Category Archives: Family

God’s family and Family

When you talk about family, there are some stereotypes that come with it.  Family is blood.  Family is comfort.  Family is awkward. Family is love for someone you wouldn’t even be friends with if they weren’t family.  Anyone can become a part of your family, but not everyone is a part of your family.

So how should we think about the statement, “We are all God’s children” ?  I’m going to throw out a couple thoughts from the Bible and I realize that if you don’t believe in the Bible than you might have issue with what this says.

There is a sense in which we all are a part of God’s family.   Ephesians 3:14-15 says, “For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on the earth is named.”  And Acts 17:28 says, “for in him we live and move about and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we too are his offspring.’”  In the sense that God has given life to every living being, we are His offspring.  Every family that is in existence can trace its heritage back to God’s first creation of humanity on earth “in the beginning.”

However, how do you tie in the understanding of John 1:12-13, “But to all who have received him– those who believe in his name– he has given the right to become God’s children – children not born by human parents or by human desire or a husband’s decision, but by God.”  And Ephesians 1:5, “God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure.”  How can one be adopted if they are already in the family? How can one become God’s children if they are already one of them?  It would seem that there is something else besides God just giving us life and breathe that makes someone a part of God’s spiritual family.  Anyone can be a part of His family, but maybe not everyone is a part of the His family.

John 3:3-7, 16 “Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.” “What do you mean?” exclaimed Nicodemus. “How can an old man go back into his mother’s womb and be born again?” Jesus replied, “I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit. 6 Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life.  So don’t be surprised when I say, ‘You must be born again.’…For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.” (NLT)

Love and Marriage Bible Reading

Valentine’s Day is fast approaching.  When I was younger, I would plan for a nice emotional and romantic surprise farther in advance.  Not that I love my wife less,  but I’m learning to love her in deeper, different ways (is that a cop-out?). Okay, so my marriage is like marriages that don’t go on weekly dates and the romance fades away after 12 years. Sometimes, roses seem too cliche.

Praying and reading the bible together has been one thing that we’ve started and started and started again. It doesn’t come natural to me.  But with technology these days, there’s no excuse.

Youversion.com is a bible reading website as well as an app for your mobile device, iPod and iPad.  One of the best things about youversion.com for me is their extensive list of reading plans.  There’s something for anyone.  They even help you be accountable to the plan you want to make it through.

This bible reading plan takes 5 days and focused on “Love and Marriage:”

By focusing on our marriage within the context of Scripture, we give God the opportunity to reveal new insights about our relationship and strengthen our bond. The Love and Marriage Reading Plan features a focused passage of Scripture and quick thoughts each day to initiate discussion and prayer with your spouse. This five-day plan is a short-term commitment to help you invest in your lifelong relationship.

If you’re like me that want to try to get things started again, but not sure if you can pull it off in the long run, give this bible reading plan a try with you and your spouse starting tonight.

Saying “Grace”

NIV Mark 6:41 “Taking the five loaves and the two fish and looking up to heaven, he gave thanks and broke the loaves. Then he gave them to his disciples to set before the people. He also divided the two fish among them all.”

There are a few things fascinating about this verse.  First, this is the only miracle recorded by the gospel writers in which they said that Jesus looked up to heaven when he gave thanks.  I don’t really understand why in only this instance, since there are other times Jesus gave thanks.

But what’s even more striking for me is that there seems to be a pattern in the bible of giving thanks: 1) take hold of something, 2) give thanks, 3) break it/prepare it and 4) serve/eat it.

Not that there is something magical about the order of giving thanks (for thanking God always, no matter when, is the key). But I begin to wonder what would it look like in your home and my home, if when we got home from the grocery store, we put all the food on the table and had a service of thanks? In the Old Testament, there were sometimes songs and music of thanksgiving with giving thanks. I like that idea: a service of thanks when you gather what God gives you. It’s like a full blown worship service right there in your kitchen!  Then you can put the items away and every time you take something out of the fridge or cupboard, you are breaking it/preparing it and then you eat and/or serve it.

Anyways, just thought how this is kind of opposite of how we take hold of something, prepare it, serve it and then say “grace” with our heads bowed and a finger on a fry.