WHO IS YOUR FATHER, WHO IS YOUR FAMILY?

I think this one is very approperiate for today.

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WHO IS YOUR FATHER, WHO IS YOUR FAMILY?

John 1:12-13 "Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God-- children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God."

Every tribe was different. We all had our own tribal traditions and practices. While there were a lot of similarities, there was a lot of diversity. But one thing we never did, we never left anyone behind. We respected life and the loss of life. When one lost all his relatives and had nowhere to go, they were brought into a new family and that person became part of the new family as if he or she had been born into that family. He or she had the right to carry their new family name. They would move with the family, took over roles in that family and took on responsibilities to help his or her new family. Even if they were adults, they had to ask permission as if they were born into the family. Even when one had lost their spouse and they found another they had to ask permission from the head of the household to remarry.

In many ways it is the same way when we become part of the Family of God. We take on new family responsibilities and we take on a new lifestyle. When we are born into the family of God we come in with all rights and privileges to be part of that family. Jesus said, "Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God-- children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God. " When we receive Him, Jesus, God the Creator says we have the right or the authority to become children of God. When we use the word 'right' that means with all its privileges as if you were literally and physically born into that family. We are no long illegitimate, but true children. We are no longer just His creation, but literally His true sons and daughters. A family not born of any human effort but by spiritual efforts when we place our trust in God the Creator's Son. We become a real part of God the Creator's family just as an Apache would become part of a family when he or she was adopted.

Robert Soto, Lipan Apache and pastor