Adopted by God

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My husband was remarking yesterday that one of our sons got my fine hair. What he was saying is that this particular son looks like he has thinning hair, and he is only in his 20s. My first thought was, “Well he has hair just like my brother (who has high widow’s peak and thin hair), so it must be in the family genes somewhere.” This makes sense, thinning hair and baldness usually comes from the mother’s side of the family anyway. The funny thing is … both my brother and I are adopted!

I never stop and think about my brother as being anything other than my brother. I don’t wonder about who his parents are. I know who they are. They are my parents, the ones who adopted us, and he is my brother. I feel the same way about my parents. I often forget that whatever they may be dealing with from a genetic point of view has no real bearing on me, but I find myself thinking about it the other way around, you know, like – “Will I get my grandmother’s arms when I get older?”

“That He might redeem them which were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption of the sons. And because you are sons, God sent forth the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, Abba, Father.” Galatians 4:5-6

 

It struck me – this is the way we should be in our relationship with Christ and fellow believers. We may be different looking on the outside but we are all family. We share the same brother, Christ; and the same heavenly father. Galatians 4:5-6 says “That He might redeem them which were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption of the sons. And because you are sons, God sent forth the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, Abba, Father.” Yes, we have been adopted by God. The scripture talks about us being grafted into the vine that was and is Israel (Romans 11:17) and so we become part of the family.

Sometimes, I can get frustrated with my brother and I am sure he does with me as well. But despite how frustrated I become with him, I love him and he will always be my brother. I will do whatever is needed to help him if the need arises. The notion that we are adopted has no bearing. However, can I say the same about my brothers and sisters in Christ?

Do I have the love for my fellow believers that I should as one of their family members? After all, Christians come in many forms and from many walks of life. That is one of the miracles of the Gospel. But I have my notions as to what it means to be a Christian. Some of those things are more a result of my denominational upbringing and what I am comfortable with. And I know that not everyone shares those same convictions. We are taught in Romans that some can eat meat sacrificed to idols and it is not sin, but for others who have a conviction about this to do so would be sin. Can I love, as I should? Are they my brothers and sisters more than anything else?

Jesus said, “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.” (John 13:35). Before I judge, condemn, or even have that disapproving thought about my brother or sister in Christ; I first must ask myself – do I really love them? If not, I am nothing more than a sounding brass or tinkling cymbal. (I Corinthians 13:1)

What are your thoughts on why those who should demonstrate love can end up having such a hard time loving those different from themselves?

Anchor Tags

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This is an an example of the anchor tag

To download source code, visit link at bottom of this post :)

deprecated in HTML5 but will still work on all browsers

You will need to put an anchor tag around the location you wish to link to as the example below shows:

<a id=”myAnchor” />

Then you will need to create the "link":

<a href=”#myAnchor”>Go to my Anchor</a>

And you are done!

Below is a working example

Hey, visit my anchor!

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Vivamus sed tincidunt leo, a consequat nulla. Ut ultrices interdum rutrum. Proin rutrum nec elit at posuere. Nunc libero est, mattis quis cursus et, aliquam eget diam. Sed diam nunc, scelerisque sed tristique eu, varius non diam. Aliquam nec tincidunt metus. Vivamus et posuere ligula. Donec metus quam, pharetra vitae vulputate sed, facilisis non sapien. Pellentesque dolor lorem, sollicitudin eget ipsum eu, aliquet auctor purus. Mauris scelerisque metus id tincidunt auctor. Pellentesque gravida ligula vel mollis pulvinar.

Mauris purus justo, sagittis eu vestibulum vitae, hendrerit nec dolor. Vivamus sed elit ac sapien imperdiet aliquam. Quisque mollis turpis vitae venenatis ultrices. Duis luctus magna erat, quis blandit nunc sagittis iaculis. Ut a tincidunt risus. Quisque semper elit nec nisi consectetur, vitae tincidunt sapien egestas. Nullam aliquam placerat nibh quis pretium. Pellentesque sem lorem, molestie eget euismod et, dictum sit amet est. Mauris sit amet libero tristique, imperdiet massa vel, laoreet sapien.

