We need you

Just one of those God things, I’ve had this blog in the simmer pot in the back of my head, and when I grabbed a sermon to listen to this morning while I cleaned the kitchen and made breakfast, oh what to my wondering eyes do appear… but a vid full of Francis Chan (minus the reindeer) : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VxNZT0MtUeg talking about much the same thing.*

All of us have been given gifts.  We’re supposed to use them to build the family up.

But a lot of us get this into our heads, that somehow we aren’t strong enough or awesome enough to do the thing.  Someone else is better.  Stronger.  More faithful.  More in love with God.  Etc.

It’s a weird thing.  I know I have certain gifts, and I seek opportunities to use them.  It’s not that hard, I like using my gifts.   I actively enjoy using them.   I feel like I’m at a banquet and my friends are standing outside in the rain, even though they have an invitation – and I can’t get them to come inside and grab a plate.  What gives?  This blessing is for every member of the family of Christ!

Sometimes God uses me to say stuff or do stuff that’s tots on Him.  Because I watch for this – I can see where He has me pick up the phone on just the right day… or leave it on the charger.  I can see where He interrupts me when I’ve left what He had me to say and drifted off into my own stuff.   Because I’m watching for this, I get to participate in the joy that comes from watching God do His thing.  It blesses me, profoundly.

When I’m empty, I see how He arranges rest … usually *after* I thought I couldn’t hold out one more minute.

I have friends who speak God into my life, and they bless me.  I have friends with whom I can really be me – all of me, all the bits, not worried about scaring them off or freaking them out – and that blesses me and I need more of that.  I need kicking in the head to get me out of myself.   I need friendship, I need people who can take the time to get to know all the layers so I can be real.  It’s so much too easy for me to do the “acceptable” thing – I need people to call me on that.

We are a family.  Every single one of us has a profound gift from the Holy Spirit, and we’re meant to spend those gifts on one another.  Our meetings are meant to be a way that God touches us, using each other to be His hands and feet and mouth and heart.

I need YOU.  The family needs you.

And *you* don’t have to have the strength or the skill – God will provide.  It is an outflowing of the Holy Spirit.  Have you ever asked to be filled with the Holy Spirit (an extra portion, not the presence of the Spirit which comes at the time of salvation)?  Have you ever asked for your gifts, or to be shown what they are?  Have you ever said, “God, please use me today?”

Even if you’re not a crazy charismatic (with a seatbelt, lol)- what would it harm to ask?  I was raised Baptist, I wasn’t raised to this crazy stuff either.  I was leery.  But asking – it changes things.  Opportunities come.   Words come.  No one has to know that you asked.  You don’t have to use your outside voice, God can hear your thoughts.  It’s a step of faith.

Don’t you want to be used?  Don’t you want to be part of what God does today?  Of course you do.  Of course.  That urge is part of who you are in Christ.

You don’t have to be enough.  You aren’t.  That’s the joy – watching the Holy Spirit make your two loaves into enough to feed an army.

We are not all the same.  Not every man is a natural leader, not every woman is naturally gifted in counsel.  Not everyone is joyous in anonymous service.  Not everyone is gifted in speech, not everyone can work with their hands.  Not everyone has the same skillset.

This is intentional.  We are made to be interdependent.   We need *everyone*.  If nothing else, it helps to guard against pride – and don’t we all need help with that?  I do.

The only difference in the person who is being used and the one who is not is the willingness to *be* used.

 

1 Corinthians 12:⁴ Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; ⁵ and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; ⁶ and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. ⁷ To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. ⁸ For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance ofknowledge according to the same Spirit, ⁹ to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, ¹⁰ to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. ¹¹ All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.

¹² For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. ¹³ For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves^[d] or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit.

¹⁴ For the body does not consist of one member but of many. ¹⁵ If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. ¹⁶ And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” that would not make it any less a part of the body. ¹⁷ If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? ¹⁸ But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. ¹⁹ If all were a single member, where would the body be? ²⁰ As it is, there are many parts,^[e] yet one body.

²¹ The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” ²² On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, ²³ and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, ²⁴ which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, ²⁵ that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another.²⁶ If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together.

²⁷ Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it. ²⁸ And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues. ²⁹ Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? ³⁰ Do all possess gifts of healing? Do all speak with tongues? Do all interpret? ³¹ But earnestly desire the higher gifts.

