Facing Rebellion

Grown by Grace

So today I found myself facing a what seems like any army of tiny rebels, it is not unlike many days where God uses my kids to show me that I am not running the show. However, today was different I was already battle beaten from days past, on my own with my hubby at work, trying my best to serve my church family as our children’s church coordinator, and struggling to shepherd my children, and I just broke under the weight. I cried the entire drive home from church, feeling like a failure who had no business counseling others when my own home seems like such a utter mess. I have spent the past few hours considering what God is trying to show me though these little battles with my children, and where to go from here. Here what I have so far:

1. Compassion- If my children were…

View original post 765 more words

Jesus is our Savior

This week we continued our series Jesus is Our All in All, we looked at Jesus as our savior. If you read last weeks lesson you’ll notice some striking similarities, because repetition is good for kids we decided reuse the first paragraph. Ephesians 6:1 provides a great way of showing kids they have sinned because they don’t obey perfectly, and are therefore guilty before God, the good judge. This opens the door for the good news of the gospel, and helps it sense. 

Lesson: 

Do you know what sin is? (It is disobeying God’s instructions to us) God gives us instructions/directions just like our mom and dad do. When we don’t obey those instructions it is sin.

Did you know that God gives children a special command? Ephesians 6:1-3 says, “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor your father and mother (which is the first commandment with a promise), so that it may be well with you, and that you may live long on the earth.” God says that you are to obey your mom and dad, and he says that if you do you will be blessed.

Do you always obey mom and dad the first time they ask you to do something? No, no one other than Jesus ever obeyed his or her parents perfectly. Which means that we have all sinned, right?

When we die we will face God as the judge, a good judge has to punish those who break the law, and if we have sinned we have broken God’s laws. That means we all deserve to be punished. There is nothing we can do to earn God’s forgiveness; we are helpless to save ourselves. (You may want to spend time discussing this concept with your kids, for example if a someone stole something of value would a good judge let them off because they did a good deed or just said they were sorry? Of corse not… driving home the point good works do not get us to heaven)

The good news is that God is full of compassion and mercy, and so he sent Jesus, His only Son, to save us. He lived the life we could not; he NEVER sinned. Then instead of getting the reward he deserved, He took the punishment we deserve. When we come to Jesus asking for forgiveness, turning from our sin, and trusting in His good works, we get our sins forgive, God places the Holy Spirit in our heart, and we are saved from the punishment we deserve. When we face God He will no longer look at us and see the sins we committed, he will see the good works of Jesus. (This is a good place to reiterate that it’s not the good things that we do, but the good things that Jesus did that get us to heaven. We only get the good works of Jesus credited to us when we admit we can do nothing to improve our position, and seek the mercy of the Judge. God would be a bad judge if good works were enough to buy our way to heaven, it would be like a bribe, but good judges seek justice. God deals with sin in one of two ways: on the cross or with eternal punishment in Hell – justice is always served!)

Review:

• Are you a sinner? Have you broken God’s laws? (Yes)
• What does God do to lawbreakers? (He has to punish them)
• Is there anyone who has kept God’s law perfectly? (Only Jesus)
• Why did God send Jesus? (Because he had compassion and mercy, and to save sinners)
• Jesus never sinned; did he get the reward He deserved? (No)
• If Jesus didn’t get the reward he deserved, what did he get? (The punishment we deserve)
• Can we do anything to earn God’s forgiveness? (No)
• How can we receive forgiveness for our sins? (Go to God and ask for forgiveness, turning from our sin, and trusting in the perfect life of Jesus). 

This is the gospel, it is the most important message we will share with anyone ever; there are so many things you can say or do as you spend time with your kids, but they really can’t hear this enough. The gospel is not only the entry point to faith, it should be our motivation for holy living. I would love to hear how you share the gospel with your kids! And as always I hope this is helpful as you lead your children to the cross!

Jesus is Our Portion

We are starting the new year at our church by trying something a little different, we are working at adapting the lessons taught in the main service for our children’s ministry. I will be posting the sermon and the lesson for kids here in hopes that parents will continue to work at teaching these lessons at home. The current series is called Jesus is Our All in All, we will be looking at all the things that scripture says Jesus is. This week: Jesus is Our Portion 

Do you know what sin is? (it is disobeying God’s instructions to us)

Did you know that God gives children a special command? Ephesians 6:1-3 says, “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor your father and mother (which is the first commandment with a promise), so that it may be well with you, and that you may live long on the earth.” God says that you are to obey your mom and dad, and he says that if you do you will be blessed. Do you always obey mom and dad the first time they ask you to do something? No, no one other than Jesus ever obeyed their parents perfectly; which means that we have all sinned against God, and that we are all in need of forgiveness.

