Song of Solomon paints a picture of a couple who desire each other and care for each other. The lover adores his beloved and treats her with respect and tenderness. He is sensitive to her and she responds to him with love. When she is treated with love, she eagerly desires to give herself wholly to her beloved. She desires to be possessed by her beloved as a response to his sensitivity.

In the same way, we respond to Christ. He has treated us with love and we then respond to him by giving ourselves wholly to him. Our obedience to him is a response to how we have been cared for and overflows from a deep and abiding love for him. How beautiful! We do not have to feel obligated to serve him–instead, let us long to give ourselves to him in obedience! Let us desire to be possessed by him because he has loved us so tenderly.

I will call out that I am my beloved’s, and he is mine!

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These are certainly hard times.  People are losing their jobs, their homes, and their insurance.  People have to choose between food and medicine.  Many are homeless because of the bankrupt housing market.  But that’s nothing to the natural disasters this country has faced since 2005…..3 devastating hurricanes in the past 4 years, not to mention floods, earthquakes and tornadoes.  But all this pales in comparison to what is going on the world; banks failing, people starving, people murdered and killed by radicals; earthquakes and hurricanes that devastate and kill.  We in this country are whining and complaining when we have an ice storm that puts out our power for a few hours or days, when there are islands in the Caribbean and in other parts of the world that still haven’t recovered from the last hurricane.  There are children starving in Indonesia because there is no rice to feed them in a country that once was the biggest producer of rice.  In talking to a relative today, I was told that his neighbor has lost his faith in God because of all the natural disasters…..Now that is really sad…..In our church we have dedicated missionaries that go out and help people in disaster areas…..and are God’s witnesses bringing them the hope and joy of God’s word. They are my heroes (& heroines, God bless you, Allison Kami, Ben Warren, Dusty McCarty and others) .  But we as a nation are spoiled, that’s right, spoiled.  Today’s youngsters don’t know what it is to not have the latest and most up to date technology and feel that they deserve it.  The times are bad, but they are just going to get worse…..it’s all in Revelations…..!  Too bad they weren’t around during the Depression, WWI & WWII.  Now those were tough times.  My grandmother and grandfather not only survived it but helped others during the depression. My father rescued Jews from the concentration camps (He’s my Hero too!)  But there has to be crisis in order for a person to change.  God knows that we are fallen and He gives us challenges and trials sometimes for the direct purpose so that we can say, “All right, I can’t do it, I need you Lord!”  Ps. 71:20 “You  who have shown me many troubles and distresses will revive me again.” And people ask why does God allow that?  I believe that God allows it so that we can cease being stiff-necked and be obedient to Him and listen to Him, and do His will.  “It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I may learn Your statues…” Ps. 119:71.  God is always there to pick up the pieces of our brokenness, because that’s exactly where He wants us, on our knees and broken, because only then can He use us to do His will. “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.”  Ps. 51:17.  I watch Charles Stanley every morning before going to church, and he says over and over again, that “you can win your battles on your knees”.  I pray for a lot of people every day.  Today I started a new sheet list (clean and typed!) In doing so I realized that I would probably not have enough paper to finish….but as I typed I prayed.  Prayer can move mountains, but only God can actually hear the prayer and move the mountain for you.  And you have to be in a place of brokenness in order to listen to God.  Until that happens, things won’t work in your life.  Rom 8:28 says “All things work together for the good for those who love and serve the Lord.”  Things won’t work, unless you love and serve the Lord, don’t miss that.  That’s the most important point!  And you have to obey God and follow in His will in order to serve Him.  Many people think, well, when I get in trouble, God will hear me, no, not unless you actually are walking in His will and are ready to listen to God and do His will, then things will work to your good. (A sermon from Charles Stanley 2-1-09, see www.intouch.org).  So I guess what I’m saying, to those heroes out there on the front lines, our missionaries who have the courage and the boldness and the giftedness to spread the gospel, thank you and God bless you!  I wish I could go with you, but that is not what God has called me to do.  But I can pray….and I believe that God is the God of impossibles, and He is ever faithful (”The Lord’s lovingkindness indeed never ceases, For His compassions never fail, They are new every morning, great is Your faithfulness.” (Lam. 3: 21-25).  So as the song says,(I used to sing it in my Gospel choir in N.O.), “Somebody prayed for me, kept me on their mind, took the time to pray for me, I’m so glad they prayed, I’m so glad they prayed, I’m so glad they prayed for me.” Just remember that I’m praying for you every day.  You may be out in the trenches doing God’s work and you are blessed, but I’m right there beside you, praying for you. ”Bless the Lord, you His angels, mighty in strength, who perform His word, obeying the voice of His word…You who serve Him, doing His Will.” Ps. 103:20. May God continue to bless you and encourage you and enlarge your boundaries and fill your hearts with a passion to spread the gospel.  My prayers and heart are with you. ”My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”  Blessings to you my brothers & Sisters in Christ, Sandy:)

