Gleanings for January 12

We Are Family

Ephesians 1: 4 – 8 NLB: “Long ago, even before He made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in His eyes. His unchanging plan has always been to adopt us into His own family by bringing us to Himself through Jesus Christ. And this gave Him great pleasure.

“So we praise God for the wonderful kindness He has poured out on us because we belong to His dearly loved Son, and our sins are forgiven. He has showered His kindness on us, along with all wisdom and understanding.”

Yesterday our Gleanings Devotional centered on “United Prayer.” As I write this message, (2006) it is a few days before Christmas Day. Wednesday evening, my children and I, along with all their children (and spouses) plus my “Great” grand child experienced the special privilege of going to two different Nursing Homes for Christmas Caroling. We numbered 29 people in all. (The son and his family who live 150 miles from here couldn’t be with us, we will see them on New Years Eve.)

Why am I telling you about our special family time? Because, I believe, that in order to have “United Prayer” in a congregation, there must be unity in the families that make up the church. A congregation is made up of many “units”—it is important for us who are blessed to have family living close, that we INCLUDE the individuals who may be alone. This was one reason we visited the Nursing Homes. The people we know, who are in the Homes we visited, have no family living near here. One of the friends we visited has NO living relatives in the area.

Seeing smiles on the faces of, not only our friends, but the other residents of those homes as well is a picture that will stay with me for a long time. It blessed us to watch many of them sing with us, the verses of the carols they knew. The people especially enjoyed the younger children and of course Baby Joy. (It is her 6 month birthday on the day I write this.)

You will notice the scripture we began with today tells about God’s wonderful plan, from eternity, which was: “to adopt us into His own family by bringing us to Himself through Jesus Christ!” For me, those are “shouting words”—my heart leaps for joy when I think about God’s Eternal Love!! It is the very life of the Gospel Message. It is His love that draws people unto Himself.

The New Year has really just begun—we can put behind us any of the regrets from the past year that might be trying to steal our joy. Let the wonderful message of Christmas continue to be a part of your life every day this year. As you do, you will find yourself to be one of the people who encourage others in “united” prayer, with and FOR people who are needy and looking for someone to be their friend. May God’s Love fill your heart!! As you allow Him “full reign” you will be sure to know:

THE JOY OF THE LORD IS YOUR STRENGTH!!!