To Be One of His

Throughout my life, I have endured a lot of pain and suffering. Do I think I have endured anymore than another? Yes and No as each life takes a different path. Some paths we can chose and others we cannot.  The path of having sick kids was an unchosen path. The path to choose friends who care or those who may lead us in places we should not go even after being warned, is a path chosen and when we choose the wrong path, we will be disciplined. Had I taken illegal drugs while pregnant and had a sick kid, that would have been a bad choice, we have three children who have a Gene issue, which has nothing to do with any abuse factors at all.

I was raised by two wonderful parents who taught me how to love and be loved. They also taught me that to put Christ Jesus first in my life and in my heart and He would always direct my path. He would never forsake me and would never make me go through aything alone as He would remain by my side. We went to church more often than regular families did, at least with my mother as in the earlier years, my father wasn't always able to be there when he worked. He had not become, asked Christ into his heart until he was 33.  I was the youngest of three and my brother and sister lived a Christ like life before me as well. I had a church home and people who loved and cared for us. 

I do pose the question about sin in the life of a believer verses sin in the life of an unbeliever. Sin is sin but in terms of being a Christain, it doesn't take away our sin nature and the fact were in the flesh. We sin in this family and sometimes know we did and sometimes we don't know because the human mind is so evil unless we work daily to turn over that nature and often by the moment.

WE ALL SIN. We have a sin nature and because of ones man sin, Adam's, death entered the world.  In the Old Testiment, sin had to be made right before God with a blood atonment. Those who died went to Abrahams bosom. They were the Saints of Old.

 God saw that man had failed and He sent His only begotten son, Jesus, to Earth in the flesh of a man. He allowed himself to be born in a stable and grow up understanding the ways of mans heart. He saw that mans heart was an evil place. A very dark and deep ugly sinful heart.  Christ came and He did not come for the self rigtheous but for the SINNER.  We, without Christ, cannot ever live a heavenly eternal life.  John 14;16, I am the way, the truth and the light. No man cometh to the father but by me. John 3;3 Verily, Verily, I say unto thee,  Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.  and John 3:16 For God so LOVED the world, that He gave up his only begotten son,that  whosoever believeth in Him, shall have everlasting life.  It goes on in the book of John, the best book to understand salvation, to say alot about those who do not come into the light and hath not believed in the name of the only begotten son of God and went into the darkness rather than the light because of their evil deeds should be reproved.

We may ask Him into our lives and when we do, we do not become sinless for the only Man who walked upon this earth sinless was Jesus Christ. For by the Grace of God are ye saved, NOT OF YOURSELVES: it is a GIFT of God. { Eph2: 8] This means when we proclaim Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior, have asked Him into our hearts and telling Him I am a sinner and want to born again of the spirit. It clearly states we can not do anything in the way of works and good deeds nor of words  to get Christ to allow us eternal life. By the same token, when we become a child of His we can not be unadopted and therfore we cannot lose our salvation for His power is greater than our own. It clearly states in Ephesians 2 :9 Not of works, least any man should BOAST!  As Christains telling others about Christ and rejoicing in His blessings is a command and has nothing to do with boasting that you are better because you are in Christ. We in Christ are created equal. Romans3:23 All have sinned and come short of the glory of God.  Romans 8:23 The wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ.

 We will ALL fall short but can only strive to become more Christ like and the fruits of the spirit should show in our lives. Galation 5:21-23 which are Love, Patience, Faith,Goodness, Self Control, Joy, Kindness, Self Peace and Godliness.  These are what Christians are to STRIVE for but all will fail from time to time and for myself, when things get scary or I am angry{ Christ did get angry too} I can have a hard time with all of these above and so does the rest of my family.  God wants us to use these to set in motion the sanctification process as to what God is wanting us to do for Him with our lives. If we begin the process we can enter into sanctification and begin the processs of molding, shaping and transforming us into His image. By renewing our minds and putting in place what things we think about and spend our time on he can have a better and more Holy people. For most of us that means spending a great deal of time in the Word, not talking about it. It means in prayer and fasting, not just asking others to do it for you or in our case us. It means just as the children's song says, becarefull little eyes what you see, hear, go , say. It means truly spending time with Jesus and develop a relationship with Him which is the only way to get to know Him and love Him.

Often, we have been asked WHY would God allow so much on your family? I must admit their are days that I have asked that. I am human and often get mad at Him. It isn't long though because I know He is my friend and He hasn't caused their disease, sin in the world caused their disease. Not our very own or their own as some would say but Sin of Adam.

This gets to be a deep topic as we must go back to the fall of Lucifer, who was Gods high and exalted angel but wanted to be greater than God. He was jealous of God's plans and therefore he became the adversary and Satan. He took with him some fallen angels who became demons. To me, this is just how wrong it is to be jealous of another. Its a dangerous thing and we are learning to be content and blessed with what God has given us. In no way has anyone ever gotten there alone or are self made in the world of christians, EVERYTHING is HIS.

When Satan deceived Eve and Adam in the Garden, sin was born and with it all disease, hate, jelousy, gossip, evil and DEATH came upon man. It is the evil one who has done bad. God is perfect and cannot do bad nor can he sin,

In our situation, God has allowed this upon us to bring us closer to Him and to make us more Christ like. He gives free will but he also knows each of us and he already knows what our outcome will be. It is Evil I hate, and Satan. God is Love and He gives life and can take it away. I lost my mom young and remember watching her die, she had hope until the end and then she had joy in meeting her Savior. Many Christians back then would teach that all illness can be healed and will if you have enough faith. I don't agree with that, nor do I agree with those who teach prosperity will come to all who believe it will. I agree we are prosperous in Him but that doesn't mean MONEY. I know many wonderful, strong Christian who are poor and look at missionaries? False teachings are everywhere. We have had those as well. Many who have said we should pray for healing and trust God completly and stop seeing doctors. 

In regard to our situation, had we not had these children who knows where our faith would be and where our relationship with Jesus would be, We would have missed the blessings of seeing how God has used so many to reach out and help others. We would not be able to witness all that He has done and the many times we came so close when they were small. All I know is He has been with me since I was a small child. He protected me and keep me safe even when I wasn't.  We are far from perfect and make mistakes all the time, thank God, He has already forgiven us. Our family firmly believes that God has given us this as a ministry and we must obey Him and share our story.

We owe so much to so many but as of now, we can only offer friendship, love and prayer. After all money is just one means of caring. There is so many who have prayed listened and hoped for us. To those who gave of their money, we know that in the Bible, God gives those who can handle more are trusted with more. We will always strive to do for others as we always have and we too follow God's wishes. Many times, we have been told to give a small sum to hlep another friend and we did so. We believe in tithing though we aren't always able to give the amount others do, we obey Him and do what He knows we can. Time and volunteering is also a way to give. Your talents and all are worthy causes. As all those who have helped anyone, they already now that giving is far better than recieving. Our family often does wonder why we have been choosen to have such blessings and trust us, we know God can stop that blessing at anytime and we could be really bad off but He will still be God.

Thanks to so many who have loved me enough to get me to know Christ better. Thanks to my mother who brought me to the Lord. To my siblings who lead honorable lives and to my in laws for their love of Christ that they as their son, grew into and by these kids of ours, who daily show us what being Christ like is. To always forgive everyone or suffer the fate of God not forgiving us. Keep us humble Lord and all those who care about us, keep us humble.