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What is it that drives us all so crazy at Christmas? Is it the need to be compulsive…..to get everyone that perfect gift, to fill every need.  And it all happens in 3 short weeks.  Everybody tries to cram as much as they can into the “Holiday Schedule”.  The schools have to put on their “Holiday or Winter Festival or play.  The stores start pushing Christmas music and wares right alongside Halloween.  We used to put our tree after Thanksgiving, but that’s now long since past.  Stores put up trees before Thanksgiving, in fact they are selling trees right after Halloween.  What used to be   a time to get together and celebrate Our Lord’s birth, has now become a mad rush to cram as much activity as possible into a very short period.  Maybe it’s because I grew up in a simpler time, when mothers stayed home and when we kids came home for Christmas, it seemed like a vacation.  It was a time when things slowed down, family got together and did things.  Of course, as a older sibling of 7 kids in my family, I can still remember my father putting together bikes into the wee hours of the morning….(yep, just like the movies).  But now with families more disconnected from each other, and mothers and fathers working, time seems to be crucial.  Compulsion seems to be the driving force…..”if we can just get through this Christmas…..I’ll never do this again”.  Right……!  Even now as I sit at home, not able to work or drive and face the mobs at the mall (Thank you God for small favors)….there’s still distractions….the computer…..”last chance for free shipping”, the TV with the constant barrage of Christmas shows…..reruns.  (Though I really still enjoy the oldies, “It’s a wonderful Life”, “The Bishop’s Wife”, and of course ”Christmas on 32nd St.”)  Everybody of course has their favorites.  But as I drag my tired body from the bed every morning and have to apologize to the Lord for staying up too late again…..not taking better care of myself; I recognize that the drive is not about Him, it’s about me.  And I find myself apologizing to Him again.  My favorite movie line is in the “Bishop’s Wife” when David Niven (the older BW movie) gives his sermon at the end of the movie….”we have filled all the stockings except one”…..drives it home.  What is it exactly does the Christ child want from us at Christmas?  It’s not a new pair of slippers, or that new LCD  TV or Blue Ray DVD.  He doesn’t even want us to stay up late, planning and plotting what to buy next for our favorite person….all He wants is our hearts, totally and unselfishly given to Him and to share His love with others.  I don’t think He really wants us to try to knock ourselves out trying to please everyone at Christmas…..I think He just wants us to please Him, to listen to Him, really listen.  Sometimes in the quiet hours of the morning when I get up and do my Bible study and get on my knees for the millionith time, I can almost hear Him saying to my heart, “thank you for spending time with me”.  Ps 5 :3 says “In the morning, O Lord, You will hear my voice; in the morning I will order my prayer to You and eagerly watch”.  It took me a long time to understand the last part….”eagerly watch”.  But I do now, I watch and I try to listen to Him, and try to let Him “direct my paths” (Ps 25:4), even though, He knows that I am going to mess up again.  That’s me, a mess.  But He loves me, mess and all (Rom. 5:5)…..and I look forward to going to Him each morning, apologizing like a child and being forgiven every morning (Lam 3:21-25).  When I take the time to remember….it’s about Him, and not about me or anything or anyone else……there is peace.  And that is the greatest gift of all.  A peace that only the Christ child could bring to a saddened, weary world.  So I have to remember, less is often best.  And if my projects don’t get finished, so what…..He doesn’t care, He just wants my time and my attention.  And when I ”commit my ways” to Him (Ps. 37:5), it all works out…(Rom. 8:28), despite my best efforts anyway.  So I have to understand this now about myself, that I can’t do what I used to….He’ll understand and love me anyway (Rom 5:5, Rom. 8:1).   I need to let Him increase and I need to decrease. (Jn 3:30)….I’m getting tired and need to go to bed, ah….I can just hear Him…..”Listen and obey”.   Yes Lord! Amen! S.O.

