Cultivating A Thankful Heart In Your Children

It has been a while again since I have written on the topics that were before me, but I have been working on a prayer ministry for the election. Now that that is over, we need to certainly continue to pray for those elected, but I will be going back to my other concerns related to teaching our children.

I have been doing a series on “Train up a child in the way he should go…” and was discussing some of the qualities we want to be sure to train into our children before they leave our homes. With Thanksgiving upon us, I want to take some time to discuss how to teach children to be thankful.

Now, teaching them to say “Please” and “Thank you” is a noble effort and a good start, but what I am really speaking of is training their hearts to be genuinely thankful. The Bible teaches us that being thankful should accompany our requests when we pray (Philippians 4:6). So how do we train the hearts of our children so that this attitude of thankfulness comes from within?

First of all, assume they will get no teaching on this topic from the culture! Then if they do get a little encouragement along this line, that will be a bonus. Just don’t assume your job is easier because it is taught somewhere else. Our culture, and hence most children, is a very ungrateful place in which to grow up! We have a very self-centered society and that makes our job more difficult and not less difficult. The culture is teaching children that they are owed certain things and if they don’t get them, they should exercise their “rights” in order to rectify the situation.

Secondly, let them see you displaying a thankful heart! Let them hear you thanking the Lord and praising God for the gifts we receive from Him each and every day. Let them hear us praise God for the provisions we enjoy even if it isn’t as we would have planned. Thank Him for the food that was given and eat it even if it isn’t your favorite. Be thankful for the hand-me-downs or sale items even if you might have chosen something else if you had the choice. Thank Him for the illness or the snowy weather that interfered with your outing. Children need to see this characteristic modeled and the most effective people to do that for them are their parents.

One more real practical way to teach your children to be thankful is to not allow them to complain about the things God has provided. Of main concern on this topic is in the area of food. Children should come to the table with a thankful heart for whatever their mother has prepared for them. If they complain and it is not tolerated, this will go a long way in getting that teaching into their hearts and you will have won a major victory in what is a lifetime battle. If you desire to see a very practical approach to this issue, check out the October 1, 2007, entry in my blog where there is a detailed description of how to approach this problem in children.

Teach your children to share with others who are less blessed. Let them be a blessing and learn the joy of giving to someone who has less than they do. Sometimes, (due to government programs and maybe where we live) it is hard to find a family who has less than we do in material items, but there are various organizations and ministries who can help along that line. For instance, there is Samaritans Purse and others who will take your money and buy Bibles or other items to distribute in countries where owning a Bible is a very special privilege. Let your children actually work to earn some money so they can feel the joy of actually giving something for which they have worked! As we come through this wonderful time of Thanksgiving and Christmas, I will be sharing some of the traditions we have started for our grandchildren with the hope of supporting their parents in their efforts to train the hearts of their children in this area.

One of the best ways to evaluate where your children are in this process of learning to be thankful is to watch and see how generous they want to be with their own things. As parents, it is imperative for you to allow them to be generous even if it seems somewhat careless to you. You need to help them give with a joyful heart and help them work through the level of giving that is appropriate for them. But above all, don’t discourage them or belittle their desire. This is a true sign that they are not thinking totally about themselves and have attained a certain level of contentment with their own level of “things”.

There are a lot of other nuances that surface in a discussion of this nature, but suffice it to say that no one is ever perfect at this. It is a growing process and goes on for a lifetime. Let your children know that you are still growing in this area and it is something you can work at together. Let them see that you have this quality of being thankful as one of your goals for your life, and then let them see you working on it even after they leave your home.

Next week, I will take a break from the normal entries and I will pass on some of our favorite Thanksgiving and Christmas recipes.

Some Final Thoughts for November 6

Well, we have prayed and God has spoken! It is great to know that God has planned this outcome for this time and that none of it takes Him by surprise. That gives me great courage and determination to submit to His authority and His plan. I will continue to pray and seek His will for me. I will continue on my mission of impacting our grandchildren for His Kingdom and supporting our children as they seek to raise their children for His glory. I will continue to do whatever I can to fulfill the Great Commission and do the ministries that God has given to women through His Word. None of that has changed and most of all, God has not changed. We have the wonderful hope of Christ’s appearing (Titus 2:13) and nothing can dampen the peace and joy we have because of that!

Thanks to all of you who have prayed and to those who have been so encouraging to me through this time of election. Thanks for sharing articles and forwards concerning others who have been praying around the world. We know that this outcome is part of God’s ultimate plan as so many were praying. Let’s keep praying and see what God is going to do! It is exciting to think of how God will use this and what part we might play in His ultimate plan!

I was reminded just yesterday of an old song which isn’t right out of the
Scripture, but it certainly contains Scriptural principles and I want to share it with you.
It is called: “My Savior” and it is by Dora Greenwell.

My Savior Dora Greenwell (verses 1 & 5)

I am not skilled to understand
What God has willed, what God has planned;
I only know at His right hand
Is One Who is my Savior.

Yea, living, dying, let me bring
My strength, my solace from this spring;
That He Who lives to be My King
Once died to be my Savior.

There is where our hope lies: Jesus Christ is King!

With love and appreciation! Ruth

Prayer Requests - October 30

Well, Ladies, here we are in the final stretch before the election – the main reason for which we came together for prayer at this time! We have prayed and we have prayed and now it is time to go out next Tuesday and exercise one of our fundamental rights as Americans! Go out and vote and celebrate America! Now is the time to stand our ground! Don’t let the things around you cause you to be disheartened. Let’s bow ourselves before God and acknowledge His power and His control in this battle that we face and then let’s thank Him for seeing us through another day. Remember, His promises are sure and He will not allow anything to happen apart from His perfect plan. I have received, as I am sure many of you have, MANY emails and forwards and other communications concerning Christian people who are praying all over this land! God has heard us and He will respond to us with His best plan. Let’s continue to pray and turn the results over to Him! We and our families and our country are all in His hands and there is nothing that will take Him by surprise! REMEMBER: “Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world!”

1. Pray for the final stage of the campaign phase of this election.

2. Pray that Christians will get out to vote in numbers that we haven’t seen before!

3. Pray that God’s people will vote for the man who will stand most strongly for our Christian values and Scriptural principles.

4. Pray that righteousness will be exalted and that evil will be judged.

5. Pray that we will be thankful and rest in the outcome knowing that God has looked at all the options and decided just which outcome will bring Him most glory.

Correction

Yesterday I was on my way to Holland Hospital to sit with our family while my mother-in-law had a double mastectomy, when it occurred to me that I had made a mistake in the information on my prayer requests. (You know how sometimes something just comes to you and you weren’t even trying to think about it? It is like God was just putting it there so that I could make the correction.) I gave Moses the credit for calling down fire from Heaven to burn up the water-soaked altar. That was actually another one of Elijah’s events. I was connecting Moses with an altar, but it was the wrong one. I was going to make the correction on my next post, but someone has already noticed it, so I am sending it out today. Please forgive me! Thanks! Ruth

Prayer Requests for October 23

Elijah prayed and it did not rain! Elijah also prayed and fire burned up the sacrifice even though it had been doused with buckets of water! Hannah prayed and she received power to conceive! Time after time God answered the prayers of His servants! We serve the same powerful and faithful God Who delights not only in hearing from His children, but He delights in giving them the things that they request! And God is STILL able to do “over and above ALL that we could ask or think”! We have almost two weeks before what many are calling the most crucial election in our nation’s history. We need to ask God for His mercy and His faithful power to manifest itself in these troubled times. We need to put forth even greater effort in these final days before the election. Maybe some of you will plan gatherings in your home for the purpose of praying for this election. I am organizing an “around the clock” prayer vigil for November 3 at our church. Maybe some of you could do something similar. Whatever you can do, God will honor the prayers and the efforts of His people! Let’s pray to the God who said that “if we have the faith the size of a grain of mustard seed we could remove mountains”. We have a mountain before us, but we serve a God Who is good at moving them! Let’s pray and then trust that His will has been accomplished!

1. Pray that God’s people will get involved in prayer and then vote on Biblical issues!

2. Pray that God will show mercy on our country and put in power someone who will stand firm on Biblical issues as much as is possible.

3. Pray for the protection of those who are out campaigning and most especially those running for the top spots.

4. Pray that our citizens will hear what is being said and think about the ramifications for the future of our country.

5. Pray that Truth and righteousness will prevail through this election and beyond!

Prayer Requests for October 16

“…Nor is there any rock like our God.” That is something to hang onto!!! This has been a time when we really need to turn to God and trust what He is doing! I can’t remember a time when it looked so much like the battle is out of control. Therefore, there has never been a time when we need to turn to the Lord and trust His wisdom and His judgments like we do now. Trusting Him gives us the ability to rejoice and be at peace. And we must exhibit those characteristics so as to give hope to others with whom we come in contact. As Christian people, we know the end of the story and in that we can be “more than conquerors”! We are so blessed to be able to come to God with our cares and concerns and KNOW that He hears and answers prayer and that He gives grace through any situation. “Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world!”

1. The final debate will be over by the time you get this, so just pray for the outcome and how the media will “spin” the results.

