Whooooo gets the glory?

 

Why am I so angry?

As I read an article on line about how some parents are feeding their kids only once a week I became angry. Of course if it was food it would be unheard of but they were talking about spiritually. And then you don’ t really feed them, you let someone else feed them by sending them to church.  As I am reading this article I become more and more angry. It seems to indicate that IF you feed your kids daily on His Word and do this right then your kids would be so much further along.  They wouldn’t become teenagers maybe or wouldn’t make the mistakes that all humans make? Really?  I guess the reason that I became angry is because I fell into this lie trap early on and because I did exactly the opposite I had HIGH expectations, hence my response to the article...

How about the other direction,

how about gorging them every day,

scriptures everyday…singing to them while they are still drinking just milk about the amazing God they will be serving for the rest of their lives.

 Scripture memorization? Of course! 

I used to read half a proverb to them and they could quote the rest. They knew they truth,  they lived the truth. Oh well you must have been hypocrites? No, we lived the truth, we weren’t perfect by a long shot but we fed them the word and practiced serving Him daily. I was with them 24 seven;  we talked of it by the way side, while we were walking, laying down, eating. Maybe we should have served more people, maybe we should have, should have, should have….. We taught them about the pits to avoid, yet some have run to the pit at the first opportunity and jumped in, we told them about how to do things God’s way, they want to do it their own way. 

We did everything….

Wait, everything? No, God had to be in there somewhere, the power of the Holy Spirit weren’t you there?  God, did I imagine it? Was it all me? All flesh ? Legalism?  Please tell me you were there? Please tell me it was not all filthy rags! Please show me that something stuck! Please show me even now that the things they were fed every day counted for something. Please tell me that you are more powerful than genetics, stupidity, foolish ambition, doubt, pride and the lies of Satan. Please God show me some sign that it was not all for nothing. They should be so much farther along in the race, so much stronger because they were brought up on the Word, shouldn’t they? Would we have done better to put them out in the germs so that their immune system could’ve grown stronger?  To bring on the music, the TV, the worldly so they wouldn’t have thought they were being deprived. Courtship….what a joke. Oh God was it all for not, did we think we were building our house on the rock but we were really just storing up treasures for ourselves, lining the nest, building the arsenal to make life easy on us. Ugh!

No matter how we did it the Holy Spirit has to do His work, my kids still have to go through the refiners fire. I can’t turn down the heat, I no longer have any control. God had to wait until all my resources were depleted, all power and all control were gone so He could begin the real work. The dirty work. He is working and in the end only He will get the glory, not me, not my homeschooling not my spiritual teaching. Oh yes, I received plenty of, “you have the best kids.” and “your kids are so good” many times I said, “ it’s God’s grace” but still in the midst of my heart I bask in it. Pride is such a sticky thing because we call it confidence or faith in God. There is a thin line between Godly confidence and prideful arrogance. Now I am humbled. There will be no greater joy then to hear that all my children walk in truth, but now I will know that is will be ALL God and by his grace alone. Am I telling you NOT to teach your kids the Word, absolutely not, that would be going AGAINST His Word. I am simply saying leave room for the Holy Spirit to work, don't take the entire project of making your kids Godly on your own shoulders. Of course I begged God for wisdom, of course I believe that sometime, somewhere the word that was planted in their heart will spring forth but it is not my job to make it grow, nor is it my choice to choose when or how fast it will grow. According to the Bible God can use my children any time and any place...even before they become...perfect!  

Listen up, I have some wisdom to share with you....hello?

 

What I Wish for You

 

It has been proven that the air that is moved by the wing of a butterfly can affect the air all the way around the world.  So something that is set in motion will not be stopped unless something like friction stops it. So one choice can begin a domino effect in your life that can only be stopped by friction….the only friction that can stop a snowball headed for hell (however slowly, or unnoticed) is prayer and God’s grace.  

Matthew 19:30  But many that are first shall be last; and the last shall be first.  

If you apply this scripture to a pit, it is so clear that the first ones in the pit are going to be the last one’s out. So for you it may be easier for you to climb out of the pit when you finally notice that you are in the pit, albeit shallow, provided that you do not continue shoveling yourself lower into the pit by continuing to make the same choices that got you in the pit to begin with. How can you judge whether you are in the pit or not? How many classes do you need to skip or fail before you are considered a high school dropout….or college failure? How much does your grade point average need to drop before you see the shovel of dirt digging your own pit in your hands? At what number of cigarettes to you consider yourself hooked? It is easy for a fish to know when he is hooked because it is so obvious….but not a smoker….or a drinker. How many drinks before you can be considered an alcoholic?  How many classes are you late for or miss,  or how many times are you late for work, or how many times do you perform half way before it begins to become a habit or worse…an ingrained part of your personality?  Look around you at the other teens when you consider this and don’t be so prideful to consider yourself immune….Satan is the Father of lies and deception and he would love for you to fall into THAT pit!

Luke 16:10  He that is faithful in that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in the least is unjust also in much.”

If you don’t even want to take a college class next semester what makes you think we would risk sending you over to seas to study. What difference does it make where you study, the point is, will you study at all? When are your priorities going to be about your future, about a vision, instead of the here and now?  Maybe you just need time to grow up. Maybe you are more following the word then I, today has enough trouble of its own.  Yes, you are much more mature then most teenagers,  but your focus on yourself gives you away, your ability to miss the things of the greatest importance….yes probably in my opinion… maybe.  I mentioned success being the most important, but no, I was wrong. Putting God first in your life is the most important; how can I ask you to grow up when even I immediately jump to the comfort zone zombie apocalypse, worldly success! Yes, I, at 52, do not have my priorities straight. What do I want…no, I don’t want you to be a mama’s boy, I don’t want you to sit at home and watch movies with me. I don’t even want you to have  a house with two kids and a good wife and live in the suburbs and go to church every Sunday. I want you to experience life, to have adventures, not at other people’s expense, not because you almost got arrested, or killed, or so drunk you imagined an amazing adventure. No, I want you to see the beauty of God, I want you to feel his presence, I want you to be in a position to where you cry out to him in Holy awwww and amazement.  I want your eyes open so you can see the work he has already done in your life.  No, I want more than that!  I want you to experience the shiver down your spine as you feel the Holy Spirit “quicken” you, and release all the doubts and fears inside of you and fill you up to overflowing. I want you to have visions and dreams that cannot deny that God knows you, will never leave you or forsake you and loves you more than I ever could.  I want you to seek him in his Word instead of in entertainment, or another girl’s arms or in another rambunctious bout with your friends. I want you to slay dragons in His name, to fight the good fight and win…instead of trying to fight the spiritual with the physical. I want you to put on His armor and surrender to Him, not to me, not to my way, and not in my timing. And I pray that he would take you on the adventure of a life time fueling your jet with his love and grace, powering your heart with his blood and mercy, pushing you forward with his power and strength. That would be success,  that would be my joy.

3 John 1:4  I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.

But I must be content, presenting my request to God, waiting patiently, ”Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:”  Philippians 1:6