There's a great website I often use when I'm looking for answers to questions my Bible students might have. This website has tracts, articles, radio and tv programs. There's a good bit of Bible info there handy at your fingertips. Why don't you take the time to read, listen or watch something today? Building your wall and strengthening your spiritual lives is a daily necessity!
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"Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward. As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth. Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate." (Psalms 127:3-5) I know I've mentioned it on this blog before, but I am amazed at people's attitudes toward children. Our recent announcement that number four is on the way is a joy to our immediate family, but I'm very much surprised at our extended families reaction to it. This baby is already looked upon at least by one person as a burden and that leaves a heaviness on my heart. I know that children are a joy to our Lord and Savior. At least two times we see Him with children. Here is one time: "At the same time came the disciples unto Jesus, saying, Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them," (Matthew 18:1-2) I can't help but picture Jesus with a smile on His face, calming the child's fears as He picked the little one up or guided him/her to the middle of the crowd. They were a joy for Him to see as he went about with His work on this earth. We must think as God does. Children are a blessing and not a burden. Large families are not contributing to over-population, but should be looked at future population of the Lord's church. We are raising the next preacher, song leader, elder, Bible class teacher and most of all soul winner! Let us once again purge the worldly ideas from our minds and accept the way God views children.
What is the secret to sibling relationships? Why do some brothers and sisters fight like cats and dogs? Why do others get along like peas in a pod? I certainly don't know all of the answers maybe you can add some to the mix, but here are some things that seem to impact it.
1. Personalities - Some personalities just fit better with others and some take a little more time to work out the kinks. Some kids have an easy going get along with anyone personality and others can't stand anything that is not a particular way. 2. Age and Sex - Boys and girls are different and like different things and children of different ages have different interests as well. I have noticed that our 1 year old does not care if her brother who is nine gets a hug from mom or a song and snuggle, but gets very jealous if her 6 year old sister gets those things. I'm not sure if it is the age or the sex that influences that behavior, but we are working on it. 3. Sleep - When children are tired they get cranky just like adults. 4. Eating Habits - Sweets and things can definitely impact chidren's attitudes. 5. Parents Relationship - If parents fight with each other children are more likely to do the same. 6. TV, Video Games, and Computer Games - There is something about these and other forms of entertainment that seem to bring out the worst in people and kids are no exception. We seem to think the thing we are watching or playing is more important than the people in our lives and that causes problems. 7. Parents attitudes toward children - If parents are constantly to busy for their kids, griping at them, finding fault with them, and/or expressing feelings of frustration and anger rather than love; the children will do the same with their siblings. I am sure there are more reasons, maybe you can think of one you would like to add. Sometime we will have to look at some things that can help reduce that sibling rivalry and help peace and love reign in our homes. I know I need help with that one! What is our purpose in life? Even if people don’t actually voice the question, their soul cries out from within. People are searching. Searching for the purpose in their lives. Women move from career to career, searching but not finding. Men find a certain solace in their jobs, content to ‘bring home the bacon.’ But even they lack a defined purpose.
God calls men to be the head of their house. "But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God." (1Co 11:3) Men are called to be the leaders in the home. This is an unpopular view in today’s society, but God makes it clear. But my purpose in writing this is for women. Since man is to be our head, we are to submit to his authority. We follow where he leads us to heaven. This also is unpopular. Our society teaches us to obey our own will instead of bowing to another’s will. Our purpose is to bow first to God’s will and then to our husband’s. The thing that impresses me the most is that we were created for a specific purpose. God created Adam first. His first task was to name all the animals. When there was not someone suitable to be a companion for him, God created one. Woman was born out of a specific need, a desire for man to have a counterpart. "And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him." (Gen 2:18) We were made so that man would not be alone, but many women instead choose to leave man alone. Some leave their purpose behind to pursue their self-made purposes in the world. May we rise above and accept our God-given roles to be the women we were created to be. There is no doubt that there are many roles that a father must fill, and
