Wednesday, March 21, 2007

Lesson For The Week (Mar. 23)

God Is a Loving Father
How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! (1 John 3:1)
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Naomi's Story
When I was a little girl, I thought my life was perfect. My father, as a pastor, had to work a lot, but I didn’t really notice his absence. As I got older, my parents began to argue more and more. On my 13th birthday, my father moved out. A year later, my mother announced they were getting a divorce.

During this time, I felt very responsible for my mother and little sister. I believed I had to take care of them, even though I was still a child myself. In fact, I became so independent that I felt like I didn’t really need anyone’s help.

My dad would come visit my sister and me every Thursday night. He was trying to spend time building our relationship, but the way I saw it, we had no relationship in the first place. I was also angry with him for his part in the divorce. Unfortunately, he was so hurt himself that he couldn’t understand how we were feeling. As a result, my sister and I both developed a very superficial relationship with him.

At the beginning, I was very depressed. For a whole year, I cried myself to sleep almost every night. At school, I was a model student and had some great friends, but inside I was so unhappy. I used to think that because my parents’ marriage was a mistake, I must be a mistake too. The only thing that kept me from trying to kill myself was my belief that my mother and sister needed me.

One Saturday that year, I was home alone, cleaning the house and listening to music. One song that I had heard many times before caught my attention. “Lean on me, when you’re not strong, and I’ll be your friend. I’ll help you carry on.” That morning, it seemed like God was speaking to me through this song. I started to cry as I realized that even though I had talked to God before, what he really wanted from me wasn’t just a conversation. He wanted my whole life—everything! Right there, I admitted that I couldn’t go on without him. Once I did, I felt an incredible peace come over me.

Since then, every time I start to worry about what might happen to me, God reminds me that he is in control. Unlike my biological dad, my Heavenly Father will never leave me or forsake me. It isn’t always easy to rely on God. And even though I know God wants my family to love each other more, we still have our problems. But with our Heavenly Father taking care of us, we will continue to heal.
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God's Word
I John 3:1:
How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!
Ephesians 1:3-5:
Let us give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! For in our union with Christ he has blessed us by giving us every spiritual blessing in the heavenly world. 4 Even before the world was made, God had already chosen us to be his through our union with Christ, so that we would be holy and without fault before him. Because of his love 5 God had already decided that through Jesus Christ he would make us his sons and daughters—this was his pleasure and purpose. (Today’s English Version)
Galatians 4:6, 7:
To show that you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who cries out. “Father, my Father.” 7 So then, you are no longer a slave but a son. And since you are his son, God will give you all that he has for his sons.
Romans 8:35; 38, 39:
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 38 I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Posted by Gina at 4:36 PM

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