21 Grandkids!

 

Stephanie and I just came back from "Spring Break" with a large chunk of our 21 grandkids. All of them weren't there. I think we were missing six of them. Those of you who don't have any will not understand the pure joy of spending time with your grandkids. I love my three daughters and never thought I could love them anymore, but WOW, when the grandkids (and great-grandkids) start to fill your life, it is a game changer. 

It was so much fun watching our youngest GREAT-grandchild dance and get excited while watching kids church music. He watched them for hours. It is such a blessing and comfort knowing they are connected with the Lord. The parents are bringing them up in the Lord. All of my girls know the Lord. Stephanie and I pray each and every day that they all draw closer to him each day. We pray that our grandkids will have a deep relationship with Jesus Christ, and we pray that their kids and their kids will commit their lives to him. When you talk about Church multiplication, the best multiplier you have is your own family. 

I was reading one of my favorite chapters in the Bible this morning. Isaiah 53 is so powerful as it describes Jesus, our suffering Messiah, in great detail. The power of this chapter comes from the fact it was written 700 years before Jesus. AND, we have ACTUAL copies that predate Jesus by 150 years. Yet, it describes his life as Messiah with precision as if it was written after Jesus. This chapter is one of the strongest proofs of Jesus' claim to be God. 

My reading today included chapter 54 of Isaiah, and I was fascinated by Isaiah's message to Israel:

"'Sing, O childless woman, you who have never given birth! Break out into a loud and joyful song, O Jerusalem, you who have never been in labor. For the desolate woman now has more children than the woman who lives with her husband,' says the Lord. 'Enlarge your house; build an addition. Spread out your home, and spare no expense! For you will soon be bursting at the seams. Your descendants will occupy other nations and resettle the ruined cities." (Isaiah 54:1-3)

 With the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, the family of God is now bursting at the seams. The small nation of Israel, God's chosen people, now has a bunch of adopted grandkids, and I am blessed to be one of them. 

"He came into the very world he created, but the world didn't recognize him. He came to his own people, and even they rejected him. But to all who believed in him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. They are reborn -- not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God." (John 1:10-13)

"All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ. Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to Himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure." (Ephesians 1:3-5)

Part of being created in God's image is to take joy in a large family of kids, grandkids, and great-grandkids. And just like he finds great pleasure in those who are adopted into his family, we take great joy when we see our own families connect with the Savior of the World!