scripture and prayer reflection
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Lyrics
Your love is a flood and I swim deep when the tide is up
Oh would You flood me too?
Saltwater in my blood has made me taste sweet to the world
Oh and You taste sweet too
This is my deliverance, hands held high as You deliver it
Oh You have made me a child of God
My feet on the ground, my heart in heaven
I am bread made without the leaven
Oh You have made me a child of God
I lay in the sand, sweet forgiveness in my hand
Oh as a gift from You
Your water floods my brain, this grey cranium won’t be the same
No, where I've been won't do
This is my deliverance, hands held high as You deliver it
Oh You have made me a child of God
My feet on the ground, my heart in heaven
I am bread made without the leaven
Oh You have made me a child of God
And I won't go
Until I know
You have sown
All You have in me
This is my deliverance, hands held high as You deliver it
Oh You have made me a child of God
My feet on the ground, my heart in heaven
I am bread made without the leaven
Oh You have made me a child of God
Romans 8:1-4, 14-17
1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2 For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. 3 For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh, 4 in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. 15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” 16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.
Philippians 3:20-21
20 But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.
Matthew 6:19-21
19 “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Reflection
Deliverance is a celebration of the freedom and adoption we have in Christ. Not only did God redeem us from the ultimate consequences of sin and death, but He also enabled us to become children of God, adopted and drawn near. Neither of these things is something we can earn or merit, though at times we unconsciously fall into operating as if we can and must. These are free gifts from a gracious Father who loves us.
Becoming children of God means that we have a new home, and our hearts are now tied to that home, not our current surroundings. As the songwriter describes, his feet are on the ground, but his heart is actually in Heaven. This truth changes everything - the whole orientation of our lives shifts when we realize where our true home lies. We are to inherit eternity. The day to day things become simultaneously insignificant and significant in a whole new way as we live our lives in preparation to go home.
This doesn’t mean that God is not active in the here and now, or that He is not with us wherever we are here, however. He doesn’t wait until we die to work in us. He is currently sowing seeds in our hearts to grow and bear His fruit, sanctifying us progressively as we journey with Him throughout our lives. We are already His children now. He isn’t waiting until we are in Heaven to give us His love.
Take some time to consider what it means that you are adopted as God’s child. The idea of being God’s child may feel like such a familiar phrase that it loses its meaning. What would it be like if you were not adopted by God? What difference does it make in how God sees you? What difference does it make in how you live your life? How can meditating on your adoption grow gratitude, warmth, and joy in your heart toward God? Talk with God about what comes up.
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