Tag: Faith

Gift Giving

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Tis the season for malls, shopping, wrapping paper, gifts, bows, and ribbons.  Maybe you prefer online shopping in your bathrobe with the internet, eBay and UPS.  Or perhaps you prefer handmade gifts, baked goodies and homemade cards.  But no matter how you look at it this is the season for gift giving.  Why?  Most people probably give out of tradition.  You are supposed to buy gifts at Christmas.  It is what has always been done.  However, our family likes to look at gift giving a little differently.  While it is a tradition at our home it is one with a purpose.  We give gifts as a reminder of the greatest gift ever given to mankind.  I must admit that I love giving gifts to my children.  But toys and trinkets get broken, clothes get worn out and outgrown, electronics lose batteries and stop working, and the latest fad becomes next year’s obsolete.  So I ask myself what can I give my children that will last?  What type of gifts can I give that have true value?

In a world of busyness one of the most wonderful gifts we can give our children is TIME.  December is probably the busiest month of the year for us.  Between Thanksgiving and Christmas we go nonstop.  There are people to visit, parties and programs to attend, Christmas cantata’s to practice for, gifts to make, shopping to do, etc.   But life is short.  Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. (Jas 4:14)   This truth is especially evident when it comes to children.  They do not stay young forever.  They grow up fast.  As parents we only have a short time to invest in our children.  We need to slow down and give our children something that will matter – time.  Time with us, time to play games, time to talk, time to come apart from the world, time to meditate upon God, time to read together,  and time to be a family.  I have heard it said that the quantity of time does not matter as long as you give your children quality time.   This is not true!  Research has said that parents spend on average 3.5 minutes a day in meaningful conversation with their children.  How sad!  However, the average child watches 1,500 hours a year of TV.  I guess if you want Hollywood to raise your children then this statistic would not bother you.  But dear Christian parent is should bother you.  Turn off the TV and spend TIME with your children.  Read to them at night, pray with them, and sing songs.  When they grow up and look back at their life these are the things they will remember.

 Another gift we can give our children is a home filled with PEACE.  The world is hectic and noisy but our homes should be a gentle haven of rest for our children.  Our children should not have homes filled with screaming and shouting but with soft answers and love.  The fruits of the Spirit should be manifested in our homes – love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance.  A home filled with peace not only blesses our children but consider what a true witness it is to the world around us.  Voddie Bauchman in Family Driven Faith states, “Our homes must be rife with the aroma of love.  Those who visit us should notice immediately that they have left the world of self-serving egocentric narcissism and have entered a safe harbor where people value and esteem others above themselves.  Outsiders should enter our homes and never want to leave.  Our neighbors should find excuses to visit us just to get another whiff of the fragrant aroma of love.  The brokenhearted should long to be near us.  The down trodden and abused should seek us out.  Families on the brink of disaster should point to us and say, ‘Why can’t our home be like that?’”  This describes a home filled with PEACE.   What a superb gift to give our children.

 Another gift that is so overlooked in our modern culture is the gift of LOVING and RESPECTING the children’s father.  While loving your children is a given, a high value placed on loving their father is often ignored.  Notice the order of things that the older women are to be teaching the younger women mentioned in Titus 2:4-5, “That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed.”   The focus of the family should be on the marriage.  Children are in the home for a short time and the relationship they have with their parents change but this is not so in the husband and wife relationship.  When parents are united the children are blessed.  When I demonstrate to my children proper LOVE and RESPECT for my husband God is glorified and the children’s faith is strengthened. 

