Good morning Lord Jesus fill me with the power of your presence so I can impact today with the power of my presence.
"Now the son of Paul's sister heard of their ambush, so he went and entered the barracks and told Paul." v.16
Last week I posted on a event of Spiritual Warfare when I went and prayer over a family and their home. It is important for you to pray over your family as well. In Acts 23 we read about the son of Paul's sister, or Paul's nephew. His nephew, not named, heard about the plot against his uncle, and ran to his uncle and told him. When we read Acts and the stories about Paul, we may tend to forget that like all of us, he had a family. Brothers and sisters, nieces and nephews, cousins, grandparents, and a mom and dad. They were around him, he visited them, and they were part of his day to day life while he was in Jerusalem. They were also Jews. They knew their son/brother/uncle and that he was a devout Jew, passionate for his God, passionately hunting down the Christians that were speaking blasphemy and putting them in prison and to death.. He was in the center and leader of this movement. No, doubt, he had spoken of this to them and encouraged their support in condemning and persecuting Christians.
Imagine their shock and surprise when uncles, nephews, siblings, parents, relatives of Paul heard that this defender of the Jewish faith and persecutor of Christians, was now a Christian himself! And not only that, but now he was in the center of the Christian movement. He was the talk of the town that everyone was gossiping about. And now those in power, who once were his strong allies, are now plotting to kill him! As Jews, did his family members also want to stone Paul? Were they embarrassed by their “church friends” of what he was doing? Or did they want to join him? His nephew it appears was a family member who Paul's conversion resulted in an acceptance of him, and perhaps an acceptance of Christ.
I believe for our church or any church to press deeper into our calling, grow stronger together and grow our ministries together as a church family in Christ, we must strengthen and grow our personal families in Christ. I strongly believe in the importance of all of our call to be part of and lead houses churches, Band groups, and other small groups. However, as important as these groups are, the most important small group we are part of and are called to lead is our family. Focus your prayers and reflections today on your family.
Pray and reflect for a moment how your living out your faith has affected, and more important, is affecting your family: spouse, sons and daughters, parents, siblings, nieces and nephews, cousins.
Reflect on: Do you daily share your faith with your family? How do you share your faith with your family? Pray that you may witness to those in your family more bolder. Pray for the faith of your family. Spend your time at lunch praying over your family. Plan to spend a day fasting in prayer over your family. Read ad speak The “Daily Prayer of Freedom” over you family at least once a week.
Are there family members who want to stone you because of your faith? Pray that peace and reconciliation between you may occur, and the presence and Spirit of Christ may one day be something that bonds you, instead of divides you.
Pray a prayer of thanks over family members, who like Paul's nephew, went out of their way on your behalf, and ministered to you and allowed you to be where you are in Christ today.
Pray for the forming of a sturdy covering of prayer over your family, your home and your relationship with them. Pray your home can be encouraging to each of you individually, and that your home and can be an outpost of the kingdom of God.
Pray over ways you can engage your family and together as a family serve and share the love of Christ with those in your community. You are called to encourage your family to love God and also love their neighbor.
Pray that our church, your church, The Church, will become an even stronger family bound by prayer that stands up for and supports each other, serves Christ together, and proclaims the gospel together.
Pray over imediate action: Do not delay, but make plans to share this message and pray with your family today. Call at least one family member today and let them know you are praying over them. In Jesus name. Please pray the same for me. God bless you my friends!
Please share your comments and reflections on my post in the comment box below.
Resolve to Help in 2023
I want to ask you to resolve this year in partnering with my wife, myself, and One Direction Community by supporting our ministries! We begin a new season of our ministry of pouring completely into planting and growing simple house churches in our neighborhoods, and having “boots on the ground” serving in our community.. Please pray over this. If you click on the link below you can easily set up a weekly, bi-monthly, or monthly auto donations in the amount you desire. . We would be so grateful for your help. You can also give a one-time donation on the same link. Thank you!
You can mail your donation to One Direction Community P.O. Box 1293 Madison, Al 35758
Discipleship Training.
One of my passions is helping churches or small groups understand and embrace their call to be disciples of Jesus in their community. I offer and lead discipleship trainings in person and on-line. If you are interested I would love to talk to you bout it. Email me at garyl@onedirection.community.
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