Thursday, October 25, 2012

Gathering the chicks.

 
A post from a couple of years ago that I found to be unpublished. 
It's a little outdated but still has a sweet message.
Enjoy...
 
 
 
 
 
John 1:11-13
He came to his own and his own people did not receive him but to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.


For the last week or so, my family has been physically separated.
 
 My oldest daughter and I went out of town for the weekend, my husband stayed home to work, my youngest daughter was at a friend's house, and my son was with his grandmother. My daughter and I returned home Monday evening, my husband was home, and my son arrived soon after.
 
We were all very glad to see one another, and we hugged for a long time.
 We continued to tell one another how much we missed eachother, and how good it felt to be home.
 
But...something wasn't right.
There was still one of us missing.
My youngest daughter left early Monday morning to go to Tween camp with our church and hadn't returned home yet.
 
 Although, mostly everyone is home...it still feels empty.
 
For one reason and one reason only...
our family is not complete when one of us isn't home.
 
Although we are all still family, no matter where we are, or what we are doing,
there is something missing when one of us is not in the group.
 
Therefore, our nest is not full.
 It feels like we are missing out on something special, someone special.
 
 My dad has too many children to count.
(No exaggeration! Lots and lots!)
 
But, each week or two, he will call each and every one of us on the phone,
until he talks to all of us.
He says he is gathering up all his chicks to make sure we are all doing fine.
 
I guess we are missing one of our chicks this week.
 
My flock is not complete.
 
 Things are not the same. My heart is heavy.
 
Beyond our natural families, we are also a part of a much bigger family, a much bigger picture.
 
We are a part of the family of God.
 
God feels the same way about us that we feel about our smaller family units.
He wants all of His chicks to be with Him.
 He wants all of his chicks to return home to Him.
And I am positive, that He feels loneliness,
 emptiness and a heavy heart when one of His own is not home.
 He longs to embrace us within His presence.
 
God is pro-family!
 
He created Adam, and then said it was not good for him to be alone.
 So, He created Eve to be his family.
God created man (us) to be His family.
 When one person in a family is missing, the family is not complete.
 
God values our presence in His life.
 
Does a shepherd not hunt for one sheep that is missing from the flock, even though he has a hundred that are safely with him?
 
Jesus is our shepherd and when one of us in the family goes missing, or lost, He searches for us.
He longs for us.
He will stop at nothing to get us back where we belong!
What happens when you see one of your family members lost or missing?
 Do you search them out?
Do you forget about them?
No...you start a search. You reach out to them.
 
We learned this from our Father in Heaven who will search us out,
 in the midst of the darkness and emptiness that we get lost in.
 
And when He finds us...He runs to embrace us.
 He hugs us and tells us how much He loves us and has missed us!
 
 His heart is full of love for us! He exumes love!
Where are you today?
Are you lost or missing from God?
 Have you lost your way in your own family?
 
Be encouraged today to come back home...God is always waiting with open arms.
 
 Always.
 
 What about those who have a lost family member or friend in the family of God?
 Have you gone to find them?
Or, are you too comfortable where you are to start a search?
 If you were the one who was lost, wouldn't you want someone to find you and bring you home?
 If you saw a man drowning, would you not jump in to save him?
 
A search starts with one foot forward. It never starts with walking away.
 
Find where you need to be today...in God's family.
 
And if you know someone who is lost from home,
put one foot forward and help them find their way back.
 
The nest just isn't complete without you...or them.
 
Let's start gathering the chicks!
 
Ephesians 3:15
Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God's love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God's people should, how wide, how long, how high and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.
 
 

1 comment:

  1. Great post! When my oldest is off babysitting I feel like I cant rest until she is back here with her sister. I am assuming that will never go away. And yes, when one of "our own" walks away we need to go gather them and bring them home. :) So hard sometimes. I sent a friend a letter about a year ago sharing my heart with her and Gods word since she had essentially traded in her solid foundation to move in with her boyfriend.....let's just say sin is strong and she said some hurtful things that basically indicated we weren't going to be talking anymore. All in the name of love huh? Our pastor did an entire sermon last week from 1 Corin. talking about running and actually physically fleeing from sin. We have to be repulsed by it and yet in this day and age we seem to not even flinch when a believer walks away or we do something that breaks Gods heart.

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