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Love
Stop, stop, take a breath and just love the people you are around.
Someone super irritating that you are around? And maybe even unkind to you or rub you the wrong way? Well, love them anyway.
“But if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them." (Luke 6:32 NKJV)
Ouch, thats a hard one for sure.
Someone super irritating that you are around? And maybe even unkind to you or rub you the wrong way? Well, love them anyway.
“But if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them." (Luke 6:32 NKJV)
Ouch, thats a hard one for sure.
Train in Truth
Ephesians 4:14
"That we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting." (Ephesians 4:14 NKJV)
This scripture is talking to us as grown ups in the Lord that we should not be tossed to and fro with every new idea, that we should be discerning and not think every man is right, that we have discernment to know Truth. Contrary to this, it is obvious that children do not have maturity: maturity spiritually, emotionally, physically. So that's where we come in. As parents we need to be mature, wise, strong, and teach and train our blessings to be mature.
"That we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting." (Ephesians 4:14 NKJV)
This scripture is talking to us as grown ups in the Lord that we should not be tossed to and fro with every new idea, that we should be discerning and not think every man is right, that we have discernment to know Truth. Contrary to this, it is obvious that children do not have maturity: maturity spiritually, emotionally, physically. So that's where we come in. As parents we need to be mature, wise, strong, and teach and train our blessings to be mature.
Practice
Over the years we have had a trillion (well not really but it seems like it) coaches in various sports. The really successful coaches always say: "you play the game like you practice."
So as I am encouraging you in your walk with the Lord and your mothering, I say to you "you play the game like you practice." What does this even mean? Well, it means when no one is around and it's not time for the big game (i.e. Thanksgiving dinner at Grandma's) you practice your good manners with the kiddos. You practice how to sit at the table, use your napkin, thank the cook for dinner, ask to be excused, ask how you can help, don't interrupt adult conversation. Not sure of your family's traditions (for every family is different) but practice whatever it is. If it's get the good china out because your family uses that at Thanksgiving dinner, do just that with your little ones. Practice for success. Can't expect your babies to be good at the game unless they practice and neither can you.
So as I am encouraging you in your walk with the Lord and your mothering, I say to you "you play the game like you practice." What does this even mean? Well, it means when no one is around and it's not time for the big game (i.e. Thanksgiving dinner at Grandma's) you practice your good manners with the kiddos. You practice how to sit at the table, use your napkin, thank the cook for dinner, ask to be excused, ask how you can help, don't interrupt adult conversation. Not sure of your family's traditions (for every family is different) but practice whatever it is. If it's get the good china out because your family uses that at Thanksgiving dinner, do just that with your little ones. Practice for success. Can't expect your babies to be good at the game unless they practice and neither can you.
Our Significance Comes from the Lord
"Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart Be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my strength and my Redeemer." (Psalms 19:14 NKJV)
Your significance comes from the Lord. You can not allow the words or actions of others to dictate who you are or how you feel about yourself. Not events of the past, present or future.
Our goal is to become more conformed to Him. To please the Lord in all we do. Really in doing so we will please others more than trying to please them.
When we encounter people we really have no idea what has happened to them. We don't know what has been said to them. All we can judge is our experience with them. We are in control of our reaction, our words, and how we handle situations.
Ask the Lord for wisdom as you go through your day. Ask Him to give you the correct responses. And remember: we can only control ourselves and only one person we can truly change: ourselves.
"Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart Be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer." (Psalms 19:14 NKJV)
Your significance comes from the Lord. You can not allow the words or actions of others to dictate who you are or how you feel about yourself. Not events of the past, present or future.
Our goal is to become more conformed to Him. To please the Lord in all we do. Really in doing so we will please others more than trying to please them.
When we encounter people we really have no idea what has happened to them. We don't know what has been said to them. All we can judge is our experience with them. We are in control of our reaction, our words, and how we handle situations.
Ask the Lord for wisdom as you go through your day. Ask Him to give you the correct responses. And remember: we can only control ourselves and only one person we can truly change: ourselves.
"Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart Be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer." (Psalms 19:14 NKJV)
Truth
"Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ." (Colossians 2:8 NKJV)
As Christian women we need to know TRUTH. We must be able to be wise and see through "philosophy," "empty deceit," and wrong "tradition of men."
I have always heard the way they train tellers at the bank is to keep passing real money to them. Let them feel real bills over and over again. Let the tellers look at real money, then whenever a counterfeit comes rolling threw they can spot it right away. Now I am not sure if that is really a legitimate thing, but it makes sense to me.
In much the same way, we as Christians need to study the Word, learn Truth, learn the ways of the Lord, then whenever something comes along that is not legitimate we can spot it right away.
We study the life and works of Jesus. His Spirit lives within us and whenever anything comes along that is counter to the TRUTH we will know it because we know Him!
"Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ." (Colossians 2:8 NKJV)
As Christian women we need to know TRUTH. We must be able to be wise and see through "philosophy," "empty deceit," and wrong "tradition of men."
I have always heard the way they train tellers at the bank is to keep passing real money to them. Let them feel real bills over and over again. Let the tellers look at real money, then whenever a counterfeit comes rolling threw they can spot it right away. Now I am not sure if that is really a legitimate thing, but it makes sense to me.
