Be Still
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Posted:Nov 5, 2009 11:44 am
Last Updated:Nov 17, 2025 5:30 am 3185 Views
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Be Still! Psalm 46:10 (NIV)
Be still, and know that I am God.
I wonder if you share one of my concerns for my : the pressure to be busy. Do you find it as difficult to "be still" as our family does?There is a strong current in our country to involve our in a myriad of activities at younger and younger ages. Parents naturally want to produce the brightest, best-dressed and most-talented . They fear that, if they don't provide Tommy with music lessons at age three, gymnastics at four, art and nature studies two afternoons a week in the summer, and T-ball by the time he is five, that he will grow up handicapped.
And what do the feel? Do they really want all this activity? Or have their parents persuaded them to want it?
It is my opinion that who grow up with an abundance of activity and busyness become adults who can't live without it-sort of "activity junkies." They don't know how to contemplate, to rest, to think, to "be still, and know that I am God" (Ps. 46:10).
And many parents are not much better. Why, really, are we hurrying so? We need to ask, "Why am I involved in Junior League, PTA or the midweek women's Bible study? Or working full-time?" I've had to ask just how essential it was for me to do the watercolor painting, sewing, quilting and handiwork I used to do. Gently over the years, He has guided me in setting aside (perhaps just temporarily) most of these activities in order to have time to be more focused as a mother.
It isn't always easy to give up such busyness, or to assert authority over your schedule. But I wouldn't trade the opportunity to instill a calm heart in my for all the busyness in the world.
Prayer:
Pray that God will increase your ability to claim your time schedule for Him, and to experience His presence even in the midst of necessary busyness.
Discuss: Do you feel that you and your family are too busy? What activities do you and your participate in primarily because of social pressure? Have you taken a recent inventory of family activities in order to rank their importance?
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A Recipe for Memories
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Posted:Nov 4, 2009 9:41 am
Last Updated:Nov 17, 2025 5:30 am 4707 Views
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A Recipe for Memories Esther 9:28
So these days were to be remembered and celebrated throughout every generation, every family.
Esther's kinsman Mordecai had just succeeded in sparing the Jews from the genocide that had been planned by the Medo-Persians. No wonder every family was called on to remember it!Families today need memories, too. They have the power to spare us from the feeling of rootlessness that pervades much of our culture.
Our home nestles in a spectacular setting, complete with woods, hills and a lake. But it's the memories we make together-not the setting-that make our house a home.
I recall one of the ' business ventures-" Kookies Inkorporated." Move over, Mrs. Fields. These freshly baked diet-busters-95 cents a dozen-were made from the finest ingredients. The even washed their hands before making them! They set up their portable business safely near a busy fork in the road about a mile from our home.
We also created great memories with a blue-ribbon fishing vacation one summer. For eight days we parked our car beside a cabin and didn't move it-a record. The trout in the lake smashed our lures. And Ashley, our oldest , won first prize in a local fishing contest with her four-pound, four-ounce German brown trout. We made that old trout a permanent memory-on her wall!
Another special memory is the day the last disposable diaper was thrown away in the Rainey household-after 12 years of being a faithful consumer of Pampers. No, we didn't have the diaper bronzed.
It has been said that God gave us memories so we could smell roses in December. I'll never forget the smell of a newborn or the feel of a baby's soft cheeks and tummy. I'll miss it a little, but maybe someday a grandbaby will prompt my recall of those coos and grins forever stored in my memory.
If you haven't done something wild and crazy recently to make a memory with your , do it tonight.
Oh yes-don't forget to take a picture of it!
Prayer:
That what the members of your family remember most about family life will serve to root and establish them firmly in happy homes of their own.
Discuss: Name a significant memory or two from your own family activities. What can you do today to plant more seeds for special family memories?
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Neither Death, nor Life
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Posted:Nov 3, 2009 12:06 pm
Last Updated:Nov 17, 2025 5:30 am 2826 Views
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Neither Death, nor Life... by Barbara Rainey Romans 8:1
There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.
Early in our marriage, I experienced some difficulty with depression and low self-esteem. There were days when I would feel like such a failure and would think to myself, I'm just not a good wife. I'm not a good mother. I'm not worthy.Then Dennis would come to me and say, "It's okay. I love you, and God loves you."
But that seemed too good to be true. I'd look back at him skeptically and say, "You can't love me. I'm just not good enough for you to love me." I'd argue with him, allowing my feelings to overrule the truth.
