Wednesday, July 31, 2013
Sharing the Light of The world
35 Then Jesus said unto them, Yet a little while is the light with you. Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you: for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth. 36 While ye have light, believe in the light, that ye may be the children of light. These things spake Jesus, and departed, and did hide himself from them.
What is wrong with our children's church programs? I have seen an article going around on this topic and I would like to comment on it. I have enjoyed teaching children's Bible clubs for years. These past several years that we have had our own small church to be leaders of God's Truth in...I have learned more than ever. We have a small group and we are very focused on our own ministry and meeting the needs and praying for our people and ministering , fellowshipping, the daily grind. Sometimes it seems like we aren't doing much when we read of great things happening elsewhere. But, when we stop to really evaluate, God is doing a work and many times we don't see the miracles in the mundane things of life. Back to our children. The article I read was about how our perspective on the Bible stories is what is destroying our children. I see the point. The point is that we tell the stories as though we need to be good as The men and women of the Bible were good. But we should be showing that God loved these men in spite of their sin and they did good because God loved them. I get that. However, I would contend that God loves us all and woos us all to Himself. So, still, we have a problem because not all of our Sunday school children Grow up to love and serve God. So,what is the answer? The truth is we cannot make the message penetrate the heart. Each person is responsible before God for their own soul. Each child must have a desire to be born again as Nichodemus as in John 3. We can not make the message plainer than God does in His Word, we should,not try our own crafty methods to make the children see it. It has to come when they personally want a relationship with Christ. It is a personal desire and it is individual. It is a realization in each heart of their own need for God in His or her life. We can't mistake a child's desire to please us, the teachers, for salvation. Some children naturally want to please and will follow anything an adult shows them. This is not salvation. Others will questions and show great resistance and one day finally give in toTruth..this is sometimes the most obvious evidence of salvation. The fact is, like the above verse says, once the student has Jesus the light turns on and our job as teacher is to feed and direct the sheep who are willing to follow Christ. Our desire should not be to mold the message to make the children understand, we should be teaching children to realize their God loves them and they need Him for guidance in their lives. Jesus is their salvation. Not just for heaven but for an abundant life. Basically we should trust God' s word that it is the power that God says it is. We need to read it to the children. We need to trust His Words. We don't need to re word it. Just tell it. Trust it. Pray for it to reach the heart and the seed will reach the heart. Christianity is not a method, a program, a profession, but it is the power of God in a life. Nothing can explain how a new life is actually begun physically. We know the scientific process but the life itself is given by God and as many babies have been born we are marveled by the miracle of life. So it is spiritually. We can analyze our message, change our music and our programs and fix our Sunday school lessons, but the truth is....the miracle of the new birth is just that, a miracle.The difference is the hearer has a choice to accept the Truth or reject it. Our job is to share God's Truth. I think that is where we are lacking. Just getting back to reading Gods actual words and trusting Him to work His miracle in a life. I believe it's right to want to do the best job possible to teach children. But we need to realize that our greatest power is in God and His words. Not in our own methods and our own desires. We must share God's truth and trust in His power. Sometimes we have to stop and realize that the reason we are not effective is that we have tried too hard in our own power. We have shared our own words and we have not prayed for God to do His work in spite of us. When we hear of crowds coming to Christ...is it because of the messenger? Or is it the Holy Spirit working ? Is it because of the way the message is delivered? Or is it because the hearers are ready and anxious and accepting Truth? Our goal should be to share God's truth and trust God's work to be done. If we win people our way, we need to be careful to point them to Christ and His Truth not our own message or plan.
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
10 Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price [is] far above rubies. Proverbs 31
This is what God says. It is not necessarily what we are perpetuating by the way society is going. We are frowning on motherhood, aborting children, promoting daycare, mothers working outside the home more than inside.....and the list goes on. O that we would see the true value in our young girls to serve God and love Him with their whole hearts. O that we would realize what a treasure we are giving up in scorning true virtue. The Bright Lights program my children have been attending is truly a Bright Light in my life. I pray that these young ladies will see things from Gods perspective and not the worlds as they mature and face the temptations our society so carelessly and rigorously throw at them!
Friday, May 17, 2013
Mom Musings
Well, everyone said it, and now I believe it, children are easier when they are babies. For this mother, many years of childhood were spent playing with dolls and enjoying being a make believe mother. Then, the growing years were spent becoming an intelligent human being with skills that could help provide an income if need be. Then, the long awaited day came...that first day of mother hood. Nothing, no book, no advice, nothing could have prepared me for the real thing. It was crazy. That day...the first day of mother hood I realized I had no idea what I was doing. Thank God for my mother who was there. Thank God for those that were there to ease me into the experience! That day was long awaited and very much cherished. Little did I know that from then on, it was no longer my dreams and what I wanted, but it was putting myself down and killing my own selfish ways in order to meet the needs of another. I had no idea. I thought this was my dream and my excitement that was just beginning, but it was me that was slowly dieing. My selfish desires were going to be put down in order to meet the needs of someone else.
And, it is still hard. It is still hard to stop thinking about what I want. Those days...kids..that I had "had it" ? Those are the days I was fighting my own desires to do something, anything else besides the task at hand. I didn't want to deal with that problem, or clean up that mess, or stay up that night. But, I had to. It was my duty as a mother. I am just realizing that where i failed as a mother was that I failed to embrace the moment and realize this is the moment that GOd ordained for me. The moment of sickness so that I could show love, the moment of sin so that I could show mercy, the moment of selfishness so that I could extend judgment. The moment of hunger so that I could show provision. O Lord, I have failed sooo many times to show who you are by how I respond to the job you have given to me. Please forgive my sinful soul and please allow me to change and live as you would have me to live!!
O that we would understand that children need to show parents mercy as well as parents to show children mercy.
No matter what , our goal should be to strive to be like Christ. By being a mother, I have realized that motherhood is one of the best places to grow as a Christian. Since growing as a Christian is about dieing to self. IT is easy to say, I will die to myself and allow Christ to be number 1 in my life. It is a lot harder to actually live that way moment by moment when every moment there is another task, another desire to fill, another person to hug, and another toilet to clean. It gets tiring and it gets overwhelming, but this is where the supernatural power of God really takes hold. When we can't do it anymore and we call out to God. O that I would learn and become a better Mom!!! To the older kids as well as those still in my care!
The grand baby coming soon!
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