Sheltered By His Grace

 

 

Let me start out by saying that we need to be praying for all of the people in Moore, Oklahoma and surrounding cities. I can't imagine what they are going through right now with severe loss. I went through a tornado in 2007 when it passed behind my house and that was scary enough, so I can't fathom the fear those children felt in the schools that were hit.The Lord had laid a certain verse on my heart last week for a blog post, and then with the events in Oklahoma these last few days confirmed it for me. I found this picture this morning right before I started this post and knew I was supposed to use it.

 

Psalm 127:3 "Lo, children are an heritage of the Lord: and the fruit of the womb is his reward." Our children are a gift from the Lord. May we NEVER take this for granted. The blessing of being a parent definitely has its rewards and challenges. But, more importantly it comes with a great RESPONSIBILITY!  In Psalms 146:3, we are told, "One generation shall praise thy works to another, and shall declare thy mighty acts." Although our nation, leaders, and the world are telling us otherwise, as this teacher above testified, WE ARE GIVEN A GREATER COMMANDMENT FROM THE LORD." "We ought to obey God rather than men," Acts 5:29.  We HAVE TO TEACH OUR CHILDREN OF THE LORD. It is not in them, due to our sinful natures, to know His ways. The Lord has given us three different ways to "declare His mighty acts," and teach our children of Him.

 

First, we must TEACH them His Word! Deutoronomy 11:18-21 says, "Therefore shall ye lay up these MY WORDS in your HEART and in your SOUL, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes. And ye shall TEACH THEM YOUR CHILDREN, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt write them upon the door posts of thine house, and upon thy gates;That your days may be multiplied, AND THE DAYS OF YOUR CHILDREN, in the land which the LORD sware unto you your fathers to give them, as the days of heaven upon the earth." The main reason our nation is in the moral and spiritual state that we our in is that this one simple command of the Lord has NOT BEEN DONE! The Lord said if we did so, that we would be blessed with our families, our nation, and we would not even complain! (Psalm 144:10-15 & Psalm 33:12). What a sad testament it is to see our country in the shape that it is in when compared to God's Word! We need to read our children God's Word, and teach it to them through memorizing it. The fact that this is easier for some to do than others it true, but I have come to learn that people, me included, tend to do what they really WANT TO! If we know that this is of utmost important in teaching our children the Word, we will make an effort to do so. Whether it is helping them repeat their Sunday School verses, helping them write short verses, or just helping them read the Bible, it CAN BE DONE! Their minds are very sharp and can remember the most that they will ever remember now, so we need to help them with this to help in days to come. Psalm 119:49 & 50 say, "Remember the word unto thy servant, upon which thou hast caused me to HOPE. THIS IS MY COMFORT IN MY AFFLICTION: for THY WORD hath quickened me." Remembering scripture is what the Lord will use to help comfort us and our children  as we go through the promised trials of life. How can we expect them to do right or to know God's comfort if they do not know His Promises?

 

 

Secondly, we need to read God's Word ourselves as parents and be grounded in it. How can we teach our children God's Word if we don't even know it, or are at least familiar with it? "Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he shall not depart from it." Proverbs 22:6. To TRAIN someone, you have to know what you are doing yourself, or have done it before. If we TRAIN up our children in the Bible, it will NEVER leave them. They may go out into the world as many of us have, but the Lord has promised that His Word will not depart from them, that has been instilled in them. They will have to make a choice for themselves, but praise the Lord, His Word will be there to direct them in the way that they SHOULD GO!  "Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to they word. With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandments. THY WORD HAVE I HID IN MY HEART, THAT I MIGHT NOT SIN AGAINST THEE." Psalm 119:9-11. The training we give them in the Lord through Bible and prayer will last, for they are both eternal!

 

Lastly, we should TAKE THEM TO CHURCH! Yes, I said TAKE them to church, not just send them! The things our children see us do lets them know what we consider to be important or not. "I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord." Psalm 121:1. "One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may DWELL IN THE HOUSE OF THE LORD ALL THE DAYS OF MY LIFE, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in His temple." Psalm 27:4. Even nature itself is used as an example of this. Psalm 84:3 says, "Yea, the sparrow hath found an house, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may LAY HER YOUNG, EVEN THINE ALTARS, O LORD of hosts, my King, and my God." We have birds that have made nests on top of the pillars outside at our church, and I think of this verse every time I see them. Just as the Psalmist said the birds choose God's house as their home (nests), and lay down their young on the altars, so should we. Just as Abraham laid down Isaac on the altar, giving him over to the Lord, so should we. We need to bring them to God, ask for His protection over them, and to have HIS WILL in their lives! Not what we want, but what HE WANTS to do in their lives for HIS GLORY! How can they see God move among His people and see them "worship in the beauty of holiness" if they are not there? How will they learn to give praise and thanks with worship to the Lord to teach their children? It will become a vicious cycle that will continually spiral downward, which is what has brought our nation to where is today.

 But, this CAN BE REVERSED! II Chronicles 7:14 & 15 says, "If my people, which are called by my name, shall HUMBLE THEMSELVES, AND PRAY, AND SEEK MY FACE, AND TURN FROM THEIR WICKED WAYS; THEN WILL I HEAR FROM HEAVEN, AND WILL FORGIVE THEIR SIN, AND WILL HEAL THEIR LAND. NOW MINE EYES SHALL BE OPEN AND MINE EARS ATTENT unto the prayer that is made in this place." This last verse is often left off. The Lord says His eyes and ears are open and waiting for this prayer and turning back to Him. We need the Bible back in our families, homes, and schools! We need prayer back, as this teacher above did, in our families, homes, and schools!  May our prayer be today for our families, those children in Oklahoma, and our nation as a whole-"Save thy people, and bless thine INHERITANCE; FEED them also, and LIFT THEM UP FOREVER." Psalm 28:9 Then we can say of our nation again, "Blessed is the nation, whose God is the Lord.." Psalm 33:12. May we keep them sheltered by His Grace!