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Tonight as I contemplated the meaning of our communion together as the Body of Christ, and Bryan said the words and we prayed; I was struck by the analogy and symbolism of the true meaning of communion.  We had just finished discussing the study of Exodus and the institution of Passover and meaning of Passover.  As I tried to visualize the terror that must have come over the Jewish people as they prepared for the first Passover, huddling in their houses, preparing their houses with the blood of the lamb and eating in haste, ready to flee for their lives; I thought here we are casually sitting around in easy chairs, holding a symbol and remembering this event that marked the sacrifice of our Lord for our very lives.  Yet, I was humbled by the fact that even though we ate comfortably (not like the Jews then), we knew in our hearts the ultimate sacrifice that Our Lord and Savior made for us, so that we could in freedom sit comfortably in our Pastor’s living room and remember and give thanks for His ultimate sacrifice.  And by doing so, we participated in communion with each other, in thought, in prayer, and in remembrance of His great love for us.  At that moment, I thought how very special this is, what an honor to be here, partaking of this communion with my other brothers and sisters in Christ, all being of the same mind, and offering our hearts and souls and minds in thanksgiving to Him.   As I prayed  intimately to My Lord, that all the “leaven” of my life be removed so that my heart may receive His gift of sacrifice, I realized we all were “in communion” at the same time, praying and rejoicing for Christ’s sacrificial love for all of us.  It was an awesome experience.  I understood at that moment what it meant to be “in communion” with one another.  In all my years as a Catholic, communion was a very private experience, public, yet private.  But tonight, it was more public, a sharing, a coming together to remember, and give thanks to the Lord, Jesus Christ, who saved us from death.  It was truly a wonderful experience.  And I give thanks that I have lived long enough to be saved and to participate in “real communion” with my brothers and sisters in Christ. 

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Listened to the discussion on Friday C@H.  Yes, Bryan, I listened!  Usually Sunday afternoon I do rest, because I’m usually worn out after service.  But I realized that I usually rest after I’ve taken a nap by going outside and reading or watching nature.  Today I wrote my testimonial and praised God, which is part of worship.  Every morning I wake up before dawn and spend time with the Lord, worshipping Him and praising Him and letting Him order my steps for the day.  There’s something beautiful about seeing the sun rise in it’s magnificence and hearing the first bird’s song  break the early morning silence.  “They who dwell at the ends of the earth stands in awe of Your signs, You make the dawn and the sunset shout for joy!”Ps. 65: 8-9.  Being close to God in nature reminds me of how great God is and how important I am to Him.  Putting Him first and last in my day, keeps me closer to Him in a more intimate walk with Him in my life. ”Whom have I in heaven, but You?  And besides You, I desire nothing on earth.  My flesh and heart may fail, But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever…But as for me, the nearness of God is my good; I have made the Lord God my refuge, that I may tell of all of Your works.” Ps 73:25-28. Sunday is also my “slow me down” day….I watch my favorite old movie, snuggle with my cats and sometimes do needlework (after church and Charles Stanley of course).  I’m working on my “slow me down” process.  Thanks, Leslie for reminding me.  Sometimes I forget and then I overdo it.  I guess Sunday is the Lord’s way of reminding me to slow down and enjoy the day. Ps 118:24. (See attachment - “Slow me down Lord“)Blessings on the Sabbath,Sandy:)

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Lately, I’ve been doing a pretty pitiful job of trying to learn anything. Am I lazy? Yes. My scripture reading and prayer habits have been horrendously lacking. But yet, God, being sovereign over all things, manages to teach me some stuff anyway. Here are some lessons learned from my recent circumstances.

Our dog is stubborn. He hates his crate. His crate exists for his own good, so that he (and our house in general) will be safe while we are out of the house. Right now, the crate we have for him is huge and has everything he likes and wants in it. It has his bed. His food. His toys (yes, all 6 of them). And as soon as he goes in it, he will receive treats. So really, everything Tolkien needs for life and happiness is in this crate. But yet, when I want him to go in it, he looks in longingly, whimpers a bit, and then lays down outside the crate, resistant. Maybe it’s a power struggle thing. Maybe he just doesn’t like being confined. At any rate, Tolkien, in his stubbornness, will not go to the one place where he would be safe, well fed, and surrounded by chicken-flavored Nylabones and fuzzy toys that squeak. He would rather be hungry and toyless on the outside than be obedient.