 

*Wireless headphones are my bestest buddies.  Being married to an IT dude/gamer has its advantages.  I have very good headphones, and I use them for listening to sermons/talks almost every day.  Makes housework go much more quickly – and I learn stuff.  Win/win.

Defining terms: From the combox

I know wiki isn’t the best.  But it’s better than nothing, and I’m writing this while waiting for it to be time to go to the gym.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molinism

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arminianism

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calvinism

To state my own position, CS Lewis shows up and lights the way… paraphrased because it’s before 6am 🙂

“To know a man is going to do something is not to force him to do it”.

I believe God knows what I’m going to do, because God is outside of the dimension of Time, and He created Time.  He can’t not-know what I will choose.  But having created me to love Him, love must choose or it is not love.  Adam chose to disobey… we have always had a choice.

 

My testimony is my difficulty with apologetics

That sounds odd, yes?  But it’s true, and why 2016 is going to be a year of taking apologetics and the study of “why” more seriously and studiously.

I was saved (the longer I reflect upon this, the more grateful I am) when I was very young.  Yes, I was really saved.  The pastor of my church at the time personally examined me prior to baptism – he was very nice, but that was intimidating.   I wouldn’t have done it if I weren’t pushed by the Spirit.  Asking to be baptized was the only time I responded to an altar call for at least the first 35 years of my life.

So I’ve been in the family of God since I was old enough to realize that I should get that done.   I was given good teaching (church, Sunday School, AWANA) from the get-go.  God has never not been real to me.  I’ve never gone without His presence in my heart.

My rebellion, when it came, was much like rebelling against the strictures of beloved parents – it was because I thought I’d figured out a better way to do things, not because I was angry or wanted to cause a fuss.   And like loving parents who are letting you go your own way, while waiting for you to come home and be sensible… God was always there.  I didn’t always want to look at Him, because I knew I was in the wrong, but I never thought He didn’t exist or didn’t love me.

And eventually I came home.  And after coming home, I submitted my life to my Father, realizing at last that His rules were good and right, and that my good intentions were sending me straight to Hell.  There was no moment when He distanced Himself from me,  when I came home, He forgave me and put things right.  No moment without His truth, His presence.   Since then, I’ve turned more and more of my life over to Him (meaning, when I find a bit that isn’t submitted under a rock somewhere, I give it over), striven to serve Him, and grown closer to Him.

I can *always* feel God’s presence, all I have to do is look.

And that makes proving His existence to a skeptic really difficult.  The parts of the Bible that I study and think about are the instructions for living, or nifty bits of theology, or eschatology…. I have never needed proof that this whole thing is true.

So.  I’m going to be going through my Bible with a fine-toothed comb (and those page-points) and marking up proof texts for the JW and Mormon folks who come by wanting to debate.   And I’m going to look into some of the “why can you trust the Bible” things for skeptics… in the best sources I can, looking into it for myself.   I am too well-trained a scholar to be convinced by “this person told me so it’s good” – I can start with “this person” and then look up their source material myself, see what I think for myself.

I’m going to take my time and answer questions properly, really looking into the issues, not just finding a quick answer and being done, but going to the scary place of asking myself that question and looking for an answer that truly satisfies.   (Cassie, that + Christmas psychosis is what has happened to my answer to you on your blog – it deserves a proper bit of research and thought, not a sound bite).

I want to understand things for myself.  I expect this will be a bit uncomfortable at times… that’s okay.   I’m a big girl… and God never, never, NEVER leaves me.  Taking time to look at these questions from other angles will only make me better able to defend my faith.

And of course, I will pull all of you along for the ride.

Dominant Males

This goes out to Sarah’s Daughter and STMA.  Elspeth, I’m expecting your input.  Anyone else with an alpha-wolf hubs, feel free.

1. My version of alpha is based on the one I live with, the one I’ve known and loved for the past 29 years.  YMMV.  It’s not exactly the same as the manosphere version.
2. You are accountable to God for your actions and attitudes.  To Him be the glory.   We are *commanded* to certain actions and attitudes towards our husbands.  Since emotion is never legislated, that means that we’re talking about choices.   If life is giving you lemons right at the moment, that means that you respect the office even if the man is making you crazy.   Obedience in the face of difficulty is an honor, and it says a lot about your character.  Nothing written here is to be construed as a reason to disobey or disrespect your particular husband.  If you need help rummaging up respect for the man, there are tools to help you along, and I’d be happy to share those.
3. People is people.  Don’t, please, categorize any human and leave them in a box, don’t “other” them and see them as something completely different from yourself.  It’s foolish.   Your husband is on his own path of sanctification, he’s got his own baggage, his own past, his own dreams.   He has to deal with God on his own, he has to make his own choices – just as you do.  We are all accountable to the Lord.  You can’t make anyone do anything.  Don’t try, it’s ugly and likely to backfire.   Let your husband be who he is.  This is written to help you understand him a bit better, hopefully.

