Worshiping Together

And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. Ephesians 4:32

I inherited the picture of the dad praying with his family over the meal, from my grandmother. It always hung over her kitchen sink. It now hangs in my dining room. I always thought it looked like comfort, peace, unity,  exactly the way the perfect home would look, even the hound dog at the little boy's feet. Just looking at the picture, I can smell the fresh baked bread on the table. And is that a bowl of fried chicken in the middle of the table? I'm thinking, when Dad and the boy came in from the field, they could smell the sweet aroma in the yard and a smile crossed their faces even then. Their hearts were drawn to the family they were working so hard to preserve. Dad said the blessing with all heads bowed, before one bite was taken. The family expressed their thankfulness in worship together.

Genesis 9:18-22; 10:13
When Noah and his family were able to get off the ark, the first thing they did was build an alter. They offered of every clean beast and every clean fowl. The Lord smelled the sweet savor of the meat offerings. It touched his heart that the ones he worked to preserve, now offered sweet smelling sacrifices together in family worship before they built houses, before they prepared a meal,  before they did anything else.

We often see a rainbow after a rain. God put it there to remind us of the covenant between him and the earth. It's a promise. We take pictures, analyze the colors, and try to find the pot of gold, but do we remember to bow our heads and worship the Creator who has a covenant with the earth.
We are loved by the One who desires to preserve our very souls for all eternity.

Blessings for a week of worship,

Gail

Hey Kids, 

God's rainbow is so amazing. Once, when I was on the Blue Ridge Parkway above the clouds, I looked down and saw a complete rainbow. A complete rainbow is a circle. A circle has no beginning and no end. God has no beginning and no end and His promises are true.
Have you noticed the order of the colors?
Red on top, followed by orange and yellow. Why?
Green beside yellow, followed by blue. Why?
Now there is indigo and purple. What would follow the purple? Why?
The pattern is starting over and the order never changes. God's ways never change.
God is the same yesterday, today and forever.
Think of ways you and your family can show thankfulness to Jesus this week for all the ways He takes care of you.

God's Calling Needs Family Support

Come now, let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. Isaiah 1:18

It's been a beautiful weekend here in the South. Snow has covered every dip and hole. It's drifts were deep and children waded through it like ocean waves, stumbling, falling and getting back up to go again. Snow, the purest of all weather, quiet and settling. It slows us and causes us to look at our families and friends through different eyes. We spent Saturday morning on the hill at the church watching the children sled. I provided the cookies and hot cider. When those ran out, everyone came to the house for potato soup and sledding down the road. Those too chilled to be out could sit by the fire and watch the kids out the window. No traffic dared traverse our hill unless they too, were coming to sled. There were no arguments or anger or frowns. No one rolled their eyes or threw a tantrum. Pure white snow, the perfect picture of peace and the covering of all sins.

It's a little sad that there was no snow in Noah's day, no peace and settling, no quiet, no covering of sin. It seems the sons of God (Christian men) married the daughters of men (worldly, lost women). Genesis 6:5 says that every imagination of the thoughts of their hearts was only evil continually. We just think people are wicked today. Surely everyone still has a good thought or a kind intention once in awhile. But how did the people of Noah's day get to the point of only having evil thoughts? God seems to indicate that the problem lay with whom they chose to marry. "They took them wives of all which they chose." The  sons of God were allowing non-believers to raise their children. Does that sound familiar?

But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord, Why? He had a Godly wife. She supported him in his calling and helped him raise Godly children. Their Godly children also supported and helped in Noah's undertaking. They too had chosen Godly wives who supported them. Support seemed to be the key to being able to follow God's calling. We often think of God calling individuals, but that may not actually be the case. Here in the beginning we see the prime example of families who did not support God's calling verses the family who followed God together.

God has a purpose and a plan for each of us. He has placed us in families to support one another.
What has God called your family to do?
How are you supporting your spouse, your children, your parents in fulfilling God's purpose?
Perhaps you have been blessed with a crippling snow. Take this season to re-engage with your family.
Reason together and let God's forgiveness reign covering all sin, and making them white as snow.

