This time of year is usually the time for family get togethers. Maybe it's family that you don't get to see often. Maybe it's only the immediate family or a small gathering of people you consider family. Or maybe your family lives too far away to be together and the celebration is just a phone call or two. Whether by blood or chosen relationship, these are the people we care about, we pray for and love.
I have been praying for my family for a long time. When my Mom was alive I know she prayed for them too. Very few of in our family are saved. So I continue my prayers.
This year, my church family in NY is studying a book by Rick Renner called, "Christmas, the Rest of the Story." What an enlightening book about the Christmas story. Mr. Renner pulls from the Bible, historical sources, early church writings and the original languages to flesh out this ancient, much read, much loved story of the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ.
One of the things Mr. Renner points out and that stayed in my heart was how God works in families. And this gave me hope for my family.
Early Christian writers give evidence of Mary's parents dedicating her to the Lord as a baby. They tell of her father being a scroll scholar. The evidence shows her parents were dedicated to the Lord. We see her cousins, Elizabeth and Zacharias, both strong followers of God, active in the Temple. And this makes for another addition to Mary's family, John the Baptist, son of Elizabeth and Zacharias. This was a family dedicated to the Lord. Sadly, that is not my family.
We see Joseph, leading his family by example. His obedience to the Lord, his mercy to Mary and his dedication to bringing his family to the Lord's temple for the prescribed festivals tell us he was committed to raising a family that glorified and honored God.
We can look at Jesus' family. We are told He had brothers and sisters. In Matthew 13:54-57 we are introduced to these family members. 54 When He had come to His own country, He taught them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished and said, “Where did this Man get this wisdom and these mighty works? 55 Is this not the carpenter’s son? Is not His mother called Mary? And His brothers James, Joses, Simon, and Judas? 56 And His sisters, are they not all with us? Where then did this Man get all these things?” 57 So they were offended at Him. We are also told they originally didn't believe Him. In fact, they thought He was crazy. Perhaps that more exemplifies your family and mine. But the good news is they did come to believe. And this can give us hope for our families. Acts 1:14 They all met together and were constantly united in prayer, along with Mary the mother of Jesus, several other women, and the brothers of Jesus. Two of Jesus' brothers even went on to write two books of the Bible.
We see sets of brothers within the Apostles. James and John, Peter and Andrew.
We can go back further and see God working in the families of Abraham, Noah and David. None of these were perfect families, yet at some point God worked in their lives and worked out His perfect plans for them and for the whole earth.
There is hope for our families. Pray! James 5:16 Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results. Continue in prayer. Continue in planting seeds. Continue to model Jesus to your families. And leave the results in God's hands. The increase is His domain. 1 Corinthians 3:6-7 6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. 7 So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase.
Lord, we continue to lift our families up to You. We pray for the salvation of each and every family member. Lord, thank You that You are the God of the harvest. And You will give us the desires of our heart. We know that You can soften even the hardest of hearts and turn them to You. It is You that said in 1 Timothy 2:3-5 3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, It is You that provided for that salvation. Lord save our families. In Jesus' Name. Amen
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