I am like Tolkien.

Inside of God’s will, there is joy and peace and safety. There is comfort and warmth. In obedience, there is everything I need for life and happiness. But I would rather turn from God’s will, stubborn and resistant, and go my own way. There is no peace in my own way. There is no safety. But there is something so disagreeable about admitting that I don’t know everything and that God does that I stay on the outside. God’s will is for my good. God says “I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” But I’m like a stubborn dog who won’t go in the crate.

There’s another side to the crate story. Yesterday, Diane and I figured out that Tolkien can do “shake”. Maybe it’s more appropriate to say that yesterday Tolkien figured out that for some reason, if he lifts his paw at a certain time, we will shower him with treats. That’s probably more accurate. Last night when I was throwing treats in Tolkien’s crate to coax him in, he looked up at me, sat down, and did “shake” instead. This happened several times, as if he was saying, “Okay, so I’m not going in that crate. But I can do this nifty trick instead! Do I get the treat?” It doesn’t work that way. I don’t want nifty tricks. I want obedience.

Do I do this as a Christian? My goodness, yes. God asks me to obey in an area. Maybe he wants me to call someone I really don’t like and ask them if they want to hang out. Maybe he wants me to talk to the scary looking homeless person on the corner. At any rate, I don’t want to do it. So I say, “Okay, God, I won’t do that. But I can read my Bible for an hour instead! Or, I could give some money to this missionary! That’s pretty good, isn’t it?”

God doesn’t want “good”. God wants obedience.

Okay, last one. I promise.

Yesterday I was working on a SWEAT Team project with Dave Ferree and a few others. Some SWEAT Team projects are fun. You get to build a wheelchair ramp or something cool like that and you feel all proud of yourself. Yesterday’s project was not one of those. Yesterday, we were cleaning out an abandoned trailer for a guy with health problems who wants to move into it. When I say abandoned, I mean that the people who had been living there had just run out and left everything behind. Food. Dirty clothes. Underwear. Six TVs (I have no idea). The place was completely trashed. The other SWEAT Team guys were outside with weed whackers working on the ridiculously overgrown yard while I worked on cleaning up the inside. It was disgusting. It smelled horrendous. There were bread bags with bread still in them, black with mold. Soda cans that had spilled all over, leaving papers and food stuck to the floor in a smelly goo. A layer of rat dung covered everything. I picked up one layer of grossness just to find more underneath. After spending the morning there, I had just scratched the surface of the mess and was in terrible need of a shower. As I was cleaning it up, I had two questions:

How could anyone live like this?
Why does anyone want to move in here?

Really, it probably would just be easier to light the thing on fire and let it burn. But then I thought…

This is my heart.

My heart is disgusting. A filthy mess of greed and selfishness and disregard for my fellow man. There is layer upon layer of the soul’s version of wretched decay. And yet, there is one who wants to abide there. God speaks of us being His temple, of Him coming and dwelling in us. And God is holy! We are talking about God, holy and good, coming and dwelling in the filthy, rat infested grossness of my heart. And He cleans it up. Slowly. Sometimes painfully. If I had taken a toothbrush and scrubbed every last cranny in that trailer, it would not match the fervor and dedication God shows in purifying my own heart. And this is His desire. To come dwell in me, in us. I don’t really understand that. Except that I guess it brings more glory to Him to clean us up than to let us burn. He is in the business of saving. Of redeeming.

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A few thoughts about Gideon.

Gideon was addressed by the Angel of the LORD as “Mighty hero,” but his testings of God reveal him as a man of little faith.  I do mean “little faith” and not “faithless,” for he believed that the LORD would give him victory over the Midianites; he simply required numerous signs of verification that the LORD would act.  I do not criticize him from a standpoint of superiority, but with a view of the LORD’s power revealed in an imperfect man.

The LORD commands Gideon in Judeges 6 to rescue Israel from Midian, but Gideon balks, saying, “How can I resuce Israel?  My clan is the weakest in the whole tribe of Manasseh, and I am the least in my entire family!”  Gideon looks poorly upon himself, perhaps thinking he is not worth or able to do as the LORD calls.  So, the LORD encourages Gideon with this confirmation of His support: “I will be with you.  And you will destroy the Midianites as if you were fighting against one man.”  Unsure of the identity of the one with which he is conversing, Gideon requires a sign to verify his credibility.  “If you are truly going to help me, show me a shign to prove that it is really the LORD speaking to me.”

