January 26, 2024 / “Adoption into God’s family.”

Hey, Calvary Fremont –

There is a family in our church who have five children and then they adopted a girl. The husband is Filipino, and the wife is half Mexican and half Anglo. Their children have beautifully toned skin. It is a rich and mellow brown color. The adopted girl is stark, raving white. She looks different and shares none of their DNA, but I doubt that you could convince her of that.

When dad says, “I’m taking the family out for ice cream,” I can’t imagine her thinking, “I wonder if he means me, too.” When mom says that she is going to bake cookies for all her kids, I doubt the adopted girl asks, “Does that mean me, too?” She has nothing of the spirit of the orphan in her. She is their child – and she knows it. Love trumps DNA.

I’ve seen her play with her siblings and the other children at church and there is nothing in her that says she is different, or doesn’t belong, or is merely being tolerated. And all the other children interact with her as they interact with all the other children. There is no conscious awareness of different color or family of origin.

I was thinking about the complete security and unquestioning acceptance this little girl experiences in her family and in her church family. I contrast this with the many followers of Jesus who really wonder if they are fully accepted. Many believers do not feel secure in Christ and exhibit more the spirit of an orphan than the security of an adopted child. Quite a few Christians suffer anxiety due to their sin even after they have confessed and acknowledge that they have been forgiven. This little adopted girl has a greater security in the love of mom and dad than many believers have in the love of God.

Why do those who are adopted by God into His family continue to hobble along with the spirit of an orphan? What is the spirit of an orphan? It’s a soul that wonders if he’s really loved. It’s a soul that worries that she doesn’t really fit in. It’s a soul that’s anxious about making one wrong move and so angering God that He will drop-kick them out of the kingdom. It’s a person who wonders if they’re doing enough to merit the favor they are being shown. Our little adopted girl suffers from none of these neurotic thoughts. Why? Love has convinced her that she really belongs, that she fits in, that she is accepted for who she is and not what she can do.

There is a crisis of the love of God in the Body of Christ. I don’t mean that there is any lack of God’s love for us. I mean that on our part there is a lack of believing in it, receiving it, and living in it. Where the love of God is not fully received, the spirit of the orphan will prevail over the security of a child.

May you believe the love that God has for you.

May you receive the love that God has for you.

May you live in and enjoy the love that God has for you.

May the reality of your adoption into God’s family crowd out the spirit of the orphan.

Be blessed and stay healthy and follow Jesus – Pastor Tim