Category Archives: 1 Chronicles

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Warts and All

ThanksLiving: 365 Days of Gratitude

If God can redeem his ancient people from bad leaders like Saul by giving them good men like David, through whose lineage comes the Son of David, there is hope for us. Through Jesus, the only perfect God-man, we find eternal rescue. Yes, God will redeem us too, warts and all.

Going Deep // Focus: 1 Chronicles 8:1,33

Benjamin was the father of Bela his firstborn…Ner was the father of Kish, Kish the father of Saul, and Saul the father of Jonathan, Malki-Shua, Abinadab and Esh-Baal.

Israel’s first king turned out to be a complete disaster. The prophet Samuel anointed Saul, a once humble Benjamite, to be Israel’s inaugural monarch. He began with such promise and utter dependence on the Lord. He looked to Samuel for mentoring, and early on, he led the nation to stunning victories over their enemies—the dreaded Philistines and pesky Ammonites, to name a few. After hundred’s of dismal years under the Judges, Israel had a champion, a man who was head and shoulders, both physically and in terms of personal charisma, above everybody else. You can read about Saul’s early successes in 1 Samuel 10-11.

But things quickly went south when Saul began to take credit for his stunning successes. His victories and growing popularity among a nation desperate for a king went to his head, for he didn’t have the depth of character to withstand human worship. In fairness, not too many people can, since only God is built for worship. Because Saul drifted from humble dependence, organic acknowledgement and quick obedience to God, the Spirit of God lifted from him and he became an increasingly desperate, even demented leader. Saul crashed and burned—publically and spectacularly.

So why would scripture then give him am entire chapter by spelling out his genealogy? Why not hide this sad and sordid part of Israel’s history? Well, the chronicler probably had several things in mind, not the least of which was to connect the dots in the history of Israel’s monarchy. That is the job of someone who is tasked with reporting the history of something. But I believe that God had a higher purpose in mind than what the writer may have been thinking in his conscious brain.

You see, one of the things that powerfully authenticates the veracity of scripture is its willingness to present God’s people, warts and all. The Bible doesn’t try to hide the flaws of its characters, even it’s heroes: Abraham’s fears, Jacob’s deceptiveness, David’s adultery, Solomon’s addictions, Peter’s blunders, and so on. Other books that purport to be divinely inspired go to great lengths to hide the misdeeds and missteps of their heroes; not the Bible. It is raw, it is real and it treats sin as it deserves, roughly.

That is one of the reasons why you can trust the Bible. There are other reasons of course, and this is neither the time nor the place to detail those reasons, but the transparency of scripture is a very powerful indicator of its trustworthiness as well as a legitimate apologetic.

Now an important reason for this transparency must be acknowledged here: The Bible is this way because it is not a book primary about man; it is the book of God. It is about God and his plan for the ages. And what the Bible clearly reveals in exposing the flaws of our faith ancestors is that even the best of us are deeply flawed and desperately in need of God’s mercy and grace—which is exactly what is revealed throughout the pages of scripture, from beginning to end.

And that gives hope to thoroughly flawed and desperate people like you and me. If God can redeem his ancient people from bad leaders like Saul by giving them good men like David, through whose lineage comes the Son of David, there is hope for us. Through Jesus, the only perfect God-man, we find eternal rescue for our Saul-like souls.

Yes, God will redeem us too, warts and all.

Going Deeper With God: Memorize this verse today, and rejoice in it throughout the day: “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)

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You Go Girl

ThanksLiving: 365 Days of Gratitude

The Bible has been accused of being a sexist book that regards women as nothing more than the property of men. I will grant that most of the stories in Scripture feature men, but just read the Good Book and you will discover enough inspiring stories about a few good women of impact to see that God is no respecter of persons. He doesn’t look at the outward appearance or the genetic makeup of an individual, he looks at their heart. God uses people—men and women—who have a large faith capacity and a willingness to be stretched.

Going Deep // Focus: 1 Chronicles 7:24

Ephraim had a daughter named Sheerah. She built the towns of Lower and Upper Beth-horon and Uzzen-sheerah,

Reading through the first 8 chapters of 1 Chronicles is like reading from the phone book. If you are not careful, you can zone out. Honestly, you won’t miss much—can I say that about the Bible without getting struck by lighting?—name after name that meant something to them back then, but have very little value to us today.

