The Devil's Desire - Dinner #37

      Both my husband and I were blessed to be raised in Christian homes.  Our parents read God’s Word to us, taught us Bible songs, took us to church, and set our feet on a good path.  God worked in our hearts even as very young children, bringing each of us to a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus before we were 10 years old.  But things do not stop with US having that complete peace that we will one day be in heaven with our Savior.  We now have a CHILD who needs to be saved! Psalm 145:4 “One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts.” It is up to us, as parents, to share the Lord with our baby girl.

     But isn’t she way too young to understand? This past week, I saw my 5-month old smile back at a smiling commercial, and cry during a movie scene where two adults were yelling angrily at each other.  Do children pick up on emotions, even as babies? Yes, they do! They can tell if you are happy or annoyed about going to church.  They can see you nodding your head in agreement, or ignoring the preacher.  They notice if you’re using your hymnal or not even singing the songs. What are you conveying to your children about God?  In Deuteronomy 6:6-7, God tells His people, “And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, 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.” All day long, we have the opportunity to share Jesus with our little ones!

     As Christians, we must understand how important it is to influence a child for the Lord while they are very young. In Deuteronomy 31:12-13, the Israelites are told to “Gather the people together, men, and women, and children, and thy stranger that is within thy gates, that they may hear, and that they may learn, and fear the LORD your God, and observe to do all the words of this law: And that their children, which have not known any thing, may hear, and learn to fear the LORD your God . . .” The book of the law was being read to instruct even young children in the fear of God.  In the Lord’s eyes, they could not be “too young” to hear the reading of the Scriptures.  They were so little that they “have not known any thing”, but yet it was clear that they needed to hear God’s Word! 

     If we do not tell our children about Jesus, then the devil will step in and tell them about himself.  I Peter 5:8 “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.”  Why should our children be present during movies with screaming and scary images? Why should they be taken through a “haunted house”? Satan wants to win the victory!  Will your babies and young ones hear Bible songs in your home? Will they listen to Bible stories? Or will they grow up gravitating to the creepy and Satanic? Will they enjoy the evil and the bizarre? Isaiah 54:13 declares, “And all thy children shall be taught of the LORD; and great shall be the peace of thy children.” Are your children being “taught of the Lord”?  Will they grow up having the peace of God?

     These thoughts have very much been on my heart, this past week. A Sunday night sermon on “The Christian Home”, drove it even deeper.  My smiling baby girl has not yet given her heart to God.  Shouldn’t her daddy and I strive to lead her to Him? Shouldn’t that be our highest goal in raising her? Then may the words of God lead our home.  May beautiful Christian music fill our home.  May Christian love surround our home.  And may each of our little ones learn to “love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.”

 

Fellow Believers - Dinner #6

     Perhaps it is in times of sickness or hurt, that we find ourselves seeing the most clearly our need for fellow-believers.  Psalm 20:1-2 declares, “The LORD hear thee in the day of trouble; the name of the God of Jacob defend thee; Send thee help from the sanctuary, and strengthen thee out of Zion.”

     My study Bible cross-references “sanctuary” in this verse to one in 1 Kings which speaks of the Holy of Holies in the Temple.  First and foremost, God strengthens us with His very Presence.  Secondly, God often chooses to help us “out of Zion”.  How often have we been blessed by the faithful prayers or encouraging notes of a thoughtful saint? Edified and strengthened, not by fellow-Jews in Israel, but by fellow-believers in Christ.

     It is important to be faithful to church!  Hebrews 10:25 “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.”  We need to hear God’s Word preached, we need to worship together, and we need to fellowship with one another! 

     Throughout his letters, Paul describes the church as “the body of Christ”, composed of many members, all with differing gifts to glorify God and to help one another.  Romans 12:4-5 says, “For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office: So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.”  I Corinthians 12:26 “And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it.” We work together AS A UNIT.  The various gifts and tasks we have been assigned are to bring honor and glory to our Savior.  They are “For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.” (Ephesians 4:12)  Even those of us who may feel we do not have much to offer in the Lord’s work have been created to be a blessing!  I Corinthians 12:22 declares, “Nay, much more those members of the body, which seem to be more feeble, are necessary.”  We each have a special, unique purpose!

    All through the book of Acts, we find the early church believers working together.  They’re praying fervently for Peter’s release in Acts chapter 12, sending out missionaries in Acts 13, singing in prison in Acts 16, making garments for the widows in Acts chapter 9, and the list goes on and on.  They were dedicated to STRENGTHENING one another!  Philippians 2:4 declares, “Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.”

    There are times when we desperately need the help of our brothers and sisters in Christ.  Times when a phone call from a Sunday School teacher, a warm meal after surgery, or a helping hand after the birth of a little one, seems to mean the world to us.  But then, there are also times when God wishes to lay on OUR hearts the desire to be a blessing to someone else.  Romans 12:13 speaks of, “Distributing to the necessity of saints” and being “given to hospitality.”  When it is OUR time to serve, are we willing to listen to the Master’s prompting?

     The time for being a blessing and an encouragement is now!  Hebrews 3:13 “But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day . . .”  In order to strengthen each other “out of Zion”, we must learn to care about what other Christians are going through.  We need to, “Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep.” (Romans 12:15)  Will you be there for a brother or sister in Christ this week?