A Child’s Family Fortune
“My son, if your heart is wise, then my heart will be glad; my inmost being will rejoice when your lips speak what is right.”
Proverbs 23:15
Don’t you wish that all parents could experience the joy from the scripture above as their children would speak and live a life that is pleasing to God? All parents could experience this joy and happiness when they leave their children with the “Family Fortune” I discussed in the previous devotional. As parents, we cannot force our children to know and serve God, but we can, however, minimize the possibility of them going astray and maximize their potential to love God by living a godly life before them. The Bible tells us that it is the responsibility of every parent to pass on the eternal riches of knowing and honoring God to their children. There is no doubt that parents are the most powerful influence upon their child’s spiritual development. At some point however, as the child matures they must begin to take ownership and possess the godly heritage for themselves. A youth must initially receive and begin to live by faith in the Lord Jesus on their own. Making the transition from “passive” to “possessive” toward their spiritual heritage is not easy for some, but for others it is a natural process in their spiritual development. The fact is, most youth and young adults are going to be severely tested in their faith and love for God as they come into their own. They are going to be tempted by peer pressure and unfortunately by their teachers and other influential adults in our society today. The statistics tell us that many of our young people are failing the “test” of faith once they launch out on their own. I know that for me, and I hope that for all of you, this is one “test” that we as parents cannot allow our young people to fail. Parents must leave their children a “Family Fortune” that will follow them always.
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Friday, October 22, 2010
My Daily Devotional
The Family Fortune
“Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.”
Proverbs 22:6
When I look at our society today I see so many families who are dysfunctional and their children are left to find out about God on their own. This creates a cycle where our children imitate their parents and have their own dysfunctional family. I believe that as Christian parents, giving a godly heritage to our children is a deep-rooted core value that is necessary to keep families together and stop this devastating trend in families today. Whenever we hear the words, “Family Fortune,” we immediately think of the wealthy of our culture. But we have something to give our children of greater value than money, assets and mansions. We have a “Family Fortune” from our Heavenly Father to pass on to our children. It is a fortune that far exceeds all earthly riches. It is the riches of a godly life lived and worked out in front of our children on a daily basis. The Biblical story of the prodigal son illustrates the impact of a godly parent on his children. Though the father was rich in earthly treasure, he was even richer in spiritual treasure. When both sons went astray, one to extreme carnality and the other to extreme judgmentalism, it was the godly life of the father that was the catalyst for change in their lives. Both sons eventually returned to the godly wisdom, counsel and lifestyle of their father who raised them to do what was right in the sight of the Lord. He had given his sons more than money and wealth. He gave them something that rescued them from the corruption of their own soul. He gave them a godly heritage. Your prayers, lifestyle and unconditional love is a major part of what God uses to influence the direction and destiny of your children and parents must give their children a godly heritage.
“Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.”
Proverbs 22:6
When I look at our society today I see so many families who are dysfunctional and their children are left to find out about God on their own. This creates a cycle where our children imitate their parents and have their own dysfunctional family. I believe that as Christian parents, giving a godly heritage to our children is a deep-rooted core value that is necessary to keep families together and stop this devastating trend in families today. Whenever we hear the words, “Family Fortune,” we immediately think of the wealthy of our culture. But we have something to give our children of greater value than money, assets and mansions. We have a “Family Fortune” from our Heavenly Father to pass on to our children. It is a fortune that far exceeds all earthly riches. It is the riches of a godly life lived and worked out in front of our children on a daily basis. The Biblical story of the prodigal son illustrates the impact of a godly parent on his children. Though the father was rich in earthly treasure, he was even richer in spiritual treasure. When both sons went astray, one to extreme carnality and the other to extreme judgmentalism, it was the godly life of the father that was the catalyst for change in their lives. Both sons eventually returned to the godly wisdom, counsel and lifestyle of their father who raised them to do what was right in the sight of the Lord. He had given his sons more than money and wealth. He gave them something that rescued them from the corruption of their own soul. He gave them a godly heritage. Your prayers, lifestyle and unconditional love is a major part of what God uses to influence the direction and destiny of your children and parents must give their children a godly heritage.
Thursday, October 21, 2010
My Daily Devotional
Seek the Fruits of the Spirit
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.”