The manosphere writes about alphas as the be-all, end-all way to be male.  It’s not.  Alphas are meant to be the leaders of packs, not just the leaders of their own households.  If everyone was supposed to be just as aggressive, just as possessive, it would be really hard to develop a team over the size of a household.  How much of a pack your male needs to lead will vary – some need to lead huge packs, some need to lead just a wife and children.  They tend to sort this out amongst themselves, and we should let them do this.   Your loyalty is to your man, end of story.

I have zero respect for most of the “alphas” I hear written about (usually enviously).  It’s a poor shepherd who eats fresh mutton every night – if you’re in the game for what you can get for yourself, you’re a menace, not a leader.  Rank hath its privileges – but it heavy is the head that wears the crown.  One goes with the other.

What makes a confident guy who has a backbone into an alpha, or a dominant?  Some of it definitely is that soupcon of aggression, the willingness to fight for his own.   Some of it is the need to control.

There is a huge difference between being dominant and being domineering.  Dominants want to protect the ones under their care, and make them the most they can be.  Domineers push the ones under them down in order to lift themselves up.   They act out of fear, out of wounded pride.

Dominants attract other males because of their leadership abilities – the other males want to be around them, want to join in teams with them, want to be part of the pack.   Domineers refuse to be around other men, because they are afraid those under their control will leave for greener pastures.

So, what do I know about dominant males?

1. There is usually a reason that they developed dominance.   Charisma might have come easily to them in youth, but the “I must control/protect/provide” urge is something that is forged in need.
2. They need to lead others.  It is not about pride (although they can often be prideful), it is a visceral need to provide/protect/control those around them – for their good.  They take the needs of their pack very seriously.  They spend time thinking about how to help their packmates, and they will go to great lengths to do so.
3. Especially when young, putting family over pack can be… problematic.  A wife can feel the bite here.  This is something that can (and should) be pointed out to your dominant – that his priorities are out of whack.  Then you drop it.   (That’s what a good second-in-command DOES – she tells the Captain the consequences of his actions, then she lets him steer where he will, and deal with what comes).
4. Let him deal.  Let him direct.  He doesn’t mind, he really doesn’t mind being in charge of all the things, and being the heavy.  This is something you can rest in, and once you rest in it, it’s lovely.  But take care of the tasks he’s set you – that matters to him, that he can trust you.
5. Dominants are ridiculously strong.  They may expect you to be proportionally strong, and ask you to do more than you’re able to do, or handle more emotional strain than you’re capable of carrying.   This is, if anything, a sign of respect.   That’s fine… but you have to tell them when you’re at your limits.  You belong to them (dominants take ownership very seriously) and you are their problem.   This communication and the fallout are unpleasant for all involved (can I get an Amen, ladies?) but the cycle of doing your best while you’re crying inside and then snapping is worse.   BTDT, got the tshirt.  I’d prefer not to see anyone else wearing one, so just be honest.  Although in the face of a displeased dominant male, that’s not so easy, because…
6. His anger is scary.  I’ve never had one millisecond’s concern that my husband would hurt a hair on my head, but that doesn’t mean I’m not scared of his anger.   There’s so *much* of it.  It’s so intense.
7. They like honesty.  Loyalty.  Integrity.  “Like” is much too mild a word.  These are huge for them.
8. Being linked to a charismatic male who instinctively protects means that you are constantly going to have to deal with women throwing themselves at him.  It gets old.  Real.Old.Real.Fast.   If you didn’t have anyone at your wedding in a black minidress and fishnets… well.  I have *stories*.   Learn to laugh at their hijinks.  He won’t mind telling you about them.
9. Because he doesn’t lie, and he’s totally confident in himself.  So why wouldn’t he share that stuff?
10. He wouldn’t have married you if he didn’t want you as a wife.  Line forms to the right… he had plenty of options.  He might be tough on you, especially before you sort that whole, “I’m can’t carry that” thing – but he *likes* you.  He wants your company.
11. Don’t be bothered trying to act less than you are.  He’s stronger than you are – so be as strong as you can.  He’s more confident than you are.  Go ahead and be your best, he’ll put you to better use.  He’s totally fine with that, and he’s completely unthreatened by you.  You don’t have to play games.  See #7.  He *hates* games.   If he wanted a flibbertigibbet … see #8, he could get one.  Or two.
12. You belong to him.  You know that in theory, he knows that in his gut.  Go with it, it’s pretty awesome.  And he takes his ownership very, very seriously.

