God's Pure Love for You

All of life and relationships are a chain. The strongest link should be our union with Christ. All other links will be affected by the strength of my link to Christ!

Next, the strongest link must be my marriage. Christ is the “bonding glue” or “strength of the metal”  that holds the marriage together. If union with Christ is weak, the bonds of marriage will be weak. If it is strong, the marriage will be strong. This bond is made solid as the believer yields completely to Christ, through prayer, Bible study, and his walk with Christ.

Our children and family are the next links. Each link will affect the chain a certain way, if the chain is complete and strong, or weak and unconnected. If one link is ignored or weakened enough, the chain or family will be broken.

The more the power and love of Christ holds the husband and wife link together, the more that power will flow out to the temporarily smaller links. The other links or children will grow to be as strong or as weak as the link between the husband and wife, except by the grace and mercy of God.

Grandchildren are also more links in the chain!

After Christ, all of the links eventually become of equal importance as individual links and in holding the chain together.

As each link yields to the power flowing through the chain, or to Christ, through prayer and submission to Him and His Word, the chain will become unbreakable and will shine forth as pure gold to the world, inviting outsiders to join the chain that is bonded together in Christ!

Even so, there are instances, in 2 Kings, of the godlessness of a father not being seen in the grand-son. One big example is in 2 Kings 21 -23:30. God, in His mercy produced a godly king named Josiah after Manasseh, his grand-father, reigned as king over Judah. Manasseh had committed “wickedly more than all the Amorites did who were before him, and …also made Judah sin with his idols.” – 2 Kings 21:11. 2 Kings 21:9 also says, “…Manasseh seduced them to do evil more than the nations whom the LORD destroyed before the sons of Israel.” Manasseh’s son, Amon, reigned only 2 years, did evil in the sight of the Lord as Manasseh had done, and was killed in his own house by his servants! – 2 Kings 21:19-26.

But then Josiah showed up to “save the day”. Josiah began reigning as king at eight years old! He did right in the sight of the LORD and walked in all the way of his father David, nor did he turn aside to the right or to the left. He had the Temple of the LORD repaired, humbled himself before the Lord when the neglected Book of the Law was found, and made a covenant with God to obey God with all his heart and soul.The people of Judah also entered into this covenant. After this, Josiah reformed the nation to serve God. He destroyed all the idols, their altars, the idolatrous priests, and anything associated with idol worship, and he restored observance of the Passover.

There was no king before or after him who turned to the LORD as much as he did, as told in 2 Kings 23:25. So if you come from a bad, broken chain or dysfunctional family, there is still great hope for you, if you turn to the LORD! You can then influence for good the generations to come from you!

Please read my next post, “THE GOSPEL CHAIN”, to see how all of Scripture is a chain and tool for evangelism!