One day Dennis finally said, "Barbara, I want you to know that I love you and God loves you, and it's the truth. Now, you have a choice as to whether or not you will believe it."
The light came on in my mind, and I thought, You know, he's right. I'm calling him a liar by saying that he doesn't love me because he does, and God loves me as well. That was a real turning point for me in acknowledging the truth, regardless of how I felt about myself.
Poet Edwin Markham has said, "Choices are the hinges of destiny." For me, the choices I began to make that day have influenced my whole life and our relationship. As I slowly began to choose to believe in Dennis's love for me, my poor self-esteem began to lose its grip on my life.
Some people never stop condemning themselves, forgetting that Christ took the punishment we all deserve. You have such a privilege of being able to remind your mate of this truth that "neither death, nor life...nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God" (Rom. 8:38,39).
Prayer:
Read Romans 8 together and pray that God will give you the eyes of faith to believe that He will never stop loving you.
Discuss: In what areas do you condemn yourself? In what ways do you find your spouse's love for you difficult to fathom?
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Raising with a Sense of Mission
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Posted:Nov 2, 2009 11:27 am
Last Updated:Nov 17, 2025 5:30 am 4749 Views
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Raising with a Sense of Mission Matthew 28:19,20
Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.
The other day my pastor, Bill Parkinson, exhorted me with a thought-provoking question: "What if you reach the end of your life and the Great Commission was accomplished, and you had no part in it?"In Matthew 28:19,20 (above), Christ commands us to "make disciples of all nations." Do you realize that your most important disciples are your own ? I especially wish more mothers had this vision. The enemy is trying to get moms to devalue their positions so they won't raise the next generation to go to the world and have an impact for Christ.
If you want to raise your with a sense of mission, begin when they are young by talking to them of God's plan. Then help them reach out to their peers.
Is one of your a strong-willed ? She is the kind who will storm a country for Christ. He will be the one who never quits until he impacts his sphere of influence.
Pray for their mates with them. Why do I put mate in with mission? Because the mate will determine a great deal of what is accomplished in that mission.
Next, teach them they are pilgrims in this world, not wanderers. A wanderer is aimless. A pilgrim must travel lightly if he is to get where he needs to go. I believe a sense of mission will emerge if you shape their convictions.
Finally, give them the freedom to allow God to work in their lives. Affirm their decisions and direction as they get older. Do you know what the biggest deterrent is to missions today? It's parents who want their to make money and be successful!
When Jesus Christ washed the disciples' feet and went to the cross, He gave them the torch of the Great Commission that has been passed down throughout all of history. Our responsibility is to lead our own to Christ and to give them a sense of mission to reach the next generation.
Prayer:
Ask God to send laborers into the harvest. The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.
Discuss: How are you helping build the Great Commission right where you are?
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The Privilege of Being Called Mommy and Daddy
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Posted:Oct 30, 2009 10:56 am
Last Updated:Nov 17, 2025 5:30 am 2856 Views
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The Privilege of Being Called Mommy and Daddy Psalm 128:1,2
How blessed is everyone who fears the Lord, who walks in His ways. When you shall eat of the fruit of your hands, you will be happy and it will be well with you.
Teddy Roosevelt was unashamedly "bullish" on  t is exceedingly interesting and attractive to be a successful business man or railroad man or farmer, or a successful lawyer or doctor or writer, or even a president; but, for unflagging interest and enjoyment, a household of ...certainly makes all other forms of success and achievement lose their importance by comparison.
When you make your your top priority, you will receive many blessings from the fruit of your labor. Barbara and I saw this during a FamilyLife staff banquet in the summer of 1992. We were brought up front for a question-and-answer session, only to be told that the real purpose of the evening was to honor us for our upcoming twentieth wedding anniversary.
Several good friends who had been hiding at the back of the room were brought up to say a few words. But the real highlight came when all six of our showed up to read tributes to us.
Laura, seven at the time, went first, standing on a chair: "Thank you, Mom, for all the dresses you made me. For hugs and kisses. For being a great mom. Dad, thanks for being my ice-cream buddy, for the stories you tell at bedtime, and for wrestling with me."
One down, five to go. I looked at Barbara-we both were choking back tears.
Deborah was next. In her quiet, soft voice she thanked her mom for helping her with homework and cutting her hair short. She thanked me for taking her on fishing dates. Then she said: "And I want to thank both of you for adopting me when I was a baby."
That did it! Barbara and I were basket cases for the rest of the evening.