 While giving gifts let’s not forget the gift of HARDWORK.  Society will tell a child that you should do as little as possible to get as much as possible.  It is this fallacy of thinking that has led to lazy people and an abuse of our welfare system.   But, give your children the gift of learning how to work hard and they will always be able to thrive.  In addition, it is pleasing to the Lord.  And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; (Col 3:23)       

One of the greatest gifts we can give is the gift of INNER BEAUTY, especially when it comes to our daughters.  Godly women are not born, but raised.  There are many mothers concerned over whether their daughters have fashionable clothes and the latest styles.  And many mothers would be alarmed if their daughters were wearing dirty clothes.  But how many mothers care if their daughter has a filthy heart?  To teach and train our daughters about inner beauty that is acceptable to God is a divine gift we can give.  Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised. (Proverbs 31:30)

 There are many gifts we can give our children.  But one that is of utmost importance is to give your children BIBLICAL STANDARDS to live by.  As Christian parents we should not want for our children what every other parent wants.  We shouldn’t hold them to the world’s standards but to God’s standards.  Do you want your children to make the team?   What about them making it into the Lambs book of life?  Do you want them to get a good education?  What about them being educated in the Word of God?  Do you want them to be true and loyal to their friends?  What about your children being faithful to the Lord and His Church?  Do you want your children to be popular?  What about them being peculiar?  God’s ways are always higher.   “And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed” (Rom 12:2a).  Christian parent, there are many worthwhile pursuits in this world but few rise to the level of training our children to follow the Lord, to love Him with all we are, to treasure His Word, and to keep His commandments.  When we do this we have given our children gifts that never tear up, get worn, or get taken away.

 So, this holiday season I’ll be looking for presents for my children and wrapping packages like many others.  But the most precious gifts I’ll strive to give them will not be the ones that come in a box.  Instead, the gifts I will strive to give will be of eternal value.

The Enemy Within

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terrorist“If this does not stir up the American people I don’t know what will!” I commented to my husband after the Muslim terrorist attack at Fort Hood last week. “Sweetheart” he said, “9-11 only briefly awakened the people.” As sad as the statement was the apathy that has followed is evidence of that truth. The day after 9-11 the American people rallied together in a spirit of unity but what has happened since that time? Even now, days after Major Nidal Malik Hasan gunned down and murdered 13 American soldiers in the name of Allah the news reporters are still shunning away from words like terrorist and Muslim. No one will call a spade a spade, instead stating that his alleged faith might have triggered the attack. Might have? Are we so blind to the obvious truth? Have we come so far that we can no longer recognize the enemy? Anyone who still believes that the Muslim religion is one of peace does so by willing ignorance. Not only do these people want all infidels dead, it is their commission to carry it out. But this nation founded upon Christian principles gladly shuts her eyes to this. We’ll just welcome them in, pay for their schooling, enlist them in the army and turn the other cheek when they murder the innocent. It doesn’t take a fool to recognize that the most effective way to defeat an enemy is to do so from within. I’m afraid that our nation’s godly heritage has been chipped away piece by piece, generation after generation. Is there any of the internal fortitude of our founding fathers left in this country? Will we ever again be able to recognize and defeat the enemy within? Or, will we continue down the same destructive path in the name of political correctness? The answer lies within God’s Holy Word. “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” (2Ch 7:14) Perhaps before we can expect our nation to recognize the enemy within and do something about it; we as God’s people need to be able to. Our churches and our homes are filled with the enemy’s devices – sins, fallacies, and wickedness – all packaged so beautifully. Our churches have allowed false teachers because they tickle our ears. Sin abounds in the church because sin is pleasurable for a season. We have a form of godliness but deny the power thereof. We welcome in unbelievers for the sake of church growth. We compromise truth for the sake of unity. Our churches are dying spiritually and have been relegated to the corner of society because they are powerless. The reason our churches are weak is because our families are weak. Not only are they weak but they are being destroyed one home at a time. We have welcomed in humanistic thinking to the point to where a Biblical worldview seems skewed. We open our minds up to the world’s filth via Hollywood hours each day. We ask sin to come into our homes, to abide with us and to fellowship with us and then wonder why our marriages and our children are being destroyed by the Enemy. We accept and live by the standards of the world, never once seeking God’s holy standards for our lives. Why is our nation in trouble? It is simply because God’s people are in trouble. We must humble ourselves. We must pray. We must seek God’s face. We must turn from our wicked ways. Then, and only then, will God heal our land. Otherwise, the enemy within will accomplish what it has set out to do – steal, kill, and destroy.