Except that within these mind-numbing lists there is the occasional interruption of something very interesting, surprisingly inspiring, and quite intriguing. In fact, the little bit of information you get leaves you longing for more. And if you had allowed yourself to sleepwalk your way through these names, you could have missed one of these gems.

I have to confess, as many times as I have read the Bible, I don’t remember the story of Sheerah. Apparently I have been guilty of habitual sleepwalking when it comes to 1 Chronciles 7. But I was awake today, and what an interesting story Sheerah’s is. I wish I knew more about her.

She was born to Ephraim after two of his sons were killed trying to steal livestock, the text tells us. Her father had been in mourning for these two sons—how old they were we don’t know, why they were stealing we don’t know—all we know is that they were dead and their father was distraught. And the Lord had comforted his grieving heart by blessing him with another son and this daughter, Sheerah.

What is perhaps most interesting is that her story gets space in the record that is normally dominated by male figures. In that culture, at that time, women weren’t prominently featured and even a passing mention would have been rare. So when a women does make the front page, hold the press—this is big news. Sheerah must have been quite a gal!

And Sheerah was! She built three towns. How she got people, probably men, to follow her leadership will remain a mystery, but she did. She obviously had great leadership skills, personal charisma, a fearless personality, and the favor of the Lord. And she knew how to use it. And for all of time, and perhaps even in eternity, her story has been memorialized in the Word of God.

The Bible has been accused of being a sexist book that regards women as nothing more than the property of men. I will grant that most of the stories in Scripture feature men, but just read the Good Book and you will discover enough inspiring stories about a few good women of impact to see that God is no respecter of persons. He doesn’t look at the outward appearance or the genetic makeup of an individual, he looks at their heart.

God uses people—men and women—who have a large faith capacity and a willingness to be stretched.

So let’s hear it for Sheerah! You go girl!

Going Deeper With God: The Lord looks at the heart and not the outward appearance. What about you? If you are like me, you need the Lord to teach you to see people as he does. Which means there is probably someone he will put on your radar who needs your encouragement. Make sure you do just that—encourage that person today!

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The Priesthood Then—Our Priest Now

ThanksLiving: 365 Days of Gratitude

Jesus Christ, in one act at one point in history accomplished what thousands upon thousands of sacrifices into the millions of sacrifices by multitudes of priests could never accomplish. He opened the way to God permanently so that any person at any time by faith in Christ might enter into God’s presence. He is our great High Priest forever.

Going Deep // Focus: 1 Chronicles 6:49

Only Aaron and his descendants served as priests. They presented the offerings on the altar of burnt offering and the altar of incense, and they performed all the other duties related to the Most Holy Place. They made atonement for Israel by doing everything that Moses, the servant of God, had commanded them.

God selected the tribe of Levi out of all the tribes of Israel to manage the physical place of his dwelling. The Levites were a privileged group. But out of Levi, he then selected the clan of Aaron to serve as the priests, and they became the privileged few who ever got to offer sacrifices in the place of worship—the tabernacle, then later, the temple—to the Lord God. They managed the presence of God, mediated the worship of God’s people and made atonement for their sins. Out of all the people who ever lived on Planet Earth, only a select few got to be this close to the presence of the Lord in this important of a role.

Once we get past the Old Testament, there is not much information on the Jewish priesthood. One of the final interactions with this unique group is in Luke’s account of the birth of Christ. We are told in Luke 1 of the father of John the Baptist, who was to be the forerunner of Jesus the Messiah. His name was Zechariah, and he was a priest. He was on duty when an angel of the Lord suddenly showed up to announce to this old man that his old and barren wife was about to give birth to the greatest and last prophet of Israel, and they were to name him John. It is a great story that is worth reading again—a timely story of how God always remembers his promises and is dedicated to fulfilling his plan, but always in his sovereign time.

Now as a priest, Zechariah was a descendant of the priestly line of Aaron—at a time in Israel when there were around 20,000 other priestly descendants. This may seem like a large number, but again, keep in mind that when you consider all human beings who were alive at the time, it was a select group. In the context of tiny Israel, with that many priests and only one temple, these 20,000 men had to be divided into groups that served in the temple only two weeks per year so that all of them could serve.

