“I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of joy within me.”
~ John 17:13
Hi James and Ellen,
Your grandmaa and grandpaa pray for you every day. We also pray for your ma and for your dad. It is a given that we pray. What does to pray mean? Praying is talking with God. Jesus talked with God. Do you know who Jesus is? Jesus is God’s only Son. God sent His Son to this earth about two thousand years ago. God had a reason to send His Son to this earth. Ask your ma and dad why God would want to send His only Son to this earth. They can tell you. This earth is where we live. Heaven is where God lives. God also lives on this earth today – and in us, through Himself as the Holy Spirit. Your grandpaa will tell you someday more about the Holy Spirit. The Bible tells us that heaven is a very beautiful place. Your grandpaa will tell you someday more about heaven. There are guys, gals and kids who are living on this earth who do not know why they are living on this earth. But among all the guys, gals and kids who are living on this earth, there are kids – like you, who God chose to be His adopted kids before He even created this earth. John 17 has Jesus talking – which is praying, with His Father God. Jesus is talking with His Father about what this earth is like. When your grandpaa taught about this earth and about heaven to the people in Bolivia and now when he teaches about this earth and about heaven to the people here in Guatemala, your grandpaa likes to use an illustration. An illustration can be a drawing or a word picture that helps someone to remember something. When your grandmaa and your grandpaa lived in Bolivia, your grandpaa whenever he went on a trip to visit villages carried about a four foot by four foot piece of black vinyl with him. When your grandpaa was asked to teach in a church on these trips, your grandpaa would use this piece of black vinyl – as he could write on it using a piece of chalk. Your grandpaa likes to draw stick figures in his illustrations. Ask your dad or your ma to draw you a stick person so that you can know what a stick person looks like. Your grandpaa would give each stick person a name. Your grandpaa would use the names of people who lived in the village where he would be teaching. When your grandpaa talked about this earth, he would tell the guys, gals and kids listening to him that everyone there at one time did not know why they were living on this earth. He would say that the whole square of black vinyl is this earth. He would also draw on the piece of black vinyl a blown up balloon. Your grandpaa would say that the balloon is an illustration of the church. When we talk about the church, we can say that the church is made up of all the guys, gals and kids who believe with all their heart that Jesus lived on this earth and what Jesus did for them while He was living on this earth. The guys, gals and kids who believe in Jesus are divinely led by God the Spirit through the balloon’s opening to become members of God’s church family. Your grandpaa will tell you someday more about what takes place when a guy, gal or kid becomes a member of God’s church family.
God knows who the guys, gals and kids are who He chose before He created this earth. This is one reason why your grandmaa and your grandpaa are in Guatemala right now – so that God can use them to lead some of those He chose to the opening of the balloon and into His church. Suppose you want to walk over to the townhouse where your Aunt Lynn and your Uncle Chris live but you do not know in which townhouse they live. Someone who knows where your Aunt Lynn and your Uncle Chris’ townhouse is would be able to lead you to their townhouse. Someone who knows where God lives and how to have God live in his or her life would be able to lead him or her to Him. Your grandmaa and your grandpaa are teaching Guatemalans to do this. Your grandmaa and your grandpaa do not know who on this earth are God’s chosen guys, gals and kids and who are not; they just believe that God will use them for His church’s sake in whatever way He pleases. When your grandmaa and your grandpaa talk to guys, gals and kids about God maybe having chosen them before He created this earth, they use a tract. A tract makes it easier for them to tell guys, gals and kids what the Bible says. The tract was written in Spanish. The tract’s title in English is ‘Five Steps To Life’. The tract uses Bible verses to explain the five steps to life. When your grandmaa and your grandpaa lived in Bolivia, college age teams of guys and gals would spend over seven weeks in Bolivia. Your grandmaa and your grandpaa would lead these teams of young people. Your dad and your Aunt Lynn would travel with the teams. If a college age guy or gal got the chance to talk to someone, he or she would use the tract. Your grandpaa one evening was near one of the young guys when he read through the tract. There were three guys sitting on a log – the college student reading the tract and two Bolivian guys. One of the Bolivian guys sat there while the other Bolivian guy listened to what was being read. After the tract was read, the Bolivian guy who had been read the tract was asked if he believed in what he had just heard. He said no. As the college student was starting to leave, the other young Bolivian guy said he believed what he had just heard and that he wanted to make a decision of faith. This young Bolivian guy that day went through the opening or the entrance of the balloon into God’s church family.
Jesus knew the guys, gals and kids who were living and who would live on this earth who His Father God had chosen before He created this earth. Jesus knew that He was soon going back to heaven to be with His Father. But first Jesus asked his Father in verse 13 “I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of joy within me.” When a guy, gal or kid is led by God the Spirit to believe in Jesus, they are filled with joy. They then will want to tell other guys, gals and kids what it is like to know Jesus.
John 17 (5)