Adoption - Christian Life Daily Devotional

Are you reading and sharing the Christian Life Daily Devotional?  It is important that you experience God’s Word each day in our lives and share it with others.  If you don’t have a copy or want to share a copy with someone you know, you can get extra copies in the lobby following the service or you can email me and request a devotional and I'll send you one.  The following is an excerpt from a reading this week.


The Bible says, “[We] received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, ‘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 joint heirs with Christ” (Romans 15-17 NKJV).  Adoptive parents understand what it’s like to have emptiness in their hearts, to search, to set out on a mission, to take responsibility for a child with a troubled past and an uncertain future.  And that’s what God did for you.  Knowing full well the trouble you’d be, and what it would cost, He sought you, found you, paid the price for you, took you home, gave you His name and the right to call Him “Abba,” which means “Daddy,” a term of endearment.  Adoption isn’t something you earn, it’s a gift you receive.  You’d never hear adoptive parents say, “We’d like to adopt little Mary but first we want to know—does she have a house, money for tuition, a ride to school in the morning and clothes to wear every day?”  The adoption agency would say, “Hold on, you’re not adopting her because of what she has, but because of what she needs.  She needs love, hope, a home and a future.”  You don’t earn the Spirit of adoption, you receive it by faith.  That’s important because if you can’t gain it by your stellar efforts, you can’t lose it through your poor performance.  How reassuring!  And it gets better; you’re an “heir” to all your Father owns.  That means you’ll never have a need He cannot or will not meet.  How good is that?