God Loves Family
by Drenda Keesee
Many Christians have swept the topic of family under the rug through the years. Somehow talking about “family” isn’t spiritual. How do we think their Father God feels about what is happening to them? I believe that God is very into talking about family.
When parents brought their children to Jesus to pray for them, the disciples rebuked the parents. The disciples had the same mentality that many Christians have today, but Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these” (Matthew 19:14).
Jesus understood the value of those children—the value that…
…many in our time have forgotten. Many significant figures in the Bible did their great acts as children or were enabled to do their great acts because their parents recognized the value of their lives and took precautions to protect them—Moses, David, Jeremiah, Josiah, and yes, even Jesus.
Children will…
…rise to be our next leaders. That is why Jesus said, “For the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” He understood those children would become the next generation of disciples, apostles, and prophets. Jesus wasn’t nearsighted!
Second Chronicles 34:1–3 describes the story of an incredible boy named Josiah:
Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem thirty-one years. He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and followed the ways of his father David, not turning aside to the right or to the left. In the eighth year of his reign, while he was still young, he began to seek the God of his father David. In his twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of high places, Asherah poles and idols.
Eight years old, and yet he “followed the ways of his father David” and was excelling as the leader of Israel! By the time he was twenty years old, he was removing idols of other gods and purging Israel’s cities of unrighteousness. The Bible says that there wasn’t one king before Josiah who turned to God as he did, with all of his heart and strength in accordance with what God called right (2 Kings 23:25).
This is entirely in contrast to many of the youth we see today. Can you imagine an eight-year-old who is not only mature enough to be the President of the United States but to put God first in the country? We have a hard enough time trying to find grown men and women to do that! We have set the bar so low for people that we’re just happy if they have a job. We have set the bar so low for children that we’re satisfied if they stay in school and aren’t on drugs. That might be where the modern family and culture have set the bar, but God has higher standards and greater plans for you and your family than barely above average.
I hate that Satan tries to come against families because the family should be a safe place. Your family is where you should be able to be vulnerable and open; but instead, when Satan finds a place to enter, he takes advantage of the vulnerability God intended in our families and uses it to inflict deep wounds.
Have you ever been hurt by a family member or a loved one? Those wounds are deeper because you trusted them to look out for you. I’ve discovered that for many people their family is a source of pain and bitterness instead of healing and love. That is not how God designed it.
God designed the family unit to be a source of protection and comfort. When the family model is in place, it is a powerful force. When two or more come together in one common vision, they are not easily broken or suppressed (Ecclesiastes 4:12).
“Don’t you see that children are God’s best gift? The fruit of the womb His generous legacy? Like a warrior’s fistful of arrows are the children of a vigorous youth. Oh, how blessed are you parents, with your quivers full of children! Your enemies don’t stand a chance against you; you’ll sweep them right off your doorstep” (Psalm 127:3–5 msg).
The family is under attack. The devil wants to cause division in your household, steal your family time, and make you feel disconnected. You have to be prepared to fight for your family and guard against the attacks of the enemy. And you are called to bring other families with you. When you know the truth about God’s divine plan in the family system, you are called to protect that.
~Drenda
ps…Are you looking for a good church? Be sure and listen on Saturday evening or catch the 3 services on Sunday for Faith Life Church!
*Excerpt from “The New Vintage Family” by Drenda Keesee
Drenda Keesee’s contagious zeal and humorous personal experiences help make her ministry of spiritual, emotional, and relational wholeness one that will bless your life and spark a new fire in your spirit.
A wife of over 30 years and a mother of five children, Drenda has ministered at churches, seminars, and conferences, and through the mediums of television and radio, for more than 20 years.
Her books, The New Vintage Family, Better Than You Think, and She Gets It are available wherever books are sold. In these heartfelt books, Drenda shares her personal journey and the life lessons that have brought her to where she is today, as well as practical answers that all people need to live a joyful life.
Drenda and her husband Gary founded Faith Life Now, a ministry designed to spread the message of freedom in the areas of finances, faith, marriage, and family. Tune in for their weekly messages here. Faith Life Now hosts conferences worldwide and sponsors both Fixing the Money Thing, which Drenda co-hosts with her husband Gary and Drenda.
Through their own life experiences, the Keesee’s have found the principles from God’s Word to be powerful and effective. At one point, Drenda was a young, suicidal feminist with no hope of ever being “good enough” for her own standards of perfection. She never wanted the “inconvenience” of a husband or children, and she was on her own path to success. But the stress of trying to achieve perfection and perform for love left her broken and used. She had success, but it was nothing compared to the pain and loneliness it had also brought.
That’s when God got a hold of her heart. It was there—at her lowest point—that she found the One who accepted and loved her, faults and all. Since that transformation, Drenda has had a passion to reach women who find themselves where she once was.
She married Gary after attending college, and there she found herself in a personal boot camp of sorts. She says, “I cried and told God, ‘I can do anything but be a wife and mother.’” She committed to learning how to do it God’s way. Through the many years of raising their children and struggling to make ends meet, Drenda learned from their mistakes. “I didn’t know how to be a wife and mother, but God saved our marriage, taught us how to parent our children for success, showed us how to have financial success, and then the irony of all ironies, He called us to ministry.” It’s truly because of these life experiences that Drenda can now share so many insightful principles for people who are now going through the same struggles.