 

So.  If you’re married to a dominant, alpha male kind of dude, the best thing you can do is be honest, obedient and loyal.  If you’re going through rough seas, you turn your eyes to the Lord.  (Well, have your eyes on the Lord all the time).   You can’t change any other human, but you *really* can’t change a dominant – don’t try, it makes him mad.  Pray.  Have faith.  Do what you’re supposed to do, be right with God, and let God sort things out.

A mature relationship with a dominant is incredible, you cannot imagine how cherished I am.    Then again, I’d make another man absolutely crazy, I’m not exactly Mistress Mellow.

Questions?  Els, Maea, chime in please.  (I would have written this earlier this week/sent it ’round to E, but I was sick, so I didn’t).

Deity of Christ: Prooftext

A prooftext courtesy Pastor Mike’s sermon tonight.  (Yes, I was there in spirit if not in flesh – darn cold).

Acts 20:28 Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.

***God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.***

Written down in the flyleaf of my Bible.

This is on my Christmas list, so I’m being careful not to go out and get it beforetime, but if anyone else is thinking of doing similar work, you might find these things useful.  I have had the Levenger versions, and they rock.  These are less expensive, by far.

https://www.bookdarts.com/shop/pc/viewCategories.asp?idCategory=14

Making a beginning

One of the things that we banged around endlessly was the book of Ecclesiastes – because it is very dim on the view of an afterlife.  So, this is what some of the references/cross references look like.  (I am using my Scofield reference KJV, folks seem more comfortable trying to trip you up with the KJV.)

So, if the JW come to your door and want to tell you about the passage in Ecc… now I have notes so I can pull them to a couple of passages elsewhere in the OT…

But God will redeem my soul from Sheol…

Solomon was NOT a faithful follower of God, even though God appeared to him personally, TWICE.  So his writings are accurate – as his writings – but they don’t necessarily reflect the truth.*

 

*The fact that Ecc is the best example of the futility of an atheistic world-view, and how Solomon processed through all that and came back to an understanding of the Truth (although he seems not to have done a lot about it) completely falls through.  *I* know this, but explaining this in an apologetics setting is beyond pointless.

I woke up early this morning and did this with a few places, some key verses that get quoted at you often.  The fine-tip gel pens I’m using don’t soak through and they’re tidy.  Probably spend a couple more hours working on this before I start bounding around for the day.

This is all about “not being sloppy”.  See, I *know* good doctrine – but quoting a verse back, with reference, on the spot – um.  No.  Much better to have it written down so I can look it up.  Everyone calling on your door is so happy if you look things up!

I leave you with two concepts… one from Francis Chan, “You agree that the Bible is the infallible word of God, right?  Would what you believe (insert belief here) be something that you would have arrived at if you only read the Bible?”

And a verse that God brought me to in regards to the Trinity.

1 Timothy 3:¹⁶ And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory.

Takeaways from my conversations

One of the biggest things that I took away from my time with the JW lady (don’t worry, I see them out nearly every day in my neighborhood, there will be subsequent victims) is some of the more irritating things she did to try to convert me.   I’m taking note of that stuff!

Another thing I’m taking note of, and something I’m going to be working on, is a more thoughtfilled apologetic.  That’s going to be my New Year’s project (I already get plenty of strenuous exercise), marking up my old KJV Bible for apologetic use.  Notes in the margins, color coded gel pens, that sort of thing.

I have an excellent memory, but when someone is hitting you at 10 million verses per minute, you need to not just remember the words of the text, you need to be able to source it.   Precision.  I’ve been auditing lots of apologetics “courses” on youtube and in text, why not do the homework and be more prepared?

Another thing I need to study/mimic is rhetoric.  I need to find a style that works for me.  The aggressive debate thing is NOT something I’m comfortable with.   I’ve been watching Ravi Zacharias and I like his slow questioning style… but you really have to know where to insert the questions.  I think that style is more comfortable today, where people are 1) not good with confrontation 2) completely untrained in the rules of debate and rational thought.

