Category: Parent/Child Relationships

You Can Make It

8Be well balanced (temperate, sober of mind), be vigilant and cautious at all times; for that enemy of yours, the devil, roams around like a lion roaring [in fierce hunger], seeking someone to seize upon and devour. 9Withstand him; be firm in faith [against his onset–rooted, established, strong, immovable, and determined], knowing that the same (identical) sufferings are appointed to your brotherhood (the whole body of Christians) throughout the world. 10And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace [Who imparts all blessing and favor], Who has called you to His [own] eternal glory in Christ Jesus, will Himself complete and make you what you ought to be, establish and ground you securely, and strengthen, and settle you. 11To Him be the dominion (power, authority, rule) forever and ever. Amen (so be it).1 Peter 5 AMP

Whatever problem you are going through, there are others going through very similar situation and are at different levels of pain. Satan only has certain things to attack people with so you will never be alone in your suffering. Those other people can be a blessing in your life because some will be able to support you and if you reach out to help others because of what you have experienced, you will be blessed. Most importantly is that Christ can be there with you if you allow Him to walk with you. Satan will use anything that he thinks will defeat you. Keep your eyes on God so that once you suffer, you may be restored. Christ will walk with you through the pain and restore you. Christ will only allow what you can handle with Him. If you choose to walk it alone, it may be more than you can handle so be sure to allow Christ to walk it with you. You can get through anything with Christ and keep your joy as you go through it. Satan comes to destroy. He will try to attack you personally but if that isn’t enough, he will use those that are most precious to you. If they are not strong enough, He will attack them and attempt to bring you down in the process. It works if you allow yourself to focus on what your loved one is going through instead of giving it to God. Satan will distract you from God in any way possible because once you start watching the destruction, you will have a hard time focusing on the light and truth that God provides for you in His Word and your personal relationship with Him. Don’t allow Satan to steal what Christ has already given to you. It is only through God that you can get through your circumstance without Satan defeating you.

Who Should We Be Mad At?

Why do people get mad at God? Does He do anything wrong? He is God. Who are we? We are allowed to get mad. We are allowed to get angry. “Be angry [or stand in awe] and sin not; commune with your own hearts upon your beds and be silent (sorry for the things you say in your hearts). Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!” Psalm 4:4 AMP There are things that should make us angry. We just need to be careful who we direct the anger toward and our actions because of the anger and also examine the reason for our anger. God may allow stuff but He does not cause all of it. Sin will bring about a lot of anger. Sin hurts those that are living a sin but that sin also hurts those around them. We should hate the sin but not the sinner. We should hate Satan for deceiving those that fall into sin. We should not be mad at God for the choices that we or others make. Consequences come and we often know what the consequence could be but still choose to commit the sin.

God is big enough for us to tell Him about our anger but don’t blame Him for what is happening. He is God. If He allowed it, it can be turned into good no matter how evil it seems if it is given to Him. The difference is whether we give it to Him or choose to deal with it our self. We often make bad choices if we aren’t in a right relationship with God. We can’t control the decisions that others make. We can do our best to influence them but we must be accountable for our decisions and our relationship with God so that we know what to do. God is the only one with the whole puzzle. We can only see one puzzle piece or maybe a few.

Three Stories That Will Give You Chills

There are probably plenty more. These are just two true examples of a father that chose to sacrifice his son for the sake of others. The ultimate story is the one where God chose to sacrifice His son for the lives of everyone. In the two examples, the people were saved without a choice in the matter although I am sure they were still grateful. As in the ultimate story, people have a choice to be saved or not. What a shame it is for someone to not accept something that has already been done for them. You can read one of these stories on utube below and the other under the video. The third story can be a reality in your life based on your decision to accept Christ’s salvation.

THIS WILL GIVE YOU CHILLS

AFTER A FEW OF THE USUAL SUNDAY EVENING HYMNS,
THE CHURCH’S PASTOR SLOWLY STOOD UP,
WALKED OVER TO THE PULPIT &
BEFORE HE GAVE HIS SERMON HE BRIEFLY INTRODUCED A GUEST MINISTER
WHO WAS IN THE SERVICE THAT EVENING.

