STAY IN GRACE AND SHARE YOUR STORY

2 Corinthians 13:14 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen.

The Grace of God is the love of God. It was His love that precede His grace. For the Grace of God that brings salvation is made known to all men – Titus 2:11. For God so love the world, He gave His only begotten Son, His Grace personified, and by Him He speaks even till now. Hebrews  1:1-2 “God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,  Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds;”

God speak through His Son and if we must hear Him we must stay in the Grace of Jesus Christ. The grace of Jesus Christ is the pastures on which His sheep feed on, the river of His love is the still waters that satisfies their thirsts and as a Good Shepherd He dish out instructions to His own while they feed on His grace and drinks of His love. Every shepherd speak to the herd and every flock knows the voice of their shepherd, and other shepherds they will not follow.

Being in the grace of Jesus, abiding in the love of His Father and the continuous rapour and interactions between the sheep and the Good Shepherd, which is sustained by the Power of His Spirit are the three fundamental foundations (Grace of Jesus Christ, Love of God The Father and Fellowship of The Holy Spirit) upon which God speak and communicate with the fold, that there may be one fold and one Shepherd. Stay in grace and you will hear God speak (which include abiding in His love and fellowship of His Spirit). How and where He will speak is never yours to figure out, all you own yourself and God is stay in His grace by staying in His Word. None of the three fundamentals is complete without the other two and the three are never in full force until the Word permeate and filled every space there is in a longing soul.

Another like it is to tell of His wonders to all and whoever cares to listen to you. Share your testimony and the goodness of God to you with others, especially your own children. The more you talk of Him, the more He reveal more of Himself to you. You can never run dry of what to share as long as you don’t stop talking to your children and household about Him. Men and women of old knew this secret, they overcame by the Blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony – Rev. 12:11.

When the disciples shared the stories of Jesus, His death and resurrection, God confirm their words with signs and wonders that give birth to more testimonies – Acts 14:3. If you tell your children of the goodness of God to you, you are simply provoking God for more testimonies to be shared in order to enshrine the faith of Jesus Christ in the hearts of your loved ones. God often speak to parents that regularly speak about Him to their children. Hear what he said about Abraham: “And the LORD said, Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do” – Gen.  18:17.

In other word, God was saying can I stop talking to Abraham? Can I hide things from Him?  No, God couldn’t and the reason is very surprising: “For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD…” – Gen. 18:19. How was that possible for Abraham?  He told His stories of his walking with Jehovah and His wonderful works with His household, so much that the God of Abraham became the God of Isaac and then the God of Jacob and today the God of Israel. It all began with one man who hear God speak and rehearse it to His household. That can also be our stories as well.

When you talk to an adult about God’s goodness to you, you may only win another adult but when you share spiritual experiences and goodness with a child, you don’t just win the child, you may be winning his/her entire generations at the same time. Experience is the best way to learn, and the best spiritual experience your children should learn from are yours till they come to spiritual maturity themselves. There is a particular way God speak to you or to your family, if you are in His grace and abide in His love, a thorough and determine search through your experiences over the years will reveal God peculiar pattern of talking to you. It is your duty as Christian parent to find that out and rehearse them in your children hearing over and over again until it becomes a family pattern.

When you discover His voice, teach others also, especially your own children and God will say more clearly and without ambiguity. God, like any business man, is profit minded, if you don’t make profit from what you once heard Him speak, He won’t say more and if He even speak more, it will be in proverbs and not in clear speech. The best form of profit the Father want from you and from any Christian parent is to win your children into His love by telling them of His wonderful dealings with you and of the love of Jesus for them. Jesus speak to the crowd, those outside His grace and the disobedient in proverbs but those that are His, His voice is as clear as His Name. He talk with them in plain language.

John 16:25, 29 “These things have I spoken unto you in proverbs: but the time cometh, when I shall no more speak unto you in proverbs, but I shall shew you plainly of the Father.  His disciples said unto him, Lo, now speakest thou plainly, and speakest no proverb”. It is God’s will that we hear Him very clearly and plainly. But it won’t happen in a single sweep. Just keep up with His grace and share His dealings and gracefulness to you with others, share with your children most importantly, and with a step after another, a precept after another He will reveal Himself to you.

The secret of marital success is hearing God speak. When God speak, there is direction and guidance, you cannot hear God speak and still miss your way and He can’t speak to you and you still get confused or engrossed in terrible mistake. Yet, He won’t speak until we desire and long to hear Him speak. When you speak to God in prayers, in return He speak to you as well. What a difficult life we often lead and how many errors we are often entangled with, just because we never stay long enough in prayers to hear Him speak.

There is no better place to be, to hear God speak, than to graze on the pastures of His grace. There is no better water that satisfy those who feed on His pastures than the river of His love. Get lost in His Word and ravish in His love for therein are His grace made complete in Christ Jesus and you will never walk through life alone, uninformed and in darkness. Enough to parenting without spiritual guidance and enough to spiritual dullness in Jesus Name. Amen

God bless you and keep you always in His Grace in Jesus Name. Amen

Olumofin Kehinde Benjamin writes for Praying Parents Prayer Group Christian Ministry (3pG).