God places the lonely in families;
   he sets the prisoners free and gives them joy
But he makes the rebellious live in a
   sun-scorched land.

Oh, how I do not want to live in a sun-scorched land!

Have you felt at times that you were there? Completely alone, with nothing to nourish or sustain life? I have been in such a land, and I do not wish to dwell there.

I am fascinated by the placement of these statements in the middle of a song praising the power and greatness of the Lord of the universe. It’s quite a chapter, describing God smashing his enemies, blowing them away like smoke, melting them like wax in a fire, and all the earth trembling before him.

And in the middle of all that, we have a statement that God places the lonely in families. Later comes this picture: Each day he carries us in his arms. Our God is a God who saves!

In the New Testament, we read that all of us who believe in Jesus can come to the Father through the same Holy Spirit and become members of God’s family.

For the children of God, there are bonds stronger than human family relationships. Even those of us who have strong family ties can feel a deeper loneliness.

But the Father has chosen you, child of God, and brought you into a family in a realm far beyond any earthly family. Connections that transcend family trees and blood identities and the short span of human life are the work of the Spirit, placing us in the family of God.

Psalm 68:5,19-20; Ephesians 2:18-19 (all NLT)

Coming up: Let’s get real. Families fight, families fall apart, family members murder each other.

If you had caught a glimpse of our animated conversation, you might have wondered what we could possibly be talking about that created such energy and excitement.

He was a twenty-something Amish man and I an old(er!) woman who is … well, something other than Amish. We had never met before. And we knew nothing about each other until, in talking about moving and looking for a new job, he told me he’s not certain where he’s going or what direction his life will be taking. He continued: He is walking by faith, certain only that he is relying on God the Father to direct his path, looking to God as the compass and author of his life’s goals.

BING! We had an immediate and strong connection, because I have been traveling the same path. We are not at the same place on that path, nor do we travel in the same way. But we are on the same path.

In life, we “connect” with many people we meet, for many different reasons. For example, most of those who know me know that I’m a “Maine-iac.” I love to talk and do all things Maine. I admit, it’s a pretty strong compulsion. And when I meet someone else who lives in or travels to Maine, we’ve got a “connection.”

But that connection pales to what I experienced in this conversation. It is rather amazing to me, really, that a young Amish man and I who am SO not-Amish (for all kinds of reasons) would find a thread, a tie, a bond that left us both smiling and feeling inspired.

We have almost nothing in common–except the one most important thing–we draw our life from the same Person. The Spirit of the Lord we follow dwells within.

God planted his Spirit within all those he chose and adopted:

But we have all been baptized into one body by one Spirit, and we all share the same Spirit.

That’s the New Living Translation. The New International Version says we were all given one Spirit to drink.

That was written by the apostle Paul to an early church. He spoke of Jews and Gentiles, slave and free, all being given the same Spirit, being brought into one body.

If we wrote that today, what might we say? Conservatives and liberals, Amish and Catholic, Americans and Chinese? All made children of God and given the Spirit of God.

That short little conversation came at a time when I needed just a little extra push, just a word of encouragement. I’m taking this inspiration as a gift of the Spirit within us both.

Scripture: 1 Co 12:13

Now then, on to this business about our inheritance. The bottom line? Hope. Riches. Power. You’re a child of God, an heir, and this is what He has for you.

Stop for a moment and let that sink in. Hope. Riches. Power.

Wow. Does any one of those three things get you excited?  Maybe all three of ’em?

Here’s the Scripture:

I needed to know three things. I needed to know exactly what hope God offers. I wanted to know what riches God promises. And what’s this about great power for us who believe?

Oh, yes. There was one more thing I wanted to know: How does all that become visible in my life?

I desperately wanted to know. And so I went searching, listening to learn what God says. It is amazing how much the Scriptures tell us about these things, and how often — when you’re looking — you can see hope, riches, and power pouring into your life.

That is the purpose of these little posts, to remind us constantly who we are and what we have been given as children of God, to keep us alert to the presence of God in our lives, to help us know our Father better.

The word inheritance carries the idea of “maybe something, sometime.” But wouldn’t it be wonderful to have access to and benefit from your inheritance now? Will the children of God have only some future reward, an inheritance coming some other day in another realm of golden streets and no night?

So here’s my question. I know the whole body of Scripture says these things are for the children of God today, here and now. But I can’t put my finger on one or two verses in particular that promise us the inheritance is not only coming in the future, but is also for our lives this very moment.

Help me out here, and tell us what Scripture assures you that our inheritance of hope, riches, and power is for us today.

Scripture: Eph 1:18-19a (NIV)

I peer out my kitchen window. Everything is gray and white, the softness of early morning light and the drifts of fresh snow. A shadow perches immobile on the clothesline by the bird feeder. A cardinal, by the shape. There is no movement. Just a dark silhouette against a cold white landscape, he seems frozen on the line.

But of course he is not. A moment later he takes to the air. Why do those fragile birds not freeze to death in this cold? How do their nests, made of bits and pieces of this and that, not blow away in winds that take roofs off barns?

Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are?

We are so valuable to God, so loved by him, that he calls us his children.

See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are!   

Scripture: Matt 5:26, 1 John 3:1  (both NLT)

So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves.
Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children.
Now we call him, “Abba, Father”.
For his spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children.
And since we are his children, we are his heirs.

Ah, I love this passage. Love it. We are not fearful slaves. (Doing my little dance of freedom.) We are children God has chosen and taken as his own. And we are heirs. Oops. There’s that word again. I guess we should move on to take a look at exactly what we’ve inherited.

But first a few more words about our Spirit connection.

God’s spirit within us affirms that we are His children. The amazing knowledge comes that we belong to Him, that He is indeed our Father; it is a knowing that we cannot explain logically or describe in this world’s language.

So God’s Spirit is planted within us, and He will ……

Stop.

Do you really believe that the Spirit of God lives within YOU? Or are you having a little trouble believing that?

It is quite a claim to make, isn’t it — that the Spirit of God Almighty is within you.

Maybe you don’t feel the Spirit of God within. Maybe it’s difficult to see any evidence of Him. Maybe it’s just too crazy a concept for you to believe.

Maybe, at this point, all you can really say for certain is that you believe the Bible is the word of God and it is truth. If so, then read these passages and listen to what the Father says to you, His child:

John 14:16-17
1 Co 6:19-20
2 Co 1:21-22
1 John 4:13
Gal 4:4-7

God says He has planted His Spirit in you. Can you believe that? Will you believe what God says?

Spirit, help our unbelief.

Scripture: Romans 8:15-17a (NLT)