Now the greatest privilege for an ordinary priest like Zechariah was to burn incense on the altar of the Holy Place. This was granted by lots, so only a very few priests would ever get this opportunity. If a priest was fortunate enough to be chosen, it was the only chance he would get—ever! So when Zachariah was chosen, it was the chance of a lifetime. That is when the angel interrupted his duties with a message.

This angel appeared and stood at one end of the altar in front of the aging priest! Now understand the shocking significance of this event: 400 years of nothing between the end of the Old Testament and the beginning of the gospel—and not only does God speak, but it’s not through the utterance of a human prophet. This news is so big, so important, and so good that God sends the angel of the Lord! Gabriel appears! As you can imagine, Zechariah did what we would have done: his knees had fellowship one with another. To say the least, he was afraid. But the angel calmed him with these next words, “Your prayer has been heard.” And with that, a new era began; John’s birth was followed by Jesus’s birth, and a new and living way into the very presence of God was ushered in. (Hebrews 10:20).

Jesus Christ, by his birth, life, death, resurrection and ascension, became the first non-Aaronic priest of God. And not just any priest, the Lion of the tribe of Judah became a High Priest forever—our personal and only priest before God. Through him, we have permanent and free access to the very presence of God. We also have him as our fulltime mediator and intercessor before the Almighty. We don’t have to come to a temple or go through an earthly priest or wait in line to offer a sacrifice for our sins, Jesus our High Priest did that once and for all for us. He ever lives to intercede for us, and he makes a way—he is our way—into God’s awesome presence any time we want for as long as we want.

Can you wrap your mind around that? Jesus is your permanent, personal full-time High Priest. And that makes you one of the privileged!

Going Deeper With God: Have you taken Jesus up on his offer to bring you into God’s awesome presence lately? Remember, through him, you can approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that you may receive mercy and find grace to help you in your time of need. (Hebrews 4:16) Do it today—through Jesus, get before God’s throne of grace.

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Living An Overcoming Christianity

Overcoming Christianity truly isn’t rocket science. It is actually quite simple: Trust in God + Passionate Supplication = Answered Prayer … Answered Prayers = The Victorious Christian Life. It is that simple. Not easy, but simple. If we walk daily, hand-in-hand in a relationship of simple trust with the Lord, and boldly, expectantly pour out our needs and desires to him, he will answer our prayers, and at the end of the day, we will have lived an overcoming Christianity.

Going Deep // Focus: 1 Chronicles 5:20

They cried out to God during the battle, and he answered their prayer because they trusted in him.

As I read this short, simple, to-the-point verse, here is the first thing that hit my brain: Overcoming Christianity truly isn’t rocket science, is it? It is actually quite simple:

Trust in God + Passionate Supplication = Answered Prayer

Answered Prayers = The Victorious Christian Life

It is that simple. Not easy, but simple. It is not easy because we often allow other things to wreak havoc on that divinely order relational formula. We allow fleshly desires to corrupt our trust and tempt us to desire selfish things; we allow fear to stunt our prayer; we allow busyness and self-sufficiency to shelve our prayer life; we allow the world to push in and push the things of God to the margins; we give the devil a foothold in our lives by flirting with immorality. And the list goes on.

That being said, the biblical formula is still simple: if we walk daily, hand-in-hand in a relationship of simple trust with the Lord, and boldly, expectantly pour out our needs and desires to him, he will answer our prayers.

When we so order our lives to do the will of God, we have every human right—in fact, we have an invitation from God himself—to come before him in bold, expectant prayer, and his promise is to answer us when we call on him. When you string a bunch of those experiences together, you have the makings of an inspiring witness of a life surrendered to and used by God. And that is the victorious Christian life.

That is the kind of life God blesses. In fact, those are the kinds of people God looks for. 2 Chronicles 16:9 says, “For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.”

That is what explains the testimony of the Israelite warriors we read about in 1 Chronicles 5:18-20. We don’t know much about their lives individually; we don’t have details of the battle they were in; we don’t know anything about their enemy; we just know about their trust in God. In the midst of their life and death efforts, they cried out to God. And he heard them:

There were 44,760 capable warriors in the armies of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh. They were all skilled in combat and armed with shields, swords, and bows. They waged war against the Hagrites, the Jeturites, the Naphishites, and the Nodabites. They cried out to God during the battle, and he answered their prayer because they trusted in him. So the Hagrites and all their allies were defeated.

