In case you are not a regular reader, I will share with you that our 13 year son, Joshua, has Down’s syndrome. A friend of ours approached me a few weeks ago telling me that he was asked to pray with a family whose newborn child also had been given this diagnosis. He mentioned that some of the others present were praying “against the curse of Down syndrome.” He confided to me that he was unable to pray that way because he did not see the diagnosis in such a negative light. Having been a part of a special needs ministry, he commented that the participants in that program had a unique connection with God.

My response when I heard this was sadness for the baby and the family. I do not feel Joshua is plagued by the curse of Down syndrome or that his condition was a triumph of our Adversary. Joshua is a divine gift for our family for reasons only God understands, yet I do know having Josh has taught us about God’s abundant and unfailing love for his children. Joshua’s presence in our lives has given us a depth of compassion for hurting people that we as a family would not have gained parenting four typical children. Joshua reminds us that our value does not rest on our performance.

Katherine Wolf, who survived a stroke and wrote about her journey expressed an idea in Hope Heals that resonates with my journey.

I have learned to do many things well – to wait well, to suffer well, to cope well, to persevere well, and even to lose well. Our culture tells us to be beautiful, to avoid pain and be happy. What if everything important in our lives is actually the opposite?

The things the enemy intends to devastate and cause despair, God transforms into uniquely designed opportunities for sanctification. The diagnosis or circumstance that someone perceives as a curse may become a window into the heart of God.

I was participating in a Zoom Bible study with people I had never met. One of the participants shockingly stated, “The church pews are one of the most fertile mission fields.”

A lot of people in church don’t actually know Jesus.

There are 2 ways to be lost. We can be lost in obvious rebellion from God, or we can be lost in our own self-righteousness thinking we are “good enough” and therefore not mindful of our desperate need of God’s mercy. Jesus made use of at least two parables which demonstrated this.

The first is of a Pharisee and a tax collector (Luke 18:9-14) which Jesus told to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous yet viewed others with contempt. When the Pharisee entered the temple to pray, he recounted his good deeds before God while the tax collector pleaded, “God, be merciful to me, the sinner!” Jesus tells his audience that the tax collector who humbled himself was right with God, not the one trusting that his position and good works made him acceptable to God.

Even more well known, is the parable of the prodigal son found in Luke 15:11-32. By requesting his inheritance and leaving home, the younger son clearly dishonored his father and wasted the blessings his father had bestowed upon him, but what about the older bother? He lived day after day in his father’s household, but he did not emulate the character of his father. Instead of feeling joy when his brother returned home, he was angry that the prodigal was being celebrated rather than chastised. He did not share his father’s generous heart. He too failed to treasure the blessings his father had generously bestowed on him believing he was worthy and deserving of his inheritance.

In the days of King Josiah, the priest, Hilkiah, found the Book of the Law hidden inside the house of God. This seems unimaginable that the words God had given Moses to record were somehow buried underneath other things and forgotten. Even so, I wonder if a similar circumstance has occurred today. The words of the Bible are buried underneath and crowded out by other sources of wisdom such as books written by spiritual men and women of our day, knowledge found in the theories of scientists, or the alarming circumstances broadcast by journalists.

Jesus gives us a stern warning in Matthew 7:21,24, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the kingdom of heaven but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven will enter…. everyone who hears my words and acts upon them may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock.”

Our previous pastor often said, “You can miss heaven by 12 inches.” The distance between our head and our heart is about a foot. We may sit in church hearing truth and learning more, yet a true disciple daily puts the words of Jesus into practice and continually seeks to be molded into the character of our Heavenly Father.

For God so loved the world that He gave his only son that whoever believes in Him will have eternal life.

You have probably memorized the 16^th verse of the 3^rd chapter of John. Interestingly, there are many other significant 3:16 passages. Enjoy 😊

Luke 3:16 – John answered, “I baptize you with water, but He who is mightier than I is coming, the strap of who sandals I am not worthy to untie. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.”

1 Corinthians 3:16 Do you not know that you are a temple of God and the Spirit of God dwells in you?

Ephesians 3:16-17 May Christ dwell in your hearts through faith – that you being rooted and grounded in love may have strength to comprehend with all the saints the depth and breadth and height of the love of Christ

Colossians 3:16 Let the word of Christ richly dwell in you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

2 Timothy 3:16 -17 All scripture is breathed by God and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

2 Thessalonians 3:16 Now may the Lord of peace Himself continually grant you peace in every circumstance. The Lord be with you all!

1 John 3:16 We know love by this, that He laid down his life for us; and we ought to lay down our life for our brethren.