Let us pray: Father, your word says, in Psalm 34:8 "Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good; Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!" In Jesus' name. Amen!
Focus Scripture: Proverbs 22:6 "Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old, he will not depart from it."
I remember when I was a little girl sitting on the front row of the pews in the church I grew up in and I was so excited to get baptized because that was the next step after you accepted Jesus into your heart. When service was over that day we got in the car and I remember my grandmother telling me now don't lose it. I still hold on to those words of wisdom, but I had no idea what she was talking about and I dare not ask. I am from the South and everyone knows that when grandma talks you listen. It was those three words she spoke I kept close to my heart and over forty years later that statement is proving to be true.
My grandmother was saying don't lose the understanding of what Christ did for you, don't lose the understanding of what God has brought you out of, and don't lose the understanding that the Holy Spirit is your comforter. I can't lose with God on my side, the Lord God Almighty, the Most High God, the Great I am. Whatever I need Him to be in every situation of my life He says I am. I can't lose with Jesus sitting at the right hand of God making intercession for me. The one who walked this earth and was tempted in every way, but yet was without sin. I can't lose with the Holy Spirit, my helper, who will guide me in all truth. When I feel like I can't make it, He speaks and says you can do all things through Christ Jesus who strengthens me. She knew that life was going to have its way, but the most important thing she could give me was Jesus.
It was her wisdom that God used to plant a seed into the heart of the next generation. The Scripture says, in "1 Corinthians 3:6,7 and I'm paraphrasing it. Some plants, some water but God gives the increase. It's not the one who plants or the one who waters who is at the center of this process but God, who makes things grow." I was the next generation. Mothers, what we pour into our children will affect their decision-making at some point in their lives. Set them up with the right tools so that when situations come they will know which tool will work. The scripture says, in Proverbs 22:6 "Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old, he will not depart from it."
My grandmother spent countless hours pouring into me and my siblings. There were six of us and every opportunity that presented itself for us to walk in a straight line about five miles to church and back we were there. We didn't have a choice. Occasionally we would get a ride, but for the most part, we walked. I didn't like it at the time but I can respect her decision now because it has helped shape who I am today. The scripture was proven to be true. She trained me and since then others who God has placed in my path have come along and watered.
Don't stunt your growth by taking yourself out of the process. Stay in the process. God has to process you. You're stronger than you think you are. Sometimes we add burdens to our lives that weren't meant for us to carry. Sometimes we add stress to our lives that weren't meant for us to stress about. Instead, learn from it and keep growing, keep moving forward. Your seed depends on your forward progress. You have to remember that someone is always watching and that someone is the next generation.
Father, we pray now for the next generation that they do not lose sight of who you are and what Jesus has done for us all. How you have sent the Holy Spirit so that they would not be left comfortless. Thank you for our seed. Thank you for the awesome privilege to train the next generation according to your word and will for their lives. In Jesus' name. Amen.
~Prophetess Tracy McCoy
