How can we take our role as parents very seriously and prepare our children for the future? We should always make our priorities the same as God’s. Let’s look at the Bible to see what God has to say. He gave us two mandates. The first was the creation mandate when he established marriage. Genesis one says, “And God blessed them [man and woman], And God said to them, ‘Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.'” That verse has two commands. The first is to have children and the second is to exercise authority over creation. God wanted a world filled with people, just as we have today. Plus he wanted people to learn the laws of nature and utilize the world’s resources for our good. In a time when many choose not to have offspring, that’s good to know.
The second mandate is to the church in Matthew 28:19 “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.” The command is to make disciples, a process of teaching a biblical mindset. In both the Old and New Testaments, God said he wanted a people of his own. Look at 1 Peter 2:9 “But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.”
How exciting to be chosen by God, to be a royal priesthood, to be part of a holy nation. Our role as Christian parents is to proclaim the excellencies of Jesus, to share the sweetness of his love.
Let’s talk about how we can fulfill that that second mandate with our children: making them disciples of Jesus.
Today I have Jeremy Lee. He’s founder of Parent Ministry and also the co-author of Pass It On, who teaches building a legacy of faith in your children.
So many times I resort to prayer when I’ve come to the end of my resources. Prayer becomes my attempt to convince God of my agenda. Yet I detest the disturbing thought that prayer resembles a vending machine—saying the right words obligates God to produce what I want. That raises questions: What is prayer? What does prayer accomplish?
As I’ve grown older, I’ve realized God’s agenda for prayer. He’s always loved people and interacted with them from the beginning of time. In early history, he didn’t command prayer because he was already communicating with individuals. Remember “Enoch walked with God, and he was not, for God took him.” (Genesis 5:24) Imagine chatting with God so often, that one day you end up walking all the way to heaven during a long conversation Jeremiah 33:3 Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known.
The prophet Jeremiah recorded one of the first commands to pray. He wrote to Judah, warning of God’s impending judgment on the nation. God called him as a prophet about 627 BC. God told Jeremiah to record this: “Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known.” (Jeremiah 33:3) From these words, we learn God longs to reveal things to us, things that will change how we live and help us to understand God’s mind.
Linda Evans Shepherd just completed a book called Called to Pray. She helps us understand God’s agenda for prayer, and she encourages us to make consistent prayer part of our New Year’s resolution. Listen and learn.
Not many of us would consider meal times as a parenting tool, but it can be. In fact, teaching our children good eating habits and manners comprises part of a parent’s mission. Look at Ephesians chapter six verse four. “And, fathers do not provoke your children to anger but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.”
When we hear that word discipline, we assume negative, that is, correcting our children when they disobey or make a mistake. However, discipline there means nurturing or educating. Instruction includes the negative aspects of training a child but it also pertains to all issues involved in raising a child to be a healthy adult. Food is part of that. If you recall God had even dietary requirements in the OT and some of them protected the Israelite nation from certain diseases that are now addressed through cleanliness and proper cooking.
If we look in Proverbs 31, we can see how the excellent woman provides for her family’s food.
Proverbs 31:14 – 15 She is like the ships of the merchant; she brings her food from afar. She rises while it is yet night and provides food for her household and portions for her maidens.
So, since it’s important to train our kids to be healthy adults, we need to feed them a healthy diet. That’s important in their development.
Today I Have Denise Roberts. She is head of women’s ministry here in a local Atlanta church. She’s going to share her intensive research into the impact family dinners have on your child and she’ll help you find ways to implement this in your busy schedule.
Learn more about Denise here. Here website is here.
The holidays are approaching fast, and it’s such a busy time. Many of us will see relatives we love and a few relatives we don’t like. For some of us, Thanksgiving and Christmas bring stress as we consider interacting with that difficult person. Today we’re here to offer some thoughts to make those times easier.
I remember what Paul said in Romans. He advised us strongly to make our bodies a living sacrifice. I don’t know if you’ve noticed the change in language these days. But you’ll hear people talk about freedom of worship rather than freedom of religion. I think that’s deliberate. People who don’t understand our faith assume everything happens inside a church, but it doesn’t. A living sacrifice doesn’t crawl off the altar. In fact, that phrase is an oxymoron. That’s like saying that’s a hot ice cube. The word sacrifice entailed death. In our case, however, we are to live all the time through Christ as if the old nature is dead. That’s or service of worship. In that same passage in Romans Paul says, “If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.” (Hebrews 12:14) What a huge assignment, especially with the history we bring to our families.
Today we have Counselor Judy Herman to share ideas about demonstrating God’s love to those hardest to enjoy.
Once I heard someone describe the song Amazing Grace as a white spiritual. After getting over my shock, I realized this man thought the song was written to express our disappointment over life’s hardships. Clearly he didn’t grasp redemption, but all of us realize things aren’t right. Let’s face it, our world is broken. God didn’t design us to live in a damaged world.
Romans chapter eight talks about this. My husband calls this passage groaning 101. Verse twenty-two and twenty-three say, “For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.”
Sometimes those groans blaze into a raging fire. What then?
Today I have Carol McLeod. Her ministry is all about suffering. Her latest book is Refined.
Boundaries sound uncomfortable. So how can they benefit your parenting? Today we are going to answer that question and give you some tips on child rearing.
What sorts of things does a child need? Look at the following passage:
Psalm 78:2 – 8 I will open my mouth in a parable; …things that we have heard and known, that our fathers have told us. We will not hide them from their children, but tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the LORD, and his might, and the wonders that he has done. He established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers to teach to their children, that the next generation might know them, the children yet unborn, and arise and tell them to their children, so that they should set their hope in God and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments…
That’s such a lovely passage, which shows the importance of passing on our faith. We long for our children to follow God because living in sin will hurt them. If only we could follow a recipe and turn out perfect kids every time, but it’s not that easy. Instead, it’s important to stay on our knees and to ask for guidance from wise counselors.
June Hunt and Peggy Sue Wells have a new book which offers help, Bonding with Your Child Through Boundaries. June laid the foundation with sound teaching from the Word, and Peggy Sue added her experience as the mother of seven.
