Parrells between adopting a pet and believer's adoption by God

I was trying to get my kitties, Aubie and Boomer, to come and sit on my lap recently. But, like most kitties, they just looked at me and kept doing what they wanted to do. I felt kind of sad that they didn't come running over and jump into my lap and start purring. Were they mad at me? Were they thinking I was just a weird person? Who knows with cats!

Sometimes they do come and sit on my lap on their own initiative. I really like it when they want to sit with me and let me pet them. Its nice when they come over when I call them but, it is much better when they come on their own. It means more when they come because they want to.

This made me think about my relationship with God. I chose them from a group of many kittens, just because I liked them and thought they were cute. The Bible says in Ephesians 1:4 and 5, that God chose His Children (believers) before the foundation of the world according to the kind intention of His will. Not because of anything I had done, since He chose me before I had even been born. He just picked me because He wanted to. I am so thankful and humbled that He did.

Another parallel between God adopting me and me adopting my kitties is that I love God because He first loved me (1 John 4:19). If I had not first loved my kitties, they most likely would never had loved me.

I said before how much more it means to me when they come to me of their own free will. I think God feels the same way. He never forces anyone to come to Him. But, I think He does draw believers to Himself.

Isn't it amazing how God can use simple things to show us more about Himself?

Pray Without Ceasing

1st Thessalonians 5:17 "Pray without ceasing."

There are huge benefits to having a set prayer time each day. This is a sadly overlooked spiritual discipline in the church today. There are many reasons for this and even more creative ways to overcome the excuses. I am going to leave this discussion to men and women infinitely more qualified than I am (we are featuring two excellent books on prayer this month and I cannot urge you strongly enough to read both!)

The topic I want to discuss today revolves around the central point in every believer's life that prayer should have. Outside of a regular time set aside for the single reason of prayer, Christians should be praying throughout the day. The first thought on your mind when something good happens should be a quick breath of prayer to the One who sent it. The first groan of your heart when something sad happens should be to the Comforter. Your first words when you become angry should be to the Lord.

As Christians, we have all been adopted into the family of God. We are His daughters and He expects and desires us to come to Him as His children. What heart of a father is not made glad by hearing of his daughter's joy? What father does not offer comfort when a daughter is in tears? What father does not protect when a daughter is afraid, does not provide to a daughter in need, does not give instruction when a daughter desires to learn? Sisters, we have a perfect Father in heaven! Bring everything in your life to Him, throughout the day, as it comes up!

There are massive benefits to this kind of prayer including:

• A greater binding of your heart to Him
• Less opportunity for sin (have you ever tried to sin while praying? its possible...but it is HARD!)
• A greater awareness of witnessing opportunities
• Increased communion with your Savior
• A deeper reliance on God and a gradual disappearing of self-reliance
• Increased awareness to answered prayers
• Greater opportunities for thankfulness
  
• Greater opportunities for seeking forgiveness

May I encourage you today to continually come to the Lord in prayer? Before long it becomes almost automatic and I cannot tell you how many wonderful times of prayer I've had that were sparked by what started as simply a quick, "Father, protect me!" or "Father, thank you!"

Adpoted!

C.J. Mahaney recently did an awesome 9 post blog series on Adoption. I HIGHLY recommend going to the links below and checking them out. We have amazing benefits as children of God that, unfortunately, we rarely utilize to their full extent. This series is an excellent reminder of our status as adopted sons and daughters of the Lord.

Adopted!

One Couple's Adoption Story

Enchanting Legalism

The Basis of Adoption

Justified or Adopted - Which is Greater?

Clashing Voices

Excessive Grace

The Greatest Sorrow

Certainty

Adoption and Evangelism - Part 2

I promised you three more arguments for adoption/foster care on Tuesday and here they are, for your consideration:

1. Opportunities to witness to the families of the children. This is especially applicable in the instance of foster care. You will usually have contact with the child's parents and siblings. This is a huge reason, especially as our church continues to seek for ways to be outward facing.

