"WednesdayReflection"
21st February 2024
''Seeking God with Elaine' offers'
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"SEEKING TO IMITATE GOD IN OUR LIVES"
Isn't it frustrating when we have issues with our children not obeying us?
Don't we wish we had an instruction manual?
In this devotion, we look at Paul's advice to children.
Children shouldn't obey just because they are told to do so but should obey in the Lord.
God is going to reward children who obey - submit - because that is what He is looking for in all of this.
Parents don't want to provoke their children - they want to teach of God's love.
Parents aren't the only ones who influence kids.
Aunts and uncles do. Neighbours do. Teachers within the school system and church do.
I still get a chuckle out of what happened the first time my sister invited Adam down to spend a couple of days with them.
He was about four. It was the first time he had been overnight somewhere without us.
The visit went fairly well.
There was, however, a rough spot when she tried to make Adam a peanut butter and jam sandwich. Standard kid food, right?
Adam was vehement that he only wanted a goober grape sandwich.
Now, goober grape was peanut butter, and jam, that were in one jar.
So, we called it a goober grape sandwich instead of a PBJ.
My sister's comment was, "You should have sent an instruction manual."
Don't we wish?
After Paul finished talking to husbands and wives, he turned his advice to the kids.
Let's see what Paul's instruction manual said.
"Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right"
Yes, sometimes children have to obey the parents without talking back.
What is God? " ... God is love". To obey in the Lord, children are to have love and affection for their parents.
Yes, there are parents who aren't fit to be parents.
Yes, there are snot-nosed little kids.
That is because we live in a broken world.
Satan has taken God's perfect family life and torn it to shreds.
There is abuse and neglect. There are broken homes and homes that feel like they are a war zone.
We are going to assume the parents in this devotion are trying to do their best and raise their children in the way that God wants.
But did you notice? Paul didn't slip in any kind of qualifiers.
He didn't say, "Obey only if they are good parents."
God said obey. Period.
Paul reminded his readers that this is one of the Ten Commandments - "Honor your father and mother.
We are assuming these are good parents.
Parents have worked hard to raise Child properly.
They have loved Child and provided what Child needed to grow up well.
Parents don't have an instructions manual on how to deal with children.
Each child is unique. There is not going to be a one-size-fits-all manual - except the Bible.
Parents, Watch It
"Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord"
We should read it as parents. I get that.
Fathers don't have sole claim at provoking the kids.
I know Adam would get upset when I told him one thing and his dad told him the opposite.
I know he became angry when it turned into a dictatorship and his abilities were not considered.
If Parents continually provoke Child, there won't be much respect.
When Child breaks the family rules, consequences follow.
What does Proverbs 22: 6 say?
"Teach children how they should live, and they will remember it all their life".
The ABCDs of Salvation
A - admit our sins
B - believe His Son Jesus is our Redeemer
C - confess God as Sovereign Lord
D - demonstrate that commitment by making any changes needed in our lives to live the way in which God has called us
If you have not become a believer in Christ, please read through the Plan of Salvation and prayerfully consider what God is asking you to do.
Parents have to teach their children values and beliefs.
We have to help them interpret what they are learning out in the world.
><(((°>
Un-edited version, (MUCH MORE) available on request
(and Bible references)
Hello. My name is Elaine Guthals
I grew up in a small Southern Baptist church in Illinois.
I professed faith in my Lord and Saviour when I was young. When I first went forward and was baptized, I didn't go forward for the right reasons.
Later, when I was older, I did, which meant I was rebaptized.
I have taught Bible Study classes on Sunday morning, usually older adults.
I did teach a children's class when I was younger.
In the past, I have been assistant song leader, song leader, music director and children's choir director.
I took a while to adjust to retirement and then asked God what He wanted me to do next with my life.
God's answer was this blog.
I began writing these devotions as a way for God to talk to me.
He kept talking, and I kept writing.
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