From Generation to Generation

 

 

  For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse: 

~Romans 1:20 KJV

Ahh, Autumn, my favorite time of the year. Leaves, mountain apples, pumpkins, and cooler weather, what could be better? We often use pumpkins to explain the plan of salvation to children. But that is not the only thing we can learn from the beauty of Autumn. 

What do we find when we cut open an apple or pumpkin or practically anything? On the outside is the skin. Just inside is the flesh. At the core of the fruit, we find the seeds. Did you notice the trinity?  Seeds that are most often thrown away are the heart of the fruit itself. Those seeds will produce more plants and fruit just like the parent plant. Even the seed is a trinity; the outer coating, the food store inside, and the embryo that contains the leaf.  

It seems so hard to understand how God is a Trinity yet He shows us daily through His creation. He shows us how we too are created in His image. We have a body, a mind that thinks, and a soul that is eternal. The soul is actually the heart of our being. Have you ever thought about how we feel things? We say "my heart is broken." when there's nothing wrong with our heart; it's our feelings, the core of who we are. God, too, is a being who thinks and yes, who feels. Love is a feeling. God showed us His love by sending His only Son to die in our place for our sins. 

but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

~Romans 5:8 ESV

When we show our children what it is like to be a Christian we are instilling in our little seeds the understanding that will reproduce itself to the third and fourth generation. In contrast, when we distort or confuse, or don't recognize the importance of instilling Christian doctrines in our children we still teach them. We teach a lack of importance for the things of God. That too will reproduce itself to the third and fourth generation. 

The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands,  forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children's children, to the third and the fourth generation.

~Exodus 34:6,7 ESV

Heavenly Father, please help us be aware of the seeds we plant in our children's lives. May they be the seeds of salvation that will make a difference for our children and grandchildren to the third and fourth generation. In Christ Jesus's name, we pray. Amen

Hey Kids:

Take a walk with your parents. Notice the beautiful sun coming up or setting. Notice the light, how it colors the sky or brightens the day. Feel the warmth of the sun. What a delight to enjoy another trinity God has created for us to know more about who He is and the love He has for us. Can you explain the Trinity using the sun, the light, and the heat of the sun?

Autumn blessings,

Gail 

New Life, New Way, New Culture

 

And Ruth said, Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God: ~Ruth 1:16 KJV

Most often we hear these scriptures at weddings but they were first spoken by a daughter-in-law to her mother-in-law. Naomi, her husband and her two sons had gone to Moab to live because of a famine around Bethlehem. They lived there long enough for the sons to marry. Then Naomi's husband and her two sons died, leaving no children. When Naomi hears the famine is gone in Bethlehem she is determined to go back home. She tells her daughter-in-laws to return to their people. One goes back to her Moabite family, their culture, and their gods. But Ruth asks to go with Naomi. 

Ruth had learned of the Lord through Naomi. She wanted to stay with her. She didn't want to go back to her old life though it meant leaving her people, her ways, and her culture. She wanted a new life in Christ more than she wanted anything else. 

When we give our life to Christ, He changes that desire for the old to a new life, new ways, and a new culture. We are a new creation, old things are passed away and all things have become new 

(II Corinthians 5:17).

According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:

~II Peter 1:3 KJV

Ruth needed Naomi's fellowship to live for the Lord. She couldn't go back to her old way of life. Neither can we go back to our old way of life once we have been given forgiveness and a new life in Christ. We have the power from Him to live Godly lives through the knowledge of Jesus Christ. Like Ruth's desire to learn more, do more, be more like Christ, He has called us to give Him glory living lives of virtue, of high moral standings. We can no longer look back to our old life. 

We cannot live in our old culture. Our lives have been called to a new higher standard in Christ. 

Heavenly Father, help us examine our lives, our desires and help us move forward in Christ, not looking back to our old lives, our old ways, and our old culture but living a new life in Christ. In Jesus's name, Amen. 