I relate to Gideon here.  Sometimes I get riled up with ambitious thoughts of grand service in the name of the LORD, and I wonder where the thoughts come from.  I would be foolish to act audaciously without the LORD’s blessing and direction, and I would be disobedient and unfaithful if I brush off his urgings as too difficult, too awkward, or too bold.  I so often desire confirmation of the origin of my thoughts and desires!  Pious words.  I doubt that I would act faithfully even if I knew that the LORD was calling me to specific, difficult, awkward service.

After Gideon obediently destroys his father’s Baal altar and Asherah pole, the “Spirit of the LORD took possession of Gideon.”  It is interesting to me that he here again tests the LORD, saying, “If  you are truly going to use me to rescue Israel as you promised, prove it to me in this way.  I will put some wool on the threshing floor tonight.  If the fleece is wet with dew in the morning but the ground is dry, then I will know that you are going to help me rescue Israel asyou promised.”    Remember that the LORD already commanded him to “Go with the strength you have and rescue Israel from the Midianites,” and He verified His identity by consuming Gideon’s sacrifice!  The LORD was patient with Gideon, for he obliged him his request.

Even after this gracious confirmation, Gideon asks the LORD for another sign!  “Please don’t be angry with me, but let me make one more request.  This time let the fleece remain dry while the ground around it is wet with dew.”  Our Father, who is consistently patient and understanding with us, is patient and understanding with Gideon, and He grants Gideon’s request.

God seems to choose the weakest, most unfit people for his grand works of salvation.  Gideon was not a “Super Christian,” always smiling, always happy, always certain of God’s will, always wholeheartedly believing and following God when He promises blessing.  Gideon required confirmation of God’s promises and acted when he recieved them.  Oh, may the LORD make us like Gideon, willing to ask God for help when we wonder if we are actually being lead in a different direction, willing act when we receive orders, and faithful in executing our orders!  It seems clear that the LORD choose Gideon to rescue Israel in order to prove Himself powerful to save even with the most unsure follower.

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Why do Christians get sometimes stuck in the ‘pretty’?  In the ‘acceptable’?  In the ‘cool’?

Where does ‘the pleasing’ and ‘the pleased’ end and Truth and true worship begin?  And what place does…or should…’the pleasing’ have within the Church?  Within a community of souls serving the same Father, how much do we cater?

How much do we, as God’s Church, bend and tailor to the culture?  And if we do some bending, how much of that is appropriate within our corporate worship?  As we modify our way of witnessing…of reaching the culture around us, do we then also need to modify our own worship, too?  And at what point does worship get lost all together?

I go around in this little circle that has set forth in my mind.  Questioning and answering, which only seems to lead me back to more questions.  Are there firm yes and no, right and wrong answers to these wonderings?  Can we really get to the bottom of it?  Or do we just take it moment to moment?  Is it an issue of feeling or of the right?  And as we ponder these feelings, in these moments, are we, as the Church, getting blurred?

And so I’m led to one more question: How blurred should the forms be in distinguishing the found from the lost? 

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As a student attending a large liberal university, there are certain quotes that I go back an consider as I continue my education. One that I have found myself pouring over again and again is this great quote from Francis Schaeffer concerning Biblical belief and the role of science. Thought I’d share it with you all.

“There is no reason therefore to consider science free from the propositions set forth in the Scripture. We often hear the statement, “The Bible is not a scientific textbook.” Should we say this or not? It depends on what we mean.

Years ago, before I heard anyone else use this phrase, I used it, but I meant by it that we must remember what the central purpose of the Bible is. The central purpose of the Bible is to give us what fallen man needs to know between the Fall and the second coming of Christ. This is the theme of the book and is dealt with with great intensity and great uniformity throught the Bible. It seems to me that eveything else is secondary to this and is to be seen in reference to this central theme.

For example, the Bible is not a book of angelology. So there is a lot we do not know about angels. This does not mean that we do not know a good deal about angels from the Bible, but we do not have a comprehensive statement about them. The Bible teaches about angels in reference to the central theme.

