A few years ago we took in a homeless young man. My husband felt the Lord speak to his heart, to treat him no differently than our biological son. One moment he was living at a shelter in NYC and the next he was living with a family and had every need taken care of. No expense was spared in treating him like a son. We showered him with love, offered wisdom, and lavished grace on him.
This act of generosity and extreme kindness, radically showed me how deep and overwhelming the Father’s love is for His children. He leaves the 99 to find the one.
Yet it must break His heart when He sees His children welcomed home but still live and behave like orphans.
How is the orphan spirit identified? When there is a fear of lack, fear of uncertainty about the future, shame, feelings of condemnation and rejection or when we allow lies to creep in such as ‘I’m not valuable or significant’ or ‘I know the Father isn’t pleased with me. He must be disappointed in me,’ or ‘I don’t need anyone, everyone is out to hurt and reject me anyway,’ and other lies that are directly opposed to the Father’s heart of acceptance and love.
We are not fatherless. Our good, good Father loves to associate Himself with us in relationship through the spirit of sonship and adoption, because of what Jesus did on the Cross! Did you know that the Greek word for adoption (huiothesia [uiJoqesiva]) means to “place as a son”?
As the late Jack Frost (his real name, I promise lol!) once said, “The orphan spirit causes one to live life as if he does not have a safe and secure place in the Father’s heart.”
You, my beloved friend have been intentionally and deliberately placed as a son or a daughter in the heart of God, your Father!
When we act from an orphan heart, we are believing in a thought that is based on a lie. We are holding onto a mindset that is opposed to the Father’s heart of goodness. The battle in our minds is one where we must choose truth over lies, love over fear and trust over doubt. When we act from a spirit of sonship, we are believing in the truth of what God says about us in His Word.
I came across Jack Frost back in 2005, when I read his book “Experiencing the Father’s Embrace.” It was one of the books that helped me to understand my true identity in Christ and be secure and at rest in belonging to the Father and not having to earn His approval by performing all kinds of spiritual gymnastics!
Jesus died a bloody death, so you and I could truly be fathered by the most trusted, perfect Father! Jesus laid down His life willingly so that we could be reconciled to the Father’s heart and experience sonship with the Father. He was abandoned, so that we could be accepted. He was forsaken, so that we could belong. He was in darkness so that we could live in the light. He became sin so that we could be righteous. We have an all access pass to the riches of the Kingdom and are co-heirs with Christ.
I believe in the last twenty years or so there’s a revelation of the Father’s goodness that has been released all across the church. In a society where fatherlessness is rampant, and to an orphan world that’s broken and fragmented, it’s time for us as sons and daughters to model what sonship looks like in the Kingdom.
Romans 8:17 “And since we are His true children, we qualify to share all His treasures, for indeed, we are heirs of God Himself. And since we are joined to Christ, we also inherit all that He is and all that He has. We will experience being co-glorified with Him provided that we accept His sufferings as our own.” (TPT)
What a powerful declaration of the inheritance you and I – as sons and daughters of the King – possess! When Jesus says, “So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own,” He’s encouraging us to not be consumed about tomorrow and is severing us from an orphan heart that’s anxious about being taken care of. Can you imagine Prince William or Prince Harry of the British Royal family, wondering and worrying about their finances? Or where they’ll get their next meal or where they’ll sleep at night? There’s not a material care in the world that they would ever have to worry about because of who their father is and because of what he possesses. All of their material needs have been taken care of and there’s ample and abundant provision.
Likewise, you and I not only belong to the King of kings, but we have a Father who has reconciled us to His heart of goodness. He has called and adopted us as His own. His provision is abundant. He accepts us before we could do anything to earn His acceptance. When there’s an absence of an awareness of the Father’s love, that is when we strive, try to qualify, earn, compete and aim to find our worth in what we do, instead of Who we belong to.
When we are aware of His love, we can be confident that His unconditional acceptance and goodness rests on our lives and we can be secure that His plans are good, even if we can’t see or comprehend the details.
To further solidify the truth of God’s heart toward us His children, let’s read Ephesians 3:14 -15.
14 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father,
15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name.
In the natural world as a son or a daughter, you get your last name from your father. The Apostle Paul encourages the believers in Ephesians, that the whole family of God – those who believe in Christ – are under one headship and one name. That makes us one family. In the same way a child gets his/her surname from their Father, you and I bear the name of Abba God! Barnes Commentary describes this profound truth beautifully: The expression (“of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named) is taken from the custom in a family, where all bear the name of the “head” of the family; and the meaning is, that all in heaven and on earth are united under one head, and constitute one community. This glorious family will yet be gathered together in heaven, and will encompass the throne of their common Father rejoicing.
(Just a side note: ‘all in heaven and on earth are united under one head…’ does not speak of universalism but rather, it speaks of those who are born of the Spirit, who believe and receive Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior and trust their lives to His rulership).
Meditate on Ephesians 3:14-21 and let these words sink deep into your heart:
Ephesians 3:14-21 14 For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15 from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, 16 that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, 17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— 19 to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
20 Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, 21 to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.
14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God .
How do we live with the awareness of sonship? It is through Holy Spirit, who reveals and discloses the heart of the Father. The Spirit of Truth leads us to all truth in embracing God’s perspective on our identity. We get to partner with Spirit and through the process of repentance and surrender, the lies, patterns and mindsets of an orphan spirit become exposed severed and we are transformed and empowered to live as sons, daughters and heirs.
As we allow Holy Spirit to work in our lives, our hearts become grounded and cemented in the unshakable foundation that we are sons and daughters fathered by God Himself, and because of HIS beloved Son, Jesus we have legal rights to the most abundant inheritance!
Listen to this powerful song, “The War Is Over” that affirms the truth that as sons and daughters who are born of the Spirit we don’t have to fight and strive for what already has been fought for and we can rest in the knowledge that Abba Father is for us!
He has made a way for us
Born for glory out of dust
Children held within the arms of Peace
He has made a way for all
Mercy waits where sinners fall
He is our Victory
The war is over
His love has come
To call us daughters and sons
No longer orphans without a home
We have found where we belong
It is finished, it is done
The blood of Jesus overcomes
It is finished, He has won
He has won
Take a moment to read and study through this resource from Jack Frost’s ministry. See how God sees you and apply His truth to any lie you’ve come into agreement with. His truth brings healing and freedom! We are no longer orphans abandoned to our own demise, we are sons, co-heirs of the King! Do you realize what that means beloved heart? You get to live life from a position of abundance and knowing you belong to, are accepted and approved by the Father!
