Train Up A Child

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

Children must be trained during a young age. Having taught young children, I've seen how important the responsibility of this is. The mind is most impressionable in childhood; therefore, it is crucial that our young are not only exposed to, but strictly held to the standards of God's way. Hard is the recovery of one who wavers from the way of the Father. So if we truly prepare them early, then they are much more likely to adhere to God.

As with athletic training, the process may be anything but comfortable at times, but looking ahead to what lies before us will reveal a better life, because we are in actuality reaching out to God and seeking to draw nigh high to him, the results of which will draw God closer to us. Through the hard times perseverance will strengthen us for the the next situation, and build “thicker skin” toward adversity and adversaries. Our young are constantly facing new challenges without the proper weaponry, but if they are prepared they will know not to look for man-made solutions to  man-made problems.

We as Christians, must tell and show our children that they are special. But we must do so before they are too exposed. Exposed to the world's definition of special, because they are definitely different. The love of God and his mercy bestowed upon us makes us special. When it is finally realized how much an honor it is to know God, then it will be self explanatory how this is so. To give the life of his child for the life of another who is undeserving is quite a feat in itself, but to then offer a perfect love and a perfect relationship afterward is mind blowing.

If then the realization of God's love is truly comprehended, there will be a yearning to please him and to follow his way. It will not be hard to show how to follow, because the ultimate example can be found in the Bible in Jesus Christ, the God-Man. Not only did we receive a blueprint on how to be adults but also how to be children. Honoring our parents, being about the Father's business, teaching God's way, and so on.

God has on many occasions proven himself to be a fair, and merciful parent. In this case, God has given us incentive in a promise. Exodus 20:12 is one of the Ten Commandments in which God specifically tells children to honor their parents so as to receive long days from the Lord. Parents are one of the first gifts to children and should be cherished and respected. It is a sign of respect toward God as if to say thank you directly to honor and respect them.

Part of the foundation of a child's  relationship with God must be understanding his infinite unconditional love toward us, as best as it can be explained. The importance of the Bible and God's promises must be taught. If “Because I said so” can be a powerful phrase, image saying “Because God says so”...and it having an impact!

It is said that we are the sum total of our life's experiences. So, let us not waste our time or our children's time. The sooner we teach them about following God, the sooner they will recognize true peace and fulfillment, that the world will never understand or be able to contain. Come what may, but God will bless a child with a steadfast faith and those who instilled it!

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Let's Talk: Grace and Mercy

"Greater is He that is in me than he that is in the world."

Dear God, give me the strength for which I ask, that I may do Your will. I want You to dwell inside my heart Lord, because You inside my heart makes me greater than he who is in this world. There will be nothing that he can do to me to break me or take me from your glory. So it doesn't matter what he does to me or even what I do to myself. Because Your ways are so much greater, and You have more power than the devouring lion. So he may try but he won't break me. It won't matter what place he puts me in or what place I put myself in, but the place I find myself in when I look to You and I focus on You. I may not know what place that will be, but I do know that You will elevate me above what I can do. There i will keep my eyes stayed on you just like the trapeze artists focused to stay safe and secure.

And You promised to bless us Lord, as long as we turn to You and give You everything; as long as we repent and turn away from those things that would break us down; turn away from them and walk into the direction of something that will take their place. A positive for the negative, light for the darkness, good for the bad, strength for the weakness. All we need is Your strength Lord. Sometimes we don't have enough strength to make it through some of these things, but we have to remember to look to you for that strength and realize that we can't do this on our own.

You never said that it would be easy, but You did say that You would never put more on us than we could bare. Therefore, we should press on and know that means You are there for us no matter what. You've given us strength, and when we become weak and we don't see any hope, the truth still remains evident that You won't put more on us than we can bear. And if we get tired and don't think that we can go on; if our feet become buried while kicking through the sands of time or the road gets rough, You are there to pick us up in Your mighty yet gentle arms, and hold and carry us. As mighty as we think we are to carry so much weight on our shoulders, when we become weak, not only will you carry us, but you will carry our problems. If You don't get rid of them, You will decrease their impact in our lives. You said "Come to me, ye who are weak and heavy laden and I will give you rest." 

So we look to You because You are THAT good. It's not because we deserve it-definitely not. But it's because You have chosen to give us what so many people talk about and so few understand until something happens- You have decided to give us Your grace and Your mercy. We deserve to die and forever be forgotten in the lake of fire and burn in hell. No sugar coating it. We deserve to be wiped from existence because we are dirty sinners. But the good thing is that Your mercy said "No! I made them. They are my children!" And You gave us the option and the will to choose. That's where Your mercy and grace falls into place. You gave us Your Son as a sacrifice. So instead of us dying, He died. His blood came from His body for us. His body was broken and torn for us. You gave Him as a sacrifice to suffer in our stead. What more could anyone do? You gave us life more abundantly so that we could actually live longer in the sense that actually matters. You are great for that! And that is a clear example of Your grace.

 You continue to give to us what we don't deserve (Your grace and mercy), as if we have deserved it the entire time. I didn't deserve it. No one living on this earth deserved it, but you still give it to us. And you're not asking us to do anything that is difficult. You are only asking us to do as we should do anyway, by showing gratitude and praise, and realizing that You didn't have to show us favor but You did. And You are only asking us to turn to You, and that is not difficult. There are people in this world that would ask us to do things far more difficult, maybe things that we should never be asked to do. But You asked us to calm ourselves, look inside our hearts, and just be still and focus on the things that we should want to focus on anyway-things that are positive.  Positive things like You, Your grace and mercy, which have been evident in our lives from birth and will be evident until the day that we die. 

Everyday You show grace. Food on the table is Your grace. Use of our limbs is Your grace. The song in our heart that we sing is Your grace. Even the hardships that we face are grace, because we can learn from these hardships and then give a testimony that someone needs, while being Your ambassador. I do not claim to be perfect. I have made mistakes. Some things that I am not proud of. There have been some evils in my life that have grabbed me and embraced me. There have even been some evils in my life that I have embraced myself. But the good thing is that I can learn from it. I'm sorry for those things, and that gives me the opportunity to look back and ask You God to have your way in my life with those situations and to forgive me and teach me not to do those things again. Give me the strength not to do those things again and therefore become a living testament and testimony to someone else as a living encouragement, because You are a living God. I know this because I see You and feel You in my heart. I see Your goodness that You've given me because it is so much. It is Your grace I see in everything. We don't deserve it but You give it to us. Your grace and your mercy.  

Anytime that situations get rough we should look to You. All of us. Because going through some things or being tested doesn't mean that we are being punished. It may be difficult to related this to anything less than punishment or torture perhaps, but there is always some good that can come through the cloud of uncertainty. There is always something that can be taught or learned, because tests bring testimonies. We should look to You in faith and know that we will be renewed. We should run with faith in our own respective races of life, and know wholeheartedly, and with confidence, that Your grace and mercy has provided an avenue of peace and reconciliation, that we may come to You via the Gift of Jesus Christ.