2. Pray for Christians all across our nation who aren’t engaged. Pray that they will understand their responsibility to vote according to Biblical standards.

3. Pray that righteousness will prevail.

4. Pray that evil deeds will be exposed and that those who do them will be judged.

5. Pray for God’s mercy on our land for the sake of the many who still hold strongly to the Truth and for the sake of our children and grandchildren!

Prayer Requests for October 9

If ever we needed to pray, it is now! Don’t let God say, “I sought for a man to stand in the gap and found none.” Time is getting short, but our God is able! We have less than four weeks, but God doesn’t need four weeks to accomplish His plan! Keep praying and then trust God for His best.

1. Praise for the debates that have taken place since last Thursday.

2. Pray for the last debate, next Wednesday, Oct. 15. Pray that the questions will lend themselves to the exposure of these candidates for who they are. Pray that their world views will become evident as they answer the questions.

3. Pray that justice and righteousness will prevail!

4. Pray that God will work in the hearts of the media and the people in leadership in our country and that some hearts will be turned toward Him!

5. Pray for those whose reputations are being destroyed before our citizens. Pray that God will strengthen them as they walk daily through this election season.

Prayer Requests for October 2

It has been a very eventful week and as human beings, it comes kind of naturally for some of us to let it kind of “get to us”. We need to let it “get to us” enough to cause us to fall to our knees, but we certainly don’t need to carry it as a frustration or burden since we know the God Who spoke the universe into being and continues to hold it together by His power! He is more than able to contain all the events and concerns that are going on in our economy as well as the political issues! He is more than able to call to account those who are acting in self-serving ways to “resolve” the issues at hand! And He is more than able to bring to office those of His choosing! Let’s remember that His expectation of us is that we are “found faithful”. He didn’t give us places of high prominence so we cannot effect much action in any major way. But He gave us the privilege of coming to Him in prayer and speaking with Him about our concerns and His expectation of us is that we be “faithful” in keeping these things before Him! When we do our part, then we can have peace in knowing that He WILL bring about His plan for us and for our family and for our country!

1. Pray for the issues at hand and for great wisdom for those who are making the decisions on our behalf!

2. Pray for those who are seeking for the best for our country and willing to stand for their convictions in spite of pressure to do otherwise.

3. Pray for the Vice Presidential candidates who are preparing for the debate tomorrow evening. Pray for those who are standing in the wings waiting to attack our Christian values and anyone who would dare to stand up for them.

4. Pray that God will be honored and glorified by the manner in which Gov. Palin presents herself and the way she responds to the questions that come her way.

Prayer Requests - September 25

Are you starting to get weary of all the rhetoric? Are the negative ads and accusations starting to get you down? Hang in there! We are just under 6 weeks to go and we need to really redouble our efforts in prayer! God has instructed us on how to handle situations like this and if we do it His way, we will not get weary. We are to pray and do what we can to help elect those who we feel are more likely to hold up our standards of morality and values, but then we need to “rest”. We are not to get frustrated or in any way allow the circumstances to bring us to their level. If you read the end of the Psalm 37:9, we are promised the earth as our inheritance. And though we don’t know the timing of it all, we must trust the promises of God and all the more as we see things heading in a direction away for Godly principles!

1. Pray for the things going on at the UN this week! Pray that our leaders will stand up to those who would hope for the demise of our country.

2. Pray for our leaders who are making decisions concerning our economic situation. Pray for the effect of these events on our election!

3. Pray for the first debate being held this week. Pray that both candidates will be seen for who they are and what they stand for.

4. Above all, pray that righteousness and Truth will prevail in all things! And pray for a revival in our land!

Prayer Requests for Sept 18

“Be anxious for nothing…!” That is a hard task for me right now as I see and hear so many difficult things including some that are just plain not true! And yet, God didn’t tell us not to be anxious when things seem, in our opinion, to be going well. He said not to be anxious in any circumstance. And besides that, He told us to respond “with thanksgiving”. Now that is almost over the top except for one thing – God told us to do it and that means He will give grace and strength to accomplish it! So how am I doing today? How are you doing today? Let’s focus on some of the things we have for which to be thankful and then come to God in prayer and let our requests be made known to Him. He IS in control! REMEMBER: “Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world”!

1. Praise for safety for most Americans through this past weekend as we were inundated with very strange and dangerous weather. You may not know it, but we had a strong tornado come right out of the blue and go within less than 20 miles of our home on Saturday afternoon. And the whole state of Ohio is in a state of emergency because of hurricane force winds that blew for 4-5 hours and took out much of the power in Dayton and Cincinnati. These were all side-effects of Ike.

2. Praise the Lord for the Christian witness that has been brought to the forefront as a result of the candidacy of Sarah Palin! God uses His means to get the job done!

3. Pray for those who are distorting the truth and making lies for political advancement! Pray that truth will prevail.

4. Pray for men and women who are on the radio and T.V. speaking for us as we each personally don’t have a very large platform from which to be heard. Pray for their safety as they confront the issues!

Prayer Requests for September 11

How can we ever type that date and not remember the events of that day in 2001?! It is a constant reminder of who our enemies were and still are. But let’s remember that, “We ARE more than conquerors” as we face that battle as well as the coming election! No matter how our Christian faith is attacked or belittled, we know that Truth and it gives us great confidence. And don’t forget that last half of the verse: “…through Him…”. Our victory comes through Jesus Christ as we seek Him and His agenda! I believe that the very foundations of our faith are under attack right now on the political scene and in the media. Let’s stand firm and in the strength of the Lord, let’s claim victory through our Lord Jesus Christ! Praise Him!

1. Praise the Lord that we have not been attacked again on our soil since 9/11/01. Praise for our President who has taken the initiative to face the enemies straight on and let them know that they better not try it again!

2. Pray for the intensity of the battle that is going on in our own country over this election!

3. Pray for those that name the name of Jesus! Pray that they will be honoring to the Lord in their responses to the attacks that are being made on their very being and on some of the core values of our Christian faith.

4. Pray that Truth will prevail and that the mouths of those who would speak evil will be shut. Remember the lions den!

Prayer Requests for Sept 4

I am wondering how many of you feel somewhat as I do after this past week?! It truly has been an emotional week in many ways! As Christian women, I believe our “grids” have been tested vigorously. I have experienced many of the emotions expressed in this verse. And yet our hope is in the fact that though we have been troubled, perplexed, maybe even persecuted in our emotions, yet we do not have to be in despair, nor are we distressed or cast down and certainly not destroyed! And above all, remember that the power is of God and we are not facing these issues alone! We serve the God of the Universe and HE IS IN CONTROL! Let’s claim victory and trust Him to settle the accounts and determine the outcome.

1. Praise the Lord that the hurricane was not as bad as it could have been and there was no direct loss of life! Praise the Lord that the levies held! Pray that God will get the credit for that!

2. Pray for the safety of those who live on the East Coast waiting for the other storms to arrive. May God receive the glory for this magnificent show of His power!

3. Praise for the testimonies and the seeds that were planted at the convention in St. Paul! God can use His Word wherever it is spoken.

4. Pray for the honor of God’s name through all of the controversy surrounding Mrs. Palin and her family.

5. Pray for each of us as we respond to all that is up for grabs right now that strikes at the very core of who we are as Christian women.

6. Once again, I remind all of us to pray that Truth will prevail

Prayer Requests for August 28

It is a very exciting time to watch things going on in Denver and then in St. Paul next week and KNOW that it is all under God’s guidance! No decisions or plans can be made apart from God’s oversight and direction! God is the one who crowns kings and yes, He is the one who “inaugurates” Presidents! And He has chosen for some reason to use us and our prayers in accomplishing this very important work. There is much for which we can pray, so remember that there are many who are joining in prayer today for the coming election!

1. Pray for the things that continue to unfold in Denver. Pray for some to have their eyes opened to the Truth as they realize what their party stands for!

2. Pray for the Vice President who is yet to be revealed.

3. Pray for more opportunities to hear the candidates answer questions in a civil and non-confrontational manner so people can know where the candidates stand on the issues.

4. Pray for the safety of the candidates through this time of intense activities going on in the conventions.

5. Pray that Truth will prevail in all decisions that are made.

More on Train Up a Child

Wow! What a summer! We have had a very busy and wonderful summer! As I came through the summer, it became increasingly difficult to carve out time to write on my blog and know that it would be coherent! It was a wonderful summer, but now we are settling back into the school routine, so I will try to be more regular. Just a word about our activities of the summer: We had a camping trip to South Carolina for almost two weeks in June. In July we took a train trip to Denver for a week. And in August we had our family (13 of us in all now) camping trip to Southern Indiana for part of a week. In between we entertained guests from Minnesota, Ohio and Indiana. So I was planning for activities most of the time except when we were actually doing the activities! It was great and we praise the Lord for the opportunity to spend such a wonderful and satisfying summer!

I am going to go on with my discussion of characteristics we want to train into our children as a result of the admonition in Proverbs 22:6. We often hear or quote that verse, but I wonder how often we sit down to think about what we should actually be training into our children. I have discussed the concept of being sure of their Salvation and making sure they understand their need to “fear the Lord”. We also discussed how to teach your children how to have some Biblical discernment. Today, I would like to encourage you to make sure your children understand the importance of having a regular and meaningful prayer life.