The good news is that when we come to Jesus repenting of our sin (turning from our sin) and trusting in Him we get our sins forgive, God places the Holy Spirit in our heart, we can have a relationship with Jesus, and we then have lives that are peaceful, not because we have everything we want but because we have a relationship with Jesus. We come to Jesus to get Jesus, that is what it means that he is our portion. When we come to Jesus to get something other than forgiveness, and a relationship with Him we will walk away empty-handed.

 In Luke 12:15 (NASB)- Jesus said, “Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one has an abundance does his life consist of his possessions.”

• Is it bad to want good things? (no)
• Will having good things on this earth help you know Jesus?  (no)
• Did you know that you are suppose to love God and love Jesus more than you love any other thing? (Hopefully yes- you may want to give examples- you are to love Jesus more than mom and dad, you favorite toy,…)
• Can we come to Jesus because we want good things?  (No)
• Do we get good things when we come to Jesus? (Yes)
• What are the good things we get when we come to Jesus? (forgiveness of sins, the Holy Spirit, and a relationship with Jesus)
• So, why do we come to Jesus? (To have our sins forgiven and to enjoy a relationship with Jesus.)

So, I began with a simple gospel presentation to provide some context for the kids, and then pulled out the key verse from the passage used in the sermon. The sermon text was Luke 12:13-21, I would encourage you to take the time to explain the parable to your child at least once during the week, ideally after reviewing the lesson. I would have included it in the lesson; however, it would have made the lesson too long for a big group. I would also encourage you all to listen to Jesus is Our Portion  as you work through the material with you children.

We live in a culture that teaches that coming to Jesus means wealth and prosperity, these are concepts completely contrary to the teaching of scripture. Our children need to understand that in this life hardship will come, especially if we are followers of Jesus, but there is great spiritual blessing amidst out trials if we have a close relationship with Jesus. This is why we strive to live lives honoring to him, turning from sin, because it is the path that leads us closer to Him!

I hope this is encouraging as you labor to lead your child to the cross!

Hallelujah!!

If you have read the past few posts you probably won’t be surprised to find one more, hopefully the final, post on pride. While you may not be surprised, to be honest I am, after yesterday morning I was flying high and thought “ah-ha I have finally got it all figured out” (wait, that’s a little prideful)! Then I went to bible study, not the one I lead , but the one in which I’m purely a participant. We have been going through the book of Proverbs; as Sheila, our faithful leader, began reading the scripture that heavy feeling started to creep back in and there I was once more feeling and seeing just how prideful I was. I felt like the fool described in Proverbs, whose mouth was always bring trouble, who was so foolish they thought they needed no correction. However, I saw something else as well, I was able to see who I was a few years ago and who I am today (or rather last night). I could see how much had changed, and how much still needs changing.

As Sheila closed I wanted so badly to see if I was the only feeling heavy, but I was afraid of the tears that would have flowed. I felt that terrible lump in my throat, as I sat quietly trying to remember the cross, but there was no solace in the moment. We broke into groups to pray, and I shared with my little group that I was feeling as though I was being pressed on all sides, at times even a little crushed. While I don’t want to ask God to stop whatever he was doing, I am growing weary and don’t see an end in sight. Am I destined to walk away from Bible study in a puddle for the rest of time (this may have been a dramatic thought, but I am a weeny when it comes to ANY sort of suffering). We prayed, I went home, got the little kids to bed, and tried to settle in for the night. As I lay in bed, I thought about what was going on, and prayed that God would help me find comfort in the reality of the cross, that though I am a prideful person growing in humility that I could find joy in the sight of my sin because it offers an opportunity to repent. I mean really who wants to say “God please help me be oblivious to my sin, so that I never have to feel any discomfort”? I don’t want to be that person, that’s who I am already.

