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Monday, February 23, 2009

Stick-together Families

I read this article by Chuck Swindoll and thought it was a pretty good summary of how a healthy family functions - not just what it looks like - but how it works. These are families that stick together, grow together and enjoy life together. Our culture desperately needs healthy families!

Swindoll also offers some insights that I needed to be reminded of and a word of challenge I needed to hear. Read it and see what you think. Are there other characteristics you think should be on the list?

No matter what kind of family situation you're in now, you can become a part of the eternal family of God through faith in Christ Jesus, His Son.

John 1:12 says: "But to all who did receive him [Jesus], who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God."

I'm thankful for the gracious blessing of my wife and two sons. I'm thankful for my own parents and grandparents. I'm thankful for my siblings and their spouses and children. I'm thankful for my extended relatives. I'm thankful for my in-laws and their families.

But with a deeper gratitude I am thankful that I'm a part of the family of God through faith in Christ Jesus.

I'm humbled by the greatness of the love of the Father, that we should be called children of God (1 John 3:1).

I'm overjoyed by the truth that by following Jesus in doing the will of the Father in heaven, we are called his brother and sister and mother (Matthew 12:49).

I'm thrilled by the privilege of calling upon the Almighty Maker of heaven and earth as "Abba! Father!"

Here's what the apostle Paul writes to the church in Rome, and what the Holy Spirit writes upon the hearts of Christians throughout the ages:

"For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, 'Abba! Father!' The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs - heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him" (Romans 8:14-17).

There's a healthy family for you! The invitation is open for you to become a part of God's family - a family that will stick together forever. Will you come to the Father through Jesus Christ, His Son, today?

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