God Does Not Have Grandchildren ~ plus Winner of Book Give-Away

My daughter Katie and my grandsons Nathan and Jonah~making placemats for Thanksgiving.

THOUGHT FOR TODAY: “The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.” Ezekiel 18:20b (KJV)

     My children often ask me to pray for them, which I gladly do every day.  They often bring prayer requests to me for their friends and others with special needs.  I am happy to pray for them, and bring their requests before the Lord.  We believe in the power of prayer.

     But, I remind my children that they must be in prayer as well for themselves and others.  They can’t become dependent on my prayers alone.  I remind them that God does not have grandchildren.  God only has children.

     Our children must form their own personal relationships with God.  It is certainly a blessing to have godly parents, but a believer cannot claim his parent’s righteousness as his own.  We can’t inherit our salvation.  No one ever inherited a mansion in glory from his parents. 

Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life.  Revelation 21:27 (NIV)

     We each must spend time with God and grow our relationship through reading His word, worship, and prayer.  God listens to the prayers of His children.  He rewards the righteous.

     And while we are on the topic of children and parents, we all have had experience with the prodigal--the wayward one who is wasting his substance with riotous living, who has certainly been taught the better way.  (See Luke15:11-24)  Maybe you were a prodigal.  Just as a believer cannot claim someone else’s righteousness as his own, neither can he be punished for someone else’s sins.  We must each bear the burdens and benefits of our own actions.  God judges each one of us according to our own lives. 

For every man shall bear his own burden. Galatians 6:5 (KJV)

     Jesus was the only innocent punished for the sins of others.  (See 1 Peter 3:18-19)

     By God’s grace, He’ll write your name in His book of life, but that will be a transaction between you and Him personally.

 Children and grandpuppy relaxing on Thanksgiving

In reply Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again." John 3:3 (NIV)

I thank my Heavenly Father God that we can all be His children through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.  I'm so thankful for His mercy and grace and His loving kindness to watch over each one of us.

Thank you for visiting Write Moments with God. 

And now, to announce the winner of Lisa Lickel's new mystery, Meow Meyhem.  Elaine Marie Cooper!  You will be receiving a copy.

Many thanks to all of you who left comments for Lisa and me.  We so enjoy reading your  nice comments.  I have a featured author and book give-away the first Monday of every month, so please mark your calendar. 

May God be with you and give you His peace.