Hey Kids:

So often we are told to be kind, be friends to everyone. That's true but we also must choose our friends wisely. We can be kind to everyone but we don't want to hang out with the wrong friends. 

Do not be misled: “Bad company corrupts good character.

~I Corinthians 15:33 NIV

Will it cost you? Yes, you'll likely lose friends, be made fun of, and miss out on some "fun" but God has you here at this time on purpose for a purpose. He will supply all your needs in Christ Jesus. Just give your life to Him and keep following like Ruth. 

Read the rest of Ruth's story. You'll be amazed how God worked things out for her, a Moabite living among "strangers" who she took for her own people because of her love for the Lord. 

a Church full of Apples

 

Then they that gladly received his word were baptized; and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls. Acts 2:41 KJV

 Here in the Carolinas, the apples are in, so apple butter is in the making. It's really quite simple when you have the right tools. I use a crank apple peeler. I can crank out a 1/2 bushel of apples in about an hour. Try hand peeling that many and see how long it takes. The apple peeler will take out the core, peel the apple and slice it into rings all at the same time. I use a large variety of apples so the mixture brings out the best apple flavors. Winesaps and Cameos are my favorites. I also added Mutsu, Golden Delicious, Fuji, and maybe a Gala or two. Add a little apple pie spice and sugar, a few splashes of apple cider and the apples have a new purpose, the makings of great homemade apple butter.  I have a large turkey roaster that holds my apples. It will cook a 1/2 bushel of apples into apple butter while I sleep. The next day, all I need to do is put it in the jars. 

I was thinking about how we tell the kids about the salvation transformation with pumpkins, taking out the yucky stuff, and putting the light inside to shine through the smiling face. That put me thinking about apple butter and the church. Apples have a core with seeds. The seeds contain a cyanide compound. It won't hurt us to eat the seeds. A person would have to eat a tremendous amount to cause harm but our mothers told us apple seeds were poison. We take out the core before we make apple butter.

We have a core that has to be removed before we can become a Christian. That core will kill us if left inside. You know I'm talking about our sinful heart. We have to allow Jesus to cleanse us of our sins if we want to be saved. That's the first step in becoming part of a church. Just as a rotten apple would spoil the whole batch so an unsaved person will spoil the witness of the whole church.

The appearance of an apple has to change before it becomes apple butter. The peel has to be removed. Leaving it on would add a tough consistency to the butter.  It has to become soft, sweetened, and spiced to have the right smell and taste. It needs to be cooked on low for several hours to get the tenderness and consistency needed to create great butter.

What do you think we might need to be a great church? With salvation, our tough exterior will come off. We become the tender-hearted, loving person that desires to be like Jesus. We become part of a church where we can become that sweet odor of God to the world. Our lives are spiced with the truth of God's word. We are warmed to the things of God. We mix with others who may be of other races and cultures to create a wonderful mix that is able to reach out to a lost world, telling them, once, we too were lost but now we're saved. Once, we too were tough guys who didn't need help. Once, our attitudes stunk, but with Jesus, we have a new life and a new attitude, and a new purpose.

Apple butter is the best a mix of apples can be. Just put it on a little homemade bread and see how delectable it is. Apple butter on a foundation of homemade bread, that's another analogy in the making. Got it? The church is our foundation, Jesus Christ the Bread of Life.

Be the church sitting strong on our Foundation, Jesus Christ, to a lost world who is searching for truth and purpose.

Blessings.

Gail

Hey Kids

Apple butter can be as easy as pie. If your mom has an apple peeler, ask if you can help crank. 

Wash and peel about 12 apples.

If you don't have an apple peeler, have an adult peel the apples. 

Slice the apples into small pieces with a plastic picnic knife. 

Place the apples in a crockpot.

Add about 1 cup of apple cider, juice, or water.

Add 2 cups of sugar (optional)

Stir in 2 1/2 tsp of apple pie spice.

