fellowship/sonship

Saturday, June 25, 2011 (5:15 a.m.)

Blessed Lord,

I come before You this morning requesting fellowship. I spent most of yesterday feeling cranky and out of sorts. I tried ignoring it. Giving into it. Just generally wishing it away. And now I bring myself to You confessing it.

I long to focus on the positive, not the negative. I ask You to help me see that which I am currently unable. One tiny little bit of unrest has led to almost 24 hours of grumbling. Lord, I am truly asking You to change that which I cannot.

You are good. You are able. I am not. You provide our every need. You do great things in, through and for us. I look to You. I’m asking You. I am in genuine need of the fellowship of Your Holy Spirit.

Sunday, June 26, 2011 (7:02 a.m.)

I asked. You answered. Thank You Lord. Thank You that after so much time spent indulging myself in grumpiness, the confession to and request of You resulted in two completely unexpected phone calls laced with the fellowship of Your Holy Spirit. You definitely ARE ♫the tie that binds♫!

Most Dear and Blessed Lord, I came here expecting to go in the direction of learning more about the fellowship of Your Holy Spirit and instead I’m getting a much needed lesson in ‘sonship’ (Galatians 3:26-4:7). Thank You Lord!

Thank You that in the mere mention of those two phone calls my heart didn’t skip a beat in starting the singing of ♫Blest be the tie that binds Our hearts in Christian love♫ It IS Your love that binds us together. And just like that I am looking up the lyrics to ♫Bind us together, Lord Bind us together With cords that cannot be broken… Bind us together in Love♫

There is mention here of there being ♫only one God… only one King… only one Body That is why we sing♫ We are reminded that we are ♫Fit for the glory of God Purchased by His precious Blood Born with the right to be free♫ Why? Because in ♫Jesus the victory was won♫!

Lord, I cannot thank You enough. Two phone calls helped remind me ♫We are the family of God We are the promise divine We are God’s chosen desire We are the glorious new wine♫ YOU did all this for us Lord. You [hold on for yet another song J] ♫will make a way Where there seems to be no way♫ You work ♫in ways we cannot see♫ You are the One who ♫will make a way for me♫ And I am so very grateful Lord.

This particular song speaks of You being our guide, holding us closely to Your side ♫With love and strength for each new day He will make a way for me♫ And just what is the impetus for this love and strength? Fellowship. With You and Your blessed Holy Spirit. Fellowship with other Believers.

Lord God how I thank and praise You for not ever just leaving me in the muck of my own making. Because of this wholehearted request for fellowship I am reminded in the comments found in Galatians 3:15-29 that Your ‘relationship with us is not based on our keeping the law’ but on the promises You ‘made to Abraham to bless all humanity through Jesus Christ.’

It goes on to say that ‘none of us are capable of true and complete obedience’ and ‘despite our helplessness, though God desires to bless us, not curse us.’ Oh and Lord, it just keeps getting better! “His blessings come when we trust in His promises, not when we perform according to His perfect standards… Jesus has paid for our failures. When we admit them to God, He will set us free from their destructive power.”

And here comes the lesson on sonship. “When we entrust our life to God, in Jesus Christ, we become God’s children. What an amazing truth! We are given a place in God’s family, no matter our past mistakes; no matter how dysfunctional our family; no matter how deeply we’ve been hurt.” Lord God, You truly never cease to amaze me! Reminders of Your love and acceptance of me abound in the most unexpected places.

“As children of God, we can entrust our life to Him. He has a plan for each of us, and like any parent, He wants to help us succeed. Faith in Christ is all we need to enter into His privileged status. Each of us is important to God, and He is concerned enough to help us overcome our weaknesses and character flaws.” Thank You that You love me and want me to ask for fellowship with You and others who believe and trust in You.

You are good. You are every single thing we can ever need. Thank You for Your love and Your grace. Help me to use them well this day. I love You Lord. Amen.

(830 words ~ 8:18 a.m.)