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| Some of our family in FL - not all for sure! |
Genesis 15:5-6 ~ 5 And he brought him forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be. 6 And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness. KJV
Who was ever written about that had more fruitfulness than Abram. God promised him a heritage of children greater than the stars! If God said it, it is so, and He didn't seem to have one worry about "over populating" the earth, as some of the elites are all concerned about! I say folks have those children and be thankful for every one of those unique beings that God gives you.
My Father, James L. Lane, and my birth mother Birchie had nine children. 5 girls and 4 boys. Due to a sad divorce when 3 of us were just babies, my father and mother separated, and my father retained custody of us 9 kids. A year maybe more later he met my stepmom, Lois, who had 6 children of her own. They ended up married and they had two more children together, my precious sisters Diane and Julia. When my birth mother, Birchie, remarried her husband had 4 children. And when my Aunt Carrie Mae (Lois' sister) was diagnosed with a terrible cancer during her pregnancy with "our baby brother" she turned over our Raymond to our parents and that is how we ended up with a lot of siblings in the family! Everyone just as unique and precious to our parents as the first one and that little baby boy, the last one, He completed our circle called family! This family has been very "fruitful"! And the fruitfulness continues with in our children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Wow, you might say, how in the world do you care for that many people. Well as you can imagine the ages spread out pretty far and when the youngers were coming along, the Olders were branching out on their own! How wonderful the cycle of family is. That is what we see in these verses. God promised Abram that his family would be beyond numbering . . . his seed would continue long after he was dead and buried.
Family is precious. Maybe you say yours isn't. Too much fighting, arguing, strife to be happy. Everyone is spread out and not one wants to continue that family togetherness. Listen, family isn't always easy, but I promise you this, family is very tolerable when you love them through Christ Jesus. When I got saved, that one that drank too much, cussed too much, smoked too much, lied to much, went to prison for unsavory deeds, murdered someone, you can name every vice you can name, but when Jesus gets involved, they all look different. That is the same with the stranger. When we look at them (family and stranger) with the love and compassion of Christ, everything changes.
Allow the love of God to penetrate your soul and when you look at that family member that is just "obnoxious", look through the blood of Christ and His love for ALL MANKIND.
Philippians 2:16 Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain.
Listen to Bro. Tom on www.wbofradio.com "The Jewel For The Day" program, every Monday - Friday at 6am and 2pm EST.
In the name of Jesus, may we be HIS emissaries and used by Him to help others.
Tom and Linda Milam
Missionaries to America and around the world!