IN THE INTRODUCTION, THE PASTOR TOLD THE
CONGREGATION THAT THE GUEST MINISTER WAS
ONE OF HIS DEAREST CHILDHOOD FRIENDS AND
THAT HE WANTED HIM TO HAVE A FEW MOMENTS
TO GREET THE CHURCH AND SHARE WHATEVER
HE FELT WOULD BE APPROPRIATE FOR THE SERVICE…

WITH THAT, AN ELDERLY MAN STEPPED UP TO THE PULPIT AND BEGAN TO SPEAK.

“A FATHER, HIS SON, AND A FRIEND OF HIS SON WERE SAILING OFF THE PACIFIC COAST,” HE BEGAN, “WHEN A FAST APPROACHING STORM BLOCKED ANY
ATTEMPT TO GET BACK TO THE SHORE.

THE WAVES WERE SO HIGH, THAT EVEN THOUGH THE FATHER WAS AN EXPERIENCED SAILOR,  HE COULD NOT KEEP THE BOAT UPRIGHT AND THE THREE WERE SWEPT
INTO THE OCEAN AS THE BOAT CAPSIZED.”

THE OLD MAN HESITATED FOR A MOMENT, MAKING EYE CONTACT WITH TWO TEENAGERS WHO WERE, FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE THE SERVICE BEGAN, LOOKING SOMEWHAT INTERESTED IN HIS STORY.

THE AGED MINISTER CONTINUED WITH HIS STORY, “GRABBING A RESCUE LINE, THE FATHER HAD TO MAKE THE MOST EXCRUCIATING DECISION OF HIS LIFE:
WHICH BOY WOULD HE THROW THE OTHER END OF THE LIFE LINE?
HE ONLY HAD SECONDS TO MAKE THE DECISION.

THE FATHER KNEW THAT HIS SON WAS A CHRISTIAN AND HE, ALSO, KNEW THAT HIS SON’S FRIEND WAS NOT.
THE AGONY OF HIS DECISION COULD NOT BE MATCHED BY THE TORRENT OF WAVES.

AS THE FATHER YELLED OUT,
‘I LOVE YOU, SON!’
HE THREW OUT THE LIFE LINE TO HIS SON’S FRIEND.
BY THE TIME THE FATHER PULLED THE FRIEND BACK TO THE CAPSIZED BOAT, HIS SON HAD DISAPPEARED BENEATH THE RAGING SWELLS INTO THE BLACK OF NIGHT.

HIS BODY WAS NEVER RECOVERED.

BY THIS TIME, THE TWO TEENAGERS WERE SITTING UP STRAIGHT IN THE PEW,
ANXIOUSLY WAITING FOR THE NEXT WORDS TO COME OUT OF THE OLD MINISTER’S MOUTH.

 “THE FATHER,” HE CONTINUED, “KNEW HIS SON WOULD STEP INTO ETERNITY WITH JESUS
AND HE COULD NOT BEAR THE THOUGHT OF HIS SON’S FRIEND STEPPING INTO AN ETERNITY WITHOUT JESUS.. THEREFORE, HE SACRIFICED HIS SON TO SAVE THE SON’S FRIEND. ”

HOW GREAT IS THE LOVE OF GOD THAT HE SHOULD DO THE SAME FOR US,
OUR HEAVENLY FATHER SACRIFICED HIS ONLY
BEGOTTEN SON THAT WE COULD BE SAVED.
I URGE YOU TO ACCEPT HIS OFFER TO RESCUE YOU AND TAKE A HOLD OF THE
LIFE LINE HE IS THROWING OUT TO YOU IN THIS SERVICE.”
WITH THAT, THE OLD MAN TURNED AND SAT BACK DOWN IN
HIS CHAIR AS SILENCE FILLED THE ROOM.

THE PASTOR AGAIN WALKED SLOWLY TO THE PULPIT AND DELIVERED A BRIEF SERMON WITH AN INVITATION AT THE END.  HOWEVER, NO ONE RESPONDED TO THE APPEAL.

WITHIN MINUTES AFTER THE SERVICE ENDED, THE TWO TEENAGERS WERE AT THE OLD MAN’S SIDE.