90% Obedience = 100% Disobedience

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percentHe was just a little fellow, sitting on top of his bunk bed with his head hung low. “Son, you need to be obedient. Mommy and Daddy expect you to do what you’re told, when you’re told.” I don’t remember now what he was in trouble for but I do remember his response. “Mommy, nobody is perfect. I’m not Jesus.”

Over the years I have thought about that statement often. At first I allowed this form of manipulation to bring guilt. Maybe, I was expecting too much from a little boy. Maybe my standards were too high. But the Lord reminded me that if I was going to raise my children up according to Scriptures than I did not have the liberty of lower the standard. Sure, my children are not perfect. And sure, they will mess up. And when they do I will be faithful to forgive and love unconditionally just like God does. But nevertheless they are still expected to constantly obey. The bar of obedience will always be raised.

What if God treated His children like most parents treat their children today? Matthew 5:48 might look something like this: “Nobody is perfect but the Father in Heaven therefore do not worry about striving too hard, you’ll never make it.” Or when Jesus gave the greatest commandment in Matthew 22:37 it might have looked like this: “You shall love the Lord thy God as much as you can with your heart and soul and when you have time to think about it.” Or I Peter 1:15-16 might have read: “He who has called you is holy, so be holy as much as you can. I know however it’s impossible but try nonetheless.” And if God was like we are Jesus would not have said in John 14:15, “If ye love me, keep my commandments.” Instead, He might have said. “I realize that you’re love for me is not based on what you do, just tell me you love me, that’s enough for me.”

It’s blasphemy to say that God would act like this! Why then do we as parents? Why then do we as Christians? Why then do we as the church? I think it is because most people have broken the second commandment and have made a god in their own image. Most people have made up a god in their mind who has lowered the standard. This is why we have so many people who love to quote “where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty” and who like to point their fingers at people who are striving to please God with all their heart, soul, mind and strength and call these people legalistic. I counseled with a precious young lady on the phone the other day. She shared with me that some family members had accused her of “living under the law”. I asked this dear lady if she knew what I John 3:4 said. It says, “Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.” Now, call me old fashion, but if sin is the transgression of the law then I want to do everything I can to not break it. Not because I have to but because I want to. I love the Lord and I desire to please Him not in word only but also in deed. (James 1:22) I pray that I will never be satisfied with being partially obedient. I realize that perfection will not come until the day I am glorified and the day that I will “be like him” (I John 3:2). But until that day, I will strive. I will press toward the mark of the high calling. It’s really a matter of the heart.

The Upside-Down Trash Can

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thimbleIt has rained here all day. This means that my children, not able to play outside after their schoolwork, were rather restless. Then the electricity went out. Living in the forest, we never know how long it will stay out. Therefore, Abigail and Andrew made a tent in the living room out of blankets, chairs and rubber bands. After the excitement of that wore off Aaron broke out the Monopoly game. I was sitting on the couch trying to study my Sunday school lesson while listening to them talk about which game piece they wanted to be. It took me back to my childhood for just as second as I remembered always wanting to be the car. However, playing with my older brother I usually ended up being stuck with the dog or thimble (which no one ever wanted to be). It was then that I heard my son say something about the upside-down trash can. I found this very amusing. To a child who does not know what a thimble is or who has never had anyone explain it to him, it makes perfect sense to call it an upside-down trash can. That’s exactly what it looks like.

This made me think. I wonder what other preconceived notions my children have because I have failed to teach them the truth? While the correct terminology for the Monopoly pieces is not that big of a deal, there are many truths that my children need to be taught that are a very big deal. The most significant truths are, of course, about God and His Word. When the children of Israel passed over the Jordan into the promise land, God told Joshua to take 12 stones out of the midst of the river and set up a monument as a reminder of what great work God had done. That this may be a sign among you, that when your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying, What mean ye by these stones? Then ye shall answer them, That the waters of Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD; when it passed over Jordan, the waters of Jordan were cut off: and these stones shall be for a memorial unto the children of Israel for ever. (Joshua 4:6-7) It was the parents’ job to pass on the story to their children of how God parted the waters for the second time. It was their job to convey the glorious message that the mighty hand of God works miracles for his children. If they had failed who knows what mixed up theory and incorrect tale the future generations would have passed on.