In much the same way, we as Christians need to study the Word, learn Truth, learn the ways of the Lord, then whenever something comes along that is not legitimate we can spot it right away.
We study the life and works of Jesus. His Spirit lives within us and whenever anything comes along that is counter to the TRUTH we will know it because we know Him!
"Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ." (Colossians 2:8 NKJV)
I No Longer Live
Thought y'all would enjoy reading what my friend Joni wrote. It blessed me. Thanks for sharing with us, Joni:
I recently went through a patch of not seeking The Lord as I should. It happened just after Ruth left, as I felt so down about being here and not in England. I allowed myself to get distracted by other thoughts and desires. The outcome was that Lydia, my delightful two year old, wasn't reacting well to my chastisement. So I got louder and more frustrated. So did she! It started to make me feel so down and when I prayed I got the sense that there was distance. I asked The Lord to show me where I had gone wrong. I realized that I was going through the motions with Lydia and wasn't directly addressing her specific needs. I also realized that the distractions had become my life and that the important work I was doing with the children was becoming a source of contention for me. I suppose I was beginning to look back to Egypt.
I surrendered my life back to The Lord and started to recite the scripture that I had found during my searching for The Lord: "I am crucified with Christ, therefore I no longer live, Jesus Christ now lives in me." I remind myself of this verse every morning before I get out of bed. It has been so helpful. It puts all the distractions back where they belong and helps me to focus on why I'm here. It has helped me to not raise my voice at Lydia which in turn has started to shift her heart in the right direction. It has helped me to really enjoy my daily routine, rather than stress that I'm not getting on top of things. And it helps me to not wish I was doing something else, somewhere else. I focus on the blessings I have in my life, the great peace and opportunity I have to raise up children for The Lord. The things I could never have given myself if I had stayed on my own path before I got saved."
I recently went through a patch of not seeking The Lord as I should. It happened just after Ruth left, as I felt so down about being here and not in England. I allowed myself to get distracted by other thoughts and desires. The outcome was that Lydia, my delightful two year old, wasn't reacting well to my chastisement. So I got louder and more frustrated. So did she! It started to make me feel so down and when I prayed I got the sense that there was distance. I asked The Lord to show me where I had gone wrong. I realized that I was going through the motions with Lydia and wasn't directly addressing her specific needs. I also realized that the distractions had become my life and that the important work I was doing with the children was becoming a source of contention for me. I suppose I was beginning to look back to Egypt.
I surrendered my life back to The Lord and started to recite the scripture that I had found during my searching for The Lord: "I am crucified with Christ, therefore I no longer live, Jesus Christ now lives in me." I remind myself of this verse every morning before I get out of bed. It has been so helpful. It puts all the distractions back where they belong and helps me to focus on why I'm here. It has helped me to not raise my voice at Lydia which in turn has started to shift her heart in the right direction. It has helped me to really enjoy my daily routine, rather than stress that I'm not getting on top of things. And it helps me to not wish I was doing something else, somewhere else. I focus on the blessings I have in my life, the great peace and opportunity I have to raise up children for The Lord. The things I could never have given myself if I had stayed on my own path before I got saved."
Kindness Among Siblings
Watching four of my seven children and my adorable daughter in law play on the beach was sooo fun. They jumped around and huddled together like a pack of puppies. Sidebar: my son and his wife have just bought a puppy, picked from the litter and purchased nearly the day he was born, Brody Davis our newest Davis. Anyway, we are always seeing pictures of him, Brody, and his sibling all plied on top of each other and tumbling around. Soooo cute, but not as cute as my babies were tumbling around and huddled together on a space of beach miles long (as I observed from my balcony overlooking them). They looked like a pack of puppies minus the pudgy part. My point, other than sharing my sweet story of some of my children, is that the love they have for each other, the fun they have warms a mother's heart.
Now when mine were little growing up they piled around, and pal around and then had the spats and still do. However the bottom line and I want to drive this home: Teach them to love each other. Don't allow them as young children to be unkind to each other. Don't allow them to make fun of each other in a cruel way, Don't allow them to treat each other any way you wouldn't treat a guest or a friend. Sometimes when mine were small and unkind to each other there was a no friends policy until they could be as sweet to siblings as to their friends.
For as we train our blessings in the fruit of the Spirit: "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law." (Galatians 5:22-23 NKJV) I see only kind behaviors in this verse and should we expect or desire anything less for our siblings behavior toward one another.
Now when mine were little growing up they piled around, and pal around and then had the spats and still do. However the bottom line and I want to drive this home: Teach them to love each other. Don't allow them as young children to be unkind to each other. Don't allow them to make fun of each other in a cruel way, Don't allow them to treat each other any way you wouldn't treat a guest or a friend. Sometimes when mine were small and unkind to each other there was a no friends policy until they could be as sweet to siblings as to their friends.
For as we train our blessings in the fruit of the Spirit: "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law." (Galatians 5:22-23 NKJV) I see only kind behaviors in this verse and should we expect or desire anything less for our siblings behavior toward one another.