As I lay in bed and the the words of Isaiah came to mind, his words at the sight of God, “Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I live among a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.” This so beautifully articulates my heart, and at once I wanted to sing out loud- Hallelujah!! In seeing the glory of God, Isaiah is saying I am accursed for I am too filthy to be in your presence. If Isaiah, a prophet, a godly man, felt so strongly than why should it be strange for me to feel heavy by the weight of my pride. Pride is utterly against God, it is what makes us want to go our own way, submit to no one. Because of all the ministry activities I have, in pride, chosen to take on I have been in the Word more than normal, I have felt as though most thoughts are consumed by either thinking about questions I have to answer for an intense theology test (the last test of my college career), studying to teach bible study, or studying to write a children’s church lesson. I have never been so immersed in scripture, and it occurs to me that its in scripture that we truly learn about and see the glory of God, this is what has stirred these feelings. I think this feeling is really what the Bible calls the fear of the Lord, I am not frightened by God’s wrath, but reverent of His holiness. This growth though painful (guys I am pooped), is a beautiful gift, one I can give thanks to my King that though I am so unworthy, just like Isaiah, he is purifying me!

I haven’t asked lately, but I would love to hear how God is working in your heart!

Death to Self

Death to self! It sounds so violent, so bloody, but I don’t think it sounds as hard as it is in reality! Human life is fragile, a hard hit to the head and your done. However, the flesh doesn’t go down after one blow, instead I have noticed that in battling a particular sin it can seem as though the fight is getting nastier and nastier as I come to realize just how deeply rooted certain sins are. Over the past few months I have seen more and more just how prideful I am.  Every time I think I have seen the depth of my pride, I find that it’s worse than I thought. While the part of me that loves the Lord says “yes, death to self”, my prideful flesh is still a present and influential enemy; sadly one that fights hard for survival. My flesh is sneaky; it reasons softly with my emotions, with my weakness, and with my all to busy life sometimes I don’t even notice I’ve been pulled off track. I find myself far from God in a flash, and saddened by the distance, wondering how I strayed so far so fast! There are times I am more alert, more vigilant, aware of the spiritual battle waiting around the corner, better prepared to struggle with my sin and face the truth that despite my desire to be loyal to God without His help and strength I will fall away. It seems this is the nature of my walk with the Lord, a reality I wish weren’t so, but it is God’s way of teaching me to be dependent on Him. I have come to the realization that I wonder away when I believe the lie that I can do this on my own!

Studying Biblical counseling for the past several years has kept me in the Word, forced me to constantly look at how what I have read reflects a change of heart that needs to happen so that I can live a life that is honoring to God, always seeking to grow in my love for God and others. Its help me understanding the truth that no matter where I am, I still have so much further to go in my walk with God; it’s a sobering and humbling reality to face: until I leave this world I will fight the same fight against my flesh, I will slowly grow through each battle, but perfection, complete freedom from sinful desire, lies ahead in eternities future.

I read a Spurgeon quote this morning, “if He reigns in my heart, there will be no room for another reigning power.” This pricked my heart, I feel the fight with my flesh so strongly today. If there is no room for the world or the flesh than why is it still there, why dose it fight to survive? Why am I so disloyal to a God who has shown me such great love? Perhaps this is simply the refiners fire, his presence is the heat revealing  the impurity, seeing the impurity brings humility, it reveals the gap that the cross must bridge, it offers a chance to repent and to experience  an overflow of thanksgiving that though my sin runs deep His grace runs deeper. It seems the hurt I feel today is necessary for me to truly understand the Father’s love, that he would choose to make such a wretch his treasure! If my flesh died an easy death I would never know just how great God’s love is for stubborn sinners like me!

I hope you’re encouraged to fight on, even when the days are hard, we never fight alone when we seek the help of the Fathers, Son, and Holy Spirit! I feel low today, a feeling I hate, my heart hurts, and I desperately want to feel some relief! Really I want to believe I’m not as bad as I really am, but I guess that’s the point: I am as bad as the cross says I am! However, I am reminded of James 4: 6-10, “He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, “GOD IS OPPOSED TO THE PROUD, BUT GIVES GRACE TO THE HUMBLE.” Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Be miserable and mourn and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.”

