Orphan vs. Child of God

As I was reading a section from the Gospel Centered Life this question popped up that hit me in a spot that is all too familiar - and I was wondering how it would hit you as well...

As God thinks of you RIGHT NOW, what is the look on His face?

What did you come up with?  For me, I immediately went to a disappointed look.  Was yours an angry look?  Does his face say, "Get your act together?" or (this would be true for me) "If only you do a little more, try a little harder..."

"If you imagined God as anything but overjoyed with you, you have fallen into a performance mindset.  Because the gospel truth is: in Christ, God is deeply satisfied with you.  You are united with Jesus!"

When I read that sentence it still was a little like - yes, I know that those are the words that the Bible says... but.  And even in my "But," I know that I am not being true to the truth.  So why doesn't the truth penetrate my heart completely?

The article talks about the difference between having an orphan (or slave) mindset and a son/daughter mindset.  Here's an exercise they offer (I won't list everything).  Which of the areas would you like to grow in during the next year?

Orphan ----- struggles to trust things to God, lacks confidence, solution to failure: try harder, has to fix your problems, needs to be in control of situations and others, is defensive when accused of error or weakness, lives on a success/fail basis, needs to be right,feels as if no one cares about you, strong-willed with ideas, agendas, and opinions.

Son/Daughter ------- feels freed from worry because of God's love for you, able to take risks-even to fail, doesn't always have to be right, is able to freely confess your faults to others, content with what Christ has provided, open to criticism because you rest on Christ's perfection, freedom from making a name for yourself, prayer is a first resort, Jesus is more and more the subject of conversation, experiences more and more victory over the flesh, aware of inability to fix life, people and problems.

When we act out of the orphan/slave mentality we are actually minimizing the gospel, minimizing God's holiness.  As the article puts it - "If we really understood the infinite majesty of God's holiness, there's no way we'd ever think we could live up to his standards! The face that we try to gain God's approval by 'right living' shows that we've reduced his standards far beyond what they actually are.  Rather than being awed by the infinite measure of his holy perfection, we have convinced ourselves that if we just try hard enough, we can merit God's love and approval."

These are the things that my mind and heart are chewing on today.  I hope they cause you to ponder as well.

Defining Home

We began a new journey last week.  We packed up all our belongings in Wisconsin, putting some in storage, some in Iowa and took the rest with us. Technically will be homeless until mid-August.  Currently our "home" is a motel in Medora, North Dakota as we are helping staff the Campus Crusade for Christ summer project here for the next 6 weeks.  After that we will live in Fort Collins, Colorado temporarily as Josh works on a team getting ready for our National Campus Crusade staff conference there.  Then we will finally land in Orlando, Florida where for 10 months we shall call that location "home."


As I was trying to prep our kids about this transition, one phrase that I kept trying to enforce was that home for them would be wherever Mommy and Daddy were.  That way, whether we were in a motel, in a dorm room or whatever the case may be, they knew that what was most important was that they were with Mommy and Daddy and that in us they can find security.


What I didn't realize is that the same is true for me as a child of God.  My home is not really here on this earth, this is a place that I am just passing through on my way to my eternal home with Christ.  And yet in me is a longing for home, that sense of security and a place where I can truly rest.  Wherever I am, as long as I remember that my Heavenly Father is with me, I can experience that security and I can find rest, for in Him is where my "home" truly is.  

John 14:1-4 - "Let not your hearts be troubled.  Believe in God, believe also in me.  In my Father's house are many rooms...and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself..."

 2 Corinthians 5:1 - "For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens."

Hebrews 13:14 - "For here we have no lasting city, but we seek the city that is to come."