I would say the same thing about scientific matters. The Bible is not a scientific textbook–in the sense that science is not its central theme, and we do not have a comprehensive statement about the cosmos. But the Bible tells us much about the cosmos in reference to the central theme. In Genesis 1 we have the statment of the creation of the cosmos, and thus as we come to Genesis 2 and the central focus is placed upon man, we can understand man’s setting.

“The Bible is not a scientifc textbook” is true in the sense in which we have just spoken. But many people today use the statement in a different way–that is, to say that the Bible does not affirm anything about that in which science has an interest. When the statement is used to mean this, it must be totally rejected. The Bible does give affirmations about that in which science has an interest.

God has given four revelations to man. The first two are general revelation, the second two special revelation. The general revelations are, first, the universe and its form, and second, man and his “mannishness.” It should be noted that Paul stresses both of these in Romans 1. The two special revelations are the verbalized communication from from God to man in the Bible, and the second the revelation of God in Christ. Rightly understood, these four revelations will always compose one revelation.

When we face apparent problems between present scientific theories and the teaching of the Bible, the first rule is not to panic, as though scientific theory is always right. The history of science, including science in our own day, has often seen great dogmatism about theories which later have been discarded. Thus there is no inherent reason why a current scientific theory should immediately be accepted. And there is no inherent reason why a Christian should be put in a panic because the current scientific theory is opposite to what is taught in the Bible.

When we come to a problem, we shoud take time as educated people to reconsider both the special and general revelations; that is, we should take time to think through the question. There is a tendency among many today to consider that the scientific truth will alway be more true. This we must reject. We must take ample time, and sometimes this will mean a long time, to consider whether the apparent clash between science and revelation means that the theory set forth by science is wrong or whether we must reconsider what we thought the Bible says.

The Bible does not give us exhaustive truth about the things of the cosmos, and therefore science has a real function. Also, science, as a study of general revelation, has shown us things that have caused us to understand the Bible better.”

In the words of the Hitchhiker’s Guide, “DON’T PANIC.”

-Joel

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Have you ever asked yourself what is truly worth dying over? Recently, my mother-bear tactics kicked in when my daughter relayed a conversation shared with her about children and an age of accountability in regards to salvation. She heard from a pastor that unborn children are not saved. This struck a deep chord with my heart as I pondered my answer to her when she asked me what I thought. My heart pounded and jumped as I slowly began to speak of what I thought.

This scenario has happened a few times lately. Somehow, I wasn’t quite picturing this kind of conversation with my 19-year old daughter away at college. Don’t get me wrong; our conversations do consist of the mundane things of every day life. Occasionally, they go a little bit further into the scope of her growing faith and defining convictions.

Recently, I have been working on a biographical study on the life of Caleb, son of Jephunneh, from scripture. As I poured through the observation stage of my study, I noticed time and time again the words son of Jephunneh were mentioned. At first, I skimmed over this as if to mentally say, “yeah, yeah, yeah…son of Jephunneh, a-gain”. Then I realized how proud this father would be to see the account of his son in God’s word recorded. How the simple courageous acts of his son were acknowledged, confirmed and rewarded by God. As further observation revealed, Caleb stood firm in his faith of who God is and what God promised even when the whole Israelite nation was ready to stone him for it (except for few big names like Moses and Aaron). As I progressed in observing Caleb’s recorded life, I noticed that God assigned a few character descriptions to him. Caleb had a “different spirit” and “served the Lord whole heartedly”. The further I got into the text the more I could relate to Caleb’s honor to God was also an honor to Jephunneh. Captain Courageous has nothing on Courageous Caleb.

Is it not interesting to you that when our children do simple acts of trusting God in the face of fear, we are able to see the smile of God’s face? I might not see God face to face like Moses but I certainly can imagine the joy of the Lord when one of his little children stands firm in their faith of Him. Is that worth dying over or what? Of course, I am not speaking of the humiliation from being public over a conviction of faith but rather a dying to oneself. There are always times when I would rather not make it a priority to remind my children who they are in God’s eyes and better yet who God is according to His word. Yet, our Lord has entrusted His very life to us and to our children. He commanded the Israelites to tell the next generation of His deliverance and promises fulfilled. This simple act of obedience brings forth a great impact for his work in the remaining generations.

The Lord revealed to me that I am either working towards a next generation of believers or a next generation of extinction. The future of our children having light in a dark place depends on our simple act of obedience to tell about who God is and what He has done in our lives. Well then, it is really worth dying over; isn’t it?

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