When Adam sinned, he was the door through which sin entered the world. Sin brought corruption to the flesh and cut us off from God. We became orphans and were as lost sheep. We were slaves to the spirit of bondage and corruption.
When Jesus died on the cross, He was the door through which the Holy Spirit entered the world. The Holy Spirit freed us from the bondage and corruption of sin. The Holy Spirit is the complete opposite of sin. The Holy Spirit made it possible for us to be brought into God's family and be joint heirs with Jesus.
Romans 8:14-17 NKJV says, 14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are the sons of God. 15 For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, "Abba, Father." 16 The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs-heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.
I was reading those verses the other day and, of course, they caught my attention since my wife and I have been foster parents and adopted a child. I've read them many times and never noticed that phrase 'the Spirit of adoption'. It made me think about how God has taken us in and washed us in His blood and clothed us in His righteousness. He's given us His name and His authority.
When my wife and I had a child placed in our home, the first thing we did was give them a bath and clean clothes. They always came to us in dirty clothes and needing a bath. When we come to Jesus we are in the same condition spiritually. The child we adopted was given our name.
The Spirit of adoption brought her to us. The Spirit of adoption moved us to make ourselves available. The Spirit of adoption always takes me to the Cross and reminds me of what it took for me to be adopted into the family of God.
Sunday, October 23, 2016
Friday, October 7, 2016
When Angels Mourn
When my wife and I had our miscarriage eight years ago, we mourned the loss of our child. I was thinking of this the other day and it prompted me to think about when a child is aborted, do I mourn for it the same way I did when my child was miscarried?
I have a friend who has a daughter in her early twenties who's a drug addict. She had a child that was born drug exposed and she couldn't keep the child. He and his wife adopted her when she was an infant. A few years ago when the little girl was seven he told me his daughter was pregnant again and they knew if she gave birth she wouldn't be able to keep the child and they wouldn't be able to adopt it. He asked me if they should just pay to get an abortion. Their daughter wasn't able to afford one. I told him it would be better to give birth to the baby and put it up for adoption.
About a month later, he told me they had paid for her to have the abortion. I did feel a sadness and mourn for that child. I was also sad because this man and his wife go to church. It just seemed to me a church going person wouldn't do that but a lot of church goers do things they shouldn't do. I did mourn more for that child than other aborted children because it hit closer to home.
How can you mourn in more than an abstract, general way when so many have been aborted? It seems to numb you when you think about the sheer volume of butchery that has gone on since abortion was legalized. It's over fifty-five million. It's like the National Debt Clock that shows how much debt America is in and how quickly it is accumulating. It's hard to fathom and wrap your mind around how high it is.
So do we mourn? Yes we do but not in a break down and sob everyday way. We mourn for the overall tragedy that is abortion. That our country allows such brutality on such a massive scale. We let our mourning compel us to action to bring an end to this war on unborn children. It's estimated that in WWII there were close to sixty million people killed. We are fast approaching that number, or have already past it, with abortion.
We pray, we educate, we show people there's a better way. We also try to minister to those who have aborted their child and let them know God's grace is more than sufficient to save them and forgive them. Luke 15:10 says that there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels when one sinner repents and is born again. Demons probably mourn when that happens. Conversely, when a baby is aborted and never born, I imagine demons rejoice and angels mourn.
I have a friend who has a daughter in her early twenties who's a drug addict. She had a child that was born drug exposed and she couldn't keep the child. He and his wife adopted her when she was an infant. A few years ago when the little girl was seven he told me his daughter was pregnant again and they knew if she gave birth she wouldn't be able to keep the child and they wouldn't be able to adopt it. He asked me if they should just pay to get an abortion. Their daughter wasn't able to afford one. I told him it would be better to give birth to the baby and put it up for adoption.
About a month later, he told me they had paid for her to have the abortion. I did feel a sadness and mourn for that child. I was also sad because this man and his wife go to church. It just seemed to me a church going person wouldn't do that but a lot of church goers do things they shouldn't do. I did mourn more for that child than other aborted children because it hit closer to home.
How can you mourn in more than an abstract, general way when so many have been aborted? It seems to numb you when you think about the sheer volume of butchery that has gone on since abortion was legalized. It's over fifty-five million. It's like the National Debt Clock that shows how much debt America is in and how quickly it is accumulating. It's hard to fathom and wrap your mind around how high it is.
So do we mourn? Yes we do but not in a break down and sob everyday way. We mourn for the overall tragedy that is abortion. That our country allows such brutality on such a massive scale. We let our mourning compel us to action to bring an end to this war on unborn children. It's estimated that in WWII there were close to sixty million people killed. We are fast approaching that number, or have already past it, with abortion.
We pray, we educate, we show people there's a better way. We also try to minister to those who have aborted their child and let them know God's grace is more than sufficient to save them and forgive them. Luke 15:10 says that there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels when one sinner repents and is born again. Demons probably mourn when that happens. Conversely, when a baby is aborted and never born, I imagine demons rejoice and angels mourn.
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