The Family of God

There are so many benefits to being God's child.  I'm adopted into His family.  I am loved as His own.  I am assured of my final destination.  I am forgiven for all the sin I have committed - and will commit.  (That is a HUGE benefit; and one that would be worth it if it was the only one!)  So many benefits and not enough blog space to write about them all. 

However, I have been thinking about one benefit a lot lately.  It is the holidays and my mind tends to focus on relationships and the people in my life - family.  One of the benefits of being a Christian is that we are placed into the family of God the moment we get saved.  That is a HUGE family.  The minute we are saved we belong.  It takes a while to realize just how much of a benefit this is; but when it happens you stand there amazed.

The longer I am saved the more I cherish this family to which I have been adopted.  The longer I am saved the more I realize just how special this is.  Because I belong to the family of God there is a family bond to every person in that family.

Have you ever experienced this?  I have!  It always amazes me when we are on vacation or are visiting a church where we really do not 'know' anyone there; but there is a connection.  We feel like we know them, like we have met before.  Not the face or that particular person; but there is a bond of knowing that they are my brother or sister in Christ.  It amazes me every time this happens just how close I can feel to someone I have never met because of the bond of Christ. 

I also have experienced the same amazement when getting together with friends whom I have not seen for such a long time.  Thanksgiving day was that way for me this year.  We have moved down south and were able to get together with friends we had not seen in almost fifteen years.  Oh, the kids had grown and just looking at each other we could tell that time had passed by; but there was an instant bond again almost as if we had been in the same church for the past fifteen years together.  The bond of Christ allows us to pick up where we left off and still be united in heart and spirit.

I am convinced that we do not value this benefit as much as we should.  We use petty disagreements to separate and cause tension within the family; and just like an earthly family, there can be divisions amongst us because of pride and a critical spirit.  When this happens we miss being able to be uplifted and blessed by the bond that Christ has placed us into.

God has opened up a ministry opportunity to me and next week I am going to fly out west and meet someone I have never seen before.  We are going to talk about God and His plan for our lives.  We are going to share our hearts and dreams for what God can do through circumstances in our lives.  We have only talked on the phone and seen each other's pictures through facebook or blogs; but there is a bond.  That bond is Christ and there is a certainty that God has brought us together for such a time as this.  Oh, the benefit of being in the family of God.  I am looking forward to sharing with you what God has opened up and how the bond of Christ was again evident once again!

Thanks for stopping by, I am so glad you did.

~Martie