So why should we teach our kids the importance of prayer? Well, there are many verses in the New Testament that tell us of the benefits of praying and Jesus Himself taught us the pattern for prayer in Matthew 6:9-13. So the first and main reason for teaching our children to pray is because it is a Biblical command. Some other reasons include the fact that we are to be thankful and this is done in prayer. We are also to confess our sins which is also accomplished by prayer. Confession is actually included in “The Lord’s Prayer”. We are also to pray for those “who despitefully use you”. We are to pray for the sick. We are to pray for our government leaders. And there are many other specific reasons for praying.

As I look back over my life, it was my grandfather and my parents who were probably the most influential in my life in the area of prayer. Children are not born with an innate understanding of the need for prayer. It is something that needs to be taught, both in words and by actions. I have heard it said that one of the main reasons children walk away from the faith of their parents is the fact that parents teach concepts to their children and then the children don’t see the teaching in action in the lives of their parents.

So how can we as mothers play a role in teaching this concept of prayer to our children? Under most circumstances, we are with the children a higher percentage of the time than anyone else, so we have a large responsibility to teach these concepts to the kids. The obvious thing for us to do is to pray with the children each and every day. Make prayer a part of their daily activities. Teach them everything you know about prayer and then search the Scriptures to find all you can about the reasons for praying. Then pass this on to them. Pray for things as a family and make a big deal when God answers! I truly believe from my experience of raising children that one of the things God does to build the faith of a child is to answer prayers for them regularly! Let the children know that you (and their dad if he prays with you) pray for them regularly and that there is no circumstance that is too small or too big for you to take it to God in prayer! Take them to Prayer Meeting and let them hear other adults pray. Can you remember the older Godly men and women in your life that prayed in Prayer Meeting and sounded like they were speaking face to face with the living God?

Finally, it is important to pray at every meal, before going to bed and any other regular time during the day that is convenient for you and your family, but it is also important to make prayer a living part of every day and include God in every decision and every challenge and every need of every day! This will speak volumes to your children of how important prayer is in your life and this will go a long way in making prayer a very important part of their lives!

Prayer Requests for Thursday August 21

Ladies, it is very important that we “faint not”! We are coming to the very crucial weeks of this pre-election time and we need to really give of ourselves over the next couple of weeks as we wait to see how the conventions will turn out. There is much at stake at these two major party conventions and we need to seek God as we see things unfolding before us. I know I have been watching the Olympics and they have been very exciting and I am tired from building up a sleep deficit by staying up too late! But when Saturday night comes, the Olympics will be over and we must be ready to press on to the business that lies before us. We must commit to faithful prayer until we see how God is going to move. I am so happy for this opportunity to do God’s work for our country and for our grandkids. Let’s encourage each other to keep on keeping on and get this work done!

1. Pray for the convention next week! Pray that truth will prevail and that it will be revealed before decisions are made that will greatly affect each of us!

2. Pray for the choices for Vice President that are even now being made!

3. Pray for those men who will be chosen for the V.P. spot as they will have a great influence on the President.

4. Pray that Christians all over this land will unite in serious prayer for this election. Much is at stake for all of us, but most especially for Christianity and the freedoms we have always enjoyed.

Prayer Requests for August 14

I feel like we are in the calm before the storm with the Olympics taking the spotlight for a couple of weeks. However, we can’t allow ourselves to be lulled to sleep in the area of praying for the elections. For right after the Olympics comes the first major convention and then the very next week is the other major convention. That means that there will be LOTS going on and many decisions will be made. We need to PRAY and PRAY for all of the implications of this very important election! This is our opportunity to “rest in the Lord” as we get ready to wage the huge battle that is before us. Remember, the official campaign season starts after Labor Day, so we haven’t seen anything yet!

1. Praise for the safety of our President as he traveled in China and Asia last week!

2. Pray for the conflict between Russia and Georgia and for the impact this could have on our country and on our election!

3. Continue to pray for the choice of running mates as those decisions are still in the making.

4. Pray that God will protect the cities that are preparing for the conventions.

5. Pray that righteousness will prevail as party platforms are put together and that our Christian values will be taken into consideration! Pray for our Christian leaders who are using their voices to influence party platforms.

Prayer Requests for August 7

Verse 12 reminds us of the real battle we are fighting! But the two preceding verses remind us of where we find our strength and the weapons for victory! We sometimes forget that our battle is not physical, but spiritual. If we keep up with things that are going on, it doesn’t take long to realize that God’s Word is true when it defines our battles as spiritual. Therefore, the way to victory is prayer and not arguing or persuading or some of the other methods we might be tempted to try. Keep on your knees my friends! We are 90 days from the election and we can’t get tired or weary of keeping this before the Lord!

1. Pray for President Bush as he travels in Asia ahead of his scheduled attendance at the opening ceremony for the Olympics.

2. Pray for the safety of our athletes in this place that is not really sympathetic to our American way of life.

3. Pray for the efforts that will be made by some Christians and Christian organizations to reach the athletes and surrounding areas for Christ!

4. Pray for the ongoing debates between the Presidential candidates concerning the issues that face us. Pray they will concentrate on those that really matter and that truth will prevail!

5. Pray that we Christians will have faith that God can actually do His saving work in the lives of those who seek office!

Prayer Requests for July 31

What an encouraging verse! How comforting it is to know that the victory is God’s! He rules over the whole earth and nothing takes Him by surprise! No matter who wins the election in November, he will be subject to our God who reigns over all! Take heart, my friends, and keep praying! Never give up. That is a tool of the wicked one! We ARE on the winning side! Thank you, Lord!

1. Praise for God’s people who are working hard to see that the Truth gets out to all who desire to hear it.

2. The choosing of the VP candidates appears to be close. Keep praying!

3. Pray for God’s mercy on our land as we continue to go in a direction that is contrary to God’s Word.

4. Pray that God will do whatever needs to be done in order to bring the hearts of our leaders under His authority!

Prayer Requests for July 24, 2008

Sometimes it can feel like we are pretty powerless against the things that are going on around us in the circumstances of the coming election! And we ARE powerless in our own strength! It is easy for fear and discouragement to creep in. But God wants to remind us that He is the One Who has power and He Will accomplish whatever He intends through all that is happening. We need to keep our eyes on Him and He will fight the battle for us! Let’s remember who our Commander is and let’s trust and follow Him.

1. Rumor has it that the VPs may be chosen soon. Pray for wisdom for those making those decisions.

2. Pray that we Christians will remember that God is on our side and He WILL prevail.

3. Pray that those running for President will make decisions based on Godly morals and not on what the polls say.

4. Pray that Christians will vote according to Biblical standards and not on their financial or any other monetary concerns.

Discernment - Proverbs 22:6

We are working through some lessons inspired by the verse in Proverbs 22:6: “Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” We have covered a couple of basic topics of Salvation and the fear of God. Another concept we need to train into our children is discernment, how to distinguish between right and wrong from a Biblical perspective.

The first principle that needs to be understood is that outside of Biblical guidelines, there is no “right” or “wrong”. For the Bible is the foundation of all that relates to God Who is the source of our knowledge of “right” and “wrong”. Apart from a knowledge of God, we are all left to decide what is right or wrong for ourselves. Your children must have this foundational understanding before they will be able to learn to discern.

I want to explain how to approach this teaching in a way that I hope you will understand. It is a way that is very clear to me, so I will try to describe it to you. I think that we need as parents, to build what I call a “grid” in the hearts and minds of our children. You see, there are many areas requiring discernment that come up in a day and it is hard to have a “discernment rule” for each circumstance. If we build a grid into the hearts and minds of our children, then when something comes up, if it doesn’t fit their “grid”, they will know how they should respond to it. A “grid” is basically a network of concepts and principles we all have to one extent or another, that we use to make daily decisions in life.

We have all heard the saying that “square pegs don’t fit into round holes”. Well, that is kind of like a “grid”. As our children are growing up, we need to teach them Godly Biblical principles. As we do this they can apply these principles to most or maybe all of the situations that will come up in life. And one principle that will cover those issues that may not be covered by the grid is this – If in doubt, don’t! (Romans 14:23) In other words if something isn’t clear based on the grid that is in my heart and mind, then it is probably best not to do the thing in question. An example of how a “grid” works is this: If we teach our children the principle in Psalm 101:3 (I will set no wicked thing before my eyes…), then when the TV is on and something comes on that is not uplifting, they will know that this is the kind of thing we should not watch. It is, of course, necessary that you teach them to be sensitive about what things are wicked in order for this to work, but I think that is very do-able as well. Teach them Biblical guidelines of how people should dress. Teach them Biblical behavior within the family and within the community. This requires that you spend a lot of time with them so that you can use every teachable moment. Watch TV with your children so they can see how you apply the principle taught in Psalm 101:3. This concept of discernment will not happen in five minute segments that fit between your work schedule and all the other things that you want to do for your own pleasure. It is a daily talking with them as you walk with them each and every day as stated in Deuteronomy 6.

