Preamble

        Welcome into God's Kingdom! The angelic hosts rejoice over the Lord's bestowing of heavenly citizenship on you. Just as with the privileges and protections that come with your citizenship in your worldly nations, you earned none of these. They are bestowed upon you only by virtue of your birth into the Kingdom. It is your solemn responsibility to invest in these privileges and gifts to edify yourselves and bring honor and glory to the King. Let all you do be done in the King's Name! For His "is the kingdom, the power and glory, forever!"

Article 1: Your Identification; Child of God

• "Yet some people accepted Him and put their faith in Him. So He gave them the right to be the children of God. They were not God's children by nature or because of any human desires. God Himself was the One Who made them His children." (John 1:12-13.)
• "I am the vine, and you are the branches. If you stay joined to Me, and I stay joined to you, then you will produce lots of fruit. But you cannot do anything without Me." (John 15:5.)
• "Think how much the Father loves us. He loves us so much that He lets us be called His children, as we truly are…When Christ returns, we will be like Him, because we will see Him as He truly is. This hope makes us keep ourselves holy, just as Christ is holy." (1 John 3:1-3.)

• "If you belong to Christ Jesus, you won't be punished. The Holy Spirit will give you life that comes from Christ Jesus and will set you free from sin and death. The Law of Moses cannot do this, because our selfish desires make the Law weak. But God set you free when He sent His own Son to be like us sinners and to be a sacrifice for our sin. God used Christ's body to condemn sin. He did this, so that we would do what the Law commands by obeying the Spirit instead of our own desires." (Romans 8:1-4.)
• "God has given us His Spirit. That's why we don't think the same way that the people of this world think. That's also why we can recognize the blessings that God has given us. Every word we speak was taught to us by God's Spirit, not by human wisdom. And this same Spirit helps us teach spiritual things to spiritual people. That's why only someone who has God's Spirit can understand spiritual blessings. Anyone who doesn't have God's Spirit thinks these blessings are foolish. People who are guided by the Spirit can make all kinds of judgments, but they cannot be judged by others. The Scriptures ask, 'Has anyone ever known the thought of the Lord or given Him advice?' But we understand what Christ is thinking." (1 Corinthians 2:12-16.)
• "God lives fully in Christ. And you are fully grown because you belong to Christ, Who is over every power and authority…God wiped out the charges that were against us for disobeying the Law of Moses. He took them away and nailed them to the cross. There Christ defeated all powers and forces. He let the whole world see them being led away as prisoners when He celebrated His victory." (Colossians 2:9-15.)
• "God raised us from death to life with Christ Jesus, and He has given us a place beside Christ in heaven. God did this so that in the future world He could show how truly good and kind He is to us because of what Christ Jesus has done. You were saved by faith in God, Who treats us much better than we deserve. This is God's gift to you, and not anything you have done on your own. It isn't something you have earned, so there is nothing you can brag about. God planned for us to do good things and to live as He has always wanted us to live. That's why He sent Christ to make us what we are." (Ephesians 2:6-10.)
• "Anyone who belongs to Christ is a new person. The past is forgotten, and everything is new. God has done it all! He sent Christ to make peace between Himself and us, and He has given us the work of making peace between Himself and others." (2 Corinthians 5:17-18.)

• "As a prisoner [bond servant] of the Lord, I beg you to live in a way that is worthy of the people God has chosen to be His own. Always be humble and gentle. Patiently put up with each other and love each other. Try your best to let God's Spirit keep your hearts united. Do this by living at peace. All of you are part of the same body. There is only one Spirit of God, just as you were given one hope when you were chosen to be God's people…We must stop acting like children. We must not let deceitful people trick us by their false teachings, which are like winds that toss us around from place to place. Love should always make us tell the truth. Then we will grow in every way and be more like Christ, the Head of the body. Christ holds it together and makes all of its parts work perfectly, as it grows and becomes strong because of love." (Ephesians 4:1-4, 14-16.)
• "You did not choose Me. I chose you and sent you out to produce fruit, the kind of fruit that will last. Then My Father will give you whatever you ask for in My Name. So I command you to love each other." (John 15:16-17.)
• "Christ did die for all of us. He died so we would no longer live for ourselves, but for the One Who died and was raised to life for us." (2 Corinthians 5:15.)

John S. Hilkevich, Ph.D.
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Weekly Reflections © June 1, 2000

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