The Me I Want To Be

For several months I have been thinking about how I allow my circumstances define me. When I worked full time I was full of guilt, it was not the me I wanted to be. I wanted to be a stay at home mom; spending my days doing mom things. Then I was laid off from my job, while pregnant, which came as a complete shock. So now I had what I wanted, I was at home, but this wasn’t our plan, so after baby #2 arrived I went back to work. After six months of yet again being the me I didn’t want to be, I quit my job to stay home. I took a part time job working a few hours a week for our church getting our children’s ministry off the ground. During this time I was content with how the world saw me, I stayed at home, served in children’s ministry, taught a bible study, and worked on my Master’s degree in Biblical Counseling, which was has taken me far longer than I anticipated. I still felt a little pushed by circumstances, I wanted to quit school, but my husband urged me to continue. I wanted to quit the church, but the church needed someone to fill the role, and we needed the money. However, over the years I have grown to love working in children’s ministry; it has spurred on more personal growth than I could have imagined.

Then life went wonky, I took a part time job selling pharmaceuticals in July. It was part of our original agreement when I left work full time; I would look for part time positions, but they are few and far between. However, instead of doing what made sense and giving up my job at the church I decided to do both. This has worked out, but it’s not worked well; especially when you remember that pesky Master’s program I’m finishing, oh yeah, and that bible study I teach. I look at my life and once more I am not the me I want to be! I do not want to be a working mom, not in such a worldly job; I want to be the stay at home mom, doing mom things, and coordinating a children’s ministry. However, in all this I have realized that I need stepped back and think about the deep questions (not that they haven’t come to mind, I’ve just been avoiding them). Where is God in this? What is God trying to teach me? Do I trust Him, and His judgment? If I believe, and I do, that he is the working all things together, than these are questions I must contemplate.

Thinking about these kinds of questions is pointing to my own sad little heart! I want to be seen as a faithful Christian mom, working for the souls of my children and others; I resent the fact that I have a “real job.” I realize I created a works righteous system all of my own, one in which my righteousness is based upon my circumstances, on looking the part, not the state of my heart. It’s as though how other perceive me is the basis of my standing before God. Even as I write this, I am seeing more and more that I am already the me I want to be, I am a child of the one true God! My circumstances don’t define me, my job, my financial state, my address, or my education are not the basis upon which my righteousness and my position before God is built, it is all about Jesus, His perfect obedience, His atoning death on the cross, and my trust in Him!

When I started this post I had no idea where I was going with it, I was really just feeling a little out of sorts and writing seems to help me sort things out. However, I don’t think I’m alone in my fight against constructing extra biblical standards in my mind, ones which I can’t live up to. Seriously none of this is new to me; it demonstrated how sin can distort our vision, and shift our focus away from the truth. The take away is this, no matter what your circumstances, God is in them, He is working, and they do not define who you are in Christ. Whether your a stay at home mom, a part time job mom, or a mom who is carrying the burden of a full time job you can still honor God by raising your children to know the Lord, by being submissive to your husband, and most of all by trusting in Jesus for your righteousness, He did what we can’t!

I hope this has been encouraging as you labor to lead you children to the cross!

Learning to Love

If someone asked if you were a loving person what would you say?  I know what I would say, “of coures I’m loving.” I may even be insulted that anyone would ask me, a loving person, such a silly question.  The problem as I’m finding today is that, although I truly do love other people, and I do love in action and in truth, I really still love myself! While I can say in all honesty that I am more loving now than I was five years ago or even last month, I still really love me, and frankly I’m a little aggravated that you don’t love me as much as I love me. It is with a heavy heart that I write, because I have seen self love cause disruption in my life and in the unity I could enjoy with other people, my children, my husband, and my brother’s and sister’s in Christ.

I am reminded of a post I wrote a few years ago, and I thought I would share it as I read it to encourage myself to think on the things that will keep me from wallowing in the sinful self-pity and help me love other the way God in Christ has loved me!

Is this How Christ Would Treat the Church?

March 2012 (Grown by Grace)

Recently I heard Tim Challies interviewed; he said married men should think about their actions and attitudes toward their wives by reflecting on the questions: “Is this how Christ would treat the Church?” This statement stuck with me, it churned over and over in my half crazy, sleep-deprived mind until I did something terrible. Instead of taking this beautiful principle and applying it to my life; I took it and measured my husband by it. Did you catch that; I was holding up perfection and mentally criticizing my spouse for failing to measure up!  He left a mess in the kitchen, left some laundry on the floor, or didn’t help me in a moment of difficulty with the kids; and there were those nasty thought “this is not how Christ would treat the Church!” Even worse the self-righteous ones that followed, “I would never treat him with such disrespect!” I am thankful that today God opened my eyes to what I was doing, and gave me an opportunity to turn from this quiet, yet toxic, sin.