Another Biblical principle is the one taught in Hebrews 10:25 where we are admonished not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together. If your children have been taught this principle in Word as well by example, then when something comes up that interferes with one of the scheduled services of the church, your children will know how to make the decision of which event takes priority. I hope these two examples (and there are many more) give you an idea of how to help your child construct a “grid”. You as the parent need to give them the tools from God’s Word and set the example in order to accomplish this, but it is worth the time and effort to reap the benefit of a child who knows how to discern for a lifetime!

Prayer Requests for July 10

As we march through this election season, it is hard to see much righteousness in our political system. This verse in Proverbs reminds us of where we have come! BUT, God “is able to do exceeding abundantly above ALL that we could ask or think” (Ephesians 3:20) and He has called His people to prayer! What a privilege it is to serve our God and let’s be obedient to Him by spending time in prayer for our land! What a wonderful God we serve!

1. Pray for forgiveness for our culture as we have gravely sinned against God.

2. Pray for God’s mercy upon our land!

3. Pray that righteousness WILL prevail in our courts and our government institutions.

4. Pray for the Vice Presidential choices that are being made! Pray that God fearing men will be chosen!

Happy Birthday America

James 1:17 is just a reminder for us of the source of everything we have, both personally and as a nation! We hear a lot of whining and complaining in our country and we have lost our ability to be thankful as a nation! We are the most blessed nation that the world has ever known and yet we have such an ungrateful spirit! I wanted to focus this week on all of the blessings we have as a nation and as people and remember that God has blessed America well before any of us were here! God blessed us with a Christian heritage that allowed us to build a culture that is still reaping the rewards of that Christian foundation. Let’s be thankful for our blessings and don’t let anyone catch us complaining about the issues that we face as a nation that pale in comparison to the lack of food, the disease and catastrophic natural disasters that have occurred in other parts of the world! And let’s not forget the last part of the verse that reminds us of the faithfulness of God! He is the only constant in our lives and with Him there “is no variableness nor shadow of turning”.

1. Praise the Lord for America and for the freedom we enjoy every day of our lives!
2. Praise the Lord for the freedom we have to pray anywhere at any time!
3. Praise the Lord for the natural beauty of our country He has created for us to enjoy. None of us has to travel far to find some natural manifestation of Creation.
4. Praise the Lord for the ability to get to the grocery stores where we see more food in one glance than many in other countries see in their lifetime!
5. Praise and pray for the men and women in our country who are spending their time and lives spreading the Gospel over Christian radio and television!

I could go on for a long time, but I think you get the picture! We truly have much for which to be grateful and we need to give praise to God at every opportunity and show a thankful heart for all the blessings of living in America!

Prayer Requests for June 19

After hearing of the decisions that have been made in California this past week and all the ramifications that may involve, it is a great comfort to me that God is “my strong refuge”! As the old song puts it, “Where could I go but to the Lord?!” Ladies, this coming election is for the heart and soul of America as we know it and the only hope we have is our trust in God! And Praise the Lord, He knew about that California decision before it was made and He was NOT surprised. Let’s keep the prayer a priority and let’s see what God will do. We know He can do whatever He wants, so let’s ask Him boldly for great things!

1. Pray for God’s mercy on our land as our courts continue to legislate morality.

2. Praise for God’s mercy and longsuffering as we have deserved His judgment many times even before this.

3. Pray for wisdom for our leaders as they make decisions concerning the economy of our country.

4. Finally, let’s praise and be thankful that God is in control and He will have His way in every decision and plan that our leaders will make!

More on Proverbs 22:6

Proverbs 22: 6 “Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it.”

I started a series of lessons on this verse last week and will add a short idea this week. I am getting things ready for a trip and so my time is limited. I just want to repeat a thought that I wrote about several weeks ago relating to “the fear of the Lord”. I believe it fits in this series concerning in what areas our children need training so “that when he is old he will not depart from it”. I have come across a couple of verses that I think are pertinent to this topic, so I would like to add those to what I wrote in the previous lesson.

The first lesson in this series was concerning making sure that your children understand their need of Salvation and making sure that they are born again at a young age. Actually, “the fear of the Lord” may be a great thing for them to understand even before they are born again as this may get them to thinking about where they are and whether they are happy with their standing before God. If they aren’t familiar with “the fear of the Lord” before they are saved, then it would be a good thing to cover as soon as possible.

The first verse is in Proverbs 15:33 (NLT). “Fear of the Lord teaches wisdom…” And the second one is Proverbs 16:6. “…By fearing the Lord, people avoid evil.” As I read these two verses, I became even more motivated to teach the fear of the Lord to everyone, but especially to our children There is great reward for fearing the Lord and if we desire for our children to be wise and to avoid evil, then we need to take steps to be sure that they learn this concept. It is very evident that they will not learn this from the culture, so again, Moms, it is up to you and your husband to teach these concepts.

Live it before them as an example. Teach them the Scripture. Make sure that they understand that besides “God is love”, there is “God is just” and let them know that sin brings consequences! God will not play the “blame game” that so many are getting away with in our culture. They will be standing before God one day and they need to know that now so they can be ready!

I will be away from the computer for a couple of weeks. Trust you are having a great summer. I will be back soon!

Prayer List for June 12

This verse reminds us of how to do battle in this world! The verse following these two verses reminds us that our battles are spiritual and not physical. Take a few minutes today and read through Ephesians 6 and remind yourself of the pieces of the Armor and the significance of each piece. It is very obvious that we are in a battle, but we need not despair as we are on the winning side!!! Let’s be part of the army of God and make a difference in the battle that is raging all around us!

1. Pray for President Bush as he finishes up the trip he is on. Pray for wisdom and safety for him.

2. Pray that we will all realize the nature of the battle we are fighting.

3. Pray that we will be willing to fight using the weapons God has offered to us. (ie. the Word of God, the breastplate of righteousness, etc.)

4. Pray that the truth will prevail in the midst of all the “talk”.

Prayer Requests for June 5

Praise the Lord! It is so comforting and energizing to KNOW that God is greater than everything we see out and about! If we can truly get a hold on this concept, it will give us great peace and help us to move on with joy as we see the things unfold concerning the coming election. Let’s continue to pray together and find support in knowing that many are praying with us! God is NOT surprised by anything that is going on around us. And even if those who are doing the talking and seeming to be in charge are not believers, God STILL rules and overrules in the affairs of men.

1. Pray for the ongoing decisions that are still needing to be made in the Presidential race.

2. Pray for the decisions concerning the Vice Presidential choices on both sides.

3. Continue to pray that righteousness will prevail.

4. Pray that Christian people will assess the moral issues and vote Biblically.

Prayer Reminders for May 29

Of course, the verse referenced in the prayer reminder refers to the sacrifice of our Lord. However, we are just past the celebration of Memorial Day which is set aside for remembering those who have given of themselves to give us the freedoms we have in our wonderful country, the United States of America! For all of its flaws and all of the things that are not right, we still live in the greatest country ever, in this world! And we need to remember that there are many who have laid down their lives for us so that we can enjoy the freedoms that we enjoy today! My dad didn’t give his life, but he gave several years of his early married life during World War II in order to help in that cause. So I have some first hand reminders of what is cost for the men and women who have fought for us! Just because I am so very proud of him and what he did, I am just going to let you know that he was on the island of Iwo Jima when the flag was raised there. I often praise the Lord for giving him safety during those days or I wouldn’t be here! I was one of the “baby boomers” in the truest sense of the phrase! Here are some praises and prayer requests for us to remember this week.

1. Praise for the men and women who fought and gave their lives for our freedoms!

2. Praise for those who are fighting today in order to maintain those freedoms!

3. Pray for those who are far away from home and needing Christian friends. Pray that the Christians will find each other for the purpose of encouragement and fellowship.

4. Pray for this whole election process as we know that some of our freedoms are being gravely attacked.

Prayer Requests for May 22

Isn’t it comforting to remember that “the heart of the king is in the hand of the Lord”, that God has the power to turn that heart wherever He wishes?! We have some people running for President who think that they are pretty much able to accomplish anything they want to do and who think that you and I and everyone else will believe everything they say and trust them with our lives! How sad for them to overlook the power that God wields in this world! How sad for them to think that they have control of anything! Let us rest in the joy of knowing that our Heavenly Father not only watches over us, but He is in full charge of His Creation and will move His plan forward with or without the help of any particular human being!

1. Praise for the safe trip of President Bush to the Middle East and back.

2. Pray for the ongoing results of the Primaries. There are three more, so keep praying.

3. Pray for the safety of the candidates as they travel around the country.

4. Pray that righteousness and truth will prevail!

5. Pray that those who speak falsely will be held to God’s standards of Truth.

Summary of Deuteronomy 6

I hope you all had a happy Mother’s Day with your mother or with your children! All of my children and grandchildren were home and it was a terrific day! There were 13 of us in church on Mother’s Day morning and we needed TWO rows! That was the fulfillment of one of my prayers and hopes!

I thought I was finished with Deuteronomy 6, but I have one more thought that I would like to insert before I go on to another topic. I was talking with one of my daughters over the past couple of weeks and it gave me a thought concerning something that has been on my mind for a time now. There is a verse in James 4:14 which says, “Whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away.” Now that verse could come across as a bit fatalistic or depressing if we don’t catch the thoughts behind the message. I have been thinking about it for a time and this is what I have come up with from the perspective of family issues. Some of you may have thought this through long ago, but as a math person, it takes me time to think through things that are a bit more abstract in nature!

