A Large Family!

 

Today is my daughter Lindsae's birthday. We have a bunch of birthdays in September and sometimes I am a little overwhelmed NOT to forget anyone, certainly there is no way I can remember all of them. But I never forget my daughters. They are the easy ones to remember. I love them all dearly, and I have such a great joy celebrating the day when my family enlarged by one MORE. 

I don't know of too many families that are as big as ours. Stephanie and I only had three daughters, but we got married very young, our daughter Mckenzie was married young, she has a daughter that was married young, my daughter Lindsae now has a blended family, and walla -- our family has 3 daughters, 2 son-in-laws, 17 grandkids, 4 great-grandkids, and one more great-grandkid on the way. God has blessed us with an amazing family spread all over the country. Our family lives in northeast Indiana, Mississippi, Michigan, and California. It has grown, it is growing, and it will grow in the future. We are constantly adding members to the family. 

That's all I could think about when I read Isaiah 9:1-5 today.

"Nevertheless, that time of darkness and despair will not go on forever. The land of Zebulun and Naphtali will be humbled, but there will be a time in the future when Galilee of the Gentiles, which lies along the road that runs between the Jordan and the sea, will be filled with glory. The people who walk in darkness will see a great light. For those who live in a land of deep darkness, a light will shine. You will enlarge the nation of Israel, and its people will rejoice." (Isaiah 9:1-3, NLT)

Do you realize WE ARE THE "ENLARGED" nation of Israel. When we committed our lives to follow Jesus we joined the family of Israel. We are now one of God's chosen people. Hundreds of years before Jesus even walked the earth, Isaiah spoke about us. There was darkness THEN and there is darkness NOW. BUT, the difference. We have THE LIGHT and the darkness flees from his presence.

I praise God for his light. I cannot imagine being a person who does not walk in the light of Jesus. There would be such gloom and despair without the LIGHT of JESUS. I pray we will ALL see the Light and seek it. I love these forgotten verses, the verses that follow John 3:16 --

"There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God's one and only Son. And the judgment is based on this fact: God's light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil. All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for their sins will be exposed. But those who do what is right come to the light so others can see that they are doing what God wants." (John 3:18-21, NLT)

The Light of John's gospel is exactly the same light spoken about by Isaiah. My goal is to help everyone, especially my family, to know the LIGHT and to be attracted more to the light than the darkness. 

Heavenly Father, help me share your light today, this week, this month, and for all time. Help us, as followers of Jesus, to drive out the darkness so that people SEE YOUR LIGHT. We praise you for powerful Spirit that guides and directs our hearts and minds in all we do. It is in your name, Lord Jesus, we pray. AMEN!

Do you know Jesus as your Lord and Savior?  Do you want to?  Pray that the Lord will forgive you of your sins, REPENT and acknowledge deep in your heart what Jesus did on the CROSS for you. Then firmly commit to following Jesus now and forever more. If you pray that prayer with a genuine heart, text the word FAITH to this phone number 765-896-4302. I would love to welcome you to the FAMILY of GOD and help you continue your walk of growing closer to Jesus.