Raising Generations II

Tuesday 14 February
READ: Est. 2: 5 - 7
MORE LESSON: Acts 9: 36-39

In 1994, I was on a 14-hour-flight to one extreme end of the world in Asia. We landed at the airport, then someone greeted me and said, 'Daddy, what are you doing here?' I actually wasn't expecting to meet anybody I knew. I was surprised and wondering whether it was a dream. He explained that he was a member of our church as a student in Zaria, after being impacted and he graduated, he became a missionary and he was posted to that part of the world. I had never been happier seeing someone who knew me because while other travellers were struggling to find their way around, the man took me anywhere I wanted to go. I have noticed, to God's glory, that there is no part of the world that I go and there is nobody to receive me. Virtually everywhere I go, I always find someone whom I have been a blessing to, who welcomes me.
Life is all about raising people; it is one of the most important things you can do in life. Impacting and affecting the lives of people positively is the reason you exist and are blessed by God. The picture of our future will only be beautified by the people we have raised. As children of God, we should go out of our way to stretch hands of love to people. It is beyond occasional acts of charity; it is about finding someone who you will assume responsibility to make sure that they will become something in life and get to where they are going because you exist. It is not about sowing so that you can glean a harvest; it is about looking for someone who can't even pay you back and raising those who look helpless today.
The people you raise may be your glory tomorrow. When your hands are feeble and weak, they could be the strength that stands up to defend you. The Bible talks about children being arrows in your quiver who will answer the enemies at the gate (Psa. 127: 43– 5). This is not just about giving birth to many children; that scripture refers to people you raise that God will use to stand for you in the future. This is why I passionately believe in taking people who others call 'those who sprang up from the rock' and re-planting them around me to refresh them with the streams of water in my life.
We have to raise people around us; across culture, race and gender. The people we raise will be our memorial, not the cars we have, the houses we build or the certificates we acquire. There are people whose children are grown up and gone to be on their own. I see the man and woman eating alone with plenty of rooms in their big house and I wonder what they are using them for. Why not invest into other people's lives by raising responsible children.

Prayer/Action
* Give God thanks for everyone He has used to raise you, in the name of Jesus.
* Pray that God will help you to also raise someone as you have been raised, in the name of Jesus.

TODAY'S PROPHETIC PRAYER
Today, I am blessed and highly favoured, no bad news shall distract my day, in the name of Jesus.