Tag Archives: child

God’s Gift

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There have been many times I have heard someone (including myself) say that grandchildren are God’s rewards for not killing your children.  I hope I can break myself of this.  It is meant to be funny.  As I ponder this thought it is very sad.

People today have no idea how to be parents.  We have lost babies by the millions to abortion.  This murderous atrocity must stop!  What are we telling children by this?  We are saying that they have no value, no worth.  Do you know what it is like to grow up being told you are worthless?  I do.  It is tragic!

Children are a gift from God.  Look at Psalm 127:3, “Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.”  The word “heritage” means inherited.  These children belong to our Heavenly Father and then He allows us to have them for a short time.  Some longer than others; but, it is a short time.

Too many people today have the mistaken idea that children are a punishment for pro creating.  This could not be farther from the truth.  If you don’t believe me I can connect you with couples that cannot have children.  They will tell you a vastly different story.

Our children are a hand-picked gift from God.  That is very, very special.  Your child was hand-picked by God for you and you for them.  That is pretty amazing.

Now, it is up to you and I to be the parents that God has called us to be.  This is very easily said and not so easily done I know.  With God’s grace, peace and mercy we can do it.  Oh yes, add the Bible to that list because It is our instruction manual.

So, how are you doing?

Comparison: Then and Now

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As this year is coming to a close we see such hate and discontent in our nation and world.  When Jesus was born in Bethlehem He was a threat to king Herod.  As I shared the other day, when a conquering king took over he often killed the defeated king.  Herod was no different.  When he heard of Jesus and that He was to become the King of the Jews he was more than angry.

Herod formulated a plan that would eliminate his competitor.  So, he thought.  What Herod did not figure in was that God had a plan and he was just one small part of the overall plan.  God used this evil king to move Joseph and Mary to Bethlehem.  Then God used him again to fulfill more prophecy.

Yet, there were many lives lost in Herod’s wicked plan.  Why would Jehovah do this?  It was all part of His plan.  Jehovah is not an evil God.  Yet, He does allow certain things to take place that you and I cannot explain.  Herod’s decree murdered countless children.  Look at Matthew 2:16, “Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently enquired of the wise men.”

Why do we think there is any difference in what Herod did versus what takes place in our nation daily?  There is no difference.  We allow murder to take place every day and call it convenience.  We allow murder and call it abortion.  This is not a nice, fluffy Christmas story I know.  It is a harsh reality that we need to get on our knees and repent of and pray that God will forgive us all as a nation.

So, how are you doing?

The Child

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Yesterday I had the privilege of filling in for a Pastor who terribly sick with what is going around.  After the Sunday evening service we were all standing around talking.  The subject of our son came up and I shared that one of my biggest concerns for our son is who will take care of him when my wife and I are no longer able.

A young girl in the Church was listening to this conversation.  When we finished she looked at me and said, “You need to read your tie.”  I thought to myself, “Okay”.  Then she pointed to my tie and said, “With God all things are possible.”  Yes, you guessed it.  I was sweetly and kindly rebuked by this little girl who is probably eight or ten years old.  She was reading my tie and quoting Matthew 19:26, “But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.”

This really caught my attention as it would most people.  I have to agree with this dear heart.  She is right.   So, why do we doubt?  This little lady sure didn’t.  Oh, to have the faith of a little child and trust Jesus like that.

Is there something in your life that you need to trust Jesus for?  If there is maybe it would do you good as it did me to take another look at Matthew 19:26, “But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.”

So, how are you doing?

Where Are The Kids?

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On Friday evening I had the pleasure of going to the mission to preach chapel.  It was an unusual service.  The room was unusually hot, the men were unusually tired, the song service was unusually short and the sermon started unusually early and ended unusually early.

When I pulled up to the mission I noticed that the fenced play yard was empty.  This is unusual.  Then the thought came to me, “Where are the children?”  I thought to myself that this would preach and make a good blog topic.  So, here we go.

I can tell you where the children have gone.  We lost a generation of our young people because their hair was unacceptably too long and we let them know about it.  This piece of wisdom came from Pastor Bob Hooten.  The sad reality is that he is spot on correct.  As a result we have lost them and their children.  Why would you send your children to a Church where they are condemned for having long hair?  They have not and as a result we have lost them.