Matthew 5:6
Have you ever thought about what comes out of us when the pressure of life comes upon us? That question is something that we all need to ask ourselves and take a close look at what the real answer is. If the fruit of the Spirit and the righteousness of the Lord do not come out, then we need to allow the Lord to do some work in our life. Jesus tells us that the fruit of the Spirit should be love, joy, peace longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control, and should be shown coming from us at all times. Are these the fruits that flow from your mouth and your actions, when the trials of life come upon you? What comes out of us reveal the true character and nature that is inside us to others, and if we do not exhibit these fruits in our times of stress we need to earnestly seek Jesus to change things in our lives. If you find yourself lacking in this regard, and desire to change and want to become a person who resembles Christ in your actions and speech there are two things that you must do. First get in the Word. That means to read and study your Bible, and begin to put the wisdom and knowledge that you find to practice in your every day life. When we put God’s word in our heart we are able to stand against sin and act with the character of Christ, when we are feeling the pressure of the world trying to squeeze us. Second, we need to obey the scripture above and get hungry and thirsty for this righteousness. If you are filled with the righteousness of God, then the only thing that will pour out of you when the pressures of life come will be the righteousness of the Lord. All the righteousness you have filled yourself with, will now come out and you will become a true witness for Christ by your conduct.
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be filled.”
Matthew 5:6
Have you ever thought about what comes out of us when the pressure of life comes upon us? That question is something that we all need to ask ourselves and take a close look at what the real answer is. If the fruit of the Spirit and the righteousness of the Lord do not come out, then we need to allow the Lord to do some work in our life. Jesus tells us that the fruit of the Spirit should be love, joy, peace longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control, and should be shown coming from us at all times. Are these the fruits that flow from your mouth and your actions, when the trials of life come upon you? What comes out of us reveal the true character and nature that is inside us to others, and if we do not exhibit these fruits in our times of stress we need to earnestly seek Jesus to change things in our lives. If you find yourself lacking in this regard, and desire to change and want to become a person who resembles Christ in your actions and speech there are two things that you must do. First get in the Word. That means to read and study your Bible, and begin to put the wisdom and knowledge that you find to practice in your every day life. When we put God’s word in our heart we are able to stand against sin and act with the character of Christ, when we are feeling the pressure of the world trying to squeeze us. Second, we need to obey the scripture above and get hungry and thirsty for this righteousness. If you are filled with the righteousness of God, then the only thing that will pour out of you when the pressures of life come will be the righteousness of the Lord. All the righteousness you have filled yourself with, will now come out and you will become a true witness for Christ by your conduct.
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
My Daily Devotional
Be an Encourager
“Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.”
1st Thessalonians 5:11
Having spent my entire 45 year career in administration I have encountered many people, including many managers who were critical of almost any thing and anybody they met. These people were very negative individuals and hardly every had any thing positive to say about anything or anybody. These same individuals always seemed to be ones that were unhappy with themselves and never had any joy in their lives. I am sure each of you has people in your lives at this time that are similar to the ones I am describing. I have always believed that Jesus wants us to be encouragers instead of being critical, complainers and negative, and I have never condoned this kind of behavior with the people I supervised. The Bible gives us many scriptures, such as the one above, where we are to always be uplifting and to always build each other up. No matter how rough your day is today, speak words that uplift and encourage those around you. Encourage others when you notice them doing a good job or a good deed. You can do this with all the people you come into contact with, such as store clerks, auto mechanics, food service employees, your friends and neighbors. Always give compliments for good service and good works and deeds. You can change your own life and your own attitude by choosing to speak positive words. We can improve our relationships with others by leaps and bounds when we become encouragers instead of critics. You will become an ambassador for Jesus when you begin to embrace this habit as people will begin to see Christ in you, and His righteousness will begin to shine upon you. You will be in God’s favor when you choose to bless others through your kind words.
“Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.”
