During the month of June 2009, Maranatha Christian Churches are focusing their prayers on the family members and relatives of the church members.

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Exodus 10:23 - “…Yet all the Israelites had light in the places where they lived.”

God’s plan is not just for us to have traditional or conventional family units or roles within the household, but to have the church members have their household indwelt with the Light, the Holy Spirit’s revelation. Our relationship with God should permeate our entire household and bring his light to our family members. continue

Genesis 7:1 – “…Then the Lord said to Noah, “Go into the ark, you and all your household, for I have seen that you are righteous before me in this generation…”

This verse talks about the account of Noah’s Ark, which should be something everyone, even those who have never stepped foot inside a Church build, has heard about.  In the day of Noah, God was upset with all the great wickedness He saw happening on the earth, and decided to wipe away everything on the earth through the judgment of the flood.  Yet God also remembered to be gracious and merciful.  We see this in the ark that He had Noah construct.  Noah’s Ark prophetically foreshadows our salvation through Jesus Christ. Salvation is God’s Project.

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Exodus 12:21 – Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Pick out and take lambs for yourselves according to your families, and kill the Passover lamb…  

Moses was preparing the people to leave slavery in Egypt: a prophetic event that points to our days. Today the Holy Spirit is also preparing his church for the exit from this world: the rapture.

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“…And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”  - Genesis 12:3

God wants to bless each person individually with salvation and a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.  In addition, the Bible teaches that God has special blessings he intends to give to families as a whole, not just to individuals in isolation.  

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1 Samuel 22:1 -  ”David left Gath and escaped to the cave of Adullam. When his brothers and his father’s household heard about it, they went down to him there. “

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John 4:28-29, 39-42  -  Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ?” They came out of the town and made their way toward him. . . Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.” So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. And because of his words many more became believers. They said to the woman, “We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world…”           

The story of the Samaritan Woman is familiar to many people.  She was someone with a bad reputation because of her sinful life, but Jesus gave her the opportunity to have His living water. Jesus answers all of her arguments and questions, addresses her personal needs through revelation, and brings her to the point of belief in Him.  

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“Go home to your family and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you.”  Mark 5:19       

This story illustrates how a person receives salvation from the Lord Jesus, and then Jesus wants us to bring the testimony about His salvation to our family as soon as possible.

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Matthew 8:14-15 - “When Jesus came into Peter’s house, he saw Peter’s mother-in-law lying in bed with a fever. He touched her hand and the fever left her, and she got up and began to wait on him.” 

Jesus wants more than to come into your heart.  He wants to come into your home, to your family, to touch the people closest to you and save them.  When we really put our faith into practice, our family life centers on the Lord, and our family members and loved ones receive His blessings as a result.  Many evangelistic messages today center around the verse in Revelation 3 where Jesus says, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock…”  We are encouraged to open the door and let him in.  Yet this is not just the “door to your heart.”  Too many people treat their faith as a private matter between them and their Lord.  There is certainly a private dimension to our relationship with Christ, but there is also a public component – our integration into the Body, and our application of our faith within our home. continue

1 John 3:16 - “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.” 

The title of this post is something many people ask themselves, but it is the wrong question for anyone to ask.  Many people, even Christians, become bitter and absorbed in self-pity because they approach their family this way.  They focus on their family’s failings and shortcomings, the times they have not been loving or supportive like they should be. 

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