They were in a fight—a life and death struggle. They did their part, but they needed God to do his part. So they cried out to the Lord in battle, and as he had promised his people, he heard them. He heard their prayer and they achieved a victory significant enough to make it into the pages of eternal history.

That is the he kind of life I want to live—a life of ruthless trust, passionate supplication, answered prayer and victorious Christian living. My guess is you do too. Follow the relational formula and you will have that life indeed.

Going Deeper With God: You are likely to face a battle today—probably a minor skirmish, but perhaps a major battle. Why do I say that? Because as believers, we have been thrust into the middle of spiritual warfare. Just keep that in mind throughout the day. And when you run into opposition, offer this prayer: “Lord, I need your help in this battle. I am going forth in your name to do your work in order to extend your kingdom. Enable me to do mighty exploits this day as I fight for you. Work in me and on my behalf to bring about a great victory that will result in high praise to your name. I ask for none of the glory for myself. I ask only for a day that can be chalked up in the win column for your kingdom. So I boldly ask that you would answer this prayer. I offer it in faith in the name of the ultimate victor, Jesus Christ. Amen.”

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The Consequences of Selective Obedience

ThanksLiving: 365 Days of Gratitude

While God offers mercy for the sin and pardon for the transgressor—thankfully—the fruit of sinful living is often reaped along the way as we live out the rest of our lives, and worse yet, in the lives of the generations that follow us. If King David could speak to us today, I am quite sure that he would say, “do what you must to kill sin in your lives. Believe me, if you don’t, it will inflict untold pain upon you and your children.” Sounds ominous, but sin is a fact with which all of us must contend. The point being, deal with your weaknesses and temptations now—ruthlessly—and commit to 100% obedience to God. You will never regret your harsh treatment of personal sin. And if you have sinned, pray for a crop failure!

Going Deep // Focus: 1 Chronicles 3:1-3

These are the sons of David who were born in Hebron: The oldest was Amnon, whose mother was Ahinoam from Jezreel. The second was Daniel, whose mother was Abigail from Carmel. The third was Absalom, whose mother was Maacah, the daughter of Talmai, king of Geshur. The fourth was Adonijah, whose mother was Haggith. The fifth was Shephatiah, whose mother was Abital. The sixth was Ithream, whose mother was Eglah, David’s wife.

First of all, let’s recognize that David was arguably the greatest king Israel ever knew. He was not perfect, yet he had an incredibly tender heart toward the Lord. He sinned—early and often, bigly and with flair—but he always humbled himself before God in repentance after both his private and public missteps. Incredibly flawed, David was, yet God himself declared David to be a man after God’s own heart. (Acts 13:22). God found David’s trust so enchanting that he declared through his lineage would come the greatest king of all, much greater than even David: the Son of David, Jesus the Christ.

Having said that, we also have to acknowledge David’s very public shortcomings. When you are king of a nation, everything about you is public: the good that you do, the power and authority that you wield, and yes, the gaffs, missteps and moral failures that you commit. One of David’s greatest failures was that he married many wives. Perhaps it was simply the custom of ancient Middle Eastern kings to have many wives that David embraced, or maybe there was a part of David that allowed kingly power to go to his head—the power to have whatever he wanted, including multiple wives, or maybe David had a woman-problem, that is, he liked the ladies a little too much.

Whatever the case, he took to himself seven wives while he was king in Hebron. That’s right: seven. Not included in this list was Michal, the daughter of Saul who was given to David, then taken away, only to be taken back again once David became king over all Israel. (It’s a long story, but you can read about it in 2 Samuel 3). In addition to these seven, he then took additional wives when he reigned over the unified kingdom from Jerusalem. But anything more than one wife was a direct violation of Moses’ command to the Israelites in Deuteronomy 17:14-17.

You are about to enter the land the Lord your God is giving you. When you take it over and settle there, you may think, “We should select a king to rule over us like the other nations around us.” If this happens, be sure to select as king the man the Lord your God chooses. You must appoint a fellow Israelite; he may not be a foreigner. The king must not build up a large stable of horses for himself or send his people to Egypt to buy horses, for the Lord has told you, “You must never return to Egypt.” The king must not take many wives for himself, because they will turn his heart away from the Lord. And he must not accumulate large amounts of wealth in silver and gold for himself.