Likewise, it is my job to pass on the wonderful spiritual truths of God to my children. If I fail to teach my children then they will conjure up their own ideas. Worse than that, Satan and the worldly system greatly desire to impart lies and deception on to these impressionable minds and will work tirelessly to do just that. If I am unsuccessful as their parent to give them Truth bases on God’s Word than what they will be given will be garbage, not fit for even a trash can (upside-down or not).

The Daughters of Sarah

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sadShe was a beautiful lady and well dressed but her eyes were so sad. “Can I ask you something?” she said. It was after I had finished speaking at an Apples of Gold ladies conference at our church that she approached me. “My husband portrays himself as a godly spiritual leader when we are at church but at home he is a different man. Am I still to submit to a hypocritical husband?” We talked for several minutes. I shared with her some Bible verses and ended saying, “Yes, we are to submit as unto the Lord. Scripture does not say we are only to submit to a perfect husband.” I explained to her that submission was easy when your husband was a godly man who strived to do with will of God and to love you as he should. But an ungodly man was no excuse for unsubmission. “Remember,” I said, “You will be accountable to the Lord for your obedience not your husbands.” After a few more minutes, she left with a glimmer of hope in those once sad eyes. I’ll probably never meet her again but have often wondered about this dear lady. Has she been obedient to the Scriptures in spite of her husband’s faults? Has God worked on her husband’s heart?

As heartbreaking as it is it happens often. You will have a wife who greatly desires to follow the Lord in submission to her husband. But he is either unsaved or simply does not obey the Word. Listen to what 1 Peter 3:1-6 says about this very thing, “Likewise, ye wives, be in subjection to your own husbands; that, if any obey not the word, they also may without the word be won by the conversation of the wives; While they behold your chaste conversation coupled with fear. Whose adorning let it not be that outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing of gold, or of putting on of apparel; But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price. For after this manner in the old time the holy women also, who trusted in God, adorned themselves, being in subjection unto their own husbands: Even as Sara obeyed Abraham, calling him lord: whose daughters ye are, as long as ye do well, and are not afraid with any amazement.”

Do you remember the story of Sarah and Abraham? Two times her husband put her in a dangerous situation by asking her to lie about their relationship. Once in Genesis 12 and then in Genesis 20 Abraham, because of fear, told his wife to say that she was Abraham’s sister causing her to be taken from him. “Even as Sara obeyed Abraham, calling him lord: whose daughters ye are, as long as ye do well, and are not afraid with any amazement.” If you will read the story you will learn that God protected Sarah in her obedience. And, God dealt with Abraham in his foolishness. Ladies, as hard as it is we must never forget that our submission is “unto the Lord.” Biblical submission is such a beautiful thing. Without submitting myself to Christ I could never be saved. Without submitting myself to my husband I could never be in the will of God. My husband and I have grown a lot in this area. He has not always loved me as he should and I have not always submitted as I should but can I tell you that the more we have grown in obedience to Scriptures that the easier it becomes. When I submit to my husband it is a lot easier for him to love me as Christ loves the Church. And when he loves me this way it is a lot easier to submit.

One of the best sermons on submission that I have ever heard is by S.M. Davis called “The 7-fold Power of a Wife’s Submission.” It will bless your heart. Go to http://www.biblepreaching.com to hear it.

There is a love that God hates!

