My Inheritance & Identity in Christ, Day 3

Do you not know that you are God's temple 

& that God's Spirit dwells in you?

1 Corinthians 3:16

If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, 

he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead 

will also give life to your mortal bodies through 

his Spirit who dwells in you. 

Romans 8:11

When I accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord & Savior, God adopted me into his family.

On that day, my adoption day, he sealed the legal act of my

justification by giving me a gift to mark the day...

That gift was his very own Spirit in me!!

The Holy Spirit of God dwells in me.

If you have accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord and Savior,

he also lives in you!

Just let that sink in for a bit.

My Inheritance and Identity in Christ, Day 2

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, 

we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Romans 5:1

I have been justified.  It is my objective legal standing as a Christian.

I have been redeemed, and declared righteous by God,

once and for all! Peace has been made between me and my God.

The result of this, is that I no longer live under the fear of judgment and the

wrath of God.  Rather, I have God's peace, which is not just

a feeling, but an objective reality.  This is a gift to me 

from my Daddy!!

God's Peace (shalom) does not just mean the absence of chaos and turmoil,

but also carries the idea of positive blessing.

Because I have inherited God's Peace, I can truly say, no matter 

what the circumstances are, "All is well!" I know to the very depths of my

soul that God is in control.

My Inheritance & Identity in Christ, Day 1

But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, 

he gave the right to become children of God. 

John 1:12

When we put our trust in Christ, believing he is who he said he was, and we accept a personal relationship with him, and submit to him, as God's Son, 

we become a child of God, with all the rights and responsibilities that entails.   

That is our Adoption Day into God's family, 

and we are legally bound, (justified) to him for all eternity.  

It is legal and binding and can not be undone.

The family of God becomes our Forever Family!! 

That my friend is a pretty amazing thing!  

Easter...

I hope you had a Happy Easter!!  Our family enjoyed being in the US for this special holiday.   I will be honest that I was pretty much in love with all the cute decorations available and all the aisles at the stores, filled with Easter "treats" for the kid's baskets.  It was a bit overwhelming, but at the same time it was so much fun. :)  I didn't let myself purchase very many decorations, just a few for the 2 tables we have here.  Haven't decided if I will be taking them with me back to Ecuador, giving them to my daughter here, or packing them away, to be available the next time we are in the States for Easter. :D  Oh the decisions to be made. 

 Sunday afternoon, 4/16/2017

My married daughter here in Florida, had to work Sunday night, (she's a CNA at a local hospital). So we decided to have our big dinner, on Saturday, and give the kids their baskets afterwards, and even have our family egg hunt. Sunday was focused on church. Tony and I along with Teddy and Carla, helped out in the children's groups here, as they have a huge influx of people in on Easter. Carla, Teddy and I were assigned to pre-school, while Tony worked down with the 5th grade boys.


I will admit that I was NOT looking forward to working with the preschool kids. There were 2 things going on with this. First, we as a family aren't in the States very often at Easter time. When I thought about Easter and getting to be in the States, I was looking forward to being in the Worship Service as a family. Then there's the fact that it's just not an age I really enjoy working with... yes, if you know me, I did teach in Early Childhood for years... yes, children's ministry was my primary focus of ministry for the first 13 years of our missionary service. But, I have spent more than a decade working in Women's ministry, and my involvement in Children's ministry has been as a "resource" and a teacher, training teachers. I am much more comfortable speaking to a room full of ladies than dealing with preschool kids and all that entails. (and yes, I very much enjoy having my grandkids around and the majority of them are "preschool" age! :) Anyway, that being said, I had been praying that the Lord would help me to have the right attitude, and use me to encourage and bless someone on Sunday.


Just about the time we were ready to actually start class, the door opened and 2 little kids walked in. Their parents were speaking English to us, but Spanish to the kids. They came in, and watching the other kids started trying to participate. I went over to the little girl, and asked her if she spoke English? She looked and me and then said, no. So, I explained to the two of them what we were going to do next. They joined the rest of the kids on the rug, and then I watched as the teacher, started the opening, using some eggs to explain the Easter lesson, (a shortened version of the popular Resurrection Eggs). I asked her if I could have the eggs for a minute before she moved on, and I sat down on the floor next to these 2 children, and showed them the eggs and explained the whole story. As I spoke to them in Spanish, they lit up and became engaged. We continued with the video lesson, which involved some interaction with the kids. They tried to follow along and do the hand motions with the rest of the kids for the songs, etc. Then we broke up for "small groups" where we were going to review the lesson. I took them over to a table, and using the visuals we had, told them the story in Spanish. As I was speaking to these 2 and they were asking and answering questions, the Holy Spirit spoke to me in the still small voice... "See, I didn't make a mistake! You are EXACTLY where I needed you to be today!"


I don't know about you, but I still need these reminders from time to time. You know, when we think things should be going a different way, or we wish they were different. When we are following God, and seeking his will and walking in the way He leads, it's important to remember that he NEVER, EVER makes a mistake. He has a plan and a reason for everything he allows. Sometimes we will know right away, like I did yesterday, sometimes we may not know until we get to heaven, BUT, that doesn't mean we can't trust Him, and remember that he does ALL things well. His plans are not my plans and his ways are not my ways. He has plans so much bigger, and better than I could ever imagine.


Keeping my eyes on Jesus today. Hope you are too!


Blessings, Joy