May God bless you with family support for His calling,

Gail

Hey Kids:

What special purpose does God have for your family?

How can you support your family in that purpose?

Make a list of things you can do and post them somewhere as a reminder that you are helping your family serve God.

Here are some suggestions to get your started:

1. Think of ways to save time in the mornings.

2. Think of ways to prevent arguments with siblings and parents. 

3.Think of ways to help Mom and Dad with work around the house. 

Trusting God for the Rest

Train up a child in the way he should go: And when he is old, he will not depart from it. (Proverbs 22:6)

Last week, we talked about the first marriage. Adam and Eve soon had sons they were responsible for raising. Like most of us, they probably wondered what to do with this beautiful little person. Their restored relationship with the Lord gave them a lifeline with the Heavenly Father for answers.

God told Adam he would be a tiller of the ground. The sweat of his brow would provide food for his family. He told Eve she would be the bearer of children that would one day bring the Messiah. So how did Adam and Eve bring up their children? In Genesis 4 we see they learned to farm and raise animals. Cain brought the harvest to God and Abel brought the firstlings of the flock. They were both hard workers to have something to bring as an offering, but God was not pleased with

Cain’s offering.

Apparently Adam and Eve had shown their boys how to worship by bringing an offering. Abel even brought the fat of the offering, which seems to indicate a burnt offering. Both boys were raised up to offer a burnt sacrifice to the Lord, the firstlings of the flock. However, Cain chose not to follow the instruction. He must have felt his hard work tilling the ground should have been a worthy offering. After all, he put his heart and soul into producing a good crop. God would not accept Cain’s offering.

God had shown Adam and Eve by the sacrifice of the first animal that blood was required to cover sin. The consequences of sin is death. Cain wanted his hard work to be acceptable to cover his sin. It didn’t work. Instead of Cain repenting and offering a blood sacrifice, he became angry. He argued with his brother and ended up killing Abel because he was mad at God.

Was all of this Adam and Eve’s fault in the way they raised their children? Certainly not. Both were raised in the same home with the same instruction. God even reminded Cain that if he did the right thing by offering a blood sacrifice, he would be accepted.

Children often take a different path than the training they receive as children. Training children in the way they should go is our responsibility as parents. How they use that training is their choice. Cain was not able to get away from the training. He even had a mark for others to see.

Cain and Abel were not Adam and Eve’s only children. Seth was soon born and he, like Abel followed God. Verse 4 of chapter 5 says Adam begat sons and daughters. We know some of those followed God because Seth and his family needed Godly wives to train up children. Some of those children didn’t follow God and married into Cain’s family. Adam and Eve were surely broken-hearted over some of their children’s choices, but raising them in the Lord and praying for their prodigals was all they could do, trusting God to do the rest.

Praying for our children, teaching them by example  and trusting God to do the rest is still the answer to raising children.

Do you have praises for the things God is doing in the lives of your children and grandchildren?

Do you have prayer requests? We’d love to hear from you. Please leave a comment in the section below and don’t forget to pray for our children as well.

Father, guide us as we guide our children by example to love and follow You. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.

Prayers,

Gail

Hey Kids:

How do you follow your parents’ examples?

Are you learning to cook or grill?

Are you learning to make things?

Are you learning to worship together?

Be sure to ask questions.

Your parents will love knowing you are interested in learning from them.

Marriage - What's the Secret of Success?

And the rib, which the Lord God had taken from the man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. Genesis 1:22

My mother always told me never date anyone you wouldn’t want to marry. I wondered if she thought she had married the wrong man or had she made a good choice? When Rick and I were dating, my brother told me I shouldn’t date him because he wasn’t a Christian. I told my brother to mind his own business. In a way we were both right.

Rick wanted to date a Christian girl. He liked the idea that my dad was a deacon and we were regular church goers. He wasn’t that big on going to church but he wanted me to go. I should have seen that with the right witness, he was ripe for the gospel. But, I was allowing him to pull me away from God and the church. I wanted to go where he went and do “fun things”. I was drifting from God when I should have been drawing both of us closer.