Can you relate? Have you ever taken something like 1 Corinthians 13:4, which goes into detail about the actions of love, and looked at your spouse only to find they are failing miserably? I don’t think I’m alone in my folly; the sad truth is this is all part of a Genesis 3 world. Our world was cursed by sin, and we will feel the effects until Christ returns. We will always fight on some level the urge to be concerned with the spec in another’s eye, while ignoring the plank in our own.

Today I was reading a book by one of my favorite Christian authors, Elise Fitzpatrick called Overcoming Fear, Worry, and Anxiety. She had some advise I’m thankful to say I did apply rightly, and it helped tremendously. Maybe it will be an encouragement to you as you struggle to glorify God in thought and deed. She urges her reader to use Philippians 4:8 as a litmus test for their thought. “Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.” When ever you catch yourself thinking about thinking negatively, which may be often since we are habitual even in the things we think about, evaluate how it hold up to Philippians 4:8.

• Is what your thinking true?- “Is what I’m thinking true about God, particularly His fatherly care for me?”
• Is this thought process honorable?- “Do my thoughts honor God? Do they reflect the knowledge that He is wonderful, kind, wise, and powerful?”
• Is this right?- “Are my thoughts holy, righteous, or just? Are they the kind that the Lord Himself would think?”
• What about being pure?- “Do my thoughts cast doubt on God’s goodness or the truth of HIs promises? Do they elevate my own importance or desires?”
• Is this a lovely thought?- “Do my thoughts flow from a heart filled with tenderness and affection for the Lord? Would my thoughts bring Him pleasure?”
• Is this of Good Repute?- ” Are my thoughts of good repute? Are they grounded in faith?”
• Does this cause me to strive for excellence?- “Do my thoughts cause me to be fearful, or do they fill my heart with courage and strong commitment to virtuous living?”
• Are my thoughts worthy of praise?- “Would the Lord commend my thought? Would they bring Him glory?”

It’s pretty clear my thoughts failed the stink test of this list. They only stood to cause tension and division in my relationship with my wonderful husband! Ladies there are times when we are called to hold our husbands accountable for their sin, but we must always bear in mind that we are called to “keep fervent in your love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins (1 Peter 4:8)”. When we confront our spouse we are to have an attitude of humility, our salvation was bought at the same cost as theirs! James 2:10 says “For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all.” Let us always bear in mind we stand at the foot of a blood stained cross together, and that is where our forgiveness was found!

Today I caught myself doing this same thing, a year and a half after I wrote these words they are still hard. I can think of a laundry list of excuses for why I was stuck loving myself and not loving my husband, but alas they hold no water before God. No matter what is going on in life I have to control my thoughts if I am going to be the wife, mother, and sister in Christ God has called me to be.  1 Corinthians 13:4-7 says, “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.” These beautiful words are not things I should expect from others, they are things I am commanded to do for others. This is what Jesus was calling us to in Matthew 22: 37-39, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” This is the love God has shown for me in sending Christ to save me, and by his grace alone I will be able to share it with others.

God is teaching me every day to love others more, I am slow to catch on, and slow to see my own failure. However, I am thankful today for my heavy heart, because I know it is the stirring of the Holy Spirit convicting me of self-love. Learning to love is hard, it means I have to admit I am not as loving as I think I am, that I am far more selfish than I want to believe, and that I have not grown in my walk with the Lord as much as I would like think I have. In all this I have hope “For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.”

I know this is outside the scope of what I generally write about, but it was heavy on my heart today. Don’t forget about the Drive by Parenting give away; you can enter by following the link below, although it does not appear to work from a mobile device (it is worth the trouble of using your home computer or laptop- as it is a great resource).

Entry-Form

As always I hope this is helpful and encouraging! I would love to hear your thoughts, so please leave me a comment!

