So Very Blessed

Ellie on Christmas morning

 As I sat in our Living Room on Christmas Day, surrounded by our family, I had a deep acknowledgment of how very blessed we are.  All our children live nearby, two within a couple of miles. We genuinely love to be together. The gifts scattering the room were tangible expressions of the love and respect we have for each other. Tears came to my eyes, thinking of the different age groups represented, young school-age children, teenagers, adults, and seniors.  We are all so different and yet so much alike.   Why?  Because we are family, and being family means something.

This truth is even greater when we consider the Family of God.  

As those who have placed our trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, we have become members of a family. This is the most fundamental truth of our existence: we have become children of the Most High God and are part of His incredible family.  While we are all different, we all share this same truth deep in our spirits. The differences don't divide us; they make our unity even more of a miracle and a blessing. And the day is coming when all our feet shall rest together under His table. A glorious joining of all His children in perfect love and unity. We will, with tears in our eyes, I am sure, be so amazed at how blessed we are, all to the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ.

There are few passages that discuss this family as beautifully as Ephesians Chapter 3:

"For this cause, I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles,

If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward:

 How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery;

(as I wrote afore in few words. Whereby, when ye read,

ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ) 

Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed

unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit;

That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body,

and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel:

Whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God

given unto me by the effectual working of his power.

Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should

preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ;

And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the

beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:

To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places might be

known by the church the manifold wisdom of God,

According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord:

In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him.

Wherefore I desire that ye faint not at my tribulations for you, which is your glory.

For this cause, I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,

That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with

might by his Spirit in the inner man;

That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye,

being rooted and grounded in love,

May be able to comprehend with all saints

what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height;

And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge,

that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.

Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think,

according to the power that worketh in us,

Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. 

Amen.”

May these words be etched into our hearts and return to our minds in the following year and for all the years thereafter.

"God Bless Us, Everyone."