“Taking many wives for himself”—it was this very thing that led to untold tragedy in David’s life as it played out over the next fifty years until his death. Yes, he was a man after God’s heart. Yes, his lineage produced some incredible kings, and ultimately the King of kings. But his selective obedience in this area of moral weakness opened the door to adultery, conspiracy to murder, murder, cover-up, rebellion in his family, open warfare with his son, and the death of several of his children as they attempted to usurp his throne.

The thing is, sin has consequences. Of course, God offers mercy for the sin and pardon for the transgressor, but the fruit of sinful living is often reaped along the way as we live out the rest of our lives, and worse yet, in the lives of the generations that follow us. If David could speak to us today, I am quite sure that he would say, “do what you must to kill sin in your lives. Believe me, if you don’t, it will inflict untold pain upon you and your children.”

Sounds ominous, I know, and not too worthy of being devotional material. But it is a fact with which all of us must contend. The point being, deal with your weaknesses and temptations now—ruthlessly—and commit to 100% obedience to God. You will never regret your harsh treatment of personal sin.

And if you have sinned, pray for a crop failure!

Going Deeper With God:Memorize 1 John 1:9 today—and lean into it hard: “If we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.”

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Man’s Last Choice Is Often God’s First Choice

ThanksLiving: 365 Days of Gratitude

If it seems like God has no big plans for you, don’t let your station in life fool you. God is no respecter of persons and he is not swayed by your less than desirable circumstances. He will accomplish his purposes—and that includes some very good things for you. Others may see you as the last choice for the team, but God may very well select you as the first choice for his starting lineup. Just be patient—and ready—and watch what God will do over the course of your life.

Going Deep // Focus: 1 Chronicles 2:13-15

Jesse’s first son was Eliab, his second was Abinadab, his third was Shimea, his fourth was Nethanel, his fifth was Raddai, his sixth was Ozem, and his seventh was David.

Welcome back to the genealogies! And just a heads up: we are going to be here for another six chapters. So promise me that you will hang in there and not skip over or read them with your mind in neutral, because I promise you, in between the lines of what seems likes endless lists of names are nuggets of eternal encouragements for you.

So what wonderful spiritual application is in this particular genealogical account of the tribe of Judah here in 1 Chronicles 2? Well, for starters, remember who comes from this tribe: King David, the most famous and loved king in Israel’s history. But even better, from this flawed line (yes, there is quite a bit of drama, and even sin, that produces some of the children born into Judah’s lineage) comes the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, Jesus the Messiah of Israel and Savior of the world.

Now in those two facts alone is enough encouraging material to keep us full of gratitude to God for days to come. Take David for instance. He was God’s choice to replace King Saul as the new monarch of Israel. Saul started with such promise, but quickly went off the rails by abandoning his singular trust in God to provide for his success. So God rejected Saul and selected David, of whom he later says, “I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.” (Acts 13:32)

But David was not the people’s first choice to be king. We read in the selected text that he was the seventh son of Jesse, and basically his father’s afterthought for kingly consideration. You remember the story: the prophet Samuel came to Bethlehem under the Lord’s direction to anoint one of Jesse’s sons to be the next king. And from the oldest to the youngest, six brothers were paraded in front of the grizzled old prophet, who one by one, exclaimed, “Nope, not that one! Next.”

In fact, David wasn’t even present for the line up. After all six brothers had been examined, and rejected, Samuel had to ask if there were any other sons. He knew that God had told him to anoint one of Jesse’s sons, but none of the six fit the prophet’s qualifications. That is when—reluctantly, it seems—the family admitted there was one other, but Samuel shouldn’t bother with that one. He was just a no account brother out shepherding the family flocks. Yet when he was finally brought in, the prophet jumped to his feet and shouted, “that is the one!”

What a reminder to you and me that what man discounts as no account is often what God counts as perfect for his plan. It doesn’t matter if you are the seventh choice—seven in scripture has a sense of finality, which in this case implies the last choice—God can make you his first choice. So as it relates to your life, keep your heart pure before God and your hope to play a grand purpose in his plan intact, because God will elevate you if and when he chooses. That is up to him, but just remember, your station in life has nothing to do with God’s willingness to use you.

One other thing about this lineage of Judah: While Jesus was born into it way down the road, don’t forget that it was a flawed heritage full of prostitution, adultery, intrigue and murder. So not only can God use the least likely of man’s choice, he can use people who come from highly disadvantaged and dysfunction backgrounds. And not just squeeze them into his divine lineup, God can makes them superstars on his team. From the flawed seed of Judah came many amazing kings and one Messiah of the world.

