For many years I felt separated from people, friendships, and family. I just did not fit in with my adopted family. In my thirties, my need to belong sent me on a journey to find my birth family, my blood. Fortunately, God left that door wide open and with a little effort and time I was able to meet most of my family. Here I was now amid my birth blood family and relatives and yet that empty, alone feeling was still there. Please do not get me wrong they were very loving and welcoming. It would be several more years before I would put my finger on this deep sense that there is more, to understand why our earth family and relationships do not fill the void.
There is a spiritually longing to belong; as we search and look for answers we discover our true family and identity belongs to God. You will find that many times your spiritual family will be the ones to give good consult or stand with you in a storm with more love and understanding than blood relatives. This is a Biblical truth. Matthew 10:34-35 Jesus plainly teaches, “Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I came to turn a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; God has given you more than enough when you are spiritually born into His family and your desire to belong or fit in are centered in Him.” His Word is a roadmap to knowing your position as His child and that you can journey with Him by your side.
You have a true family name; “See what an incredible quality of love the Father has shown to you, that you would be named and called and counted a God’s child! And so, you are!” 1 John 3:1 AMP personalized
You are part of God’s family and know completely that your true identity is found in God; “God knew what He was doing from the very beginning. He decided from the outset to shape your life because you love Him along the same lines as the life of His Son. The Son stands first in the line of humanity He restored. Embrace the original and intended shape of your life found in Him. After God made that decision of what you, His child should be like, He followed it up by calling you by name. After He called you by name, He set you on a solid foundation with Himself. And then, after getting you established, He by your side to the end, gloriously completes what He had begun.” Romans 8:29 MSG personalized
“and you belong to Christ; and Christ belongs to God.” 1 Corinthians 3:23 AMP
As God’s child you have intimate relationship with your Forever Father; “Through Him (Jesus) you also have access by faith into this remarkable state of grace in which you firmly, safely, and securely stand. Rejoice uninhibited in your hope and the confident assurance of experiencing and enjoying the glory of your Forever Father, God manifested in His excellence and power.” Romans 5:2 AMP personalized
Because you are God’s daughter, you have an inheritance; “Celebrate with praises the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has shown you his extravagant mercy. For His fountain of mercy has given you a new life—you are reborn to experience a living, energetic hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. You the daughter of the Most High King are reborn into a perfect inheritance that can never perish, never be defiled, and never diminish. It is promised and preserved forever in the heavenly realm for you!” 1 Peter1:3-5 TPT personalized
Your membership in God’s family “has its privileges”; “And because you really are His daughter, God has sent the Spirit of His Son into your heart, crying out, “Abba! Father!” Therefore, you are no longer a slave to this world, but a daughter; and if a daughter, then also an heir through the gracious act of God through Christ.” Galatians 4:6-7 AMP personalized
TRUTH: “ Since you are his daughter, everything He has belongs to you, for that is the way God planned.” Galatians 4:7b TLB personalized
There is so much God has given you here on earth your training ground for eternity. I challenge you to seek and experience all God has given you while you await going home. Your spiritual family will also be there with you and so they should be very important to you. Invest in them and they will in you, pouring out the love God has given you not what the world would call love but His Love.
Ephesians 3:14-15 Paul says, “When I think of the wisdom and scope of His plan, I fall down on my knees and pray to the Father of all the great family of God—some of them already in heaven and some down here on earth.”
Let us talk more about the inheritance here on earth…God promises to meet your needs, do you find yourself looking over those needs hoping for worldly, material items? Philippians 4:19 says “My God will meet all your needs according to His glorious riches in Jesus Christ.” If you and I can grasp our spiritual inheritance, then through God all our daily physical needs will be meet as well. Further understanding found in Matthew 6:25-34.
Pastor Rick Warren says in his book, “Purpose Driven Life” that you share in the fortunes of God, here on earth we are given…”the riches of His grace, His kindness and patience, we share in His glory, wisdom and power, lastly and vital… we are able to experience His mercy.”
“So overflowing is His kindness toward you that He took away all your sins through the blood of His Son, by whom you are saved.” Ephesians 1:7 TLB personalized
“Don’t you realize how patient He is being with you? Or do you not care? Can’t you see that He has been waiting all this time without punishing you, to give you time to turn from your sin? His kindness is meant to lead you to repentance.” Romans 2:4 TLB personalized
“And He has a right to take others such as you, who have been made for pouring the riches of His glory into and to be kind to you so that you personally can see how very great His glory is.” Romans 9:23 TLB personalized
“Oh, what a wonderful God, Forever Father you have! How great are His wisdom and knowledge and riches!” Romans 11:33a TLB personalized
“That out of His glorious, unlimited resources He will give you the mighty inner strengthening of His Holy Spirit.” Ephesians 3:16 TLB personalized
“Your life once expressed the evil within you, entertaining wicked thoughts and giving into selfish desire. You started out bad, being born with evil natures, and were under God’s anger just like everyone else. But God is so rich in mercy; He loved you so much that even though you were spiritually dead and doomed by your sins, He gave you back your life again, when He raised Christ from the dead—only by His undeserved favor have you ever been saved.” Ephesians 2:3-5 TLB personalized
You are moving toward and becoming more like Christ everyday as you pursue Christ with all your heart. This change is happening now so that you might experience and walk this earth as His child, bringing God honor and glory. This is why He has given you a helper in the Holy Spirit, so that you might taste and see the goodness of God right now, no waiting. Paul tells us, “Put your heart and soul into every activity you do, as though you are doing it for the Lord himself and not merely for others. For we know that we will receive a reward, an inheritance from the Lord, as we serve the Lord Yahweh, the Anointed One!.” Colossians 3:23-24 TPT
Dream now of how much more you will receive when you step into the presence of God on the day of your homecoming. The Bible says, “And God has reserved for His children the priceless gift of eternal life; it is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay.” 1 Peter 1:4 TLB
I am excited to be in God’s family, to walk beside other believers and watch their faith grow and how your Forever Father uses each of us to bring the lost before Him so that they to can receive the gift of an eternal relationship with Him. I am no longer alone but part of something supernatural, spiritual, and eternal; daily I look and find the blessings He has for me.
Hebrews 2:11 says, “Jesus and the people He makes holy all belong to same family. That is why He isn’t ashamed to call them His brothers and sisters.”
Be Blessed, Sister Laurie
Instructions For Life According to Jesus Christ 