Integer eu pellentesque libero. Duis rutrum egestas sem, vitae molestie neque varius vitae. Pellentesque egestas purus nec elit ultricies, nec molestie elit dictum. In hac habitasse platea dictumst. In dolor nibh, ornare et purus in, ultricies sagittis lacus. Interdum et malesuada fames ac ante ipsum primis in faucibus. Aliquam mollis, lorem sit amet scelerisque cursus, risus enim euismod enim, eget aliquet mi diam sit amet nisi. Pellentesque congue, neque ut viverra ultrices, velit turpis posuere libero, id scelerisque magna erat ac nulla. Nam vehicula feugiat sapien, ac congue ligula commodo aliquam. Pellentesque orci turpis, luctus id quam fringilla, facilisis dignissim purus. Phasellus a felis vulputate, adipiscing dolor a, gravida tellus. Praesent vitae pellentesque nunc, quis placerat nisi. Cras non turpis orci. Sed ut gravida massa, ut gravida justo. Curabitur malesuada facilisis sem at ultricies.

This is where the achor ties to

Quisque sollicitudin eros at diam rhoncus, vitae malesuada turpis egestas. Curabitur purus tellus, gravida at egestas a, mollis ut tellus. Pellentesque consectetur, nibh a pretium auctor, mi nibh rhoncus elit, at ultrices turpis nunc at velit. Pellentesque id varius lacus. Proin sodales diam libero, blandit laoreet nisi egestas ut. Proin sapien ante, aliquet sit amet lorem quis, facilisis molestie massa. Aliquam sed eros consequat, ultrices quam sed, congue urna.

Integer at mi imperdiet, rhoncus metus congue, ornare risus. In gravida augue ut tincidunt facilisis. Nunc ut velit vulputate erat accumsan tempor. Class aptent taciti sociosqu ad litora torquent per conubia nostra, per inceptos himenaeos. Fusce sed odio auctor, tempor neque non, lobortis eros. Proin a nisi tempor, pellentesque lacus sit amet, consequat arcu. Aenean interdum nulla vestibulum turpis commodo, ut facilisis turpis scelerisque. Suspendisse dapibus semper ultricies.

Get Source Code.

My 2014 “One Thousand Gifts” List

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I have never done this before, but I know it is important to be thankful for the little things in life. As I find out more about this challenge, I will put more info here.

I found out about this challenge from A Holy Experience by Ann Voskamp. She writes: “The whole collection of this year’s Joy Dare – to keep Jesus at the center of everyday…”. Now isn’t this exactly what we want?

From the “January Joy Dare”

3 Gifts Heard – 1/1/14

  1. “Firecrackers & Shotguns” announcing the New Year
  2. “Happy New Year dear, I love you, see you in the morning”
  3. “Guess what … I stayed up all night!”

A gift outside, inside, on a plate – 1/2/14

  1. outside – snow falling quietly
  2. inside – everyone home
  3. on a plate – homemade “chips”

3 Graces you overheard – 1/3/14

  1. “I love you baby girl”
  2. “Some one wants me to shovel their driveway!”
  3. “I’d rather snuggle…”

 A Gift Old, New, Blue – 1/4/14

  1. “Old Love – my husband!”
  2. “New Love – my daughter & fiance”
  3. New blue hairdryer warming up wet gloves

Something you are Reading, Making, Seeing – 1/5/14

  1. Reading – God’s Word = so soothing lately!
  2. Making – Homemade Chili & Biscuits = great on a cold day!
  3. Seeing – Ashley come in the door after her car accident tonight = tears in my eyes! Thank you Father!!!

One thing in your bag, your fridge, your heart – 1/6/14

  1. My bag – new book Audrey Bunny by Angie Smith
  2. My fridge – being thankful there is food there, esp. fresh eggs from a local farmer
  3. My heart – Birthday boy today = youngest, where does the time go?

Three graces from people you love – 1/7/14

  1. “Thank you for going with me to the VA hospital today.”
  2. “Oh, my new rock display racks are cool!”
  3. “The doctor said there was more damage to my knee than he thought, but it looks and feels great today!”