GRANDPA CAN PROVE IT

Have you thanked Him?

Have you praised Him?

Have you made it your priority to agree and cooperate with Him today?

Have you taken that deep breath and listened for what He has for you today?

1 Timothy 2:1 (The Message)

1-3The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know.

She was in peril.

The addiction had taken her again and this time someone else joined in the abduction.  "He", preying on her diseased and weakened resolve, convinced her to go “west” where her future would be brighter and her consequences delayed.

Trustingly she agreed.

Then once the high wore off and the chill of reality set in, she realized she was in over her head.  Little did she realize at the time that she was about to be lost forever, another heroin addicted statistic another trafficked little girl soon to be forever off the proverbial grid.

Meanwhile on a little farm in Zanesville her grandfather, a Pastor, was seeking answers.  Crying out from the cab of the tractor to the GOD he had served for so long for help.  Ironically he was a Pastor developing a ministry for trafficked, lost and addicted little girls. How cruel seemed the fate that it was his little grand-daughter who would be the one who would test his faith and push his trust.

With every breath he sought guidance.  His flesh wanted to pool his knowledge and resources, take up an arm and matters into his own hands.  His flesh wanted to do what grandpa’s are equipped to do, bring a little much needed order, justice and deliverance.

Instead he prayed.

Instead he stirred his spirit to mingle with that of GOD and his lost sheep, his grand-daughter.

He then heard loud and clear, a voice that ripped through the rustle of his farm field…

GRACE IN THE MOMENT.

Like a splash of cold water on his face after a hot day of harvesting, he felt the presence of GOD. He stopped.  He logged the moment. 

He then started to grab that GRACE by the moment.

Moment by moment he prayed for the crisis.

Moment by moment he prayed for his next steps.

Moment by moment he trusted the grace of a SAVIOR for whom the “one” means most.

Luke 15:4-6 (ESV)

…If you had a hundred sheep and one of them strayed away and was lost in the wilderness, wouldn’t you leave the ninety-nine others to go and search for the lost one until you found it? And then you would joyfully carry it home on your shoulders. When you arrived you would call together your friends and neighbors to rejoice with you because your lost sheep was found.

Then in a moment, she was ‘found’.  In a moment the addict found clarity.  In a moment the “body” was stirred and a “local” shepherd mobilized.  In a moment, the lost sheep was on a plane and coming home only minutes from being “put to work” to support her addiction.

And now grandpa is ‘rejoicing’.

I share that story today for several reasons.

One reason is because it is real.  It is not a screenplay from the next Liam Neeson film.  I know grandpa and this little girl too.

Another is to inspire you to praise GOD for his MOMENT by MOMENT grace in your life.

“God sees us with the eyes of a Father…He also sees our value. ― Max Lucado

WOW!

GOD saw our little girl through the eyes of a faithful grand-father.

A little girl, a lost sheep was rescued.

A grand-father’s faith has been forever fortified and changed.

And lastly I wanted to share an amazing testimony to the intimacy of GOD and these truths to encourage you today.

James 5:16 (ESV) - The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.

1 Peter 3:12(ESV)…the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer...

For are you feeling lost today? 

Are you aware of someone who is lost and needing found?

Find GOD’S grace in THIS MOMENT.  It is readily available.

Pray in that moment.  It is effective.

Trust.  For GOD is still in the business of rescuing.

He is. 

Grandpa can prove it.

I love you ALL!

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND…

FREEDOM CHURCH (CHAMPIONS NETWORK)