It’s made me very thoughtful, doing the research on JW and cults in general – Christianity is NOT a cult, and we have reasons for our belief, but how many of us know those reasons?  I know them, but am failing at communicating them.  Why?  Because I am not individually that interested, since it’s not like I can’t feel the Holy Spirit within me all the time.  But that inner light and joy isn’t something that can be conveyed to others without long acquaintance… and sometimes not even then.  We do have reasons, we could be better at giving them out.  *I* could be better at giving them out – and the bits that are foundational, not the deep and deeply random bits that I am currently contemplating/finding interesting.

This is a command that I’m failing to obey, last I checked that was sin.  So – confession, repentance, and a plan to fix the problem.

1 Peter 3:¹⁵ But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:

Conversations with a JW: One True Religion

I got something in my contact right as my JW friend showed up, so she had scanned the paper to follow while I was in the bathroom fixing it – and we didn’t cover what I’d written.  (Will follow, regardless – she took it with her).

Today was about proving that God has had one organization throughout history.  It used to be Israel, and now it’s the Watchtower.   I’m *so* sola Scriptura, that didn’t get her anywhere.  We chatted a good bit.  I got to give her the gospel again, and explain that salvation is through faith by grace, not by works.  (She’s got such a long list of works – although she said that JW don’t really concentrate on salvation as such, they’re too busy telling people about the kingdom).

End game – I’m considered unteachable, and she’s not coming ’round for tea anymore.   She’ll come ’round to see if I’ve changed my mind on anything though.

Here’s the write up…

Is there only one true religion?

Yes.  🙂

But let us explore further, because evangelicals often consider our state of being a relationship with Jesus rather than a religion.

Religion: (dictionary.com)

1.a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe, especially when considered as the creation of a superhuman agency or agencies, usually involving devotional and ritual observances,and often containing a moral code governing the conduct of human affairs.

2.a specific fundamental set of beliefs and practices generally agreed upon by a number of persons or sects.

So.  A set of beliefs?  Yes.  There is one true set of beliefs.

John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.

Ephesians 2: 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; 9 not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.

John 3: 14 As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up; 15 so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life.  16 “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. 18 He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19 This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. 20 For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. 21 But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God.”

1 John 3: 23 This is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He commanded us. 24 The one who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. We know by this that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.

But is there one set of ritual?  No, because ritual is no longer required.  Ritual was of the Law, and Jesus fulfilled the Law.

How does this work out in practice?  So long as the person claiming Christ truly has Jesus in his or her heart, they are our sibling, and are not to be discouraged.

Romans 14: 1 Now accept the one who is weak in faith, but not for the purpose of passing judgment on his opinions. 2 One person has faith that he may eat all things, but he who is weak eats vegetables only. 3 The one who eats is not to regard with contempt the one who does not eat, and the one who does not eat is not to judge the one who eats, for God has accepted him. 4 Who are you to judge the servant of another? To his own master he stands or falls; and he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand. 5 One person regards one day above another, another regards every day alike. Each person must be fully convinced in his own mind. 6 He who observes the day, observes it for the Lord, and he who eats, does so for the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and he who eats not, for the Lord he does not eat, and gives thanks to God. 7 For not one of us lives for himself, and not one dies for himself; 8 for if we live, we live for the Lord, or if we die, we die for the Lord; therefore whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s. 9 For to this end Christ died and lived again, that He might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.

Mark 9: 38 John said to Him, “Teacher, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name, and we tried to prevent him because he was not following us.” 39 But Jesus said, “Do not hinder him, for there is no one who will perform a miracle in My name, and be able soon afterward to speak evil of Me. 40 For he who is not against us is for us.

Upon what basis do evangelicals speak of their relationship to Christ Jesus?

John 15: 15 No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you.

Romans 5:5 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God.

John 1:12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name,13 who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

1 John 3: 3 See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. 2 Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is.

Romans 8:14 For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. 15 For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!” 16 The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.

Galatians 4:6 Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” 7 Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God.

(That’s it – I was hoping for more, but God didn’t have me type up anything else.  Now that it’s today, I see why – I wasn’t allowed to go through it as usual.  C’est la vie – I’m not God and I don’t know how He will use today, I only have faith that because this was done for Him, He’ll use it – His Word does not return void).