some of us are better at one than another. We all have strengths and weaknesses. We all have different talents and gifts. Recently I have heard two different philosophies on how to handle those strengths and weaknesses. The first concept is to spend extra time and effort on the weak areas to make them stronger. The idea is that even though it may never be as strong as an area that comes naturally, you will be well-rounded and better overall. The second point-of-view is to spend your time and energy on your strengths and excel in those areas and just try to do enough to get by in the other areas where you are weaker. These two ideas were proposed in the arena of jobs, occupations, and careers. The second seems to be very reasonable in that realm. If I hate math and am not good at it becoming an accountant is probably not the best idea for me. However, I have to be careful not to go to the extreme of saying that since I don’t like math I will just not bother learning how to balance my checkbook. Even though the idea of excelling in your strengths works well in the business world, it doesn’t do as well in relationships. If I am a great talker, but a horrible listener that will be a problem. Becoming an even better talker is not going to help my relationships. As a husband, son, brother, father, or even friend if I want to have good relationships I have to work on the areas where I am weak to make them better. Unfortunately, many men have lived by the second philosophy for too long. For many men the role of provider was the easiest. They could go out into the world and work to bring home the bacon. They were good at it. It came naturally for them, so they focused their energy and time on excelling at it. They brought home big fat salary checks and thought they were great fathers because of it. There is no doubt that providing for your family is an essential part of being the kind of husband and father God wants us to be (1 Timothy 5:8), but providing money is only one part of that. What about providing them with an unconditional love like God provides us, or companionship, or a moral compass, or spiritual guidance, or a compassionate ear, or an example of faithfulness to God, our wives, and children. The list could go on, but we must be more than just breadwinners that are absentee fathers in the other areas. I want to challenge all fathers to not only excel in your natural strengths, but like the 5 talent man go out and double the gifts and strengths that you have. You may find that the reward of growing in new areas will outweigh the pain and sacrifice of effort and in the end it will be well worth it. Technology is amoral. If I've used the term correctly, I mean that it is neither good nor evil. It can be used for good or evil. People on the internet have used technology for both. There are many things out there posted by people that are evil and very destructive to the Christian. On the other hand there is much out there that is good for edification and building up. These are the things I try to focus on in this blog. Today's feature is to share with you Focus Press's new YouTube channel. This is a great tool to use for you to build your faith. Show the videos to your children and build their faith! Spread the word!
"In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." (Genesis 1:1) "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made." (John 1:1-3) "That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life; (For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;) That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full." (1 John 1:1-4) Last year, our congregation did several ladies vs. men Bible bowls and 1 John happened to be one of the books. Before that, I had never before made these connections. I'm just fascinated now by these passages. I could read John 1 over and over. If I were given a chance to sit down and talk with one of the 12 apostles, I think John would be the one I'd choose (with Peter coming in close behind). John is known as the disciple of love and I think 1 John especially bears that out. I am certainly not an expert on the book, but an in-depth study of 1 John (with connections to Genesis and John) should certainly be in the top five of every Christians study list. Just random thoughts again today. Happy studying in the Word!
Hot off the presses! Can you say that when it is a DVD? Well, whatever it is, they are here! The next two episodes of Digger Doug was just released this morning! Get yourself a copy! Episode 17, titled “Coal and the Age of the Earth” AND
Episode 18 is titled “The Complex Design of the Human Body” "For this child I prayed; and the LORD hath given me my petition which I asked of him:" (1 Samuel 1:27) I have seen it way too many times. The way the world looks at children. I've even heard of eye-rolling during worship when little toddlers make noises. Our society has gone so far as to throw babies into dumpsters and mothers think nothing of it. I have seen mothers whose children bring them flowers and the mothers throw them down on the ground without a thought and with an unkind word to their child. There are mothers that beat their children with hairbrushes and drown them in bathtubs. There's an attitude as if children don't matter and don't have rights. It is almost as if children don't have a soul even. We must keep this attitude from creeping into our own homes. God sees every life as special - each has a soul that He would love to live forever with Him. “Rejoice in the Lord alway: and again I say, Rejoice.” (Philippians 4:4) Paul is not simply making a suggestion, this is a command. We spend years – or at least 9 months – anticipating the arrival of a little blessing. But somewhere between the midnight feedings (sometimes 2 or 3 a night), crying for unknown reasons, diaper changes and extreme fatigue we forget the blessing that God has given us. In the verse I quoted above, Hannah says this as she is about to turn her weaned child over to Eli. She's keeping her promise to the Lord to give her son back to God. She cherished him, yet gave him up as she vowed. She didn't view her son as someone she was ready to pawn off to someone else. He was precious to her as we can see as she brought him a new coat each year. Do we give good things to our child? Jesus said, “If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?” (Luke 11:11-13) What better gift could you give your child than to pass down a genuine faith? Love God, show love to your neighbor and especially to your children. God does: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)
"Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth." (1 John 3:16-18) Do we love the church enough to lay down our lives for them? We should have the attitude of being willing to serve our Brothers and Sisters in whatever need they have. Let's not simply tolerate our fellow Sisters, but LOVE them as Christ did.
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