In the discussion of Deuteronomy 6, I discussed the importance of putting reminders around your home that would remind your children of their heritage, both their family heritage and their ‘spiritual’ heritage. After thinking about James 4:14 and the concept of the “vapor”, I have come to the conclusion that in reality all we have is this present moment! Everything else we have in our minds to think about is either a memory or an anticipation of some future event. We can hold something in our hand that is with us for this one moment, but the future or past for that item is only in our minds as a memory or an anticipation! So how does this relate to Deut. 6? I think it means that it is more important than ever that we make sure that our children grow up with LOTS of memories and it is even more important that we make those memories meaningful! If a huge percentage of their mind is full of memories, wouldn’t we want those memories to be good and wholesome and something they can grow with? Hence we see the idea that we as parents are responsible to see to it that there are things around our homes and also events that will bring good memories to their minds! God forbid that when they think about growing up they would remember the television, or the computer or the video games more than they remember Mom or Dad reading them some stories or playing games with them or having family devotions at a scheduled time. God forbid that they would remember everyone scurrying around getting ready to go off in all different directions every morning more than they would remember family outings or “family devotions” or “family game night”!

So what do we do to make sure that the memories that our children remember are the right memories? Some of that was discussed in a previous entry, but you should start right now and determine each and every day that you will do one thing that you would like your children to remember and that would give them some warm memories of their growing up years. Do one thing that would help them remember the spiritual emphasis you displayed in your home. It takes a lifetime to live a life, so don’t assume anything is too late! Start where you are and take little steps and you will be surprised how things will grow and become what you would like them to be.

Trust this makes sense to you. It has been mulling around in my mind and I trust God has enabled me to give you the gist of what I am trying to share! We are all on this journey called life and just as I like it when someone gives me clues as to where the best campgrounds are and best places to eat when we go on vacation, I trust we are that desirous to know some of the road signs on this journey called “parenting”!

Prayer Requests for May 15

Last week I admitted a certain uneasiness in my heart over this election, but I am so thankful for verses such as Psalm 75:5&6 which remind us that God is in control and that He alone is in charge of those who rise to leadership in our nation and in all of the nations of the world! This verse reminds us that God “puts one down and exalts another”. No matter what is said, no matter how much money the candidates raise and no matter who supports whom, God rules and overrules in these affairs and His will WILL NOT be thwarted! Praise the Lord for the peace that can bring to our hearts if we can grasp that Truth!

1. Pray that we CAN comprehend the Truth of God’s Word and that we can live above the confusion and rhetoric that is all around us.

2. Pray for unity among believers as we work with each other to accomplish God’s plan in this election and in the world.

3. Pray that God’s choice for our President will choose a Vice President who will be God’s choice as well.

4. Pray that all of God’s people will remember that this is a spiritual battle and that we need to be armed with the armor of God in order to fight and win the battles that lie before us.

A Challenge to Mothers

We are coming to another Mother’s Day and I am going to take a break and post a special tribute/challenge to mothers. There will also be a couple of special recipes from among my own mother’s favorites, so keep reading!

As I am sure most of you know, mothers have a very important and unique job. You have either had a mother or you are a mother or both! I would like to highlight some of the most important responsibilities that I think fall into the job description of a mother.

First of all, is the job of ‘being there’ for your children. There are many other people who can change your baby’s diaper, provide food for your children, play games with your children, teach them to brush their teeth, etc., but there is no one who will just plain love your children like you do! The others can accomplish the tasks, but it is just that, a task! No one else includes the loving touches, the pats on the head, the warm kisses etc. that you as their mother will provide!

The next responsibility of a mother is to support your husband (if possible) in teaching your children about spiritual things. Children need to know at an early age that they are accountable to God for their behavior and for their goals and purpose in life. That should be a high priority of the mother, for you see, as a child ages, he is more and more influenced by our culture and he is more and more distracted by the things that the culture offers and he will be harder and harder to reach as he grows through his childhood and life. And since in most homes, it is the mother who spends the most time with her children, then a great deal of this responsibility falls to her.

Another important responsibility of the mother is to teach your children how to be tender and gentle. You are probably going to be the first person from whom your child will receive unconditional love and you are the one who will be there when he hurts, either physically or emotionally. You are the one who will wipe his tears, so do it gently and carefully. Children have to grow up in a tough world, but from their mother they need to learn how to be tender and the “tough” will come when it is time.

There are many other things that children should learn from their mothers, but the last one I would like to touch on is that children should learn to serve others from you. You see, God has given to women the responsibility of ministering to the “poor and needy” (Proverbs 31 20). And ideally, all of us should participate in this task. As we all know, children are not born with the desire to minister to other people. It is something that needs to be learned, so who is the best person to teach them that art? Well, I believe it is their mother as she is the one who gives the most time to rearing the children and making sure they are equipped to do their part in the family, the church and the society.

And how do we successfully accomplish all of these tasks? Prayer should be a top priority for moms! No matter how busy you are, never let your schedule squeeze out your time to pray for your children! And let them know you are praying for them. Let them hear you pray and let them know that it is one of your highest priorities!
So what is in this for the mother? Well, I believe that next to hearing the words, “Well done”, from my Savior, would be the honor of hearing my children “rise up and call me blessed”! (Proverbs 31:28) That will be reward enough for me!

My own mother has been in Heaven for almost sixteen years, and I miss her every day! She was one of the very best friends I have ever had and I have many good memories of our times together! Those of you who still have your moms, cherish the time you have to spend with them. Never take them for granted! Let them know you appreciate them! In honor and tribute to my mother (Who never even touched a computer as far as I know and who would be totally overwhelmed if she even knew I have the capability of sharing her recipes with people all over the world), I would like to share with you a couple of her favorite recipes!

Mountain Pie
1 stick butter (melt in a 9 by 13 glass casserole pan)
Mix the following and pour over melted butter - pour all the way to the edges
1 cup flour
½ cup white sugar
½ cup brown sugar
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
¾ cup milk
Pour one quart of your favorite canned fruit, or equivalent sugared fresh fruit, over the batter
Bake at 350 for 45 minutes. (We like to use part peaches and part blueberries)

Pecan Slices (bars)
1 stick butter (melt in a 9 by 13 cake pan)
Mix the following and pour over melted butter – all the way to the edges
4 eggs
1 pound brown sugar
1 ½ cup flour
1 – 1 ½ cup pecans or walnuts
Bake at 325 for 30 minutes.
GLAZE: Mix the following and drizzle over warm bars
½ cup powdered sugar
½ teaspoon butter
2 teaspoons lemon juice

Prayer Requests - May 8

I am going to admit to you this evening, that at times I carry some fear for the future of our country. I am especially concerned about my grandkids growing up and what they might have to face as they walk through their lives. I am grateful for the Truth of the promises and principles in God’s Word that remind us that we are not fighting this battle on our own! Just as God reminded the Children of Israel on many occasions, “The Battle Is the Lord’s”!!! He is totally in control and we need not fear the outcomes of any of the primaries or the general election! Our part is to do what we can to be sure we are aware of the issues and then to pray! That is what this endeavor is all about! I pray that as we pray together that we will all be reminded that there are many praying with us and God WILL have His way!

1. Pray for the results of the primaries that were held this week.

2. Pray that all of us will live above the events going on around us and be able to maintain our joy.

3. Pray that God will receive the Glory as we let our lights shine in the places where we live.

4. Pray for the testimony of our God as some are saying things that bring shame on the name of God.

5. Praise that God is over all and above all and He WILL accomplish his will!

Thou Shalt Fear the Lord Thy God

Deuteronomy 6:13 a.) “Thou shalt fear the Lord Thy God…”

There is one more concept in Deuteronomy 6 that I would like to cover as it pertains to teaching your children. The concept to which I am referring is the one above from
verse 13. I truly believe that the idea that we should have a healthy fear of God has been lost in our culture. I know there were times in the past when there was a very serious fear of God to the point that people almost lost the fact that God loves us, but I think now we have come too far the other way and talked about God’s love to the exclusion of the need to fear Him.

Proverbs 9:10 states that, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom…” I am not a language scholar of any kind, but I am going to deduce from this verse that it is very hard for one to be wise without fearing the Lord! Now a person could possibly be very smart and be very logical, but to be wise requires “the fear of the Lord”.

Now, let me use an example from my home where I grew up to show you how I think this plays out. My dad was the disciplinarian in our home and I knew it and had a very healthy fear of him, especially if I had made decisions that I knew he wouldn’t consider to be very “wise”. He had very large hands and besides that, he had a leather strap that he left hanging behind his bedroom door. Now my dad and mom had generally taught us how they thought things should be done, and we learned that if we veered from their desires for how things should be done without good reason or without consulting them, we would reap the results either by hand or with the strap. This cultivated a certain amount of fear in our hearts for my dad!

