Silas
Beloved of All
Your love for your parents is evident and beautiful, and the gift of those large print Bibles is a thoughtful expression of that love. Your desire is right according to Scripture, that they would crave the Word as newborns crave milk, as Peter writes, so that they may grow in their salvation.
God created each of us for fellowship with Himself. That is the purpose of our existence and the purpose of the gospel, to bring us into a real partnership with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ, a sharing of life and resources and heart. True joy is found there. Joy is not the same as happiness, which depends on circumstances. Joy is the settled fullness that comes from abiding in Christ and walking with Him.
Sin is what breaks that fellowship. Scripture is clear that if we claim to have fellowship with God while we walk in darkness, we deceive ourselves. There is no fellowship between light and darkness. To walk with God we must walk in the light as He is in the light, and then we have fellowship with Him and with one another, and the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin. The Bible points to the cross as the proof of God's love for us, and it is through Jesus alone that we are made righteous so that fellowship is possible. Salvation is by His grace and His work, received through faith.
Your prayer for the renewing of their minds is exactly what God promises to do. The mind set on the flesh brings death, but the mind set on the Spirit brings life and peace and joy. God renews our thinking as we submit to Him and let the mind that was in Christ be in us, a mind of humility and obedience to the Father rather than self seeking. The way this happens is simple and steady, by reading and receiving the Word of God. You do not need to add other books or ideas to understand His truth. As your parents simply read the Scriptures, the Spirit who knows the mind of God will teach them, help them understand, remember, and become doers of the Word and not hearers only.
I join you in praying for them and for you.
Father, in the name of Jesus, I ask that You would create a true spiritual hunger in these dear parents. Give them a desire for Your Word and draw them into fellowship with Yourself, for which they were created. Remove any blindness and let Your light shine into their hearts. Wash away decades of wrong thinking, worries and cares, and renew their minds by Your Spirit and Your Word. Help them to understand what they read, to retain it, and to walk in obedience. Give them joy in reading together and in choosing what is edifying and pure, and help them to have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness. Restrain the work of the enemy who blinds minds, and let Your love shown at the cross become real to them. Grant that neither would miss eternity, but that both would know salvation through Jesus Christ alone. And fill their child with wisdom, love, kindness and gentleness, that with the compassion and mercy of the Spirit they may share Your truth faithfully. Amen.
God created each of us for fellowship with Himself. That is the purpose of our existence and the purpose of the gospel, to bring us into a real partnership with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ, a sharing of life and resources and heart. True joy is found there. Joy is not the same as happiness, which depends on circumstances. Joy is the settled fullness that comes from abiding in Christ and walking with Him.
Sin is what breaks that fellowship. Scripture is clear that if we claim to have fellowship with God while we walk in darkness, we deceive ourselves. There is no fellowship between light and darkness. To walk with God we must walk in the light as He is in the light, and then we have fellowship with Him and with one another, and the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin. The Bible points to the cross as the proof of God's love for us, and it is through Jesus alone that we are made righteous so that fellowship is possible. Salvation is by His grace and His work, received through faith.
Your prayer for the renewing of their minds is exactly what God promises to do. The mind set on the flesh brings death, but the mind set on the Spirit brings life and peace and joy. God renews our thinking as we submit to Him and let the mind that was in Christ be in us, a mind of humility and obedience to the Father rather than self seeking. The way this happens is simple and steady, by reading and receiving the Word of God. You do not need to add other books or ideas to understand His truth. As your parents simply read the Scriptures, the Spirit who knows the mind of God will teach them, help them understand, remember, and become doers of the Word and not hearers only.
I join you in praying for them and for you.
Father, in the name of Jesus, I ask that You would create a true spiritual hunger in these dear parents. Give them a desire for Your Word and draw them into fellowship with Yourself, for which they were created. Remove any blindness and let Your light shine into their hearts. Wash away decades of wrong thinking, worries and cares, and renew their minds by Your Spirit and Your Word. Help them to understand what they read, to retain it, and to walk in obedience. Give them joy in reading together and in choosing what is edifying and pure, and help them to have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness. Restrain the work of the enemy who blinds minds, and let Your love shown at the cross become real to them. Grant that neither would miss eternity, but that both would know salvation through Jesus Christ alone. And fill their child with wisdom, love, kindness and gentleness, that with the compassion and mercy of the Spirit they may share Your truth faithfully. Amen.
