Love Your Children

Why did you become a parent?  If the answer to that is I wanted to be one because babies are a precious part of God's plan for married couples then you deserve a medal!  My guess would be that only one percent of all parents would have given that answer.  

As a child growing up I had parents who never said, "I love you". They came from a different generation where little affection was shown to their children.  Many wealthy families in that era of the early 1900's "made room for their children".  I once was in one of these homes during a tour and the children slept on a cot in the corner of the sewing room.  It was odd to me, but the tour guide said that it was the norm of the day.  "Children should be seen, but not heard" was the thought pattern for them during those times.

There has to be a happy medium somewhere concerning children and how we are to love them.  If we spoil them, then they will control us.  Today the thought seems to be "I want them to have what I didn't have".  Loving children is an art and it comes from the One who created us.  This art is no easy task indeed.  

It calls for a strong hand delivered with a gentle Spirit.  Chew on that for a life time and you will have conquered the greatest task in the world!  May the Lord give us the wisdom to cherish our little ones and at the same time raise them in a world where Satan desires to destroy them. 

Will You Receive a Gift?

It's very difficult for some people to receive two things: a compliment and a gift. For me, it is a gift.  I wonder how many people could relate that it is a gift?  A gift says "you haven't earned it" and in our fallen nature state, we tend to shy away from anything that is free.  This is the result of Pride.  I know it sounds like an irony, but pride hides its self in a subtle manner.

The same goes for a compliment.  Our reaction is we don't deserve it.  There are as many reasons for this as there are people.  It implies something that we like to hear, but we put on a brave face and say "thank you" when in all reality we feel it is not real.

Salvation is a gift from someone we have never seen or met face to face.  Those who have the Holy Spirit have received the gift, but even at that so many feel like they must do something for heaven. Works of some kind.  It could be doing something in the Church or giving lots of money.  There's nothing wrong with giving, but we must always check our motive for it.  

I pray that we all will know that Salvation is a gift from the Cross of Christ.  I pray that we will know that His salvation is as free as the air we breathe.

Annette

You have heard that "truth is stranger than fiction" and I want to share something that makes this adage so true.  When I was in the first grade there was a girl in my class named "Annette".  All of the children liked her because at recess she would swing us all around and around.  She would eat Rolaids constantly.  You see Annette was 5'3'' tall and she weighed 245 lbs.  She came to mind today and I thought I would write about her.

We enjoyed playing with her at recess so much, but one day she didn't come to school.  We never saw her again.  Little children never ask so I thought she might have just moved away. 

There are several reasons why a child that young would be so obese.  We cannot rule out genetics.  If this is the cause then a child will be overweight as a toddler.  DNA can also be tested on the child to find any other cause.  A sign of constant severe hunger, also known as hyperphagia.  I guess I'm old fashioned, but a McDonald's sign might be the reason too.  

It's difficult to stay thin in our Society where we are bombarded with food.  We see it on television commercials and just about everywhere you look it's there tempting us.  When I was growing up we were a low-income family and there were no food stamps. That was a big plus for us and the secret I guess to our being so thin, all of us.  That was decades ago and things are different today.  Uncle Sam has been enticing people to come and eat at his table of goodies.  Now, we have an explosion...the problem of trying to solve this mistake.

There are no easy answers, but restaurants like McDonald's should be avoided and considered a "treat" for bringing home a good report card etc.  These places should never be our way of life.  I pray for anyone who is reading this that you will deeply think about this matter because your child's life is at stake. Perhaps.  That word is too heavy to take lightly.

May God bless you in your efforts to fight back and save your precious child from this thing that desires to destroy every part of their lives.

1 Corinthians 10:31 "Therefore, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God".

Predestined or No

If you are reading this blog then you are interested in the question of Predestination.  I might also add that you are more interested in what exactly is "The Elect"?  It's a big subject to take on, but in my opinion, it is worth the effort to try.  Shortly after I was saved the Holy Spirit gave me the revelation that God knew who would be saved before time began.  Back then I had no idea of Theology because a babe in Christ can only drink the milk of the word...he is not suited for meat yet.

There is no evil in God (Psalm 92:15).  God will never do anything that is evil.  This is the first step to understanding the character of God.  He is my heavenly Father and He will never do anything to hurt me.  This is the second step.  If I do not believe the second step, then the first one is null and void in my life.  We must have a full understanding of the first step.