God has given us an instruction book and it is called the Bible. In that book, He tells us how we should conduct ourselves and how we should live our lives. Now, one difference with God is that His discipline isn’t always immediate, so we can get lulled into thinking that maybe we got away with something. However, God’s Word does promise consequences of sin and they will come! Galatians 6:7 says that, “Whatsoever a man sows, that shall he also reap”. I heard one preacher say that “We reap what we sow, later than we sow, and more than we sow.” In this present culture, children have learned that most often they can get by with sin because they are often not called to account for their actions! How often do you hear a child being told to do something and threatened if he doesn’t comply and he just ignores his parent and continues on his own way? He gets another “warning” and continues to ignore and maybe another “warning” and finally the parent gives up and forgets the request and the consequence. When that sort of thing happens, that child learns that if he ignores his parent long enough, his parent will sooner or later just drop the whole thing and he, the child, is off the hook. In school, children are taught that they can have a number of chances to get something right and still receive the reward that was promised to the one who completed the assignment correctly the first time. In other words, children are taught that they never really have to give account and they will soon transfer all of this kind of thinking over into their view of God. The reason God said that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom is so that it would be a deterrent for us as we make decisions in our lives about things we should or should not do. Just as the strap behind my dad’s door was a reminder to me that I needed to obey my dad, God’s Word is our reminder that God has set the standards and we need to follow them! And it is not OUR choice! When we disobey, that is sin! (James 4:17) We desperately need to teach this concept to our kids in our homes as they WILL NOT learn it from the culture! And a healthy fear of God will give them great wisdom as they make the decisions that will come for them throughout their lives!

Have a great weekend and next week I will move on to some other material.

National Day of Prayer - May 1, 2008

How blessed we are to live in a country where we can celebrate a “National Day of Prayer”! And even though we probably no longer have the right to call ourselves a “Christian nation”, we still live in the best nation on the planet and we still have many rights and privileges that our brothers and sisters in other countries do not enjoy. On this special day of prayer that is actually set aside by our government, let’s redouble our efforts and let’s pray to God on behalf of the many issues that threaten our wonderful country today! Let’s pray for God to have mercy on our land because of the shame and sins we have committed as a people. Let’s ask God to preserve the foundation of our culture that was fought for and won by the many brave men and women of past generations, and let’s pray for the men and women who are in difficult places fighting TODAY to preserve our freedom!

1. Praise for the country that is ours and for the freedom we enjoy!

2. Praise for the men and women who served in the military in order to secure the freedoms we enjoy!

3. Praise for the young men and women who are serving in the armed forces today in order to maintain those liberties.

4. Praise for the freedom to worship as we choose.

5. Praise for the spoken Word that goes out each and every day across this great nation proclaiming the Truth of God’s Word! Praise for those who have given of their time and their lives to make sure that people in this country are able to hear the message.

I could go on for a long time, for you see, we ARE a very blessed people! Let’s be thankful for the great opportunities we have and share our thankfulness and joy with those around us! May everyone who knows us recognize that we are truly the people of God by showing these attributes in the midst of the things we are facing as a nation!

Lest We Forget the Lord

Deuteronomy 6:10-12 “…When the Lord thy God…give thee…houses full of all good things, which you did not fill, and wells digged that you did not dig, vineyards and olive trees that you did not plant; when you have eaten and are full; then beware lest you forget the Lord…!”

In these verses, which are a continuation of the topics we have been covering, God is warning the Israelites to be very careful of the consequences of coming into a land that was already established and ready to go without them having to work to make it that way. They would be coming into a land of plenty and God knew that that was dangerous enough for them that He warned them to “beware”!

If there has ever been a time in history when we need to beware of these same dangers, it is now and in the United States of America! I believe there is a real danger in this country for all of us to become lazy and very demanding and, yes, VERY soft! As we all know, we are very spoiled with things and variety of every kind from cereal to toys to shoes and on and on it goes! We allow our children to get caught up in this mindset because everyone else is there and it is easy to just get on board. Our children are bombarded on every side by things and stuff that they have in no way worked or paid for and it is so easy for them to become demanding and dependent on these things for their security, for their recreation, for their joy, etc. Does it surprise us that many young people from Christian homes are walking away from their faith and serving the ‘god of the stuff’? Does it surprise us that church has little or no relevance in their lives or that they are “forgetting the Lord”?

One of the most dangerous things in our culture, in my opinion, is all the ‘stuff’! I believe that it is part of the plan of the ‘god of this world’ to get all of us to be dependent on all that is in the world and get our eyes off the real meaning of life. He is not happy to just keep people from becoming born again, but he wants God’s people to have so much stuff that they are soft and not able to enjoy life without it! I believe there is going to be a day of reckoning for all of us here in this country and I wonder if we are going to be able to endure. Are we strong enough to stand and take our place on the Lord’s side should that day come in our lifetime? What about our children and grand children? Are they going to be able to stand for their faith? Will they even know what it is they are to stand for? I am not trying to be a doomsday person, but these are things I think we need to think about as we walk through this life.

I know it is very hard to live within this culture and not get caught up in all that is available. The first thing we need to do is to watch where we as the adults are with this problem. When you or I go to the store, do we determine whether to buy something by whether we can afford it or is the decision based on our need for such an item? Do we find ourselves being careless about such things as eating out just because we have the money? Are we more wasteful because we don’t need to be quite as careful as we used to be? I believe it is Larry Burkett who said something about finding the financial level at which you are comfortable and then stay there. In other words, don’t let your income level dictate how much you think you need. And, try to look at life through the eyes of your children. It is within your power to determine how your children look at their needs and wants. They should rarely receive things just because they ‘want’ it. Receiving gifts for birthdays or Christmas are the rare exceptions to this concept. Most often children should receive things that they need or things that are good for them to have. If they get into the habit of receiving things just because they want them, you are setting them up for a lot of difficulties down the road. (I will cover this topic in detail in a later discussion.) It is VERY good for children to have to earn and save up for some of the things they need or would like to have. Children need to learn the concept of working for things at an early age as it will give them a connection between work and having, and will build the beginning of a good work ethic, which is a Biblical concept, by the way!

It is my prayer that we can all get a handle on these issues and raise children and grandchildren who won’t forget the Lord! In this world, the last thing we need to do is to forget the One who is our source of everything we need to get through each day. Let’s set Godly examples in this area of wanting the ‘stuff’ and let’s pass on to our children the ability to live a Godly and contented life. Remember: “Godliness with contentment is great gain!” I Timothy 6:6

Prayer Requests for April 24, 2008

God has called us to a high calling! Notice, we are to “abounding” in the work of the Lord! That is a deep and intense work that we are called to do. One of those works that He calls us to do is to pray. And we all know that we need great prayer for our country in this time. But along with that great calling is a promise – our labor will not be in vain in the Lord! So let’s hang in there and pray to see God’s plan implemented as we continue to walk through this time of election primaries in our country. (I am sorry for the mistake last week! Only PA primary was held yesterday! Others are still coming.  )

1. Pray that God will use the results of the primary yesterday to further accomplish HIS purpose.

2. Pray for God’s people to be alert to the issues that face our country as a whole and that face us as God’s people specifically, in the coming months!

3. Pray that righteousness will prevail in the midst of all that is going on!

4. Pray for those “who call GOOD evil and call evil GOOD”.

Help Your Children Remember

Deuteronomy 6:8&9 “And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thy hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates.”

(I once again need to apologize for a lapse here, but my husband was on spring break and we took a few days away to be together and to see our family that lives in the Dayton area. We had a great time, but it is always good to get home.)

Last time I posted, it was concerning the mandates in the verses in Deuteronomy that precede these two verses. Now, I am not qualified to exposit about these passages, but I am just trying to share some of the principles concerning child-rearing that I have gleaned from this passage over the years of my experience in raising three children.

I see in these verses the command to the Israelites to post something in three different places. In order to accomplish that task, it is necessary to know what it is they were to post! If you look back to verse 6 of this chapter, you will see that it is “these words” which we talked about in the last entry. And if you look ahead one more verse, you will see that they have to do with our love for the Lord. So it is that they were told to bind these words for a sign on their hands, put them between their eyes and write them on the posts of their house and gates. That command was specific to those people, but I think that the principle applies to us today!

I don’t think that we need to figure out how to place anything between our eyes or on our hands, but I do think that we can place appropriate things around our homes that will remind our children and others that this is a place where God is remembered and honored. If you look around your home, will your children be reminded to “Love the Lord their God” or will they be encouraged to love the world and its system? Do they see reminders of God and His plan and expectations for them, or do they see all the “stuff” that reminds them of the saying, “He who dies with the most toys wins”?

What then are some ways of displaying a God-loving and God-honoring attitude in your home? Is there a place in your home where your family meets daily for the purpose of family devotions and prayer? I am wondering if there is a Bible or a devotional book on your breakfast table that reminds your children that this is where God’s Word is read each morning before your family leaves the house for the day in order to give everyone encouragement as they head out to face the things that come along as we face the world each and every morning. Is there a Bible story book that reminds them that this is how we end each day before we all head off to bed after a busy day? Are there books on your bookshelf that encourage your family to study the deeper truths of God’s Word? Is there good music available for your family from good Christian children’s music to quiet devotional music for the family? These are just some of the ways of “posting these words” on the door posts of your home. We will all have different ways of accomplishing this mandate, but the important thing is that you DO IT! Start small, but start with a plan. Decide today that you will do one thing to make your home a place where God is remembered and honored. Pick one of these ideas or think of one of your own, but get started today! If you think, “Sometime I will have to do that” it won’t happen! And remember, your children are growing every day and they will some day leave home and then it will be too late! You only get one chance to raise your children. You can’t get to the end and decide, “I guess I blew it that time! Let’s try this again!” So get started on some of these things and let’s raise children that remember and have as their goal to “Love the Lord ‘their’ God with all ‘their’ heart, and with all ‘their’ soul and with all ‘their’ might!”