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broken heart

Yesterday in the news I read a story about an eleven year old girl who was abducted on her way home from school and kept hidden in her abductors backyard for nearly two decades.   She was raped and gave birth to two children by this evil man.  While thinking about the story my heart broke.  I have a little girl who is nearly 11 years old.  Just the thought brings horror.  And people wonder why I do not let my children out of my sight.  We live in an evil world.  There are many people who are evil and they love evil works of darkness.   “Why boastest thou thyself in mischief, O mighty man? the goodness of God endureth continually. Thy tongue deviseth mischiefs; like a sharp razor, working deceitfully. Thou lovest evil more than good; and lying rather than to speak righteousness. Selah. Thou lovest all devouring words, O thou deceitful tongue. God shall likewise destroy thee for ever, he shall take thee away, and pluck thee out of thy dwelling place, and root thee out of the land of the living. Selah.”  Psalm 52:1-5         

Too many times I have heard sayings like this…  “A loving God would never send anyone to hell.”  Or “God is love, He cannot hate.”  Can I tell you that because God is love He must hate!  I love the Word of God therefore I hate false teaching.  I love freedom therefore I hate slavery.  I love the God ordained institution of marriage therefore I hate divorce, adultery, and homosexuality.  I love children therefore I hate abortion.  I love the truth therefore I hate lying.  I love everything that is good and holy therefore I hate everything that is evil.  “I have hated the congregation of evil doers; and will not sit with the wicked.” Psalm 26:5  “Ye that love the LORD, hate evil:” Psalm 97:10a                

There is a love that God hates.  Ask yourself, does God hate it when we have love for the things of this world?  “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.”  1John 2:15-16   “Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.”  James 4:4

 So I must ask, “Are there things in my life that I love and yet God absolutely hates?”   “Do I love the world?”  “Do I love the things of this world?”  “Do I watch things on TV that grieves the Lord?  Do I listen to or read things that God hates?”   “Do I think and mediate upon things that God hates?”  “Is my affection set on things of the earth or on things above?”  May I never love the things that God hates.

The Antithesis of Home Schooling

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As the summer flew by we knew that our journey in knowledge would continue as we picked the books back up.  We often remind our children that one should never stop learning, however during the summer months our family takes a more informal approach to academics.  But this week began our official “school time”.  With great expectations I woke Monday but by the end of the day all I could do was shake my head.  The day did not go as planned.  There was fussing, disobeying and yes, even screaming.  And the children didn’t do so well either.  As I pondered the first day back at school and searched my heart for the answer to why the day did not go well, the Lord spoke to my conscience.  I already knew the answer for conscience means with (con) knowledge (science), making my conclusions all the more painful.  It was as if the Lord asked, “By what standards are you setting up for your children?  Are your goals based on the world or do you have a Biblical standard for these children I have given you?  Are you concerned with only the outcome or is it the process of learning that you care about?  Are you teaching your children so that they will get the best education or is there a higher calling of teaching your children – for My Glory?”    In truth there is such a contrast in each approach. Therefore it is important to reevaluate our reasoning for home education each year.  While my husband is constant in his goals for this family I must admit that I am prone to wander off the path at times.  I believe that is why God in all His wisdom allows me a day like Monday.  He allows me to slip off the path of excellence, fall down on the rocky road of this world, and then come running back to His marvelous plan for my life.  So, as I nursed my bruises from the day before I took on a whole new approach to learning and teaching on Tuesday.   Whether we were reading the Word of God as a family, practicing cursive handwriting, or studying the 2nd law of Thermodynamics our focus was upon doing all things for the Glory of God.  Would you believe that the contrast was as stark as night and day?   

The Slave

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chains

The story of Onesimus speaks to my heart

From Philemon his owner, this man did part

And ran away and joined another

Paul – apostle, prisoner, and brother.

The Word was taught for man to do right

It’s wrong for a slave to run and take flight.

Go back, serve your master it would be better

But take comfort my friend, I’ll send a letter.

On your behalf any debt I will repay;

I’ll take it upon myself, it’s the only way.

With Paul as his intercessor, willing to repent,

Back to Philemon he was sent.

Not only a slave but now a brother

For Onesimus gladly serves another.

