This was a Discussion post I did for one of my classes – the topic was about finding logical statements in the Bible…

As I was thinking about this assignment, the Lord led me to read through Romans 8. What I found was a surprising number of logical statements in regard to our place in the family of God. Paul was showing us proof of who we are in Christ.

He begins the chapter saying “there is now no condemnation to those who are in Christ,” which is his statement. His explanation to back up his reasoning is in the next verse: “because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set us free from the of sin and death (Rom 8:2).”

Why are we free of condemnation? Because Jesus set us free. A new law was set in motion by Jesus’ actions on the cross (the law of the Spirit of life) that cancels out the old law we were lving under, which is the law of sin and death. Yes, Paul was speaking in spiritual terms on spiritual matters, but he was doing so in an intellectual fashion. Paul was naturally a highly educated man, and he used his natural thinking and reasoning skills to convey Godly truths.

Romans 8:16 is another example of Paul using reason and logic to explain something:”The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children.” Paul is plainly telling believers how they fit into the kingdom and family lineage of God. Like a lawyer detailing our connection to a large inheritance – before we can take what we are owed, we have to prove that it is rightfully ours.

In the next verse (Rom 8:17), Paul tells Christians why it is important to know their place as children of God: “Now if we are children (of God), then we are heirs – heirs of God and co-heirs of Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.”Paul offers sound reason for why we need to know that we are children of God – because that makes us heirs to an inheritance beyond what we could possibly imagine.

Pennies…probably not your most coveted coin as an adult. When we were children, we loved finding pennies. Pennies went into fountains for wishes, and sometimes bought us a piece of candy or two. But now, they are not so big of a deal. I am not a fan of pennies – they seem to “get in the way” of the more important coin change and had almost become a nuissance for me.

But then I had an eye-opening conversation with my husband. I was separating change before we left on a trip because I knew we would need the quarters for toll fees. As I was doing this, I mentioned my disdane for pennies and even wondered aloud why they were still around (in existence). I then joked that I would stop to pick up a quarter, dime, and even a nickel – but I would not stoop to pick up a penny.

My husband replied by chastizing my attitude towards pennies and said that even they are seeds from God. That one penny could have been sent by God as a means of provision and I just passed it by. And then the Lord began reminding me of instances in the Bible where the smallest amount of anything made the biggest difference – the widow who gave two mites (which probably amounted to less than a penny), the boy who gave his lunch to feed thousands, the widow with only a handful of meal for Elijah. And of course, the faith it takes to move moutains is the size of a mustard seed – smaller than the size of a penny.

Size is not important in the Kingdom of God; in fact, God seems to enjoy using the small to conquer or confound the big. Luke 16:10 says that whoever can be trusted with a little can be trusted with a lot. If we are faithful with the little things that God gives us, then He can trust us to be faithful with the bigger things. I remember a prayer that was said before taking up the offering in the church I grew up in – “…every penny represents a soul for the Kingdom of Heaven.”

Pennies are important, regardless of how little they are. My husband and I now have a new type of coin bank – one for the all our pennies (and other change) that we can sow into the Kingdom of God somewhere. And we believe that every penny we collect and give represents a soul saved out of the kingdom of darkness and into the kingdom of light.

I had been working on a freelance assignment for well over week that was taking up all of my time. It was a bigger assignment than one I had done before, and I was a bit rusty from not having done this kind of work in a while. So that was a stressful week for me, between helping my husband in his store and writing sixty articles. And I was in a hotel room all week while my husband filled in as manager for a store in OKC, waiting until we could go back home for a few days before having to come back. As usual, we had to check out of the hotel hours before heading back home (hub is at work all day).

With so much work to do, I headed to Panera Bread to camp out in a corner and use their free wi-fi while I churned out my articles. It was a long day, and after five hours, it is finally time to pick up my husband. I packed up my stuff and made a quick visit to the restroom before leaving. I was glancing around the dining area as I was exiting the restroom and not really paying attention to where I was going. I saw the glass door out of the corner of my eye and quickly turned left, expecting to push the door open and leave. But alas, the “door” was actually a big glass window next to the door – I smacked right into that window. I quickly recovered, found the door handle,  and hurried outside to my truck.

I slid behind the wheel of my truck, full of embarrassment for what had just happened. How could I do something so silly? And then I heard inside, Because you were not paying attention. Of course, that was the obvious reason. But I also know that voice, and that statement had more meaning that just to do with my window crash. I have been so caught up with all the hub-bub of my life that I had stopped paying attention to my Shepherd. The result was me stressed and frenzied. I will be the first to admit that I do not always handle stress very well. But then again, I was not created to handle stress…none of us were. We were created to live in the garden, be covered in glory, and walk with God in the cool of the day.

After thousands of years, our bodies still have not adapted to living under stress. That is why living in faith is so important. Psalms 91 begins with “He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide in the shadow of His wings.” That means you are safe and secure from any bombardments that may try to come. David also tells us what life can be like when you serve God in Psalms 23: The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures…He restores my soul. I do not believe David was saying what he wished his life could be like…I think he was describing exactly how God had kept him through all the years. Was David’s life perfect? By no means. Did he ever have trials? More than you can imagine. But David always depended on God, and found his rest in God.