“THAT WAS A NICE STORY,” STATED ONE OF THEM,”BUT I DON’T THINK IT WAS VERY REALISTIC FOR A FATHER TO GIVE UP HIS ONLY SON’S LIFE IN HOPES THAT
THE OTHER BOY WOULD BECOME A CHRISTIAN…”

“WELL, YOU’VE GOT A POINT THERE,”

THE OLD MAN REPLIED, GLANCING DOWN AT HIS WORN BIBLE.
A BIG SMILE BROADENED HIS NARROW FACE.
HE ONCE AGAIN LOOKED UP AT THE BOYS AND SAID,
“IT SURE ISN’T VERY REALISTIC, IS IT?  BUT, I’M STANDING HERE TODAY TO TELL YOU THAT STORY GIVES ME A GLIMPSE OFWHAT IT MUST HAVE BEEN LIKE FOR GOD TO GIVE UP HIS SON FOR ME…

YOU SEE.

I WAS THAT FATHER AND YOUR PASTOR IS MY SON’S FRIEND.”

God Is Bigger

Whatever God allows into your life, however good or bad, it has still been filtered through God’s hand and if we give it to God, He will use it. There are people that don’t share their history because of fear or other reasons. Sometimes God will call you to share your experiences in bits and pieces because of who needs to hear them. God will allow you to use your experiences to help someone else through their experience. If God would reveal the path that our life would take, we would most likely want to pick the good and attempt to leave the bad out of our experience. God chooses the pieces that will make us all that we can be. If we were given the choice, we would more than likely choose the wrong pieces for our life. The pieces He chooses are the ones that will make the biggest difference in who we become and the impact we can make for Him. As things unfold in our life, we will begin to see how all the pieces will collectively make us who God wants us to be. The key is allowing God to be able to use those experiences. We would realize if we change things in our past, we would not be who we are and we should be confident in the fact that God allowed us to experience everything that we did so that we can be made perfect in Him.

It is not what we experience in life but what we do with those experiences that matter. Our trials can draw us closer to God or take us farther away from God. It is how much we allow God to be involved in our circumstances that determines which direction we go. If you choose to walk away, chances are, your life will begin to crumble. If you choose to give God your hurts and expectations and keep your eyes fixed on Jesus and not on the circumstance, God can use your experience.

We need to follow God and worship Him whether we feel like it or not, no matter what is going on in our life and no matter how long we struggle in a valley. Don’t ever allow your circumstance or the people in your life to allow you to lose your salvation. Satan will try to use anyone and anything to cause you to give up. Keep doing what you know to do so that you will not be defeated. Don’t allow your circumstance or the people that surround you to have power in your life. Allow God to show you the power that He can give you. God is bigger than anything you will face or have faced, He is bigger than anything that someone can say or do to you. He is bigger than your problems and bigger than your circumstances. Give God whatever you have and see how His intervention can work for you.

Sharing Our Problems With Our Children

If we have struggles in our life, we should share them with our children. The details of those struggles will depend on the age of our children. They need to know that we are not perfect and even if we were, we would still have troubles. They need to know that we will have problems in this life and they need to know how to handle problems by watching and learning. They will learn what works and what does not work. You can even ask them to help by praying for the situation so they know that we take our problems to God and want to have God guide us through the problem and the solution.

God allows problems to enter our lives. Don’t get mad at God. He allows problems so that we can grow in our relationship with Him and our relationship with others. He also allows them so that others can learn from watching us and how we handle the problem. It may be our children that will learn from us or anyone else in our circle of friends and family. Sometimes it may be the difficultly that our child is having that will be what God uses to teach us something.

No one really likes the pain that comes from difficult situations. God does not always take the pain away. God has a purpose for the pain. Seek the resources that God puts in place to help you get through the pain. God makes us more than conquerors. Too many children are turning to the world to escape from pain. They turn to alcohol and drugs and unhealthy relationships as a way to forget they have a problem. This is happening with younger kids than in the past. They see others deal with their problems in that way. They need to see us dealing with our problems in a positive manner. Running from the problem will not solve it. We need to face our problems.

By sharing our problems with our children, they will be more open to come to us when they are having a problem. If we are trusting them to pray for us and be a part of the solution, they will be more confident in knowing that we can work together to bring about solutions to their problems also. Problems are often overcome by people working together. They will realize we want them to overcome the problems they face in life just like God wants us all to be overcomers. When they see God work in the problems that we face, they will develop their own relationship with God and realize that God wants to be the source of our solutions.