Prayer Requests for Thursday, April 17, 2008

Elijah prayed and it did not rain. (James 5:17) Moses prayed and fire burned up the sacrifice even though the altar had been doused with buckets of water! Hannah prayed and received the power to conceive! Time and time again, God heard and answered the prayers of His people! We serve the same powerful and faithful God Who delights in hearing the prayers of His children and He delights in answering those prayers. God is still able to “do abundantly over and above all that we could ask or think”. There are some very important events taking place on our political landscape in the next week and we need to hold our country up in prayer to the God Who answers those prayers!

1. Pray for the primary in Pennsylvania, North Carolina and other states which will be taking place next Tuesday, April 22.

2. Pray for God’s people to come out and vote and express their desires.

3. Pray that God’s people will be informed of the issues so that they can make decisions that reflect the Truth of God’s Word.

Prayer Requests for Thursday, April 10

As we approach this 2008 election and all of the issues that we face at this time in our country’s history, let us come with joy and thanksgiving, remembering that God is all He says He is and His Word is truth! There are candidates who are promising to give the “whole world” to anyone who “needs” it, but we serve the God Who has not only given us promises, but He is the One Who ALWAYS keeps His promises – every time! Lets come before Him boldly asking for His grace and mercy and trust Him to fulfill each and every one of His promises!

Here are some specific requests:
1. Pray for safety for all of the candidates as they travel back and forth across the country. One or more has not even asked for secret service protection yet, so let’s remember them!

2. Pray for John McCain as he contemplates who he should choose for his running mate.

3. Pray for Christian radio hosts as these people have opportunity to greatly affect the decisions that Christian people will be making over these next months. Pray for wisdom for them as they schedule programming. May they take their role very seriously!

Teach Your Children Diligently

Deuteronomy 6:5-7 “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. YOU SHALL TEACH THEM DILIGENTLY TO YOUR CHILDREN, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down and when you rise up.”

There is a lot in these few short verses! I will not be going into the first verse about loving God with all of our heart, soul and strength! That is a major challenge in itself! That command is pretty clear and pretty much covers the manner in which we should live our lives! You know at least some of what you need to do in order to flesh that out, but I want to go on into what it means to teach our children diligently. What should we teach them and what are some specific things we can do to make sure this commandment gets followed in our homes? The thoughts in Deuteronomy 6 will be covered in two or three postings, so I will just be covering some thoughts about what needs to be taught and some practical ways to accomplish it.

According to Webster’s dictionary, the word ‘diligent’ means “to persevere with careful steady work”. This implies that teaching diligently isn’t something that can be accomplished in a very short time. It is my understanding that “teaching diligently” would take a lifetime. Now over the lifetime of our children from babyhood to adulthood, the style and content of the teaching would change, but it looks to me like it is an ongoing effort. There is no implication that there is a starting and an ending time.

So, what is it that we are to teach? Verse 6 says that we are to teach “these words which I command you today”. Then we look one verse ahead of that and we see in verse 5 the command to “love the Lord your God with all your heart…soul and ...strength.” So from this, I understand that we are to teach our children that God is to have first place in their lives! Well, as I have been thinking about this, I am not really sure that any of us really knows what that would look like, but I do know that most of us are not there and it is something that we need to work on VERY ‘diligently’!

So what are some practical and specific ways that we can accomplish this teaching? Verse7 tells us to “talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down and when you rise up.” This pretty much encompasses the whole 24 hours in the day! I think this means that our Christian faith is pretty much a way of life and not something we put on and take off as we walk through our life! It means that when we are sitting in our homes, there should be reference to God and our Lord Jesus as if He were there in person. At first it may take effort to try to work conversation about God into your everyday household conversation, and you should take that effort to do it! For instance, when you are enjoying a fresh homemade cookie, talk about how thankful you are that God has provided us with stoves for baking good cookies. Talk about how wonderful it is that God made things grow so you could have the chocolate chips that are in the cookies! And of course, there is the usual prayer at the meals, but it needs to be more than that. When you are out walking (and you should be making time to be out walking with your children), talk about all the beauty and things that God has created. Probably one of the easiest things is to approach this idea by repeating all of the things for which you can be thankful. When you lie down is a good time to rehearse all of the wonders of the day and if the day wasn’t so wonderful, you can remember that God was there and gave strength for the day and how He has good plans for tomorrow. And of course, when you get up is a good time to pray and ask for God’s help and guidance for a new day! One big condition about all of this is that you need to be there in order to accomplish this. This will take time and it will take planning at first, but the rewards are eternal and well worth the effort!

Just one short thought to finish off for today is to remember that one of the main ways to accomplish this whole task is to live a good example of Godliness and thankfulness. As your children go from small children to being adults, it probably becomes more important than ever to live a Godly and thankful example. Adult children need you to show them how to live in the culture that is constantly changing. It is typical for your example to become more important while the words you speak become fewer.

Next time, I will continue this thought and cover some more in Deuteronomy 6. Trust you will have a great week and now I am off to make sure that I accomplish these things as I live my life before my adult children and my young grandchildren!

Prayer Requests for Thursday, April 3,2008

It is part of God’s plan in the world for Christians to pray for those who are in authority over us. I believe this also means that we need to pray for those who aspire to be in authority over us. So today, let’s remember these specific requests:

1. Pray for President Bush as he finishes up his term. Pray for safety for him and his family.

2. Pray that righteousness will prevail among those who are running and that any deceit will be exposed and be purged from the scene.

3. Pray for the safety of all the candidates as they are out among the people and becoming vulnerable to the public.

4. Pray that God’s people will acquire great discernment to know how to respond to the things that are confronted each day.

5. Pray that we, God’s people, will maintain the source of our joy and hope and display that to a world that is caught up in confusion.

A Call To Prayer

If you have read the introduction to my blog, you know that I am a homemaker that has spent most of my life doing things that homemakers do like raising my children, ministering to my husband and family, homeschooling, church ministries, etc.. Many years ago, God impressed on me the importance of praying, first of all for my husband and family and for the Church, Christian ministries, and many other areas of life including our country, the United States of America.

Almost every day, we receive requests in the mail or by phone for money for this or that cause or politician. And like you, we are not able to give financially nearly as much as we would like. However, we do want to make a difference in the future of our country and do what we can to preserve the freedoms we have for our children and grandchildren. I believe that God has called us to prayer in order to accomplish His plan in this world. We do not understand how our prayers affect His carrying out of His will, but we do know that He has told us to pray for many specific things including our leaders. (I Timothy 2:1&2) We are sometimes guilty of thinking and sometimes even saying that “all I can do is pray”, when in reality praying is the VERY BEST thing we can do! God has once again burdened me to organize this “team” of women who will commit to pray throughout this election season. I am not asking for a commitment to me, but a commitment to our Lord that for the sake of the future of our kids and grandkids, we will “stand in the gap” (Ezekiel 22:30).

I am sure that most of you know most of the issues that are before us at this time as we face the election in November, so I won’t go through the list. I just wonder if we are all aware of the major impact some of these issues could have on the future of America. I will try not to overstate any of the consequences, but our country is at a major crossroad and we need God’s mercy in order to preserve the freedoms that we have enjoyed all of our lifetimes. It is not my intention, nor will I in the future make reference to any particular parties or to particular candidates for the purpose of criticizing anyone specifically. However, I will try to bring to our minds specific requests that need our prayer and if that implies a particular candidate, then I guess we will trust God’s Spirit to cause us to pray for whatever He brings to our minds.

I believe that God will do great things across our land if His people band together for prayer! God has given me a great burden in the area of prayer and if I can pass it along and inspire anyone else to pray that would be a great answer to my personal prayer. If you are encouraged to pray, share it with others that you know and let’s see what God will do when His people pray!

I will be posting reminders and requests and encouragements on my blog from time to time through this election time. God bless each one of you and may He be honored through our efforts to give our country the very best we can give, our time in prayer!

“The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much!” James 5:16

Where is Our Hope?

This week is what is commonly referred to as Holy Week by the Christian culture. As we come to the celebration of the Resurrection of our Savior which we will be celebrating this Sunday, let’s do so with great hope and joy! This is the very reason we can sing and rejoice in spite of the things going on around us in our world and more specifically, our own United States of America.

I want to take a short time to just remind you of what this week is all about. And I want to remind you to be sure that your children understand the significance of this week to the best of their ability for their age. If they are learning from our culture, they will come to the conclusion that Easter is about bunnies, candy, eggs, clothes, etc. If they go to church, they will probably hear about the Resurrection, but will one hour in church erase all of the distractions that the culture places on this most significant day?

