2024-05-18
Proverbs 3:5 NIV
When you honestly evaluate your worries, you will find you are doing these:
(1) Forgetting that God is your friend. The psalmist said, “The Lord is a friend to those who fear him” (Psalm 25:14 NLT). Friendship with God is built by sharing your life’s experiences with Him – every activity, every conversation, every problem, and every thought. When you don’t, you end up unaware of His presence, oblivious to His voice, resistant to His correction, and out of sync with His timing. And when you live that way, there is one inevitable result – worry!
(2) Taking on things you shouldn’t. Peter Marshall prayed: “Father… check our impulse to spread ourselves so thin that we’re exposed to fear and doubt, to the weariness and impatience that makes our tempers wear thin; [that] robs us of peace of mind; that makes skies grey when they should be blue; that stifles a song along the corridor of our hearts.” You lose your song when you add the unnecessary pressure of maintaining your exterior image, increasing your pace to keep up with the Joneses, and trying to fix everybody or live up to their expectations.
(3) Failing to understand the difference between the secular and the sacred. Either Jesus is Lord over every area of your life, or He is not Lord over any of it. We tell ourselves certain parts of our lives lie in the realm of God’s concern, but not others. The Bible says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight” (Proverbs 3:5-6 NIV). To live any other way is to live a worried life!
Soul food: Obad; Mal 1-4; Mark 9:30-37; Ps 18:1-29
2024-05-17
Matthew 6:33 MSG
Missionary Gladys Aylward said, “The eagle that soars in the upper air does not worry itself how it is to cross rivers.” You can’t escape worry; it will come at you from different directions and in different forms. But like the eagle, you can rise above it.
Jesus said: “If you decide for God… it follows that you don’t fuss about what’s on the table at mealtimes or whether the clothes in your closet are in fashion… Look at the birds, free and unfettered, not tied down to a job description, careless in the care of God. And you count far more to him than birds. Has anyone by fussing in front of the mirror ever gotten taller by so much as an inch? All this time and money wasted on fashion – do you think it makes that much difference? Instead of looking at the fashions, walk out into the fields and look at the wildflowers… The ten best-dressed men and women in the country look shabby alongside them. If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers… don’t you think he’ll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you? What I’m trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God’s giving. People who don’t know God… fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works… Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met. Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow” (vv. 25-34 MSG).
Soul food: 1 Pet 1-5; Mark 9:14-29; Ps 49; Prov 12:20-22
2024-05-16
Job 31:1 NIV
There are certain doors in life that once opened are hard to close – pornography is one of them. And like any addict, once you’re hooked, you need increasing doses to satisfy yourself until finally you end up shocked and shamed by the depths to which you have sunk. And statistically speaking, the problem is exactly the same in the church as it is in society. Jesus taught us to pray, “Deliver us from evil,” and some of that evil is now brought into our homes through television and the internet. Parents, protect your children from things that can cloud their minds and hurt their chances of building healthy relationships.
And if you’re addicted to pornography, pray this prayer: “Lord, ‘cleanse me from my sin’ (Psalm 51:2 KJV). Help me to stop setting myself up for shame and failure by the things I open myself up to (See Romans 13:14). I repent and ask for your deliverance now. Reveal to me the emotional needs I’m attempting to fulfill, and give me the courage, strength, and wisdom to deal with them in a manner that honors you. I want to follow Job’s example, because he made a covenant with his eyes not to look upon, wish for, or lust after sinful things. I can’t do it in my own strength. Fill me with your Spirit. Give me someone I can trust to be honest with me – someone who will share this burden with me in prayer and believe for my deliverance. Give me a longing for you that will surpass and destroy all lustful thoughts. In the name of Jesus I pray. Amen.”
Soul food: Deut 32:29-34:12; Mark 9:1-13; Ps 62; Prov 12:18-19
2024-05-15
Colossians 3:21 NIV
Embittered children ultimately become discouraged. A discouraged child is less hopeful, less enthusiastic, lacking in determination, and easily led astray. By destroying your child’s hope, you’re undermining their God-given temperament. Children are born with optimism, inspiration, anticipation, and possibilities. Without hope, there is nothing to inspire them. Hopelessness brings depression and darkness of heart and soul.