Resource Review and Giveaway: Drive By Parenting

 I read Shepherding a Child’s Heart by Dr. Tedd Tripp many years ago, it’s a fantastic resource, which really changed the way we disciplined our oldest son (he was our only son back then). Dr. Tripp is thoroughly gospel centered in his approach, he reminds his readers that even thought they may not want to spank their children that it’s not only what God has called us as Christian parents to do it is a loving way to handle discipline. Tripp encourages parents to think of times of discipline as amazing opportunity to share the good news of Jesus with your children, something that we do at our house daily (sometimes multiple times a day, depending on what kind of day we are having). Having read Dr. Tripp’s book I was thrilled when my mother-in-law bought a copy of Drive by Parenting with Todd Friel, the host of Wretched Radio, and Dr. Tedd Tripp.

Drive By Parenting is a audio series on parenting broken into 31- 15 minute lectures covering a broad range of topics from the right attitude to have about parenting to when to talk about sex with your kids; it also covers each developmental stage, it outlines principles to guide times of discipline, and how to move from spanking to applying a reaping and sowing approach to consequences.

I loved that the series isn’t dry and boring, Mr. Friel and Dr. Tripp banter back and forth lightening the mood when possible. Through out the series it is clear that Dr. Tripp is not sharing his own opinion about parenting, but that he is drawing truth from scripture and applying it to parenting; it is one of the things that really sets this series apart from other parenting resources. Both Friel and Tripp readily admit that they have not done a perfect job, but they don’t allow that to water down the truth, they remain faithful in presenting God’s word in a manner that is not only informative but practical and enjoyable.

If your’ve read and benefitted from Shepherding a Child’s Heart you will really enjoy this series, and if you haven’t this will transform how you discipline your kids! There is so much detail given as Friel and Tripp walk the listener through different situations parents encounter on a daily basis. It has been a great encouragement to me (I have already listen to it twice), and I hope it will be for you as well!

I loved this so much I wanted to share, the best way to share is to give it away. I wish I could give it away to everyone, but alas I cannot. So, if you enter and do not win I highly recommend purchasing this series. It is available through the Wretched store at http://www.wretchedradio.com as an MP3 disk or an instant download. To enter to win a free MP3 disk Of Drive By Parenting follow the link below, and next Friday I will post the winner on Facebook. (It looks as though you must use a home computer to complete the entry form, not a mobile device).

Entry-Form

I do want to note that I am not being sponsored by Wretched, although I would happily review all their recourses and give them away! One of the things I wanted to do with this blog is share really wonderful, gospel centered, resources with those who came across this humble little site! There are so many gimmicky parenting books that try to mix-mash pop-psychology into Christianity, which really doesn’t work. Tripp and Friel are simply working to show parents how to apply God’s word to the work of raising their children, and they did a great job!

Leave a comment telling me the worst parenting advice you’ve ever gotten and get two extra entries!

I hope this is helpful and encouraging as you seek to lead your children to the cross!

 

A Reminder to Praise!

So, in my last post I said, “Anytime I fall into sinful anger, it is because I have forgotten who is in control of life; my anger is typically the result of feeling as though my rights have been violated or my rule as queen of the Hickey kingdom has been subverted by one of my not so loyal subjects, AKA my children or husband. When I bring my mind back to the reality that any disruption in my plan was the plan of God, my sin becomes evident and  I am left with the choice to continue in sinful rebellion or to TRUST in my loving heavenly Father who only has good things for me.” As I wrote these words I knew them to be true and believed them, but perhaps not at whole heartedly as I thought!

God gave me a chance on Monday to see just how much I believed what I wrote. I planned out my morning to the letter, we were going to go here and then there, and then be back in time for lunch and then naps. I was sure my plan would help me accomplish the things I strongly felt needed to get accomplished! As I was loading Luke, the youngest, in the car Matthew asked if he could peek in the laundry room and say goodbye to our kitten, I said sure. Next thing I knew Matthew was in the car getting buckled; I went to the door to open it only to find it locked! And my keys were in the house, and for at least a few moment I thought my phone was as well. I stood there for a moment in panic, and tried the door again, still a no go! In my head I could hear the words I had written the night before, “disruption in my plan was the plan of God!” I looked at Matthew and fussed for a moment, not a mean fuss, although I felt like being mean. I opened the front door to the car, and there lay my phone. I was able to call my mom to come help me out. As I waited for her, I just kept thinking about how important it was that I get the thing I had planned done. Why was God messing with my plan, it was a good plan! I sat in the front seat of my car, and thought to myself “you have a choice you can trust God and His plan or you can pout about the fact that your plan was messed up.”

