Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord. Psalm 118:26

But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God. John 1:12

God has given us the power to become His children. What a wonderful thing!. We are then born, not of blood relationships, but of God. Quite a difference. The same Creator God who made everything actually counts us as His children. We can’t control who our ancestors and family relatives are; we can however be God’s children as He intended. John says all it takes is receiving “him.” Who is this him? That would be Jesus, of course. It gets a little confusing for many of us. God loves you and adopts you into his family when you receive Jesus. You believe because you’ve received and yet you also believe to receive.

In the verse from Psalms, one who comes in the name of the Lord is declared blessed. These words are said by the crowd on Palm Sunday as they welcome Jesus to Jerusalem. In the context of the Psalm, it may refer to those bringing their thank offerings to the temple. In Barnes notes on the Bible he writes “ This is the language of those who had charge of the sanctuary, addressing him who came in the name of the Lord to present his thank-offering. It is the language of welcome; the assurance that his offering would be acceptable to God.”

We don’t need to do anything like that to gain God’s favor, rather it is all dependent on His grace. We merely need to believe in Jesus to gain the power, from God, to become children of God. When our belief wavers, or we doubt God is still there as our loving father.

We are blessed to be your children God, through your grace. Help us share this blessing with others.  Through your son, Christ, we are joined together with people across our country and around the world; some we know well and many we will never meet. We thank you for this unity and look forward to the day when we will sing your praise together as one. Amen.

Chris Gabel

Ministries
Teaching Mission Party