That evening will go down as one of the greatest memories we've ever experienced. Barbara and I count it as our greatest privilege and accomplishment to be called "Mommy" and "Daddy."
Prayer:
That you will never forget that are a blessing.
Discuss: Prayerfully reflect on the high and holy calling of being a mom and dad. Share why it is such a privilege.
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The Authority of Christ Part Three
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Posted:Oct 29, 2009 12:59 pm
Last Updated:Nov 17, 2025 5:30 am 7911 Views
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The Authority of Christ (Part Three) Luke 4:18,19
The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are downtrodden, to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.
When we give Christ authority in our lives, we also discover that He has the authority to make our lives so much better than they would be without Him. Just look at the verse from Luke, for example.Are you brokenhearted over a , a relationship with a family member or something happening between you and another person? These heartbreaks and sorrows are a part of life. I have faced too many of them and found myself without any word for them. But Jesus said to give Him our hurts and sorrows.
Will you take your broken heart with you to the grave and end up hopeless? Or will you take your broken heart to Christ and let the Great Physician heal you on His authority? Jesus said He can heal the brokenhearted.
In addition, Jesus has authority over sin. Nothing gives us freedom and heals our sorrows more than forgiveness of sins. Look at Mark 2:5, where Jesus says to the paralytic, "My , your sins are forgiven." And then, to squash grumbling among the scribes who said only God has such authority, He proved who He was by healing the same man!
Finally, He has authority over death. We see this in the raising of Lazarus in John 11 and then, of course, through His own resurrection.
Knowing you have eternal life because of Christ gives new meaning and hope to your years on earth. As Jesus said, "O death, where is your victory?" (1 Cor. 15:55).
Prayer:
That God will give you hope and joy in the midst of troubled times.
Discuss: What is causing heartbreak and sorrow in your life right now? Have you spent time talking with God about it?
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The Authority of Christ Part Two
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Posted:Oct 28, 2009 9:06 am
Last Updated:Nov 17, 2025 5:30 am 7814 Views
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The Authority of Christ (Part Two) Mark 1:17
And Jesus said to them, "Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men."
In Mark we find Christ meeting Simon and Andrew as they were casting fishing nets into the sea. He challenges them to follow Him, and they spend a couple of weeks making their decisions-figuring if it would cost them financially, determining if it would damage their reputations. Wrong. Simon and Andrew immediately left the nets and followed Him. They instantly recognized Christ's authority in their lives.
I believe that one of the reasons why we don't see more people leaving their nets and following Christ is because we in the Church have not presented the authentic, real, living Lord Jesus in all of His splendor, majesty and glory. When we see Him for who He is, no possession, no worldly honor or success can compare with the King of kings.
Not all who see Jesus continue following Him. John 6 records that, after Christ made some difficult and challenging statements, "Many of His disciples withdrew, and were not walking with Him anymore" (v. 66). Then Jesus says to the remaining 12, "You do not want to go away also, do you?" (v. 67).
And Peter makes a profound statement: "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life" (v. 6 . He had come to the conclusion that there was no other to follow.
The longer I am in the Christian life, the more I see there is nothing else that matters other than Jesus Christ and His Word. In recent days I've asked Him to infuse my life with the conviction that He alone is worth following.
Prayer:
That you will grow in your hunger and thirst for knowing the One who has the words of eternal life.
Discuss: Do you know of someone who has withdrawn and no longer follows Jesus? How has that decision affected his or her life? And those around him or her? Have you left your nets to follow Jesus?
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The Authority of Christ
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Posted:Oct 27, 2009 3:20 pm
Last Updated:Dec 10, 2009 4:28 pm 3022 Views
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The Authority of Christ (Part One) Ephesians 1:22
And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church.
I once found a fascinating quote by A.W. Tozer that went like this:The present position of Christ in the gospel churches may be likened to that of a king in a limited monarchy. He is lauded, supported. But his real authority is small. Nominally that king is head over all, but in every crisis someone else makes the decisions. On formal occasions he appears in his royal attire to deliver tame, colorless speeches put into his mouth by some real rulers of the country. The whole thing may be no more than good-natured make-believe....
Then he draws the parallel to Christ and the Church. Read carefully:
Among the gospel churches, Christ is now in fact little more than a beloved symbol. All hail the power of Jesus' name is the church's national anthem and the cross is her official flag. But in the week by week services of the church and the day by day conduct of the members, someone else, not Christ, makes the decisions.