Another story of a slave let me tell,

This one was bound and headed for hell.

My master was Satan and I served only sin

I would serve him today had grace not been.

The wages due was nothing but death

No hope within, there was nothing left.

Until the day a new Master sought me

Breaking chains of bondage setting me free.

The debt I owed – my Lord paid it all,

He lifted me up out of the fall.

Now no longer just a poor slave

From my Master new life He gave.

As joint-heirs He is also my brother

For now I gladly serve another.

From the Mouth of Babes!

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100_2285

Over the weekend our family drove down to the coast. My oldest son had a couple of friends with him. On the way one of the boys commented that he made a bet with his sister that he would never get married.

My reply was, “Of course you will.”

This young man said, “I just want to be single.”

At this point in the conversation Andrew, my six year old piped in saying, “You are single when you get married.”

To which I said, “No you’re not.”

“Yes, you are.” Andrew insisted, “The two shall become one flesh.”

Even now as I sit here pondering the significance of what this child said I wonder just how many adults grasp this concept.

“And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh? Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. They say unto him, Why did Moses then command to give a writing of divorcement, and to put her away? He saith unto them, Moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it was not so.” (Matthew 19:4-8)

I know divorce is a very real problem with mankind. It always has been. But as believers we must be diligent in the Biblical teaching of marriage. For those who are married they must take heed lest they fall (I Cor. 10:12). For those who have been divorced how much more should they teach and train their children the consequences of divorce and the standards of God. As parents our goal is to show our children what a healthy marriage looks like. My husband strives to be a strong leader and a godly husband and father. I strive to be a submissive wife and a loving mother. While we both fail at times our desire is to endeavor towards the high calling in which we are called. In that my children will have an example in which to look. I pray that my son (as well as all my children) will continue to hold fast to the truths in God’s Word. I pray that he will want to be a husband and father someday. And that he will long for the day in which God gives him a wife.

“Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favour of the LORD”. (Proverbs 18:22)

Within 50 Years

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heaven

When I think about my life and all the blessings that God has showered down upon me I cannot help but praise Him for His great love. I could never add up all the mercy and goodness that my Father gives me. Blessings flow from Heaven daily. My life is a joy. It’s filled with peace and contentment.

Yet, there is a sobering thought in my mind lately. As wonderful as this life is probably within the next 50 years it will all be over. Scripture states it like this: Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. (James 4:14)  Within 50 years my time on earth will be gone, that is, if I live a full life. How many lives are cut short due to accidents and illnesses? Or perhaps, Christ will return even sooner. While the thought of the rapture or death to this soul holds no fear, I can only imagine how one might tremble at the thought who does not know Christ.

My husband is teaching Ray Comfort’s “The Way of the Master” Evangelism course on Wednesday nights. It’s amazing to watch the videos of them interviewing people on the streets. While most will agree that they think about death, most of them have no hope. And many of the ones that do have a small sliver of hope are deceived to believe a lie. It’s very sad. This morning I read the famous sermon by Jonathan Edwards, “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God.” After reading it my heart broke for all the people I know who are lost. I’m concerned and fear for those I don’t even know. My heart is filled with compassion and I’m convicted and burdened in that I don’t witness like I should.

My husband ask his class a few weeks ago why people don’t witness. Many of the answers were “because of fear”. While there is a truth to that statement I wish that was all there was to it. I will submit that it’s not fear as much as unconcern. Sometimes I feel like a sailor on ship content while there are people drowning in the sea. My captain gives the command to help those who are perishing but I stay dry and safe praising and loving my Captain on board. I pray God will give me concern and love for others.

Please go to http://www.repentamerica.com and read the sermon I mentioned. Let it work on your heart as you think about those who are lost.

Go to http://www.livingwaters.com and read the letter from the atheist.

Go to http://www.whatifimpretending.com and see the gravity of the situation that many are in today.

Remember, most of us will stand before God within the next 50 years. Will He be able to say, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant”?

That is my heart’s desire.