Place the lid on the crockpot and turn on low overnight. Stir once in a while, especially in the morning until the apples have cooked down to the consistency you desire.

Sterilize 4-6 jelly glasses (1/2 pint jars)

Spoon apple butter into glasses.

Bring to a boil in a water bath and boil 5 minutes.

If you don't have a water bath, place several table knives in the bottom of a large pot. Place the jars on top of the knives so they don't touch the bottom of the pot. Cover with water and boil the same way as with a water bath.

Back to the Future

 

But as truly as I live, all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the Lord.

Numbers 14:21

"Grandma, do you think we'll ever have time travel? I'd like to go back to the Civil War just to see what life was like." 

"Well, everything we touched would affect and change the future. I'm not sure that's a good idea but I've always wanted to be an interpreter at a national park."

This was the beginning of a conversation with my teenage grandson on the way back from the gym. Our family loves history. We've lived in Spartanburg county since before the Revolutionary War. We are surrounded by family history and when we vacation we visit historic sites. Our conversation ended by concluding that God placed us here in this time and place for a specific reason — "for such a time as this" (Esther 4:14). So does our lives affect the future? 

In Numbers 13 the Lord had Moses send twelve men into the land of Canaan to spy out the land. Ten of the men brought back a bad report — bad news. They wouldn't be able to take the good land because there were walled cities and giants. Only Joshua and Caleb were ready to go into the land and take it believing God's promise. The people chose to follow the ten spies who gave the bad report because those spies were the majority. Their choice affected their future. God was ready to destroy the people and start over but Moses' talk with God affected the future.

God agreed to let the people live but those over twenty years old would die without seeing the promised land. They would wander in the wilderness until the younger generation grew up and the faithless died off except Joshua and Caleb. For forty years God allowed them to wander in the wilderness waiting to die off. No hope for their future because they had no vision. We live in a troubling time. Our thoughts and actions affect the future. God sent revivals in the past. The Great Awakenings of the 18th and 19th Centuries were victorious times for God's people. Then several things happened to affect the future of God's people. 

Do you think God could send revival again? Do you think He will? Our thoughts and attitudes toward God's purposes affect our future. God's purpose in leading the Israelites into the promised land was to bring the gospel to the whole world. They were to be the people used by God to bring the Messiah. Their fear and disobedience delayed God's plan. How is our obedience or lack thereof affecting God's plan for our future? 

Take the time to look back at the preaching of the Great Awakenings. Google search should bring up the preachers and their doctrines without too much trouble. Look back at Christmas carols like "It Came Upon a Midnight Clear". 

4. And ye, beneath life's crushing load,

Whose forms are bending low,

Who toil along the climbing way

With painful steps and slow,

Look now! for glad and golden hours

Come swiftly on the wing; –

Oh, rest beside the weary road

And hear the angels sing!

5. For lo! the days are hastening on

By prophet bards foretold,

When, with the ever circling years

Shall come the age of gold;

When Peace shall over all the earth,

Its ancient splendors fling,

And the whole world give back the song,

Which now the angels sing.

Edmund H. Sears  published in the Broadman Hymnal

Think about how people thought about the future. What was their vision? Life wasn't easy but they had a hope. 

We can't and shouldn't go back to the past, but we do need God's vision for the future — that all the earth will be filled with the glory of the Lord.

Heavenly Father, please give us a vision for the future and help us that our lives will be purposeful in bringing about your kingdom. In Jesus's name, Amen. 

Hey Kids:

When I was growing up we had GAs for the girls and RAs for the boys; Girls Auxiliary and Royal Ambassadors. Each group had a particular song. I don't know what the RAs song was but I do know the girls sang We've a Story to Tell to the Nations.

This week google the words to this song if you don't have a hymn book available. 

What vision were the church leaders trying to instill in the young people?

How can you begin to influence the future with the vision of God's plan for the world?