Do
you have children that have not accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior or who
have turned away from God? Nothing can be more heartbreaking than raising your
children in a Christian home but then see them rebel against what they were
taught. However, it does not have to be that way forever, because God has some
promises concerning our children.
In Isaiah
43:6 (KJV) it says: "I will say to the north, Give up; and to the south,
Keep not back: bring my sons from far, and my daughters from the ends of the
earth." Isaiah 60:4 is a very similar verse. If God did this for his children,
the people of Israel, he can bring our children back into fellowship with him.
In
the New Testament Paul and Silas told the prison jailer that he could be saved
along with his whole household. (Acts 16:31). In Proverbs 22:6 it is written: “Train
up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from
it”. These are all promises that we can stand on; but
this requires faith as well as patience and much prayer.
We
know that the promises of God are: "yea, and in him A’-men" (2 Cor.
1:20). God is faithful to his word. In Isaiah 59:21 we are told that God's
words’ will not leave our mouths nor of the mouths of our descendants or our
descendants’ descendants. Now that's a promise.
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book: “On the Way: Basic Christian Training”, including how to purchase it and
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others.
Have
things come against you? People? Problems? Pressures? Shadrach, Meshach and
Abednego were thrown into a furnace so hot that the guards who threw them in
were killed by the heat (Dan 3). The 3 were thrown in the fire because they
refused to worship the image of King Nebuchadnezzar. When in the 3 were in the
furnace, the King noticed a fourth person: "like the Son of God" (Dan
3:25). Jesus was in the fire and delivered them.
Paul
described the tribulations, persecution and afflictions that came against him
as he obeyed God in ministry (1 Cor 11:24-28; 2 Tim 3:11-12). He was beaten
stoned, hungry, tired and threatened by angry crowds and robbers. However, Paul
said triumphantly that God delivered him every time.
Jesus
said we would have challenges in this life but he also said not to worry
because he is victorious over everything that can come against us. (John 16:33).
Jesus was in a boat with his disciples when a fierce storm arose. The disciples
woke him up in a panic: “And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the
sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm” (Mark
4:39). Isn't it wonderful to know that
when the storms of life come against us, we have Jesus in our boat (Mark
4:35-40)?
Been
in the fire lately?
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information on our book: “On the Way: Basic Christian Training”, including how
to purchase it and also to see more encouraging Bible based blogs. Please
recommend our book to others.
Wisdom
for Every Issue of Life
“My
son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments with thee; So that
thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding; Yea,
if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding; If thou
seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures.” (Prov
2:1-4; KJV)
Do
you get the impression that God is trying to tell us something here? He directs
us to receive his word, not just hear it. We are to treasure his commands,
incline our ears to wisdom, apply our hearts to and lift up our voice to
understanding. God says, cry out for discernment, seek understanding as silver
and search for her as if she were a treasure. This does not have the ring of a
passive occupation but one of active pursuit, a passionate pressing in to
something of paramount importance in our life.
As
we do this, God gives us the Holy Spirit to reveal God’s word to us; (John
14:26) we just need to do our part.
If
we look at the whole of the second chapter of Proverbs, we see the benefits of
our pursuit. We will learn to respect and hallow our awesome God. We will
understand justice and equity and how God sees us as his children; righteous in
his presence. God gives us the knowledge, understanding and wisdom we seek. My,
how we and the church need all of that. God will lead us, protect us and
preserve us and cause us to dwell in the land. When Israel dwelt in the land
and obeyed God, the nation settled, prospered and enjoyed peace. Does this
interest you? It should. Well, the action plan is simple.
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send this to a friend. All rights reserved.
Check out our web site ( www.onthewayinlove.com ) for information on our
book: “On the Way: Basic Christian Training”, including how to purchase it and
also to see more encouraging Bible based blogs. Please recommend our book to
others.
"And
the Lord make you to increase and abound and in love one toward another, and toward
all men, even as we do toward you" (1 Thess 3:12; KJV). That verse is requiring a lot of love from us.
This love is to be extended to our Christian family (one another) and also
people in general (all men). The writer indicates that the Lord will help us do
this; we certainly can't do it in our own ability. The love of God: “has been
poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us” (Rom 5:5).
Love is a fruit of the Holy Spirit (Gal 5:22). If we desire it and allow it,
the Spirit will develop this love in our lives.
We
are probably all familiar with the famous love chapter - 1 Corinthians 13, but
we also find many characteristics of love in Colossians 3:12-13, where we are
told how to behave- with pity, mercy, kindness, humility, gentleness, endurance
and forgiveness. I believe that all these added together would equal love.
I
encourage you to spend time reading and meditating on the love scriptures each
day and you will find that increasing and excelling in love will come much
easier. Make a decision to grow in your love walk, ask God to help you - and he
will.
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book: “On the Way: Basic Christian Training”, including how to purchase it and
also to see more encouraging Bible based blogs. Please recommend our book to
others.
"A
good man sheweth favour, and lendeth..." (Ps 112:5; KJV). We learn in many
places in scripture that God wants us to be generous to the poor. In Proverbs
19:17 it says that God will pay back to us what we give to the poor and in Proverbs
28:27 it says that if we give to the poor we will not lack.
It's
not just in the Old Testament that we read this either; in the gospel of Mathew
(Matt 5:42). Jesus said to give to him who begs from you and don’t look the
other way. The Greek word for give in that verse is, didomi, which means to
give freely as Christ would give. In other words, we have to have a desire to
give and be a blessing. We know from many scriptures that when we give God
promises to bless us, for example in Ecclesiastes 11:1 it says to: "cast thy
bread upon the waters: for thou shalt find it after many days", also in Mathew
10:42 we are told that if we only give a cup of water to someone we will be
rewarded.
The
apostle Paul quoted Jesus as saying: “it is more blessed to give than to receive”
(Acts 20:25). The early church clearly had giving and meeting needs established;
they had all things in common; gave generously and no one was in lack (Acts
4:32-37)!
Lord
give us a heart for the needy.
Please
pass this on. All rights reserved.
Check out our web site ( www.onthewayinlove.com ) for information on our
book: “On the Way: Basic Christian Training”, including how to purchase it and
also to see more encouraging Bible based blogs. Please recommend our book to
others.