When you embitter your children, you undermine their hope. When you demoralize them, you destroy their confidence, leaving them afraid, insecure, and unable to face life. Self-confidence is necessary for a healthy self-image, for relating to others, for succeeding in their education and a career. A disheartened kid loses certainty and becomes a broken spirit. The spirit is the center of the being. A broken spirit produces a broken person. “A broken spirit saps a person’s strength” (Proverbs 17:22 NLT), leaving a child with their core disabled.
Our streets are full of broken kids. Broken-spirited kids lack the resolve to achieve in life, to set goals and reach them. “Where there is no vision, the people perish” (Proverbs 29:18 KJV). It’s your vision that gives you the inner strength to see something through to its accomplishment in spite of the obstacles encountered. It takes an intact, resilient child to overcome life’s hurdles.
How can you help them? “Instead [of breaking their spirit], bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord” (Ephesians 6:4 NIV). You must cherish them, teach them God’s Word even when they seem indifferent, practice what you preach, be consistent with your rules, let them see you reading God’s Word and praying regularly. Always encourage them and never, never give up on them!
Soul food: Deut 30:1-32:28; Mark 8:27-38; Ps 57; Prov 12:15-17
2024-05-14
Colossians 3:21 NIV
Another point of parental confusion is this: (4) Bitter versus better. What is bitterness? It is strong resentment or cynicism. How do parents create bitterness in their children? Consider the following triggers:
(a) Inconsistency. This happens when you are autocratic and authoritarian one day and permissive the next. What brought a strong rebuke today brings a smile of leniency tomorrow. So, your child never knows what to expect.
(b) Moodiness. Today you’re fun and enjoyable to be with; tomorrow you’re irritable and distant.
(c) Unreasonableness. There is no room for discussion, no opportunity for children to explore their feelings. “Just do as I say because I say it!” So, the kid is never given the chance to think through the reasoning process.
(d) Abusive behavior. It might be physical or emotional (withholding your love, the silent treatment, rejection). Or it might be verbal (yelling and using words that wound).
(e) Failing to walk your talk – saying one thing but doing another! You profess certain beliefs but don’t practice them. You expect your kids to be respectful while you display disrespect to others. You expect honesty from your children, but they see you cheat and lie your way through life. Children are keen observers – they may not say anything, but not much that you do escapes their attention. They see your inconsistencies – when what you say doesn’t line up with what you do.
All of these behaviors can make them resentful. “Do not embitter your children.” Don’t set them up to become discouraged.
Soul food: Deut 28-29; Mark 8:14-26; Ps 44:17-26; Prov 12:12-14
2024-05-13
Proverbs 23:13 NIV
Here are some more areas where parents are often confused. (2) Discipline versus punishment. “Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child, the rod of discipline will drive it far from him.” (Proverbs 22:15 AMPC). Notice God’s choice of words: “the rod of discipline” not the “rod of punishment.” Discipline and correction are about teaching and learning; punishment is about making a child suffer for their behavior. Children need discipline – not punishment, which is often administered by a frustrated and angry parent. “Do not withhold discipline from a child.” Withholding discipline prepares them for a life of failure and suffering. Discipline is focused on improving their behavior. It teaches right and wrong by giving consequences that directly relate to the child’s choices. It may take the form of being grounded or suspending privileges, but it should always be for the child’s benefit, never to inflict pain.
(3) Love versus indulgence. Our materialistic world confuses love with indulgence. Loving parents give without spoiling, withhold for the child’s good, and motivate them by rewarding good behavior. Indulgent parents give kids whatever they want, irrespective of behavior, thus failing to motivate them to be responsible. Spoiled kids develop a sense of entitlement and an expectation that others exist to please them. Indulgent parents are frequently guilt driven and afraid their kids won’t like or love them. They mistake indulgence for love, and breed children who demand, manipulate, and are never satisfied. Love requires talking, listening, understanding, laughing, sharing tough times, respecting and encouraging your kids with unconditional acceptance. Such love costs nothing but is worth everything.
Soul food: Deut 25-27; Mark 8:1-13; Ps 44:9-16; Prov 12:10-11
