2018-04-06
Good Morning Dear Ones,
Last week, I was commanded by the Holy Spirit to further discuss some of the topics that were raised in that devotion. 1) Updating old information and attitudes from our childhood: Children in the schoolyard and/or adults who are poor at childrearing can affect our self-images adversely. Old messages like “you’re a fatso,” “you are worthless and lazy,” and the like can really do psychological damage if repeated often. As a mature adult and a believer in Jesus Christ, we should understand that God’s love for us is unconditional [PS 103: 13]. This doesn’t mean we should rest on our laurels and do nothing to make improvements in our lives. But, it means we need to test those messages against reality. In my own experience I had to recognize that my own parents were only doing what they knew at the time. There is no job more complicated, difficult, or important than being a parent. Not even one’s career is as important as rearing children and grandchildren to be loving, productive, members of society [EPH 6: 1, 4]. I wish we had classes in school on parenting based on the Lord’s advice.
2) A woman’s role: Last week, the Holy Spirit led me to cite EPH 5: 21-25, in which the role of a husband as God sees it was defined. God has been direct with us regarding the role of an ideal wife in PR 31: 10-31, which I hope you will review. There is nothing in the Bible that belittles a woman’s importance. Her role may be different in some ways than her husband’s (if she is married and a parent), but it is equally important. If a woman is a single adult, then she must add supporting herself to whatever other roles she has. There are some people who remain single for God’s reasons [MT 19: 12]. God detests uncommitted relations between men and women, i.e. fornication and adultery. These can only lead to unhappiness in the long run- and possibly to unwanted children. God loves it when we are self-disciplined, take responsibility for our own thoughts and actions, and model Christ in our lives. Knowing He is here for everyone who believes in Him means we never have to “fight the battle of the sexes” again.
3) Our Lord is the Judge, not other people: We were told in MT 7: 1-2, that we are not to be judgmental. Obedience to that concept means that gossip is not acceptable. DN 7: 13-14 tells us that Christ alone is the One Who judges a person’s fate, not other people. It is His opinion that really counts. This should slice through gossip, revealing it for what it is-evil. Living righteously gives us what I like to think of as “humble esteem.” This means being at peace with God, while still recognizing His superiority to ourselves. I love 1THESS 4: 16-18, “Be joyful always. Pray at all times, be thankful in all circumstances. This is what God wants for you in your union with Christ Jesus.” God wants us to be forgiving, as He has forgiven us [COL 3: 13]. If there is any question of whether God loves a person, just read 1 PET 5: 5-7, RO 7: 6, and PS 33:5.
4) Prayer matters, and we should persist in it. Prayer is God’s two-way channel of communication with us. Use it often, and listen for His answers. There are many ways to approach prayer, but all of them should acknowledge Who God is and what He does for us, before putting our supplications to Him. I believe praise and thanksgiving should always be a part of prayer. Learning to recognize the blessings He gives us and understanding we can approach Him any day, any time of day or night. Our God is faithful and always hears our prayers. Even when He doesn’t answer them right away, He is acting in our best eternal interests. We should make our lives a sanctuary for the Holy Spirit [PS 63: 1-2; PS 48: 9; JER 29: 11-13]. With Christ in us, we have access to God’s wisdom, and that is only one out of many blessings He gives us.
PRAYER: O Lord, our gratitude to You is boundless. We know You are always accessible and loving. We are like You in that we have emotions, but unlike You, our emotions sometimes govern our thoughts and behavior. We are imperfect and greatly in need of the teaching and encouragement You give us. The words of other people who are thoughtless hurt our feelings and engender wrongful attitudes in us. Some are mean-spirited; others are simply thoughtless but well-meaning. We must understand that You always have us in Your sights and want us to work through our troubles with Your help and guidance [PS 119: 65-66, 125; PS 51: 6]. We understand that no gender goes unloved by You. You have made it clear what Your will is for both men and women. If we act with faithful determination, using Your wisdom and our humility, there will be no need for anyone to feel unloved or unimportant to You. In our real world, it is our sinfulness that causes these problems. Modeling the love that Your Son, Jesus Christ, showed us even in the face of wrongdoing is the right thing to do. We acknowledge the many blessings You shower on us and express our thanks, praise, and love for You. In the holy/might name of Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen.
NEXT WEEK: I have been led to write about what being alive in Christ means to us and, if space permits, about God’s history with angels and Satan. In concluding today’s devotion, I would like to share my own experience with prayer. In my youth, I didn’t believe it was real, nor did I know how to pray. A good prayer takes honesty with oneself, and I didn’t want to face it. While it’s hard to admit this, it wasn’t until I was asked to lead a prayer chain in my former church that God showed me the ropes. As the church grew, I was amazed to find that some adults who sent in requests to me couldn’t write a proper sentence in English! Soon, God made His will clear to me that it matters only to communication and not to the spirit of the request. After a while, my system of sending requests by e-mail was taking up more and more of my time. This meant excluding other things from my life which mean a lot to me. After 15 years of doing this, I had learned to put God first and our supplications afterward. In addition, after seeing the results of our prayers, I realized God’s love, wisdom, and faithfulness to us. My attitude was changing, and God was moving me forward in spiritual maturity. He gets the credit for teaching me the power and importance of prayer in our lives, and of putting Him first. My husband then found software, enabling our church to have a prayer wall. What a blessing for me to be given the time for other things in addition to prayer from Him. Praise and thanks be to Him for all our many blessings!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn
JS 24: 15
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