Romans 8:28

“And WE KNOW that for those who love God, all things work together for good, for those who are called according to His purpose.”

The word “family” filters through our emotions, senses, and even has us attaching word tags. Biological, Adopted, Foster, Work, Friends, Church. The Urban Dictionary recognizes in its definition that “family” has an extended range of people. “A group of people, usually of the SAME BLOOD who genuinely love, trust, and care about and look out for each other.”

The phrase, SAME BLOOD, in that definition speaks to me. We easily recognize our ancestors’ DNA contribution to our physical appearances and internal body parts, even the very lifeblood that runs through our veins. But do we recognize Christ’s contribution to our spiritual body? The Cross gave all of us in our church family Christ’s SAME BLOOD, a cleansing blood for our souls. Just as the blood in our body flows from organ to organ and rids our bodies of impurities and toxins, Christ’s blood flows through us and cleanses our souls.

In the past months we have said our goodbyes to several of our MOST church family. Their Homegoing was an odd combination of heartbreaking mourning and joyful celebration. WE KNOW the joy came realizing that they were part of a family conceived by the Blood of Christ. The Blood that makes us one with Christ. The Blood that makes us genuinely love, trust, care about, and look out for each other.

Many hearts who read this today will be raw from their loss. Please know that your church family at MOST loves and prays for you. Speak this great promise of today’s scripture over your pain and KNOW that God has given your loved one Heaven, the reward and reality of this promise.

In a recent devotional these words from Charles Spurgeon comforted me: “He who counts the stars and calls them by their names is in no danger of forgetting His children.”  God gave us one of His greatest promises in Romans 8:28. He wanted us to understand that His children were not to be people without hope, direction, or purpose. God has an eternal purpose for our church family at MOST and WE KNOW He will accomplish His purpose for His glory and our good.