It is the small things in the world that keeps evil in check....

It is the small things in the world that keeps evil in check....

He was born in a manger.

He grew up as a carpenter's son.

He wasn't rich and powerful.

His followers were fishermen.

He ate with sinners and the worthless.

In the world's eyes, He seemed unimportant....insignificant...

Yet, He changed the course of the future forever,

He gave hope to the lost.

strength to the weak

rest to the weary

love to the sinners

and grace to the world

Evil was defeated, and His goodness will reign for all times.

God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are,  (1 Corinthians 1:28)

Who would have thought something so small and insignificant would become so big and significant!

Happy Birthday, Jesus! Your love is greater than any gift in this world.  I love you so, my beloved. To you be all the glory!

Merry Christmas! 

It Does Not Take a Church to Raise a Godly Child

Verse of the Week:

14 What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? 15 Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. 16 If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? 17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.  James 2:14-17

It Does Not Take a Church to Raise a Godly Child

I remember hearing someone say, "It takes a village to raise a child."  In other words, everyone in society contributes to the well being, care, and raising of a family's child.  Many families not only believe that it takes a village to raise a child, but that it also takes a Church to raise a godly child.

Many parents are dependent upon the church to teach their children about Christ.  Once a week for an hour, they bring their child to Sunday School to listen to their youth pastor talk to them about Jesus, and then spend another hour in the pew listening to their Pastor preach.  For many families, those two hours in church is all their children ever hear about the Lord.  Is going to church enough for our children?  I am not saying the church isn't without it benefits, but is the church the most effective way to show our children Christ's love?

Suppose I get a brand new sewing machine (boy do I love sewing!).  I am so excited about it, and can't wait to start doing all sorts of craft projects on it.  I open up the instruction manual to  figure out how to get it to work.  The manual shows me what each button is for, how to put the thread in, how to use the pedal, and many other things I need to know in how to operate a sewing machine.  But then something happens...  When I try to do what the manual says, it doesn't work on the sewing machine.  The thread won't  go through, the pedal is broken, and the buttons do not do what the manual says they will do.  I get frustrated, and end up taking the machine back to the store.  I abandon it. 

Just as I abandoned the sewing machine, because it doesn't do what the manual says it does, some children abandon their faith because what they hear in church is not shown in their home. They go to church and hear about Christ's love, grace, mercy, and forgiveness, but at home their parents show them the opposite.  They hear one thing for an a couple of hours a week, but have a hard time believing it, because it is not shown in their own homes.  So they abandon their faith believing it to not work.

The key to teaching our children about Jesus does not lie in church attendance, but in the parents.  According to a survey given to Protestant youth, the most influential person in a teenager's life is not their youth pastor, but their Mom.  Dad follows Mom in a close second.  Out of all the influences out there for teens such as friends, siblings, relatives, youth pastors, television, radio, celebrities, teacher, coaches, retreats, and even the Bible, the parents are at the top of the list. *

Some parents may talk the talk but not walk the walk.  James 2:14-17 says, 14 What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? 15 Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. 16 If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? 17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

To many teenagers, their parent's faith is dead.  Their parent's faith is not reflected in their actions. They say one thing but do the other.  Their life style does not reflect their love for God.

In Mark Holmen's book, Faith Begins at Home, he talks about a  man who asked a group of parents at a conference an important question:

 "How many of you wish your teenager had a stronger faith?" 

Every hand in the room went up. He then made a comment that I'll never forget.  He said, "While it's good that everyone desires that our teenagers have a stronger faith, the truth is that what we see in our teenagers' faith is a mirror image of our own faith.  So, the issue is not their faith, but your own faith." 

I can still remember seeing the reaction of my one year old between two scenarios between Brian and I.  In one scenario, Brian and I were both having a disagreement, and sadly enough my temper got the better of me, and I yelled.  When I looked over at Brayden, it broke my heart; he was looking at me with a quizzical brow. Why was mom acting this way?  In another scenario, Brian and I had been joking with each other and gave each other a hug and kiss. When I looked over at Brayden, he was beaming and smiling at us.  He liked what he saw.  Our one year old is way smarter than we realize, and in reflecting back to those scenarios, I realized which one I wanted to display to him on a daily basis, the scenario filled with love.  I want him to grow up in a home where we display Christ's love in our actions.

One time a friend and I were talking about our upbringing and parents. She brought up a good point, "Katrina, I never took my mom's advice seriously because she never took her own advice."  Why should kids love the Lord, if their own parents don't.  Parents need to fix their own hearts first before changing their child's heart.

When I say change our hearts, I do not mean start getting wrapped up in a bunch of do's and do not's and obey God because you have too. When we accept Christ into our lives, a heart changing experience take place inside of us.  No longer do we desire the things of the world, but the things of God. When we realize Christ's love for us, we can't help but love others.  We do the right thing, not because we are commanded to do it, but because we are willing to do it.  1 Peter 5:2 says, "Be shepherds of God's flock that is under your care, serving as overseers- NOT BECAUSE YOU MUST, but BECAUSE YOU ARE WILLING, as God wants you to be. (emphasis mine)

Christ's love is shown through people (1 John 4:12).  Parent's have the best chance to show Christ's love to their children. Church and no other outside influence can take their place. 