Go ahead and say I have compromised, I don’t care.  I know that I am right on this one.  The hair and clothing do not grow to the soul.  We need to be more concerned with the soul below the long hair and earrings.  No, I do not like long hair on boy and short hair on girls.  I do not like earrings on men and I do not like body piercing or body art of any kind.  Again, these don’t grow to the soul.  They are a testimony to the soul inside crying out for someone to love them to Jesus.  Will you?  I hope and pray that you and I will take the time and devote the resources to show this lost and dying world that there is more to Jesus than what we have shown them in the past.  Look at Jude vs. 22-23, “And of some have compassion, making a difference:  And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.”

So, how are you doing?

 

Love For People 6

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We live in a dark day for sure.  Every time you turn on the television news is it one murder after another.  This is tragic.  The Word of God warns us that in the last days “perilous” times will come in II Timothy 3:1.  There are many issues of our day that bother me deeply.  There is one issue that should not allow any of us to sleep until it is made right.  That is the issue of abortion.  Abortion is murder!  There is no way to candy coat this.  We need to call it what it is and that is murder.

Whole generations of people have been lost to the abortion mills of our land.  One day God will have His fill of America and her abominations and then; as we say down home, “The chickens will come home to roost.”  It will be payday some day and by then it will be too late.  Our Heavenly Father loves children.  Even in the earliest books of His Word He warns against killing children.  Look at Deuteronomy 18:10, “There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, or that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter, or a witch,”  This is a pagan form of worship of some false god.

Here in America we have fallen for the worship of the “god of convienance”.  I just don’t have time to be pregnant and raise a child.  God help us!  America, we had better get on our knees before Holy God and repent before it is too late.  I hope you love the unborn enough to stand up for them.  They are people too.

So, how are you doing?

Christmas 4

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My dear friend Dr. Larry Lilly writes a monthly publication titled “Larry Lilly’s Journal” and it is great. Check out his website at www.larrylilly.net .  The following is a quote from Volume 15 Issue 12 December 2013 in a story titled, “The Golden Wrapping Paper”.  It goes:

“Once upon a time, there was a man who worked very hard just to keep food on the table for his family.  This particular year a few days before Christmas, he punished his little five-year-old daughter after learning that she had used up the family’s only roll of expensive gold wrapping paper.

As money was tight, he became even more upset when on Christmas Eve he saw that the child had used all of the expensive gold paper to decorate one shoebox she had put under the Christmas tree.  He also was concerned about where she had gotten money to buy what was in the shoebox.

Nevertheless, the next morning the little girl, filled with excitement, brought the gift box to her father and said, “this is for you, Daddy!”

As he opened the shoebox, he found it was empty and again his anger flared.  “Don’t you know, young lady,” he said harshly, “when you give someone a present, there’s supposed to be something inside the package!”

The little girl looked up at him with sad tears rolling from her eyes and whispered:  “Daddy, it is not empty.  I blew kisses into it until it was all full.”

The father was crushed.  He fell on his knees and put his arms around his precious little girl.  He begged her to forgive him for his unnecessary anger.

An accident took the life of the child only a short time later.  It is told that the father kept this little gold box by his bed for all the years of his life.  Whenever he was discouraged or faced difficult problems, he would open the box, take out an imaginary kiss, and remember the love of this beautiful child who had put it there.

In a very real sense, each of us has been given an invisible golden box filled with unconditional love and kisses from our children, family, friends and God.  There is no more precious possession anyone could hold.”

Look at John 3:16-17, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.  For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.”

So, how are you doing?

So, how are you doing?

Anchors For Being Alone 3

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Acts 27:29, “Then fearing lest we should have fallen upon rocks, they cast four anchors out of the stern, and wished for the day.”

The third anchor for being alone is the anchor of reciting and relating God’s promises.  Look at Deuteronomy 6:7b-8, “and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.  And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes.”

Far too many parents today want to let their children find “religion” on their own.  They don’t want to influence them one way or another.  Here we have clear teaching from God’s Word that tells us that we are to have an active part in leading our children to Christ.  In a nut shell, Moses is telling you and I that no matter what we are doing that we are to be telling our children about salvation in Christ.  I don’t know what better thing we could tell our children than how to have eternal life.

I heard a man say the other day that it is a high form of child abuse to not tell your children about Jesus and how they can trust Him for eternal salvation.  Wow!  Most parents today get all bent out of shape if you attempt to tell their child about Christ.  God help us to share your love with others around us.

Maybe someone you know is dealing with being alone and they need to be reciting and relating the promises of God to their own situation.  Let’s help them do just that.

So, how are you doing?