I believe Jesus Christ has been robbed of His authority in the homes today. To have authority means to have the right to rule, to take the rightful responsibility, power and ownership of ruling, and to give it to another person who has authority to rule you 100 percent. We haven't rejected Christ; we've just cordially reduced Him and robbed Him of the ownership He deserves within our individual lives.
No, we haven't rejected Christ outright. Instead we have simply modified Him. When God's Word gets too hard, we begin to modify and reinterpret those things as they best fit us.
But He wants much more. In the next two devotions I'll continue discussing Christ's authority.
Prayer:
Honestly go to Jesus Christ in prayer right now. Pray about His authority in your life and home.
Discuss: How do you think your life and marriage would be different if you gave Christ authority in your life?
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A Date with Ashley
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Posted:Oct 26, 2009 9:30 am
Last Updated:Nov 17, 2025 5:30 am 2964 Views
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A Date with Ashley 1 Thessalonians 2
But we proved to be gentle among you, as a nursing mother tenderly cares for her own .
Unlike some stereotypes of macho men, it's important for dads to be as gentle as Paul was with the Thessalonians, his in the faith.I'll never forget the rewards I've received for trying to be tender and loving with my . My first "date" with our Ashley was when she was three. I called her from the office and said, "Hi, this is Dad. I would really like to have a special date with you tonight, Princess."
She giggled and I heard her tiny voice saying, "Daddy wants to take me out on a date!" Barbara already knew my plan, so Ashley was all dressed up by the time I pulled up in front of the house. I knocked on the door and when Barbara opened it I said, "Hello, Ma'am, is your home?"
Ashley came out, and we held hands as we walked down the steps of the front porch out to the car. I walked around to her door and opened it and she got in.
As we drove down the road, she slipped her little arm around my neck. We went to a restaurant and got chocolate pie, chocolate milk and chocolate ice cream. Then we went to a movie. Ashley had a great time crawling all over the seats and occasionally watching "Bambi." We ate popcorn. We spilled popcorn. We got soft drinks, and we spilled soft drinks. We did it all, and we did it right.
After the movie we drove home, the faint green light from the Rambler dashboard shining in our faces. I turned and asked, "Ashley, what was your favorite thing about tonight?"
Her little hand came over to pat me on the arm and she said, "Just being with you, Dad, just being with you." It's too bad we didn't have a little more popcorn. I became a pool of melted butter right there.
Prayer:
As a father, pray that your need to be a strong leader will not conflict with being gentle and tender with every member of your family.
Discuss: As a man, do you find it hard to be tender and intimate with your ? Describe some times when your attempts to be tender with them really "worked."
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The Fear of Failure
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Posted:Oct 23, 2009 8:58 am
Last Updated:Nov 17, 2025 5:30 am 2930 Views
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The Fear of Failure 1 Peter 4:8
Love covers a multitude of sins.
In an address to a nation divided by the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln underscored the need to persevere in spite of failure. He said, "I am not concerned that you have failed. I am concerned that you arise." The following excerpt, which appeared in an advertisement in the Wall Street Journal, also emphasizes this point:You've failed many times although you may not remember. You fell the first time you tried to walk, didn't you? You almost drowned the first time you tried to swim. Did you hit the ball the first time you swung the bat? Heavy hitters, the ones who hit the most home runs, also struck out a lot. R. H. Macy failed seven times before his store in New York caught on. English novelist John Cracey got 753 rejection slips before he published 564 books. Babe Ruth struck out 1330 times, but he also hit 714 home runs. Don't worry about failure. Worry about the chances you miss when you don't even try.
In a performance-oriented culture such as ours, failure belts us like a punch in the stomach. Repeated failure often results in a knockout blow, and many people give up altogether. As Comedian W. C. Fields once quipped, "If at first you don't succeed, then quit. There's no use in being a fool about it."
The problem is that a life with little failure is a life of little risk. This type of life may appear to offer safety and security, but it actually leads to guilt, boredom, further apathy and even lower feelings of self-esteem. God designed and commissioned us to be productive-many times that demands faith and risk.
Does your mate have the freedom to fail? Is he or she assured of your love-no matter what mistakes he or she makes? By slowly forging in your mate the freedom to fail, you'll help him or her become more open to change, more willing to take risks and more confident in decision making.
Prayer:
That God will give you enough faith to move beyond your fears and trust Him even in the midst of failure.
Discuss: Evaluate your own fear of failure. Are you a risk taker? Are decisions difficult? How would you evaluate your mate? What can you do to encourage him or her to move past fears?
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