1st Thessalonians 5:11
Having spent my entire 45 year career in administration I have encountered many people, including many managers who were critical of almost any thing and anybody they met. These people were very negative individuals and hardly every had any thing positive to say about anything or anybody. These same individuals always seemed to be ones that were unhappy with themselves and never had any joy in their lives. I am sure each of you has people in your lives at this time that are similar to the ones I am describing. I have always believed that Jesus wants us to be encouragers instead of being critical, complainers and negative, and I have never condoned this kind of behavior with the people I supervised. The Bible gives us many scriptures, such as the one above, where we are to always be uplifting and to always build each other up. No matter how rough your day is today, speak words that uplift and encourage those around you. Encourage others when you notice them doing a good job or a good deed. You can do this with all the people you come into contact with, such as store clerks, auto mechanics, food service employees, your friends and neighbors. Always give compliments for good service and good works and deeds. You can change your own life and your own attitude by choosing to speak positive words. We can improve our relationships with others by leaps and bounds when we become encouragers instead of critics. You will become an ambassador for Jesus when you begin to embrace this habit as people will begin to see Christ in you, and His righteousness will begin to shine upon you. You will be in God’s favor when you choose to bless others through your kind words.
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
My Daily Devotional
Our Purpose in Life
“Now it is God who has made us for this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.”
2nd Corinthians 5:5
God has a plan and a purpose for your life and this plan and purpose was known by Him before you were born and still in your mother’s womb. It should be your main objective in life to find out what God’s will for your life is, and to work towards meeting this objective. God will lead you to fulfill this purpose if you will let Him lead and direct your life, in everything you do. One of the first steps you must make is to fully accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior. When you accept Jesus and ask Him to come into your heart He is ready to take you to the next step in finding your purpose in life. When you accept Jesus you are going to make Him number one in your life. You are going to obey and follow His commands and live your life in a way that will be pleasing to Him. You will cast aside all the worldly pleasures and focus your future to doing His will. This does not mean that everything will be rosy in your future, but with your destination, which is heaven, in front of you, you must forge ahead despite any setbacks. There will be challenges ahead, as Satan knows what is happening and will come against you with all his schemes, but you must not let setbacks determine the final outcome which is a place reserved for you in heaven. You must now determine what is important in serving God and make Him number one in your life. You have complete control of your time and your life, and only you can determine what your real priorities are. God tells each of us what His chief priorities are and all of us need to make His priorities our chief priorities. The will of God must be the most important thing to us every minute of every day. Our goal must be to serve God.
“Now it is God who has made us for this very purpose and has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.”
2nd Corinthians 5:5
God has a plan and a purpose for your life and this plan and purpose was known by Him before you were born and still in your mother’s womb. It should be your main objective in life to find out what God’s will for your life is, and to work towards meeting this objective. God will lead you to fulfill this purpose if you will let Him lead and direct your life, in everything you do. One of the first steps you must make is to fully accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior. When you accept Jesus and ask Him to come into your heart He is ready to take you to the next step in finding your purpose in life. When you accept Jesus you are going to make Him number one in your life. You are going to obey and follow His commands and live your life in a way that will be pleasing to Him. You will cast aside all the worldly pleasures and focus your future to doing His will. This does not mean that everything will be rosy in your future, but with your destination, which is heaven, in front of you, you must forge ahead despite any setbacks. There will be challenges ahead, as Satan knows what is happening and will come against you with all his schemes, but you must not let setbacks determine the final outcome which is a place reserved for you in heaven. You must now determine what is important in serving God and make Him number one in your life. You have complete control of your time and your life, and only you can determine what your real priorities are. God tells each of us what His chief priorities are and all of us need to make His priorities our chief priorities. The will of God must be the most important thing to us every minute of every day. Our goal must be to serve God.
Monday, October 18, 2010
My Daily Devotional
The Road to Heaven
“But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin. No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.”
1st John 3:5-6
This is a powerful scripture and one that every new Christian needs to embrace. Once we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, God promises to take away our past sins and forgive us. He puts into our hearts the desire to be righteous from that point forward, and live a life that would be pleasing to Him. The sins of our past are now forgiven, and we are to move forward in our life living and obeying the commands of God. We must now make God first and foremost in our daily lives, and follow His will in all things that we do. There is no more room in our life to continue to sin, as we did before we were saved and accepted Him. Our thoughts, our behavior and our actions must now be centered around Jesus and following and obeying His commands. The Bible tells us that the road is narrow that leads to Heaven, and few will find it, but wide is the road that leads to destruction. The Christian that finds this narrow road will be the ones that seek His commands and live them out in their daily life. The road to Heaven is given to us in God’s Holy Word, and we must begin to embrace God’s commands for our lives and live each day holding these truths in our hearts and displaying them in our thoughts and actions. When we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, our lives will be changed, and our focus will now be on serving Him and not on the things of the world. Obeying God’s commands must now become the number one priority in our lives, and we must go forward with the knowledge that one day we will stand before God and give account of all we have done. We must commit our life to Jesus.
