May is National Foster Care Month, and around here at Gateway Woods that is big reason for reflection, thankfulness, and prayer. Children who are in foster care are orphans. They may be biological orphans, having lost one or more parents to death, or they may be situational orphans for a time. Many not only need a family for the short term here on earth, but also need to accept adoption into God’s family. Often, introducing a child to the Gospel begins by first establishing a compassionate relationship with the child.

May is National Foster Care Month, and around here at Gateway Woods that is big reason for reflection, thankfulness, and prayer.

Romans 15:7 invites us to "…receive ye one another, as Christ also received us to the glory of God." Jesus showed us the way to receive others, so that we may point them to God and give Him the glory. He showed us over and over with His actions that the key to connecting someone with God is starting with relationship. He displayed unbending acceptance of the person, and then leveraged the subsequent relationship to show people the stumbling blocks they had placed between themselves and God’s unselective love. Over and over, with the woman at the well, with a paralyzed man in Matthew 9, with Martha, Lazarus’ sister, and especially with his 12 disciples, He waded into relationship for the purpose of pointing the person to eternal salvation.

Who are the orphans in your circle of influence?

Who are those with whom you already have a relationship, that need further pulled and pointed toward relationship with Jesus? Who are those among your friends who are missing a father, a mother, or are alone in their family in their faith in Jesus? How can you dig deeper to leverage your connection with them to encourage and support? And if you can think of no one in your circle of influence, family, or friends who needs to be further received to the glory of God, perhaps it is time to pray that God lead you to those who need a relationship with you, to help them understand His relentless, unbending, eternal love for them!