Jesus said that we would have trials and tribulations (John 16:33), but He also said to be of good cheer. Because we would have to go through problems? Nope. Jesus said to relax because He had overcome the world. And if Christ is in us, then we have also. The word cheer means “to be of good cheer, and of good courage.” It also means “to compel” – sometimes you will have to make yourself be of good cheer. Sometimes you have to make yourself choose to not be stressed. It is actually easier to be stressed and worried than it is to be at peace. Psalms 37:23 says that the steps of a righteous man are ordered of the Lord. If you live by faith and allow the Lord to lay your path, you can be sure that He will not lead you into a giant glass window.

I am reminded of a story that my cousin Lora Beth told me when she and her husband Eric played midwife to our grandfather’s very pregnant hunting dog. My grandparents were out of town for several weeks and Bess (as we call her) was charged with taking care of the mamma-to-be if she delivered while my grandfather was away. Now Paw-Paw (as we call him) has a very different view of dogs than most people. His dogs are not so much pets as they serve a specific purpose for him. But as any hunter knows, there was also a bond between Paw-Paw and his hunting dogs. But still, they were not pets and he did not treat them as such. They were well cared for, but not pampered as most people (including myself) tend to do with their animals.

So as the birthing hour drew near, both Bess and Eric were getting excited about the new puppies until Paw-Paw calls for an update. He informed Eric that any runts that were born would be put down. Yes, I know that sounds cruel. I was a little shocked myself when I heard that – I couldn’t imagine my grandfather doing anything like that. But my cousin explained that many times the runt puppies in the litter ended up not surviving anyway. And our grandfather was also raised at a different time when the kindest thing you can do for a sick animal is to put it out of its misery. But still, my eyes watered a little thinking of those poor, defenseless puppies.

Apparently Eric felt the same way, and was determined that no pups were dying on his watch. The time came for the mamma dog to give birth – ten puppies in all, including a few runty ones. Our grandparents were not due home for a few more weeks, so Eric devised a plan to save the whole litter. He and Bess took turns bottle-feeding the underweight pups every few hours. I think they actually gave all the puppies extra feedings with the bottle. By the time our grandparents returned, there were ten rolly-polly pups waiting, all bordering on obese. Paw-Paw usually only kept one pup, and the rest were sold once they had been weaned from their mom. Our whole family had a good laugh at those fat little puppies, and at Eric’s determination to save them all from untimely demise.

That story got me thinking about man, and God, and how much more compassion He had on us than Eric had on those puppies. And just like Eric came up with a plan to make sure that every single puppy was safe, God had a plan in place for us – before a single particle of the universe was called into existence, Jesus had already agreed to fix it if we messed up. II Peter says that God does not want anyone to perish, but for all to come to repentance.

Jesus died so that no one would have to endure life as a runt: underfed, malnourished, puny, and weak. That is what a life of sin will make you – a runt. Romans 3:23 says that we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Every single one of us came into this world as a runt, but Jesus came to give us life and life more abundantly. In Christ, we can be whole and new. We can be rolly-polly puppies who are filled with the spirit of God, and are strong and mighty. We do not have to live our lives as runts. We are the pick of the litter – sons and daughters of the Most High God. We are kings and priests, and joint-heirs with Jesus. Maybe it is time to put aside the puny self-image and remember who you really are.

I went through a tragedy recently – my father went to be with Jesus last week. In the midst of my mourning, I was also mourning my failed attempts to give something of myself to my dad….a poem or prose to honor him, and to express my thoughts and feelings. Even before he died, I was searching myself for inspiration to write something – my way to honor my dad. 

But sadly, nothing surfaced. I tried penning a few poems, but to no avail. I doubled my efforts in the days following my dad’s passing, as I was hoping to have something ready for his funeral. It really bothered me that I was having such a hard time writing even a simple poem. 

Several months ago, a wonderful woman in my church went to Heaven. I had known Stephanie and her family for almost 20 years. We were not close or anything, but our families knew each other from church. The morning following the news, I wrote a really nice poem for her and gave it to the family. So why couldn’t I do the same for my dad?

The answer  = relationship. I had a relationship with Stephanie Barnes: we attended the same church for over ten years, I went to the same school as her girls (though they were a good 10 yrs younger than me), and again attended the same church up until she died. The relationship was not close knit, but I still knew her. 

I cannot say the same thing for my dad. The past had long ago been forgiven, but that did not magically create a relationship. As I listened to friends and family give testimonies about dad, I realized just how much I really did not know him. The poem I was trying to write would not come because I did not have anything to draw from. I need to know dad; and more, I needed relationship with him.

The truth is, we all need relationship…it’s in our bones, literally. God made us in His image, and made us to desire relationship – that is why Adam was lonely even though he walked with God every day and was surrounded by every animal imaginable. So God took a bone and gave him a companion. Hebrews 10:25 tells us not to “forsake the assembling of ourselves together.” While that verse is certainly referring to coming together for church, I think Paul was also exhorting believers to not forsake relationship with one another as well.

My new church in Tulsa has, in addition to weekly services and activities, small group meetings called Connect Groups. There is a Connect group for every age group, married couples, singles, divorced members, single parents, different nationalities (including Native Americans), different biblical topics – you name it. The pastors understand how important it is for Christians to connect with one another, especially in a church of several thousand members.

We were not made to be loners – we need people, and people need us. My dad was able to bring his family (or most of us anyway) back together again. I reconnected with cousins and uncles/aunts whom I have not seen in almost 20 years. We have all vowed to not let each other slip away again. It took this tragedy to remind us how fragile life is, and how important we are to each other.

Thanks Dad – for bringing us all back together