“But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin. No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.”
1st John 3:5-6
This is a powerful scripture and one that every new Christian needs to embrace. Once we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, God promises to take away our past sins and forgive us. He puts into our hearts the desire to be righteous from that point forward, and live a life that would be pleasing to Him. The sins of our past are now forgiven, and we are to move forward in our life living and obeying the commands of God. We must now make God first and foremost in our daily lives, and follow His will in all things that we do. There is no more room in our life to continue to sin, as we did before we were saved and accepted Him. Our thoughts, our behavior and our actions must now be centered around Jesus and following and obeying His commands. The Bible tells us that the road is narrow that leads to Heaven, and few will find it, but wide is the road that leads to destruction. The Christian that finds this narrow road will be the ones that seek His commands and live them out in their daily life. The road to Heaven is given to us in God’s Holy Word, and we must begin to embrace God’s commands for our lives and live each day holding these truths in our hearts and displaying them in our thoughts and actions. When we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, our lives will be changed, and our focus will now be on serving Him and not on the things of the world. Obeying God’s commands must now become the number one priority in our lives, and we must go forward with the knowledge that one day we will stand before God and give account of all we have done. We must commit our life to Jesus.
Sunday, October 17, 2010
My Daily Devotional
Seek God’s Word
“For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.”
2nd Timothy 4:3
In these perilous times we live in, it is so important to know the Word of God, so we can discern what the real truth of God really is. So often we try to find reasons that suit our own desires, and follow teachings and beliefs that give us justification to do what we want to do. There is only one way that each of us can be assured that we are following the real Word of God, and that is to seek the wisdom given to us throughout the Bible for ourselves. There are answers for almost any situation that we will ever encounter throughout God’s Holy word, and these answers will be given to us when we seek them. It is extremely important to spend time each day seeking this wisdom and then applying this knowledge to our daily living. God’s commands will take us to a new level when we consistently apply them to our lives. When we make God number one in our lives, and seek Him daily, He will open the floodgates to this wisdom and fill our hearts with the knowledge that we need, in order to bring peace and joy to our lives. The more time we spend with Him daily, in seeking this wisdom the more understanding we will receive in return. God’s wisdom will enable us to grow and mature in our spiritual walk, and will give us the assurance that how we are living our life is pleasing to Him. When we live each day with God first in our lives, we will begin to experience the overflowing blessings that He will bestow on us. Our lives will change, our attitudes will improve, things will be brighter and we will now have hope for our future. God can make a difference in our lives if we seek Him.
“For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.”
2nd Timothy 4:3
In these perilous times we live in, it is so important to know the Word of God, so we can discern what the real truth of God really is. So often we try to find reasons that suit our own desires, and follow teachings and beliefs that give us justification to do what we want to do. There is only one way that each of us can be assured that we are following the real Word of God, and that is to seek the wisdom given to us throughout the Bible for ourselves. There are answers for almost any situation that we will ever encounter throughout God’s Holy word, and these answers will be given to us when we seek them. It is extremely important to spend time each day seeking this wisdom and then applying this knowledge to our daily living. God’s commands will take us to a new level when we consistently apply them to our lives. When we make God number one in our lives, and seek Him daily, He will open the floodgates to this wisdom and fill our hearts with the knowledge that we need, in order to bring peace and joy to our lives. The more time we spend with Him daily, in seeking this wisdom the more understanding we will receive in return. God’s wisdom will enable us to grow and mature in our spiritual walk, and will give us the assurance that how we are living our life is pleasing to Him. When we live each day with God first in our lives, we will begin to experience the overflowing blessings that He will bestow on us. Our lives will change, our attitudes will improve, things will be brighter and we will now have hope for our future. God can make a difference in our lives if we seek Him.
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