2. Opportunities to witness to social workers. These men and women will have much interaction with you and there will be ample opportunity to speak of the Lord and His gospel. The social worker that Pastor Rick and Jasmine talked to told them that (although she didn't know why) people who went to church consistently usually made the best foster parents, which was one of the reasons she was so eager to have a group from our church get certified.

3. Opportunities to witness to unsaved family, friends, and neighbors. People tend to have very strong feelings about foster care and adoption. I am reminded of the scene from Anne of Green Gables, when Marilla announces to her neighbor that she and her brother are going to adopt a little boy, and the neighbor begins to rattle off reason after reason about why this was a terrible idea. People will ask you why and it will be the perfect opening to discuss your own adoption into God's family and how you are taking the opportunity to show the love of God to young children who have not experienced it.

Please prayerfully consider this opportunity to have an immense impact on the life of a child, and on countless others that you will interact with along the way. God has commanded us to look after the widows and orphans and to show them the love of God. These children will not be orphans in the Webster's dictionary definition of the word, but they are orphans in the truest sense of the word. I hope to see you all in the certification classes coming up. God bless.

Adoption and Evangelism

"Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved," Ephesians 1:4-6

I love these verses. They are short and account for a very small percentage of the Bible as a whole, but they are so rich and full and I could go on and on about them for hours. Trust me, just ask any of the nine or ten year olds running around church. :) You can also ask them what, besides salvation, justification, and the start of sanctification, happens at the moment of conversion. If they are not too shy to answer, they should all be able to reply, "Adoption!"
Adoption is a beautiful, rich, and often overlooked part of salvation. As Christians we have not simply ceased to be the enemies of God, but we have become His adopted sons and daughters. We are free to come to him as a child comes to her father, full of love and confidence. Although we often refer to ourselves as "children of God" we very rarely take the time to consider what this means. I was struck by this fact a few years ago when I received the new curriculum for my Sunday School class, which has a couple lessons near the beginning of the semester that focus on adoption. It has been on my mind greatly since then and I can honestly say that I have grown much (and am continuing to grow) in love for it since then. This is one of the main reasons that I have, in the past year, become very fixed on the idea of adoption here on earth.
Those of you who know me well are thinking, "Oh no, she's on her soap box again!" But our church has been given a very unique opportunity to participate in a close relative of adoption - foster care - and I want to do my part to help convince you to participate in it.
The biggest and most important argument for foster care and adoption that I have is evangelism. We have a huge opportunity to reach out to young children in our community who desperately need someone to care for them. And what better care can they receive than from Christians? Where are you going to find a better or easier opening for evangelism? You will be taking a child (or children) in, loving them, treating them as your own, caring for their needs, etc. They will have less than perfect parents, otherwise they wouldn't be in foster care, and you can preach to them of the perfect Father who never disappoints, always forgives, and can never leave or abandon His children.
We have an awesome opportunity here to have great impact on the lives of children. Foster homes are not good places in general to grow up in. I have a friend who spent most of her life in foster homes and she has told me some pretty heartbreaking stories. We can give these children a safe place to live, food to eat, love to experience, and the hope of the gospel that will follow them even after they are no longer with us. Yes, this will mean making great sacrifice on our end, as Jasmine pointed our for us yesterday, but as she also said (and I whole-heartedly concur), Girls, its worth it!
Now, I firmly believe that children should have both a father and a mother, or I would have gone out and adopted a child by now. However, this will have to wait until (if) the Lord provides me with a husband. In the mean time, He has given me the opportunity of foster care. Again, I cannot take in a child myself, for one, I still live with my parents! However, I am getting certified, partly to get my foot in the door and make myself known to the social workers and judges, and also in order to help anyone else who has decided to get certified. I will be able to babysit and assist in any way you need. So there you go folks, if you become foster parents you already have a babysitter lined up. :)
I urge you to prayerfully consider the possibility of foster care with your families. Thursday, I will give you three more arguments for foster care.