This is an opportunity for you as parents to point them to the Savior and away from the frivolities of the culture! That doesn’t mean that they will not hear the things that the culture would like them to focus on, but you can make a difference in their lives this week by making sure they know what we are celebrating!

One of the things you can do is to separate any celebrations you do related to eggs, candy, bunnies, etc. for this very special week. We can all remember how much fun it is to hide and find eggs and spring is truly something to be celebrated (especially if you live in Michigan where winter seems longer than any other season), but those things can be done prior to this week or after this week. We used to color eggs a week or two ahead of Easter and call them “spring eggs”. And the new clothes were just for spring and not necessarily special for Easter Sunday morning. If children are overwhelmed with eggs and candy and baskets and clothes on Easter Sunday morning, how will they learn that the real reason for the special Easter celebration is the Resurrection of our Savior? It is also helpful, if there is an opportunity, to take them to a Good Friday Service so they can get the whole picture of why Jesus came. It would be very meaningful to your young children to hear of the agony and suffering of the Savior and it will give you opportunities to explain some things at home over the whole Easter weekend!

Let’s be sure that our children are clear on the Resurrection events that mean so much to our faith and let’s make Easter Sunday morning a time of remembering what God has done for us in the death and Resurrection of His Son Jesus Christ.

“…And he (Pilate) said to the Jews, ‘Behold your King!’ But they cried out, ‘Away with Him, Away with Him! Crucify him!’ … And He, bearing His cross, went out to a place called ‘the Place of the Skull’, … where they crucified Him, …So when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, ‘It is finished!’ And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit. … Then they took the body of Jesus, and bound it in strips of linen with the spices (and laid Him in a new tomb). …Now on the first day of the week Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early…and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb.” (Excerpts are from John 19 & 20 – NKJV) “He is not here for He is risen as He said. Come see the place where the Lord lay.”
Matthew 28:6.

Here are a couple of recipes I would like to share with you. You may even want to try them as a part of your Easter dinner.

ESCALLOPED PINEAPPLE:
3 eggs
1 stick butter – melted
1 1/3 cup sugar
1 large can crushed pineapple
4 cups cubed day-old French bread

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Put bread cubes in a greased casserole dish. Mix eggs and sugar. Add melted butter and pineapple to egg mixture. Pour over bread and bake for about 45 minutes. Serve right out of the oven.

COCONUT CREAM PIE:
Crust: 1 cup flour
½ cup butter flavored shortening
2 Tablespoons cold water
Mix flour and shortening until it resembles coarse meal.
Add water and mix to form a ball.
Press into a 9-inch pie pan and bake for 9-10 minutes at 425 degrees.

Filling: ¾ cup sugar
¼ cup corn starch
Mix the above in a pan and add the following.
3 cups milk
3 egg yolks
Mix milk and yolks and add slowly to sugar mixture.
Cook this mixture over medium heat until it boils and thickens. Cook for one minute more stirring constantly.

Remove from heat and add: 1/2 cup of coconut
1 ½ tablespoons butter
1 tsp. vanilla
Pour warm filling into pie crust and top with meringue.

Meringue:
3 egg whites
3/8 teaspoon cream of tartar
Beat on high for one minute. Add:
6 tablespoons of sugar beating after each addition

Spread meringue over filling. Sprinkle with ¼ cup coconut.
Bake completed pie for 12-15 minutes at 350 degrees.
Cool before serving.

Have a very blessed Easter and next week we will get back to our focus on prayer and my plan to “stand in the gap” for our election.

It's A Girl

Well, March 5 was the day and we have a new grand daughter! What a joy to see her precious little face and know that more than anyone else in the whole world, God loves her so much that He gave His Son to die for her and we will celebrate that event next week!

As I stated in the last entry, it is my hope that I can help us all live above some of the events that are shaping our political scene today! I am a realist by nature and have a very defined “grid”; so as I look around, I find it very easy to become pessimistic and discouraged with the direction that things are taking! I add to that thoughts of my little grandkids growing up in this world and I could become very apprehensive about it all! But I KNOW that it is not God’s plan for us to live our lives in the state of discouragement or hopelessness, so I am working through some thoughts and practicing some exercises to make sure that I don’t spend time thinking about things that are not “true, just, lovely, of good report, etc.” (Philippians 4:8)

First of all, we need to remind ourselves daily of where our hope lies. I shared in the last entry the Scripture found in Psalm 146. We could all stand to read that Scripture each and every day and remind ourselves of God’s credentials, His abilities and his faithfulness and power!

After we are thoroughly convinced of God’s faithfulness and promises, we need to pray! If there has ever been a time that we need to pray, it is today! Prayer is very hard work and we don’t always understand how it affects our daily lives, but God has asked us to pray (well really, He commanded us to pray – I Thessalonians. 5:17, for example). So let’s get on our knees every day on behalf of our country and the coming election and let’s PRAY! And, let’s be careful not to tell God what to do, but let’s seek His best plan for us and our country.

And finally, we need to be a light of hope and joy and peace in the midst of the chaos going on in the culture. We need to live above the evil, the discouragement, the hopelessness, the pessimism and all the other attitudes that we are experiencing as we see what goes on. And we do not need to be ignorant of the situation in order to accomplish that. On the contrary, we are to be “salt” and “light” in the midst of it all and we are to lift up the name Jesus and give hope to the world. Let them know that there is a better way of life and live your life as an example of that! Let them see the “fruit of the Spirit” manifesting itself in your life! (Galatians 5:22)

I feel compelled to do whatever I can do to help us focus on prayer through this very crucial time in our nation’s history. In order to act upon that burden that I have, I will be using this blog to send out reminders from time to time concerning things that I feel that we need to pray for related to the election. I am convinced that God uses the prayers of His people to accomplish great things for Him, so in obedience, I will be encouraging all of you to pray regularly for the upcoming events in our country. (James 5:16 b.) “The effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.”
Back to the baby – I am quite sure I will not be here when my grandkids are grandparents. I am VERY committed to having an influence on their lives both now and for the remainder of their lives! I know many of you are grandparents and some of you are parents, but we all have a responsibility to pass the baton on to the next generations. For this reason, we need to cover these things in prayer now as once we are gone we won’t be able to do that. Let’s not only pray for them, but let’s leave them a legacy of praying parents and grandparents and let them know just how important we believe prayer to be! I know that even more than the answers to prayer that we receive will be the memory in the hearts of our children of parents and grandparents on their knees praying for them and for the things that affect them! Let’s make an eternal difference for them!

A New Baby

Today as I sit here at home and wait for a call that I need to go to the hospital to welcome a new grandbaby, I am reflecting on the culture we live in and the world in which that precious little baby will grow up! We do not know if this baby is a boy or a girl, but no matter the gender, the intelligence or any other characteristic of this little baby, he/she will face many challenges that his parents, his grandparents, his extended family and every Christian he knows will need to help him through!

I haven’t written for a while for various reasons, but I have become very burdened by what is going on in our political climate and wondering how I can help young parents face the challenges that are rampant today! I am going to try over the next few weeks to react and to respond to some of the things that I am hearing and hope that it may be of help to you.

One of the words that is often being used today is the word “hope”. As I listen, (and I am quite interested in the political scene) I hear that word just batted around as if just the ability to have “hope” is all that matters. I haven’t heard anyone yet tell us what reason we have for having “hope”! I am here to tell you that “hope” in “hope” will get you nothing! “Hope” in some intangible idea or thing will also accomplish nothing. We need to have our “hope” IN something.

My challenge to you moms and parents is to give your children something IN which to hope. And the best thing that I know of to be the object of that “hope” is God. God, in His Word, not only tells us to have “hope”, He tells us where to place our hope and why. In Psalm 146:5-10 a.) (NKJV) it says: “Happy is he who has the God of Jacob for His help, whose ‘hope’ is in the Lord his God, Who made Heaven and earth, the sea and all that is in them; Who keeps truth forever, Who executes justice for the oppressed, Who gives food to the hungry. The Lord gives freedom to the prisoners. The Lord opens the eyes of the blind; the Lord raises those who are bowed down; the Lord loves the righteous. The Lord watches over the strangers; He relieves the fatherless and the widow; but the way of the wicked He turns upside down. The Lord shall reign forever--”

That list not only covers many of the needs that we face in America today, but God has great credentials, don’t you think?! And talk about experience…! I pray that as we all face the coming days and months and all that is transpiring in our great country, we will remember that, as the song says, “Our ‘hope’ is in the Lord” and not in anything that any of the politicians tell us about what they are going to do! Our job is to pray and seek God’s will and best plan for us and for our families. This is the reason that I can be excited and thrilled as I wait for the new life that God is placing in our family today or some day soon! On my own and with the things I see and hear with my own eyes and ears, I would be very apprehensive and pessimistic, but when I read Psalm 146, I see GREAT HOPE in the God Who created the Heaven and the earth and will reign forever! With that “hope”, I can hold that precious new grandbaby and know that with God’s help, I can make a difference for him and for all the other grandchildren God has and will bless me with!

With that in mind, may I keep my eyes on God and keep focused on my mission so that I can be that help and support that all who are living in this world are looking for. Praise the Lord for the ‘hope’ we have in Him!!!