Did God Make a Mistake?

 

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. ~Genesis 1:27

We sometimes act like God makes mistakes. We would never admit to such a thing but...

Does a child show a preference to behave as the opposite sex of the body God has given them? Do we ever affirm that maybe that child should have been a boy? Maybe that child should have been a girl? 

Maybe the child is just being a child exploring all the wonderful things there are to do.  

Helping children know if they are a boy or a girl in this transgender-crazed world may sometimes be hard for parents and educators to navigate. Marty Machowski, pastor and author, shares insightful ways to address the topic with children in his book God Made Boys and Girls.

Pastor Machowski's book begins with a fictional story of children on a playground. He uses Maya, a girl who loves being a tomboy, as his example. She is teased by a boy who tells her if she keeps acting like a boy she will turn into a boy. Now Maya is worried and asks her teacher if the boy's tease is true. 

Maya's teacher wisely demonstrates through the Bible and science that, "No, God is the one who chooses your code. Gender is His gift to you. (my emphasis). The last thing God made was a boy and a girl to look after the world and take care of it. He made them to be partners in caring for his world and in filling the world with boys and girls just like them."

Pastor Machowski relates the Genesis creation story as well as the gift of God's only Son for our redemption in His death, burial, and resurrection. He also emphasizes that Jesus said we should love our neighbors even those who disagree with us.

At the back of the book is further help for adults addressing the subject matters in the book.

• Every person is specially created by God.
• All boys and girls are not created the same.
• Gender is not determined by our personality or preferences.
• Let's be careful with our words.
• The gender confusion of our culture is the result of rejecting God's truth and his ways.
• We are called to love our neighbors.

Genetic conditions are also addressed in this section.

Heavenly Father, thank you for making each of us with unique personalities and gifts. Help us remember that we are fearfully and wonderfully made. Help us not to worry about our children who display different personalities knowing that you make each one in Your image and placed them here for such a time as this. May we teach each child to be thankful and accepting of who God made them to be. In Jesus's name. Amen.

What Is Truth?

 

 For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting;

and his truth endureth to all generations. Psalms 100:5

"What is truth?" Pilate asked Jesus this question. He didn't wait to hear the answer. 

The picture on this blog of the apple blossom with the bee inside tells us a truth. An apple blossom opened and its sweet fragrance drew a bee. The bee is pollinating the apple blossom by dusting the pollen from the stamen (the male part of the flower) onto its body and dusting pollen from other apple trees onto the pistil (the female part) of the apple blossom. From this pollination, an apple will form which will be food for many creatures and people. It will also form seeds that will grow more apple trees. 

That's not the end of the picture. What about the bee? It will return to the hive with pollen to be made into honey to feed the hive and allow the queen to produce more bees to replenish the hive. The honey will also be food for other creatures and people. 

This is a very simple explanation of both processes, but it is plain that there must have been a plan for this to work so perfectly in tandem. Would we just pour liquids into a vial and wait until it exploded and expect to make something? We would never attempt even the most simple of tasks without first having a plan we expect to succeed. 

Pilate asked the same question many people ask today. "What is truth?" Earlier Jesus, while praying to the Father declared "thy word is truth." (John 17:17).

So why is it that we ask "What is truth?" when we have the truth probably in our own homes. Suppose we don't have a copy of God's word in our homes. Romans 1:20 says we are without excuse. That creation itself shows us the Godhead and His eternal power. You may say, "nature has evolved over millions of years." Why not consult the truth?

 Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created...

So many people today are rejecting the truth in the name of equity, love, tolerance, etc, etc, etc. The truth is no one wants the truth because it doesn't approve of their sin. Excuse me for the politically incorrect term. I should have said agenda. Sin is sin and I said called it what it is. Anything that is the opposite of truth is a lie. A lie is a false witness. The Bible has said Do not bear false witness. Again, truth is God's word. What other truths are found from the beginning?

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. ~ Genesis 1:27

And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.
Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh. ~Genesis 2:23,24

Heavenly Father, Help others not to think I am unkind. My desire, Lord, is to speak the truth in love so that no one is deceived by believing a lie. In Christ Jesus's name. Amen.

Who Am I? - Identity Crisis

 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. Genesis 1:27 KJV

How do we answer our children's questions or their silence about their identity? With honesty.

Satan is using every possible means to confuse our tweens, teens, and young adults as to their God given identity and their roles in society and their homes. But is this a new trick? 

Satan tells the same lies to every generation with a new twist. Think back to when you were beginning puberty. Did you ever wish you were the opposite of who God made you? I'm going to be honest. Yes, I wished I was a boy, prayed for God to turn me into a boy, and did things to try to help God make that happen. Had it not been for an aunt and grandmother who were wonderful female mentors and who were willing to talk openly about their experiences, I'm not sure how I would have turned out. I wasn't a Christian at the time. 

At fifteen, I received the Lord as my Savior. Then Satan hit me with suicide. I didn't want to die, but I was afraid to be alone, especially in the kitchen with the knives. No one knew about my anxiety, but my grandmother kept pouring her life experiences into me, helping me grow as a Christian. The Lord kept giving me a verse in a song. Finally a pastor said we all needed a verse of assurance. I realized the Lord had been giving me that verse all along, but Satan had me afraid to believe it, stealing my joy and my effectiveness as a witness. 

So how do we share these hard things with our children? We tell them what they want to know when they ask or when we see a teachable moment at the mall or in the park, or on TV, because they may not ask. In love, we help them understand that everyone has feelings of confusion and fear. Satan uses those feelings to lead people into sin and to disable Christians from being useful. Let your children know they are loved by you and by God. Let them also know the people being led astray are loved by you and by God. Christ never despised anyone. He shared with them honestly, but in love. Jesus tells us to go and do likewise. 

Hey Kids: 

Did you know God has a special purpose for each and every person? If you're a girl, God has a special purpose for you. If you're a boy, God has a special purpose for you. 

How can you know that purpose? You might begin by making a list of things you like about being a girl or a boy. 

Now think about all the ways God can use the things you like. Those are your talents. 

Maybe you like creating new clothes with your mom. God may use you to design modest fashions for young girls. 

Maybe you like working on cars with your Dad. God may use you to be a mechanic or design cars. 

God is preparing you right now to fulfill His purpose for which He created YOU!

Why not thank Him for making you who you are and giving you the talent to fulfil His purpose. 

Blessings, 

Gail