Friday, January 20, 2023

Pray for Families (A Personal Journey)

 Greetings Prayer Warriors,


It’s enlightening to look back on your faith journey.  When I ponder mine, the realization hits me that I thought I was much holier (or at least a “good person”) when I was active in, yet totally ignorant of my faith.  God was just the Almighty One in heaven whom I prayed to.  I never gave much thought to Jesus as the second person of the Trinity, nor of the Holy Spirit other than when hearing about them in the Gospel.  I didn’t fathom that there could be more.  Yet, the Lord had a plan for me, knowing just when He would draw me closer.  Now that I have a more intimate relationship with Jesus I don’t feel holier.  No, I just have more clarity to see my sin and His mercy.  It’s a beautiful thing. 


Once you know Love, you want it for everyone. Thus, we begin to worry about family members who are very far from Him. Yet, the Lord loves them even more than we do! He wants to be in a relationship with them and never stops pursuing them! As we offer prayer and sacrifice for the conversion of their hearts, we may not understand exactly how our prayers work, but we can be assured of their efficaciousness. We must trust that the Lord hears every prayer and in His faithfulness, He will provide our loved ones the grace they need to turn to Him. He doesn’t call us to convert them as that is His role, rather, he asks us to love them, so that through us they may come to know the love of Christ, and become renewed in Him.


So whoever is in Christ is a new creation: the old things have passed away; behold, new things have come. And all this is from God, who has reconciled us to himself through Christ and given us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting their trespasses against them and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. So we are ambassadors for Christ, as if God were appealing through us.  

2 Corinthians 5:17-20


God is so good! He is Love. He is Mercy. He is Peace. Praise be to Him who is so patient with His children!


We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 2 Corinthians 5:20


Peace, Joy, and Love,

Janet


Love one another and radiate Christ. Pass it on!