My mom arrived short time later, but my perfectly planned out morning was not going to happen. So, I went grocery shopping, got the kids back in time for lunch and a nap, worked on some church business and emailed one of my professors. I had a question about my deadline to finish my last two classes of the Master’s program I am in, which I am not on track to finish, and the reason I needed my timeline to work out.

As I went about my day I kept thinking about how God causes all things, he was the cause of me getting locked out of the house, it was part of his plan. I knew he was up to something, but was really confounded as to what. I thought maybe I would run into someone at the grocery store that needed to talk or would just have an opportunity to bless someone, but alas I just didn’t see any purpose and wanted to so badly!

I was talking about what happened with one of my friends at bible study yesterday, and how I just kept waiting to see the purpose of having my day messed up. She said, “well did you ever figure it out?” I started to say no, but them I remembered the response I received form my professor after emailing back and forth the day before.

In one of his responses my professor asked if I thought I could make the deadline set by the school, or if I needed an extension. I eagerly said yes, that I would need an extension, a pretty significant one, I asked for three extra weeks. My sweet professor granted my request, and asked how if there was any thing he could pray for for me. I almost cried, extensions have not been routinely given without an extensive explanation, and he granted my request will very little explanation as to why I hadn’t been able to finish; not only that he cared enough to ask how he could pray. For the past several weeks, I have stayed up late, gotten up early, all to make a valiant attempt to finish so that I wouldn’t have to pay to retake the classes. I was panicked that morning, because I saw my hopes of finishing fade away with a little boy’s hand turning a lock. I will still have to work hard to finish, but I will not become a sleep deprived crazy lady in the process now. I’m not sure I would have seen God’s hand at work had my friend not asked, “well did you figure it out?” The things I was able to see were that God wanted me to trust in Him to provide the time to get done what needed to get done, He wanted me to have the humility to ask for help, and He provided an opportunity to let me see if I believed the words I wrote. There may be more to what He was doing than that, I suppose this side of heaven I will never know; I am blessed to get a glimpse of Him in action.

I am so thankful that God uses small things to show just how big He is; He is worthy of our trust, He is always at work in our lives, and it is always for our good!

I read the words by Spurgeon at the top of the post and knew I needed to share. I know it’s not profound, but it was an undeserved blessing from the Lord; He is certainly worthy of our praise!

I would love to hear how God has blessed you!

God Keeps His Promises

This week we continued talking about Noah and the flood. As I thought about the flood and the events that followed I was reminded how trustworthy God is, and how fortunate we are to have so many accounts in scripture that we can teach our children, which highlight this reality. God could have given us His Word through a long list of rules, but instead he chose to use narrative, law, wisdom, poetry, prophecy, gospels, epistles, and apocalyptic literature that we can draw much more from than we ever could from a list of rules. As you share accounts from scripture with your children it is important to remind them how fortunate we are to have scripture the way we do, we know how God planned to work out our salvation, something the Israelites didn’t have, and we have so many accounts that reinforce the truth of His power, love, mercy, justice, and immutable (unchangeable) nature!

Lesson:

 Last week we talked about how man became so sinful that God was sorry that He created them, and how He told Noah that He was going to destroy the earth by sending a great flood to kill all living creatures except for Noah, his family, and two of every kind of animal. God gave Noah instructions on how to build a great ark, Noah trusted God and obeyed!

 After Noah finished the ark, Noah, his family, and all the animals got on the Ark, and God send the rain. The Bible says that the fountains of the deep burst open (water came from the ground) and the floodgates of the sky were opened, the rain fell for forty days and forty nights.

 After 150 days the water started go down, but it took a long time for all the water to go away. After a while Noah sent out a dove to see if the water had dried up, but the dove found no place to rest so it returned. Seven days later Noah sent the dove out again and it returned with a freshly picked olive leaf. Seven days later Noah sent the dove out again, and it didn’t return, which told Noah that the water was nearly gone.

 When Noah and his family came out of the ark, Noah made a burnt offering to God. The Lord accepted the offering, and made a covenant, a covenant is a promise that can never be broken, that he would never again destroy the earth by water again. Then He placed rainbow in the sky as a sign of his covenant, and a reminder to us of His promise.

