Psalm 127:3 Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb, a reward. Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one’s youth. Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them!
The above scripture is so true! Children are a reward, a gift from the hand of God. The other night we were at the house of a young single mom and we had the privilege of praying with her. She stated over and over, "I just want to be a good mom to him." Have you ever felt like you weren't a good parent? Either you got angry with your child, maybe you didn't give them the attention they needed, etc? I know, I have....
Before we began to pray for her one of the men who was ministering with us said something that struck me...He said, "Your son is God's gift to you." He said, "Every time you look at your son, God is telling you that he loves you. He gave you a precious gift, created and formed not only in the image of God, but also in your image. He looks like you, has the same eye color, hair color, body postures, etc." It's God's way of saying, "I love you so much that I want to produce more and more of you." Wow!
Well, maybe this was the reason I was thinking how much I wanted to bless not only my own children, but the children that God has put in our path. They are his gift to us, so shouldn't we cherish them? Shouldn't we take care of them? Shouldn't we protect them? Shouldn't we love them and be thankful for them?
I started to think about how nice it would be if we could bless the kids before school with a free backpack, school supplies, and possibly a haircut. I had a strong desire to bless the kids in our community and their families. I started talking to my wife and a couple of others about planning an event that would serve them.
Then, the Lord allowed me to find out about what April Comstock Jenison is already doing to bless our children. April is in fact "A Church Without Walls." She's bearing fruit in keeping with her faith. She's being a blessing and not a curse. She's caring for the family of God. I found out that on her own initiative and by God's prompting, she was gathering school supplies to hand out to the kids on August 17th in an effort to bless each child and family.
Immediately, I talked to my wife and we confirmed that we would come along side of April and the Jenison family and others to help accomplish the plan of God. You see God never intended for us to operate on our own, he intended for each of us to bear fruit and be ministers of the gospel, not just a "church pastor" or the "leaders" of the church. We all have a ministry! The ministry of reconciliation!
He desires for us all to bear fruit in keeping with repentance. April and her family are doing that, they are accomplishing the good work that has been prepared in advance for them to do. They are abiding in Christ, being the salt of the earth and a light in darkness.
Although, she won't be preaching on August 17th, she'll be sharing the love of God in demonstration, not only in word. What a blessing! What an awesome God that chooses to use us all, not just one!
Although, we did not choose him, he chose us and appointed us to bear fruit, - fruit that will last.
Will you pray about helping April fulfill the call of God in this small way?
We are collecting backpacks, school supplies, etc to bless these precious gifts from the Lord.
God bless you!
"A Church Without Walls"
14 “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. 16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.
ReplyDelete...that they may see your good works... As a result of our actions, man kind will be drawn to glorify God. Let your light shine.