{"id":6735,"date":"2025-04-13T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-04-13T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/?p=6735"},"modified":"2025-03-21T15:52:06","modified_gmt":"2025-03-21T20:52:06","slug":"household-of-god","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/?p=6735","title":{"rendered":"Household of God"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Short and sweet thought for the week\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"alignleft size-full is-resized\"><a href=\"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Household-of-God-churchartpro.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Household-of-God-churchartpro.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-6736\" width=\"293\" height=\"347\" srcset=\"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Household-of-God-churchartpro.jpg 611w, https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Household-of-God-churchartpro-254x300.jpg 254w, https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Household-of-God-churchartpro-600x710.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 293px) 100vw, 293px\" \/><\/a><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Easter and other holiday celebrations sometimes include family gatherings. For some this is a time of enjoyment, for others an act of endurance. Some feel the greatest gift of all is to have a large family\u2026that lives in a different city. Today\u2019s family dynamics are far from what most would consider ideal. Stressed single parents, quarreling spouses, addictive behaviors, and domineering personalities seem more the norm than the exception.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Yet, God chooses family analogies to strengthen our understanding of relationships with the Father, Son, and Spirit who all work together in peaceful unity for the benefit of others. We are even invited to participate in this relationship so we can experience the blessings of harmonious living. &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">When we are converted, we are welcomed into the family of God (Ephesians 2:19). God is referred to as our Father (Isaiah 64:8). He calls us His children (1 John 3:1). Jesus is our older brother (Hebrew 2:10). As God\u2019s children, we are His heirs (Romans 8:17).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Mother Teresa once said, \u201cIf you want to change the world, go home and love your family.\u201d This can be a difficult task when family relationships are messy. Many times, we feel totally inadequate to cope or even contribute anything helpful to the family we love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">We tend to forget that family is not always about our comfort, pleasure, or perfection. Sometimes it\u2019s about modeling the gospel of Christ to those we love. Perhaps we should strive to do that because we have the advantage of already being grafted into the household of God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-paragraph\"><em>\u201cYou are fellow citizens with the saints and members<br>of the household of God.&#8221; ~Ephesians 2:19<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Short and sweet thought for the week\u2026 Easter and other holiday celebrations sometimes include family gatherings. For some this is a time of enjoyment, for others an act of endurance. Some feel the greatest gift of all is to have &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/?p=6735\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6735","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6735","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6735"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6735\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6739,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6735\/revisions\/6739"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6735"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6735"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6735"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}