Identity in the Father
There have been a few instances recently where I feel that the Lord has been teaching me about identity in the Father that I would like to share with you.
I'm now spending half of my time with New Hope working for find sponsors for our precious children. A couple weeks ago I had a bit of a stressful situation. I worked on profile drafts and learned about the past experiences of some of our kids. My heart broke.
While working on these drafts, I included a bit too much information initially and had to redo them. It was hard learning from my mistake because I had to put in some additional work time. Thankfully none of this information was shared on a public medium and everything is ok.
Even though my experience was difficult in the short-term, it gave me a greater respect for New Hope. You see, it is so important that our children understand that they are not defined by past experiences. We serve the most needy children in the surrounding communities of Kasana and Kobwin. So, abuse, neglect, and abandonment are all too common.
Our mission is to bring the Fatherhood of God to the fatherless. We don't want to ever remind them of a false identity that may have been spoken to them in the past, but of their true identity in Christ. This is even in the case of sharing their stories to find sponsors. We don't want children to come across a negative reminder through our promotional materials.
Another experience in bible study really convicted me. We were talking about how God can use imperfect people to accomplish His perfect will through our study of Gideon. One of the ladies shared a story about being at a conference. The speaker asked the audience of Christian leaders, "Who are you?" They answered, "a sinner". The speaker then replied, with "No, you are a child of God."
Is it right to have our identity as a sinner first a foremost in our mind? No, we, as Christian, should first and foremost remember that we are a new creation in Christ. "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come." (2 Corinthins 5:17).
If we only focus on the fact that we are a sinner then there is no hope. The hope that we need comes from Christ who makes us new and from the Father who calls us sons and daughters. Praise God, that He completely covers the sins of all who come to Him and calls us sons and daughters! This should be the truth that motivates us.
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places." (Ephesians 1:3)
I'm now spending half of my time with New Hope working for find sponsors for our precious children. A couple weeks ago I had a bit of a stressful situation. I worked on profile drafts and learned about the past experiences of some of our kids. My heart broke.
While working on these drafts, I included a bit too much information initially and had to redo them. It was hard learning from my mistake because I had to put in some additional work time. Thankfully none of this information was shared on a public medium and everything is ok.
Even though my experience was difficult in the short-term, it gave me a greater respect for New Hope. You see, it is so important that our children understand that they are not defined by past experiences. We serve the most needy children in the surrounding communities of Kasana and Kobwin. So, abuse, neglect, and abandonment are all too common.
Our mission is to bring the Fatherhood of God to the fatherless. We don't want to ever remind them of a false identity that may have been spoken to them in the past, but of their true identity in Christ. This is even in the case of sharing their stories to find sponsors. We don't want children to come across a negative reminder through our promotional materials.
Another experience in bible study really convicted me. We were talking about how God can use imperfect people to accomplish His perfect will through our study of Gideon. One of the ladies shared a story about being at a conference. The speaker asked the audience of Christian leaders, "Who are you?" They answered, "a sinner". The speaker then replied, with "No, you are a child of God."
Is it right to have our identity as a sinner first a foremost in our mind? No, we, as Christian, should first and foremost remember that we are a new creation in Christ. "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come." (2 Corinthins 5:17).
If we only focus on the fact that we are a sinner then there is no hope. The hope that we need comes from Christ who makes us new and from the Father who calls us sons and daughters. Praise God, that He completely covers the sins of all who come to Him and calls us sons and daughters! This should be the truth that motivates us.
"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places." (Ephesians 1:3)
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| 2017 new children in our sponsorship program. Aren't they precious?! |
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