All that to say, if it seems like God has no big plans for you, don’t let your station in life fool you. God is no respecter of persons and he is not swayed by negative circumstances. He will accomplish his purposes—and that includes some very good things for you.

Going Deeper With God: If you are frustrated with who you are and where you are in life, take it to Jesus. Put your negative circumstances, your flawed heritage, and your limited personality in his hands, and as you patiently trust and obey him, watch what he will do over the course of your life.

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Divine DNA: I Am A Child Of God

ThanksLiving: 365 Days of Gratitude

You’ve got God’s DNA, which makes you anything but unimportant. Your life is not meaningless and insignificant. You are not without a great purpose in this world. You are connected to an eternal story that is much bigger, far more important than you realize. You have a royal past and a prophetic future, which means you can, and should, live powerfully in the present. Your name is recorded in the most valuable genealogy of all—God’s! Yes, you are Abba’s child. So go out today and live like it!

Going Deep // Focus: 1 Chronicles 1:1-4

Adam, Seth, Enosh, Kenan, Mahalalel, Jared, Enoch, Methuselah, Lamech, Noah. The sons of Noah: Shem, Ham and Japheth.

Why should you take the time to read 1 Chronicles 1? Or for that matter, why should you bother with any of the genealogies and lists that appear in several places throughout scripture? After all, there is about as much devotional value in them as you would find in reading from the phone book.

Here is the simple answer—and it is a compelling one: Because it was God who included this chapter, and all the other genealogies, in his book, the Bible. And given that God is wiser than we are, he must have had a great reason for what we are tempted to see as endless, mind-numbing lists of ancient names, most of whom are not familiar to us. God wanted those names recorded in his eternal record book for a reason, and that ought to be good enough for us.

Given that, then how can we read them in a way that offers at least a little bit of inspiration? I will offer three things to keep in mind as you, in an act of faith and worship, slow down to read each name as it appears in your devotional reading—including today’s, which you now may want to go back and re-read the right way.

First, this connects you to the original readers. So put yourself in their sandals. These names represented their ancestors, and each name told a story that made up a chapter in the fabric of the biographical account of their lives. Each chapter revealed who they were, how they got to where they were, what their God-ordained rights and privileges were, and why they were so important to God. Just like you are most likely interested in your family history, in a sense, this chapter is your family history as well, since you, like me, are a literal descendant of Adam and a spiritual descendant of Abraham. This connects you to history.

Second, since that is true, this connects you to something bigger than yourself. Your current existence is a part of a grander historical scheme. You are a part of God’s story—and it is a big one. One of the curses of our age is a sense of meaninglessness and purposelessness. That is why, at least in part, depression, dysfunction, debauchery, and despair are so rampant in our world today. People are not connected to anything bigger than what they self-perceive as their own measly, meaningless life. They have no meaningful past and no purposeful future. But when you take the time to read the genealogies in scripture, you are reminded of a vital connection to an amazing, excited, meaningful drama that is still being played out.

Third, and most importantly, this connects you to God. When you trace the names back to the progenitor of the human race, you connect to Adam. And Adam’s father, we are told in another genealogy, one found in Luke 3, was none other than God himself:

Jesus was the son, so it was thought, of Joseph… the son of Enosh, the son of Seth, the son of Adam, the son of God. (Luke 3:23,38)

The Bible calls Adam the son of God, and you are the son or daughter of Adam. You can trace your line back to the original, which connects you to the Great Original, Almighty God. Yes, that is pretty exciting news. Not only spiritually, but in every dimension of reality, you are connected directly to God. You have the DNA of Almighty God. Do you realize how amazing—and important—that is?

See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! (1 John 3:1)

That is what you are—a child of God—which makes you anything but unimportant. Your life is not meaningless and insignificant. You are not without a great purpose in this world. You are connected to a story that is much bigger, far more important, and thoroughly eternal. You have a royal past and a prophetic future, which means you can, and should, live powerfully in the present.

Your name is recorded in the most valuable genealogy of all—God’s! Yes, you are a child of God. So go out today and live like it!

Going Deeper With God:Re-read 1 Chronicles 1 again, and at the end of it, rejoice before God that you are connected to him. What a privileged existence you have!