Tuesday, Jan 13, 2009

TWG - January 13, 2009 - Good Parenting

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TWG – January 13, 2009
To Listen to Today’s Reading http://timewithgod.mypodcast.com
Deuteronomy 34; Psalm 123; 1 Timothy 6

Today is January 13, this is time with God, I’m Pastor Dennis - I’ve been waiting here for you. Welcome to our life transforming community. This is your invitation to take one step forward every day in your relationship with Christ. We invite you to do something unbelievably radical. We invite you to deny yourself, take up your cross daily and follow Jesus

took off about 10 AM and had a nice drive there and back. It was well attended and we saw many of our good friends who are pastoring in Southern Oregon. We also discussed the men’s and ladies retreats. I got a call from Ruth C in Montana. Her brother John was injured badly and is unable to take pain medication because of his heart medication! He is in need of our prayers and encouragement. When we got home we went to Office Depo to look at a laptop Susan is thinking about buying. Then I worked out and ran to Lowes to order material from Ken for a storage shed. I put a picture of Ken shooting Isaiah’s new toy gun on the blog at http://timewithgod.mypodcast.com. Check it out.

Today’s thought comes from Deuteronomy 6:5 "You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. 6 "And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. 7 "You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. 8 "You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 "You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

Let’s talk about raising children. What’s the most important thing children need? Love? Discipline? Guidelines? Freedom? Consistency? Everyone seems to have a different perspective. But let me suggest that the greatest need a child has, is the need a parent has. In fact it is a need every one of us has. The most important characteristic of parenting is that a mom and a dad “Love the Lord” wholeheartedly. This is it! This is where good parenting starts. Wait a minute! (Here comes the objection) “I’ve met a lot of lousy parents who claim to love the Lord, and a number of seemingly good parents who didn’t have a love for the Lord.” Why the contradiction? Let’s see if we can sort it out. How about god-less parenting? It is not good parenting to raise your children without an example of the love of God. There are some serious dangers to godless parenting. The first thing that comes to mind is a child’s eternal destination! What kind of parent allows their child to face eternal punishment? It is also a mistake to raise children without recognition of Divine responsibility. Without God, right and wrong is only an opinion. Why should a child do what is right? Why should they obey or honor their parents? If I, a human, am the ultimate measure of right and wrong, as soon as I figure that out I may become a lawless, uncontrollable rebel. And many do. That’s why I need God. But how do we explain the horrible parents who claim to be Christians? We all struggle with keeping our faith real. But mark this well; love results in obedience. If you love God with all your heart, your life will become transformed. You will begin to demonstrate important parenting qualities such as patience, even handedness, kindness and love. The problem is that far too many of us profess to love the Lord outwardly when we are only halfhearted on the inside. What we need is Christian parents who will surrender all their heart, all their soul, all their strength. What that looks like in real life is this: a wholehearted love for Christ will be evidenced by a parent who treasures God’s word in the heart and obeys it. That will result in transformed parenting.

Dear Father. I confess my need for you. I want to love you with all my heart, all my soul and all my mind, I surrender to you. I want my heart to beat as one with yours. I want to love you, please you and serve you. Please fill me with your Spirit and guide me to respond like you would.

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.

Posted by Dennis Kreiss at 9:41 AM |   

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