Proverbs 4:7

"Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding".


When it comes to the mind of God we are at the place of something we will not fully know until we are there with Him.  He has given us scripture though and doctrine in His Word.  There are so many scriptures that support the doctrine of "Election", but at the same time there are many that uphold the doctrine of "Free Will".  In my life, I have found that searching the scriptures is the only way to really know the Truth. ( Because the Earth rotates through two tidal “bulges” every lunar day, coastal areas experience two high and two low tides every 24 hours and 50 minutes. High tides occur 12 hours and 25 minutes apart.)

What a small thing to say and yet if we consider a God who does not have complete control over everything that exists how can we proclaim with confidence that God was ignorant about the things in His Hand before the foundation of the world was laid?

May the Lord bless you as you search for the Truth in His Word.

Unforgiven?

She killed her six year old son or at least she felt like she was responsible for his death.  I came into contact with this dear lady years ago and her story left me in chills.  The sad death of her son happened in the 1930's.  She tensed her shoulders as she told me how it happened.  No tears.  Maybe the heartache had dried the tears over time.  She ended by telling me she really didn't know if God would forgive her for his death.

At that time there were little pink round laxative pills in a glass bottle on the market.  She kept them on the dresser in her bedroom.  The normal dose for an adult was two pills. Unfortunately, her son found the bottle.  They were sugar coated and looked like candy. He ate all of the pills.  She told me that her son died within hours due to Cardiac Arrest. She sat on his bed holding him tight as he took his last breath.  

She was eighty-six when she told me the story.  She was ridden with guilt and also ridden with Arthritis.  That is when I began wondering if the two had some connection.  Guilt often shows up in physical afflictions.  My heart broke for her because I couldn't begin to imagine all the hurt she was feeling over her son's death, even after decades of time.  

I have been pondering the question of guilt again and its' rage on our souls and perhaps our bodies.   It is a question for all Christians to think about.  I know it will be in my prayers for an answer.  Maybe some of us suffer needlessly due to 'guilt'??

"Frozen"

The movie "Frozen" has topped one billion dollars.  It has risen above the highest Disney movie "The Lion King" which brought in 986 million.  A mother stated that she had taken her daughter to see "Frozen" over a dozen times now.  Why is it so popular?  In 1960 Disney produced "Pollyanna", the story of an orphaned girl whose father was a missionary. In 1962 they came out with "Parent Trap" which told the story of divorced parents who got back together.  These were loved movies by parents and children.

"Frozen" has captured the minds of children like no other movie put out by Disney.  Should we, as Christians, be concerned about it?  We should keep in mind that movies make an impression on us, as we can see today how the "Cinderella Syndrome" plays a big part in destroyed marriages.  It has been studied by the Psychiatric Association for decades. What will children glean from this new movie?

In years to come they will probably come up with a "Frozen" Syndrome.  It will contain the "No need for God" which leads us into a world with no rules...like the song says in the movie "no rules".  This is nothing new, but maybe it is the rehash of an old happening we saw in the rebellion of the 1960's against parents in a way that had not been seen before. Also the sacrificing of unborn children for the sake of a 'me' generation.  

The minds of children are like sponges and make no mistake about it they are soaking up all of the trash the world has to offer.  Guard their hearts and minds dear Parents!

Bertha

I want to share the life and ministry of Bertha with you.  The calling of God came upon her life at the wonderful age of seventy.  She would for the next twenty years visit Baptist pastors at every opportunity that God gave her.  Very small in physique and thin as a rail, she was a bomb shell when it came to what God had called her to do in the last twenty years of her life. She would ask the pastor [in his private chambers] if he had any unconfessed sins in his life. She had been saved as a young woman, married and raised a family.  At the age of seventy she had the desire to speak to pastors about their walk with the Lord.

Old age and health problems that come with it, didn't detour her from God's calling.  I wanted to share her life with you so we might become inspired to do whatever the Lord has called us to do.  You might be called to pray for your Grandchildren daily or you might be sent to the streets of Las Vegas to witness.  Whatever the call, God has given it to us and will give us the strength to do it.  

Today Bertha would be 119 years young.  May we all be filled with the God-given courage that she had.  There are many women who have done wondrous things, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised...Proverbs 31:30.