 Remember we’ve been talking about how important it was to trust in God, we cannot have a relationship with Him if we do not trust in Him. Accounts like this one help remind us that when we trust in God we are placing our trust rightly. There is nothing else as sure as the promises God makes to His people; He is the only one worthy of our trust!

 Lesson Recap:

• How long did it rain? (For 40 days and 40 nights)
• Where did the water come from? (From the ground and from the sky)
• How long did the water remain on the earth before it started to go away? (150 days)
• What did Noah send out to see if the water was gone? (A dove)
• How many times did he send the dove out? (3)
• What did Noah do when they got off the Ark? (Make an offering to the Lord)
• What did God do in response to Noah’s offering? (He made a covenant, promise, to never destroy the earth with water again)
• What was the sign of His promise? (A rainbow)
• Is there anything more sure than the promises of God? (No!!)

For mom and dad:

If you’ve read many of my posts you’ve probable a notices the stress on trusting God, and the impact it can have on our actions. I think that there is a reason that this is such a prevalent theme in scripture; sin has left us feeling as though we are autonomously sovereign, essentially the effect of sin on the world is practical atheism. We acknowledge God’s sovereignty, but practically we plan our lives as we see fit. In the book of Judges we find the words that accurately depict life in our culture, “everyone did what was right in his own eye.” Growing in our relationship with God means doing what seems illogical by our fleshly estimation, and trusting in God, His word, and His ways as the guide to our lives.

Anytime I fall into sinful anger, it is because I have forgotten who is in control of life; my anger is typically the result of feeling as though my rights have been violated or my rule as queen of the Hickey kingdom has been subverted by one of my not so loyal subjects, AKA my children or husband. When I bring my mind back to the reality that any disruption in my plan was the plan of God, my sin becomes evident and  I am left with the choice to continue in sinful rebellion or to TRUST in my loving heavenly Father who only has good things for me.

I feel so blessed by the ministry God has called me to in our church, as I study to prepare our lessons and make them kid friendly I find my own understanding deepened. In teaching kids to trust in God, I am challenged to ask God to help me trust him more. There are some prayers I think we are afraid to pray, this may be one of them, because trusting God is only difficult when I face difficulty. When life is smooth sailing trusting God is oh so easy, but when the storm of life hits trusting in the things that are unseen is a real struggle. If I ask God to help me trust Him more I am inevitable going to face some difficulty, which means that to ask God to help me trust Him more I must first trust in His love and care.

I can tell you that God has certainly shown himself to be merciful and good to his word, Matthew 7:7,11 say “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you…if you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!” So, I have asked God to help me to trust Him more. I have some very dear family members who have been taken captive by false teaching, I have talked with them before about the error in what they believe, but they continue to assure me, despite my assertion of the danger they are in, that they are fine. They continue to talk with me as though we believe the same things, almost as though they can convince me that orthodoxy is really not that big of a deal. I have been reluctant to continue this important conversation with them, because I want a relationship with them, I want their love, and I fear that instead of them coming to Christ I will end up losing them for good. The truth is that my fear is a legitimate fear, but it reveals just how much I TRUST in me and not God. Recently I decided that it was time to once again to broach this topic with my loved ones, I was scared, in fact instead of going to them in person I decided to email them, but then I got scared and couldn’t send the email. However, God in His faithfulness provided an opportunity to have these discussions in person, while they did not go as well as I would like, I can say with certainty that God strengthened me and has been a great comfort since. It’s the gospel that saves, not my ability to communicate it perfectly. I have to trust in God to work through our conversations, and be willing to face difficulty if I hope to see those I love brought to a saving faith. It hurt to have people you love angry with you, but it hurts more to know they were in danger and you did nothing to warn them!

Because of the nature of sin, I know that I am not alone in my struggle to trust in God. My encouragement to you is this, as you study scripture either for your own growth or to teach it to your children take time to stand back and look at the big picture. Observe the faithful nature of our God who promised to save Noah and delivered, who promised a Messiah and delivered, and who promised to return in glory and bring us home and will deliver! Ask God to show you the areas of life where you are holding back because you struggle to trust in Him to deliver, and seek His help to trust Him more. It is a difficult request, but it will lead you to a closer relationship with Him! Remember we can trust in God because He always keeps His promises!

As always I pray that this has been encouraging as you seek to lead your children to the cross!

I would love to hear your thought, so please leave me a comment!