatians 3 says "So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise."

God has through his son Jesus adopted us into his family!

So what is adoption?

Adoption is a legal action by which a person takes into their family a child or children not belonging to them with the purpose of treating the child as and giving the child all the privileges of a natural child. An adopted child is legally entitled to all rights and privileges of a natural born child.

Adoption often happens because of death, abuse or neglect and those traumatized by such events often suffer from emotional issues that must be over come

I think that we as Christians ~ adopted children of God ~ often suffer from many of these same issues lets take a look

1) Attachment Disorder also known as R.A.D. this is the inability to bond or make strong relationships due to the neglect and abuse in the past. This results in insecurity and a lack of trust new relationships are hard if not impossible to form. In fact it is very common for adopted children to struggle with the insecurity, permanence, consistency, trust and love.

Give yourself time to think about this for a minute ~

The lies we have heard over the years, the heart breaks, the repeated let downs and disappointments we have face over and over and over again.

Have you ever questioned or do you currently find it hard to believe that you are beyond measure regardless of where you have come from ~ from this moment through the rest of eternity you are truly, deeply, genuinely and passionately loved by GOD ~ your DAD!