God brought Adam and Eve together but Eve allowed Satan to deceive her. Adam allowed Eve to pull him away from the Lord. They both were in a lot of trouble. (Genesis 3:6)

Jesus, the Creator of the world, already had a plan for the time we would turn to our own way. He and the Father had already agreed before the foundation of the world for Jesus to come and be the sacrifice for our sin. (Revelation 13:8) The time was not right yet for Jesus to come. Adam and Eve needed a picture of God’s plan of salvation. The Lord God sacrificed an animal and made clothes for them with the skins. (Genesis 3:21) I wonder if the Lord God washed the blood off the skins. I think maybe He let the blood remain so Adam and Eve would get the full picture that we have to have the Blood to cover our sin. If either Adam or Eve had rejected the sacrifice and the clothing, their marriage would have been torn apart. They needed to be one in their spirit and in their service to the Lord God and their family.

My grandmother met a lost man at church. He pursued her, but she would not consent to marry until he became a Christian. They entered into marriage truly one, serving God together all the days of their lives. He was 62 when he passed. She was 102. Even on her deathbed, she refused to allow anyone to remove the rings he had given her so long ago.

Blessings for a Spirit-filled marriage,

Gail

Hey Kids:

Adam and Eve needed a picture of the sacrifice for salvation. We all understand better with pictures. 

Jesus gave us pictures of Himself in His creation. (Romans 1:20)

They are kind of like the hidden picture games.

What pictures can you find in creation? Maybe you could make a drawing to share with us.

Just take a picture of your drawing and upload it to our comments section.

Need a hint as to what to look for?

The sun is a perfect example. 

Sun ball in the sky (Father)

Light all around (Jesus, the Son)

Warmth from the sun we feel but cannot see (the Holy Spirit)

Life - What's the Purpose?

Before I formed thee in the belly, I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations. Jeremiah 1:5

January is Sanctity of Life Month. We wanted to honor life in some way at our church, so the ladies decided to make these little bunny washcloths for the Mommy Store at the pregnancy crisis center in our area. We thought, brunch, devotion, begin the project, should take about an hour and a half to two hours. Well... lol.

A great time was had by all! And we will be doing this again!

I felt the most important thought was how God knows us before we are even conceived. He has a plan for us. Though we may go against that plan for years, He is always taking us into places and situations that will lead us to Him if we stop long enough to pay attention. The girls at the crisis pregnancy center have a child they did not intend, but God still has a plan for that child and that girl and the father too. Crisis pregnancy centers don't just take care of physical needs. They minister to the girl's and the boy's spiritual needs as well. The whole point is to save a life and help that family seek God's plan for them all. 

I wonder how many of us know God's plan for our own lives. We may have been a Christian for years, but don't know God's purpose for our lives. God is a trinity. He works in threes. Think about the sun. From the sun ball itself comes heat and light, three things. Many things in nature come in threes. So do families, father, mother, child. But how do we know our purpose?

Many people say pray about it. That's a start, but how do you know you are discerning the correct answer. Let's see, there's you, prayer and what would the third thing be? How about God's Word, the Bible. If the answers we think we get from God don't line up with His Word, then - wrong answer. 

Every teachable moment is multi-faceted. When a school teacher plans a lesson around just one standard she misses many standards and teachable moments. Part of the purpose of yesterday's Sanctity of Life project was mentoring our girls, in the Word and in deed.

Titus chapter 2 is a great mentoring chapter. Are you a more mature Christian? How are you mentoring younger Christians in honoring life, in knowing their purpose, in choosing God's purpose over their own will? 

Won't you share in the comment section below, ways you and your church are implementing mentoring? 

Blessings,

Gail

Hey Kids:

Have you ever taught someone younger than you how to play a game or build with legos? 

Never think you are too young to teach or too old to learn. 

Is mom trying to teach you to cook?

Is dad trying to teach you to build? 

Have you asked them to show you? 

God wants us to ask Him to show us the special purpose He has for each of us. If you will ask and then study His word, you'll find the answer. 

Mom reads the recipes and Dad looks at blueprints. Mom and Dad are our pictures of the way God's purposes work.