Lessons We Learn From Our Children
All too often we get caught up in what we can teach them throughout the day, when sometimes we need to sit back and observe the things they are teaching us daily. Here are a few things I’ve observed lately, and maybe you have too:
Childlike Faith
When you look at the life of a child, you see the unwavering faith they have in their parents. They know their parents will pick them up from school without even thinking twice. They know they are going to be caught at the end of the slide while playing at the playground. If we could only have this type of faith in our relationship with our heavenly Father…how much better would we live life unafraid!
Matthew 18:2-3
Jesus called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. And he said: Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
Worry Less
We tend to worry about something on a daily basis…
- What will we have for dinner?
- How am I going to pay that bill?
- What if the load of laundry with our kid’s baseball jersey won’t be done in time for their game tonight?
- What will that other mom think of my child’s lunch I packed while walking out the door?
Philippians 4:6Don’t worry about anything, instead, pray about everything.
Enjoying the Simple Things
Proverbs 15:16Better a little with the fear of the Lord than great wealth with turmoil.
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To My Children – A Mis Hijos
Just as God has arranged for his children through His Word and Abraham passed on instruction to Israel in Deuteronomy, so should we pass on God’s instruction to our children- God’s truth- as opposed to the world’s view of how to live.
I like to use the K.I.S.S. method—Keep it Short and Simple. The following are two main instructions in truth that I feel are important for my boys to know, embrace and live out.
1. KNOW GOD
The first indispensable instruction I can give is to truly know God. The original languages of the Bible are mainly Hebrew and Greek. In both, the word translated “know” means far more than information and facts. The Word includes the ideas of intimacy and authentic experience. The Hebrew word “know”, or “yada” means far more than intellectual information. It involves intimate experience and relationship.
It was sometimes compared to the intimate relations experienced by a husband and wife. For example, Genesis 4 speaks of Adam and Eve, our first parents and says…
GENESIS 4:1 And Adam knew Eve his wife and she conceived and bore Cain, and said, “I have gotten a man from the Lord.” KJV
Another example of this definition is Mary’s response to the angel who tells she will be having a baby.
Luke 1:34 Then said Mary unto the angel, “How shall this be, seeing I KNOW not a man?” KJV
I say to you- and my sons- the most essential and important thing in life is that you know God. That means you have encountered him by way of intimate experience and continue to have an intimate relationship with Him.
John 8:31 So Jesus said to the Jews who believed in him, “If you continue to obey my teaching, you are truly my followers.” NCVCol 1:23 But you must continue to believe this truth and stand firmly in it. Don’t drift away from the assurance you received when you heard the Good News. The Good News has been preached all over the world and I, Paul, have been appointed as God’s servant to proclaim it. NLT
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Stand for the Truth
As we learned, every time we exaggerate or embellish the facts, it gets a little easier to do it the next time. We stretch it just a little further each time we embellish. Eventually, this is who we become and reflects our way of interacting on everything- from what we say and how we act to what we get in the habit of doing.
Some of my friends and I- way back from high school- still talk about a person we knew who always “climbed a little higher” or “ran a little faster” than we all knew to be true. It is sad to see how these seemingly insignificant embellishments (over several decades) now have affected his employment, marriage(s), reputation and walk with the Lord.
As for me, I can easily be tempted to wear the Admiral’s star or the sheriff’s badge. Meaning this: when I use inappropriate leverage to get more help, drum up additional resources or win additional funding for a new project. This can often include an embellishment (a.k.a. an outright lie) regardless of whether or not it’s a “not so big” exaggeration.
Consider this example. Do you recall growing up and saying to your siblings, “mom said you are supposed to go do this” when really she told you to do it. This is where it starts, little by little. Before you know it, it turns into exaggerating a project requirement at work to be competitive since you know others are doing it. Yikes! It’s an all-too-easy, slippery slope that so often we don’t even realize is happening.
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Honesty Is the Only Policy
This is the point they missed: I am not the standard or authority
that makes lying or dishonesty immoral.
It’s an absolute in natural law and from God.
No, honesty is not the best policy- a.k.a. the best choice among other equally good options-
honesty is the only policy.
Honesty is more than not telling lies and more than saying something false. Honesty is speaking that which conforms to truth and reality. It is living in integrity and Godly character; which includes moral rightness, truthfulness, trustworthiness and to be free of deceit.
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When Was Your Last Spiritual Check-up?
• How is my alone time with Him: bible reading, prayer life?
• How am I serving God: volunteering at church, welcoming visitors at church, providing assistants to those in need?
• Is it my desire to give sacrificially to the church family?
• Do I live humbly before ALL men?
• Is grace growing in my life?
• Do I love my neighbor?
• How do I measure-up according to scripture, when expressing love to my family?
• Am I forgiving others that have wronged me?
• Do I fellowship with other believers?
• Is my life a witness of God’s hand working in it?
• Am I helping the poor and needy?
Matthew 22:37-40 says
Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like unto it; love your neighbor as yourself. All the law and the prophets hang on these two commandments.
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4 Things to Remember When You’re On the Edge
I can honestly tell you this: you are not alone. Over the past two years, I have had some major events in my life that have not only tested my emotions and thoughts, but also tested everything I believe in and the will to keep pushing through those events. By the grace of God and a great support system, I have come out of all of those circumstances a much stronger person… or so I thought.
Every now and then, a little something from each of those events creeps back into my life and thoughts. I feel the weight of things that happened in the past all over again. I feel the wounds they have left behind- in my mind and the inner most parts of my being.
It is usually then that I find myself right on the edge of keeping it all together…
I feel like I’m about to have a good old fashion freak-out moment.
1. Normal – The definition of “normal” is up for interpretation. What I have learned is that my feelings and my reactions are absolutely normal. I am not weird for feeling upset or wanting to cry about past traumatic events. Neither are you.
2. Time – they say time heals all wounds. Not really. It may be a nice cliché, but in real life it takes intentional work to heal through the pain. This is what heals the wounds and grows us. If the pain isn’t dealt with and merely buried in “time” (denial), it will one day rip that scab off with the same intensity as it did 30 years ago. Scars will always be there, but I know with the Lord working in me as I do the work of healing and the buffer of time- this allows us to become stronger. One step at a time. One day at a time. It must be a conscious choice we make every day.
3. A Support System – they say that you can pick your friends, but you can’t pick your family. If you’re not close with your family, you must still have a support system in place. Usually our parents have gone through something in the course of their lives. They can offer advice or just be there to listen. Be wise about this- choose people who are safe, honest and have your best interest at heart.
4. God – they say to just lean on God in the hard times. It’s so easy to say, harder to do. What I have learned is this: God deeply cares for me and feels the overwhelming emotions with me. When I question God on why bad things happen to good people, He doesn’t get mad at me. He tells me that evil things are not His plan- His plan is for our good. His plan is for all of us to live in eternity with him. But there is a darkness in this world and that darkness (our enemy- Satan) is the cause of those bad things happening to good people.
The bottom line?
When I am sometimes on the edge, God can work in my life if I allow him to. God wants what is best for us, and sometimes being on the edge is just where he wants us. No pain is wasted in the hands of our Savior. He desires to grow us through it. He wants us to reach out and grab his hand, so he can pull us into his loving arms.
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