Purpose: Realize Their Purpose and Respond To Your Calling

FOR THINE IS THE KINGDOM, AND THE POWER, AND THE GLORY FOREVER

A Letter to Read/Use As A Guide With Your Children

Dear Children,Do you know why you are here on this earth, or why God placed you here at this particular time and no other? Do you know your sole purpose of living? First and foremost, sweet ones, you were created simply to be loved by God Himself! He even calls you “beloved”, and He is delighted in you. What great news! For example, just as your daddy and I chose to have a baby (or two or four), in order to love and to cherish, God, too, created you, simply to adore you. How freeing! Our purpose is to be . . . loved!Now, my dear ones, once you have learned to rest in this wonderful purpose in your life, and you begin to know the One who adores you, your soul will then be compelled to live out the call of your life. Listen to this powerful catechism statement that I learned as a child in order to explain your calling:“The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.”What do you think this means children? Well, to “glorify God,” first of all, means to take all that you are, and all that you do and use it to bring honor and beauty to the One who created you and loves you, instead of bringing this focus to yourself. Let Him pour His great love into you, so you can pour His great love out to others. Because your heart has been touched by the matchless love of Christ, you, simply by the way you live your life, in both good times and bad, are to carry His message of love to the hearts who have not yet heard the gospel. (Please realize, sweet ones, the times that you think are difficult or “bad” in your life are the very times that Christ has the greatest opportunity to show His love, and shine the brightest through you.)As you are “glorifying God” by allowing His love to be poured into your heart, you will then be able to enjoyHim in any circumstance, both now on this earth and forever in heaven! Children, He wants you to have His joy-filled heart when living for Him, not a “hum-drum” Christian walk that nobody wants to follow. Know Him, and find out He is joy, and laughter, and love. Seek out all His goodness, and mercy, and splendor, and then lavish in it! Make sure, children, the Bread-that-people-are-hungry-for does not appear old, dry, or stale in your life. Remember, the bread from heaven given to the Israelites each day was sweet; so is your Jesus.So, dear ones, know you are the beloved of God. Rest here, and may He fill you up. Then, and only then, understand how you can best be used by your Creator and King. Watch the love of Christ overflow from your heart as you simply live out your God-given desires. Do all these things in order that the name of Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and you in Him (II Thess. 1:12).Remember, life is not about you; life is about the One who loves you. Live for Him, and ENJOY!

Teaching Tools/Activities For Your Children

• Gather your children individually and hold him/her in your arms. Tell them the reasons you wanted to have them here in this world: to simply love them, to enjoy and find delight in them, to hold them, to care for them.
• Reassure them they don’t have to do anything to gain this love from you. (Mothers, pray for a renewed unconditional love for your child!)
• Explain this is the kind of love (yet much, much greater) which their Heavenly Father has for each of them; and it is this love which moves us to tell others about Him!

A Prayer To Pray Over Your Children

Dear Heavenly Father,I pray my children would fully understand what it means to be loved by You. May they daily humble themselves, realizing Your great love moved You to buy them with a great price---the precious blood of Your son, Jesus. May this awesome realization move them to glorify You with all that they are, dear God, in every way.May they also be humbled by the incredible truth that their bodies are now the residing place of Your Holy Spirit! May this truth also move them to seek Your will, dear Father, not their own, I pray. Impress on them, their life does matter, one, because You love them, and two, because You desire them to help spread Your love to others. Give them a heart of flesh, dear Lord, not of stone, so they may be used by You in a powerful way. May they each hear Your great calling to go and make disciples of all the nations (Matt. 28:19), whether that means across the street, across the country, or across the world. Help them to see they are vitally important in this process of sowing and reaping, because the harvest is so plentiful, but the workers areso few. May they respond to your great call, O Lord of the Harvest!O God, may my children be able to stand before You, and be considered worthy of Your calling. Make them realize they are Your beloved children; and only because of Christ living in them, they are worthy. Fulfill every desire You have for them. May they live for You not out of their works, but in their response to Your love for them, their sweet Savior and King. They are Yours, dear Lord. May they forever live for you.

Amen

Scripture references in letter:

I John 3:1; I John 4:7-11; I Sam. 3:10; Ps. 73:25-28; I Peter 3:13-15; Ps. 4:6-7; Ps. 30:10-12; Ex. 16:13-15, 31; Is. 6:8

Scripture references in prayer:

Gal. 2:20; I Peter 1:18-20; I Chron. 28:9-10; I Cor. 6:19-20; Matt. 9:36-38; II Tim. 4:1-3; Ezekiel 36;26-27; II Thess. 1:11-12; Eph. 2:8-10; Phil. 3:10-14