Hi, how are all the listeners out there, this is Jessica on Moms for Christ! Hopefully you're doing okay in the midst of all the social distancing and that it's over very soon. The Lord reminded me today of a recent meeting between my husband and a friend of his. He had a new baby at home who is 5 months old who is crying and he was telling us how he felt very conflicted about going and soothing his baby because the popular tradition and new teaching from all the books is teaching the baby how to self soothe and not to grab them as soon as they start crying. I had really tried to make Him feel comfortable in saying that if he felt that he wanted to go and sooth and love on his child, that he was never going to do any harm to that child while loving on it, giving it attention.

"Because we are the sons of God, we received the spirit of His son Jesus Christ, and there is nothing that God the Father would withhold from his son."

That's really the message that God has brought and put upon my heart so that I can share with you today. Because in the midst of everything that's going on, as Christians God has called us to love. To display His love in the world, but really it begins in the home. You see, loving our spouses and loving our children can only be done through the love of Jesus Christ and really that can only come when we have received the Spirit of sonship from God. He gave His son up as a sacrifice for us and when we receive His spirit, we are able to cry out “Abba Father” to God and we receive a Spirit, not of fear, but of love. Not to be timid, not to shy away, not to run away from God, not to fear Him in a sense that we're too afraid to approach His throne, but we in love through Jesus Christ, are able to approach God as our dad. When we need help, we are able to call upon Him. When we need deliverance, we can seek His name and His power and we rely on the promises of inheritance in the kingdom of God. Because we are the sons of God, we received the spirit of His son Jesus Christ, and there is nothing that God the Father would withhold from his son. He loves the son and He seated Him at the right hand, in the throne of his kingdom. There we are seated amongst Christ when His spirit is inside of us.

"When he tends to us, it's in a loving manner...the love of the Father!"

“No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and His love is made complete in us.” I’d like to just focus on that line that says “God lives in us and his love is then made complete in us.” To help us understand this, maybe we can use the example of a withering plant. If the plant is withered and it's starting to get brown spots and it's looking pretty shabby, we can give it some attention and some proper maintenance. We can repot it, we can give it the right amount of water, put it in the sunlight if that's what it requires. We can maybe prune away some of the dead leaves so that it can be revived, and sooner or later, I'm sure all of you have had the experience of being able to revive a plant and allow it to be fruitful once again, either with a flower blossom or a vegetable plant giving off its fruit. That's really the way the love of God is in each and everyone of us. God finds us in a withered state, a dry state, unable to produce the fruit that God requires and when he tends to us, it's in a loving manner. He prunes us, He disciplines us, He teaches us, He shows us all of His glory and might. The end result of that is a man or a woman who can stand there and who has been lavished with the love of God upon them and they are confident in the Lord. They are those oaks of righteousness, they cannot be shaken. They are confident in the power of their God and they know that their God loves them and no matter how many doors are closed to them, no matter how many people try to push them away, they are confident in the purpose that God has given them. They know who they are.

That's really what we want to be able to do with our children and it is my prayer for you today that you will be able to focus on that with your children during this time that we are still at home. Setting yourselves on a trajectory of raising Godly children that know that they are loved by God. For some of us, some of our parenting styles have really been affected or taxed or imposed on by worldly teachings.I encourage you today, to acknowledge how God has loved you and to think about how we can reciprocate that love unto God. Being able to share those stories and that experience with your children, teaching them that God loves them also and that they can learn to love God through the life of Jesus Christ.

"Because God the Father has invested in you as an individual..."

My prayer for you today is that you would be able to break away and be very unconventional in your parenting. That whatever way God leads you, that you would be sensitive to how the Holy Spirit leads you each and every day. If you would please allow me to pray for you. Lord, we just thank you so much for this very special time and I know that you had me speaking to specific moms out there who are listening to this message. I just want to declare right now over you that perfect love drives out all fear. If any one of you are feeling, just a little bit nervous about having so much time at home and the kids not having a lot of influence because they're not going to school and we're not really leaving the house. I just say right now that there's no greater person than to raise your children in the love of Jesus Christ. Because God the Father has invested in you as an individual and he has sent His son for you and you can share that story with your children and allow the love of God to blossom in your children. That they during this time, wouldn't necessarily just be focused on learning their scholastic skills, but that they would be able to know at the end of this whole session, this time of quarantine and social distancing, that they will come out being more confident than they've ever been before in knowing that their God loves them and that their God is for them, He is with them, and He will never leave them!

"...your word that constantly shows us how we ought to love one another. "

We thank you Lord for each and every person who is listening today. We ask that your love will be manifested in their houses this day and that every mom here would have a new confidence that they will be able to do something more powerful than they've ever done before. That it wouldn't necessarily be parenting books that we be looking at, but that it would be your word that constantly shows us how we ought to love one another. The fruit of love, God, can look many different ways and I pray that you give each and every person the power to show and display your love. Your love is made complete in each and every one of us. Thank you, that you use us to be part of your story God. We love you Lord and we declare it this day. May your love fall on each and every person. Thank you God. In your name we pray, amen! Thank you guys for listening, it was so great spending some time with you and we'll be in touch soon.