Beginning in verse 12, we can see that God...
(12) ...has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light.
13 He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love,
14 in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins.
When we think about the life that God has in store for us, we can rejoice that He promises to go with us - we can abide in His love and can discover His resources in order that we may enjoy His victory. Yes, there will be difficulty and challenges, but we can know that He doesn't leave us helpless. We have been adopted into His family, we are children of God, and we can know a Father who desires for us to be in relationship with Himself.
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We are now on Day 9 of our 25-day Christmas Advent-ure, based on this year's Faith Radio Advent Guide, Around the World in 25 Days! This weekend, on Day 7, we featured the celebration of Sekukkulu in Uganda. The word means, “the birth of Jesus,” and is centered around church, food, and clothing, with women wearing traditional, colorful attire, according to the website, BecauseOfHope.org. Sunday's reading was about the celebration of Christmas in Kenya, where decorations consist of balloons, flowers, and leaves, according to the website, iExplore.com, which relates that practical gifts are shared, such as books or clothes to wear to church.
Now we come to the celebrations of Ganna and Timkat in Ethiopia. The website, HowStuffWorks.com, relates that Christmas, or “Ganna” is celebrated there on January 7, and Timkat comes 12 days later, commemorating the baptism of Jesus. Children walk to church wearing crowns and robes. The corresponding Scripture passage is found in Matthew 3:
13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him.
14 And John tried to prevent Him, saying, "I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?"
15 But Jesus answered and said to him, "Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness." Then he allowed Him.
16 When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him.
17 And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."
14 And John tried to prevent Him, saying, "I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?"
15 But Jesus answered and said to him, "Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness." Then he allowed Him.
16 When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him.
17 And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."
For Jesus, baptism was an act of obedience, as it is for us - our baptism demonstrates how we have been brought out of death into life, from darkness to light; we can reflect on our new identity in Him and who He has made us to be.
It's really a sad story that has a promising ending. For 11 years, Kathy Grace Duncan lived as a man. This was not a matter of wearing different clothes or merely changing lifestyle or appearance. According to an article published at The Stream, originally from The Daily Signal, Kathy, who is a biological female, but had a desire to be a boy from childhood, was evaluated by a psychologist at age 19 and began hormone treatments. She says, "I thought living this way was where I was supposed to be my entire life."
But, after 11 years, she made an amazing discovery. She shares what changed her mind:
So, Kathy Grace had to deal with what life would then look like. The article says...
For all of us, we can have a sense of contentment in Him. Once we are in Christ and have accepted His new life, we can abide in His joy and walk in His principles. He doesn't want us to be restless about our identity, but to see that who we are is relative to who He says we are.
It's really a sad story that has a promising ending. For 11 years, Kathy Grace Duncan lived as a man. This was not a matter of wearing different clothes or merely changing lifestyle or appearance. According to an article published at The Stream, originally from The Daily Signal, Kathy, who is a biological female, but had a desire to be a boy from childhood, was evaluated by a psychologist at age 19 and began hormone treatments. She says, "I thought living this way was where I was supposed to be my entire life."
But, after 11 years, she made an amazing discovery. She shares what changed her mind:
Well, actually, an encounter with Jesus. So four years prior to that, I believe that he started working on my heart to bring me out of that. And he called to me and he said, “Will you now? Will you now?” And I took this inventory of my life and I thought, “I haven’t got anything to lose, nothing holding me back.” So I said yes. And I jumped in to spending more time in the word and at church and getting more involved in the church.She was confronted by her church after four years, and she says, led by the Holy Spirit, "I realized, 'Oh, I need to go back to being the woman that God created me to be,' and stepped down from all these ministries."
So, Kathy Grace had to deal with what life would then look like. The article says...
...because of the way I looked from the effects of the hormones, I was like, “OK, so, Lord, you need to change all of this. You need to take away the beard. You need to grow my hair back.” I cried out for all of these physical changes. And finally the Lord said to me, “I don’t care about those things. I’m really after your heart.”
And that’s when I realized, OK so there’s a heart change that needs to happen. So it was just continuing to spend time with him and realizing that who he created me to be was good. The word said it was good. He created male and female and they were very good.She was asked about her being at peace as a woman. She said in her response:
I would say that as I’ve understood the truth about who I am and how we’re created and how he’s wired me, there is [peace]. When I come into agreement and I understand the lies that drove me to that, then I’m able to see what the Lord is calling me to.This is a story about embracing God's plan for us. Unfortunately, Kathy Grace Duncan developed some errant ideas about her identity and because of her discontent, set out on a course for change her way; it didn't turn out too well. She now understands what God wants to do on the inside. We can accept who He has made us; the enemy would deceive and distort those ideas, and those who don't know and follow God do not have the resources to reject him. That's unfortunately where we are as a culture today, which leads to ideas about gender identity and sexual orientation that are not Biblical. In the article, Kathy declares that people who want to change genders should be asked the "Why?" questions, because there is "usually it’s a place of trauma, or perceived trauma," and that young children should not be given puberty blockers, and see "how they grow up." Research has shown out that most children outgrow their disposition to live as a member of the opposite gender.
For all of us, we can have a sense of contentment in Him. Once we are in Christ and have accepted His new life, we can abide in His joy and walk in His principles. He doesn't want us to be restless about our identity, but to see that who we are is relative to who He says we are.
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