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July 17, 2023

Beloved Children of God

Ira Stan Campbell   |   Read Romans 8:12-17

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Lectionary Week
July 17–23, 2023
Scripture Overview

As God promised land and descendants to Abraham, in the reading from Genesis God confirms these same promises to Abraham’s grandson Jacob. The psalmist meditates on and takes comfort in the fact that God knows everything and is everywhere. He asks God to search his heart and reveal if there are sins away from which he needs to turn. The Romans passage continues Paul’s reflection on the life in the Spirit. Because we are children of God, we cry out with confidence that God will hear and answer. Jesus tells a parable in Matthew concerning the final judgment. He says that the wicked will be taken first, then the righteous will be gathered together.

Questions and Suggestions for Reflection

Read Genesis 28:10-19a. When has God quietly been at work in your life? How do these experiences help you recognize God’s presence with you in ordinary days?Read Psalm 139:1-12, 23-24. God already knows us completely. What is holding you back from inviting God to search your heart?Read Romans 8:12-25. Consider the ways you already resemble God. In what ways do you wish to be transformed to resemble God more fully?Read Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43. Reflect on a time when you were frustrated by God’s inaction in the face of injustice. In hindsight, how was God at work?

Respond by posting a prayer .

Romans 8:12-17

12 So then, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation, but it isn’t an obligation to ourselves to live our lives on the basis of selfishness. 13 If you live on the basis of selfishness, you are going to die. But if by the Spirit you put to death the actions of the body, you will live. 14 All who are led by God’s Spirit are God’s sons and daughters. 15 You didn’t receive a spirit of slavery to lead you back again into fear, but you received a Spirit that shows you are adopted as his children. With this Spirit, we cry, “Abba, Father.” 16 The same Spirit agrees with our spirit, that we are God’s children. 17 But if we are children, we are also heirs. We are God’s heirs and fellow heirs with Christ, if we really suffer with him so that we can also be glorified with him.

Unless otherwise indicated, scripture quotations are from the Common English Bible. Copyright © 2011 Common English Bible. Used by permission.

My father was an insurance agent, so he was well aware of automobile accidents. Years before I started driving, he began saying to me, “Son, you have to be especially careful while driving in the rain because the roads get slick and that’s when you are most likely to have...

Loving God, help me to rest in your grace today and to see myself and others as your beloved children. Amen.


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The Upper Room Devotional Celebrates 90th Anniversary

More Than 1.5 Billion Copies Printed Worldwide Since 1935 NASHVILLE, Tenn. May 1, 2025 — The Read More

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