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

It doesn't take a village to raise a child or a church to raise a godly child....it takes a parent.

*Information found in-Faith Begins at Home, by Mark Holeman

Burdens

Verse of the Week:

Matthew 11:28-30
Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. 

Burdens

In the movie, Lord of the Rings, Frodo Baggins is chosen as the ring bearer; destined to take the evil ring of power and destroy it in the mountain of fire. As he carries the ring and embarks on his journey to the mountain, the ring grows heavier and harder to carry.  The ring becomes a immense burden the longer he carries it. In the end, the ring takes hold of him so much that when his travel companion and loyal friend, Sam asks him if he remembers his wonderful home,  Frodo replies:

 No, Sam. I can't recall the taste of food... nor the sound of water... nor the touch of grass. I'm... naked in the dark, with nothing, no veil... between me... and the wheel of fire! I can see him... with my waking eyes! 

The ring became so heavy and burdensome that it consumed Frodo to the point that he was surrounded by darkness with no memories of the good things in life.

Often times people tend to focus so much on their problems, that it grows to be a burden.  At first the burden may seem light, but the more they carry it on their own, the heavier it becomes. Eventually the burden takes over their lives, and they are unable to see past it and focus on the good things in life.  They cannot see any way out.  The harder they try to fix their burden, the worse it becomes, and eventually they are hopeless because they cannot get rid of it or fix it.  They begin to despair and wonder why life is even worth living.  And some eventually give up...

Burdens often enslaves us and master us.    In 2 Peter 2:19b, it talks about how we are slaves to whatever masters us. 

For a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him.

Whatever you are obsessed with in this life is usually what has you enslaved.  The more you focus on your burden, the more it enslaves you.  

It is human nature to look at a problem and try to fix it. If the washer breaks down, we call someone up to fix it.  If your son falls and scraps his knee, you wash the wound and put a band aid on it. If the car needs the oil changed, you change it.  If the dishes need to be washed, you wash them.  

However, have you noticed that if some of these things do not get fixed immediately, it becomes a burden?  Suppose your washer breaks down, and you call someone to fix it, but they cannot fix it; the burden becomes greater.   The problem grows bigger, and you begin to ask yourself, "How can we afford to buy a new washer? How am I going to get laundry done? My husband needs a clean shirt for his work party tonight and my son is running out of pants to wear!"  You start to panic and the burden gets heavier and heavier to the point that you are frustrated. 

We are usually fine and breeze our way through life when things go great. As long as we are able to solve and fix things, life seems easy, but I have learned something about the origin of burdens.  Burdens come about when you try to fix things and cannot.  The harder you try to fix it the worse it gets and the heavier the burden.  Burdens come about when you have the illusion that you are in control.

Jesus has something to say about burdens....

 Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. (Matthew 11:28-30)

For those of you who are not aware what a yoke is, it is a wooden cross piece that is attached to an animal that helps them to pull a heavy load in a wagon or cart.  Jesus is saying that the yoke He has is easy to pull and light.  He is saying that we can find rest in Him.

When a person cannot fix a burden something must happen to lighten that burden, it is called SURRENDER.

When a person realizes that they cannot fix something, they realize that if they keep carrying the burden, it will grow heavier, so they surrender that burden to someone else, Jesus.  He is in control of the situation, and nothing ever happens that is out of His hands.  All things are under Jesus' feet (1 Corinthians 15:27, Ephesians 1:22, Hebrews 2:8).

Here is the problem, whenever, we give our burdens to Jesus, we expect Him to FIX it.  Here is the reality: sometimes He does not fix it.  You see, God doesn't promise to take our problems away, but He promises to be with us as we go through them.  Jesus clearly says, 

I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.  (John 16:33)  

Jesus didn't say that we would not have troubles, but he did say to take heart, because he has overcome the world.  He is still sovereign. 

So when a person sees a situation that ends in hopelessness and grief, and it nearly rips a person's heart to shreds, God is still sovereign.

So how does God lighten the burden? Remember how we are slaves to whatever masters us? It is all about the focus; the more we focus on the problem, the heavier the burden, but the more that we turn our eyes to Jesus and see the problem through His eyes, the lighter the burden! Your worry is replaced with trust.  Your negativity is replaced with shimmer of light.  You realize that you are not alone and that someone is there with you through it all.  If you don't understand why something happened, you are ok, because you know that someone else does understand.

If I am going to be mastered by something, then let it be Jesus!  Let him consume my thoughts, may His own thoughts reflect my own.

I have seen what happens to a person when Jesus is not there.  They have no hope. Day by day they try to fix their burdens never succeeding. Day by day they see negativity in this world that eventually consumes their thoughts.  When they finally have had enough of it all, they despair because there is no one to turn to.

Someone once told me that Christians use God as an illusion to bring them comfort when they have problems.  Even if He is an illusion, I much rather have hope in an illusion than despair in nothing.

I am reminded of a song that I sung as a little girl:

I will cast all my cares upon you.
    I lay all of my burdens down at your feet,
And anytime I don't know what to do
   I will cast all my cares upon you.

Thank you, Jesus, that we can lay our burdens down at your feet!  To you be all the glory, Amen!