Finding a Church

You find a church you want to try that lines up with the doctrine that God has impressed upon your heart. Then you begin attending. Be careful not to have the expectation of changing them. Expect to see weaknesses. Is there is a spirit of love for souls and the desire to grow in Christ?

In time, seek some private time with the Pastor to get to know his heart and where he believes God is leading the assembly. 

A church family is vitally important and therefore justifies a great amount of prayer. Know where the Lord is leading and don’t just settle because it is convenient. 

“Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved” (Acts 2:47).

(A requested problem topic)

Your Choice – Bumpy or smooth

If you could choose between driving on a smooth road or a potholed-cankered one, which would you choose? Since smooth would be the expected answer, why do you think so many “homeschooling homes’” are so “chaotically-bumpy” when they could be “smooth?”

The natural tendency of the flesh is toward disorder, and it takes effort to make things orderly.  Order enables getting things done (productivity) and teaches self control. 

Smoothing the bumps is worthwhile. You get to choose—peace and productivity or unproductive chaos. Sounds like a great time for you to lead and take the first step in helping your wife. Managers of Their Homes is a tool that will be helpful. Remember you are responsible for the level of productivity and peace in your home. I plead with you my Brother, come alongside your wife and help her. Your wife and children will thank you. We can help you.

“… having faithful children not accused of riot or unruly” (Titus 1:6). 

The First Taste

How many alcoholics or chain smokers would now be enslaved if they had stopped with that first awful taste of beer or cigarette smoke? Instead, what did they do? They shuddered, braced themselves, and took another. Adapting new tastes is simply a matter of how strong the motivation is to acquire it.    

What harmful appetites have you created and fed? The flesh knows no limits. “Christian” dads are enslaved to food, laziness, alcohol, tobacco, entertainment, p**n, and even the news. It isn’t always a question of what is wrong with it, but Brothers, how good is it? We will stand before the Lord Jesus and give account of what we did with the bodies and time He entrusted us with.  

“And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be” (Revelation 22:12).

Your Preference?

If you had to pick one of the two, would you prefer a proud son or one ignorant? I believe that most would naturally prefer proud. Why? Ignorant children embarrass parents. I’ve never met a parent who was happy his son was stupid and didn’t know very much. Yet, let our son win a competition, and we are strutting around with our chests stuck out and thrilled beyond measure. 

I believe that scenario is indicative that we are a proud lot ourselves. We don’t want to be embarrassed by our children, and we take pride in their accomplishments. Brothers, if our children are proud, they get it from us. 

When is the last time you deeply repented and grieved over your pride? Pride is what caused Satan’s downfall. He had so much, and that wasn’t enough. He wanted God’s glory too. How quick are we to take credit for what the Lord has done? We have nothing to take pride in. May we glory in the Lord Jesus and Him crucified. 

“But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world” (Galatians 6:14).

Fear and Worry or Trust and Rest?

What happens when our 33-year-old, 35-week-pregnant daughter-in-law with five children ages seven and under tells us that it is likely she has breast cancer and needs to be induced as soon as possible to recover from childbirth for a few weeks before surgery to remove the tumor? 

I am faced with a decision. What will I do with my mind? Will I take my thoughts captive, or will I let fear and worry consume me? “Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5).

Years ago, in my time of depression, that verse was God’s lifeline from negative, self-focused thinking, which is at the root of fear and worry, into trust and rest. 

What does God’s Word tell me about an overwhelming situation like this or any other situation I face? Do I believe His Word, and if so, will I act on it?

“Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee” (Isaiah 26:3). Where is my mind to be? It is to be on God not on the circumstances.  When I choose trust, God tells me peace is the result. Trust and rest.

“Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6-7). What am I not to do—worry? “Be careful for nothing,” is the King James way of saying: don’t worry, don’t be anxious. I am to pray with thanksgiving. That is trusting God, and the outcome is peace. Trust and rest.

“For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind” (2 Timothy 1:7). If I am worrying, which is a form of fear, it is not of God. He has given us power, love, and a sound mind. Trust and rest.

Those are just four of a multitude of verses in Scripture that we can believe and rely on that lead us to trust and rest.

The reality is that every day we are given opportunities, in small ways, to learn the path to trusting and resting. Those little things that cause worry and fear may not seem to matter so much if we let them sit on our minds, but they are our training ground. Just like we give our children daily assignments in school to prepare them for the exam, God gives us daily opportunities to trust and rest to prepare us for the storms, if and when they come. These daily trials are developing our habits of life. Will we choose to take the thoughts captive? Will we trust and rest?

Posted in: Mom's Corner