Aug. 12, 2007 - We Have the Mind of Christ

We've been doing daily Bible Study with our kids for years now.  We start off each school day with some hymn singing, Bible reading, and prayer.  We work hard to be as consistent during the weekends.  Not something we are always successful at doing, but we're getting better.  There have been times when I wonder why my Husband and I even bother with it because it seems that more often than not, the words are falling on deaf ears.  Oh, ME of little faith!  I forget Hebrews 4:12.  "For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart."

The last two weeks, the kids and I have been listening to a series of messages by Dr. David Jeremiah.  He is a wonderful communicator, and the kids get a lot of what he says because he doesn't talk over them.  The series has been on the Basics of the Christian Faith.  Great messages on "What the Bible Says About......Communion, Church Membership, Christian Fellowship, Baptism, Christian Service, Tithing, Spritual Gifts, Evangelism, The Power of God's Word, Prayer, Eternal Security, and Salvation."  Dr. Jeremiah has called it Spiritual Training Camp for Believers.  It's been very good, and sparked a bit of conversation with the kids. 

I can't remember which message we had just listened to, but somehow First Son admitted that when he was baptized when he was seven, after accepting Christ, he said he didn't think that his heart was in the right place.  He said he only accepted Christ because he wanted to be baptized, but during our Bible Study time, he came to realize the error in his decision, and was ready to make it right.  After he said that, I was mentally screaming to myself, "He said that it was during our Bible Study time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"  What a blessing to know that God's Word had not returned null and void as I was afraid it was doing.  God is so good, and today we are rejoicing as he and our Daughter are getting ready to be baptized in a few weeks.

God is so good to confirm all we have been doing.  There have been times when I doubted because we use no Bible Study Curriculum.  Only the Bible.  On homeschool loops, I have participated in many a discussion about what Bible Study materials everyone uses with their kids and I know there are a lot of good ones out there, but I've never been able to shake the thought that relying on JUST the Bible is enough.  And everytime I chime in with that opinion, I am completely ignored.  Don't get me wrong......I don't expect everyone to come along and pat me on the back and chat me up just because I have an opinion, but it has worried me on two counts.  First, I worry that our society relies too much on materials that explain the Bible, rather than relying more on the Holy Spirit to teach us.  The next thing that plagues me is insecurity.  I start wondering if my Husband and I are doing the right thing.  Should we get some sort of material to help us teach the Bible?  But God has been faithful to His Word and taught my Husband, me, and the kids through our time together. 

We read 1 Corinthians 2 this week.  Verses 9-16 say:
However, as it is written:
   "No eye has seen,
      no ear has heard,
   no mind has conceived 
what God has prepared for those who love him" but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit.
      The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man's spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words.  The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual man makes judgments about all things, but he himself is not subject to any man's judgment: 
 "For who has known the mind of the Lord
      that he may instruct him?"  But we have the mind of Christ.

What we gathered from this, is that having the mind of Christ, we are able to be taught the truth of scripture from the Holy Spirit alone, and we are certainly seeing the fruits of that around here.  God is good.

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Jul. 5, 2007 - Grace

The kids and I have been listening to John MacArthur's series on Forgiveness for the last week.  You know, it's something that we can all work on around here.  ;-)  I would give a link so you can listen in for yourself if you're interested, but I can't find one.  I am subscribed to his podcasts and download his daily radio messages onto my iPod for us to hear. 

I have to say, if you don't have an iPod, you should do ALL you can to get one.  Mine has changed the face of our homeschool in so many ways!  Skip counting tapes and other math/geography/grammar misc.?  On the iPod.  Books on tape?  On the iPod.  Everything is on the iPod and I no longer have to lug around a heavy, annoying CD holder from the house to the car and back again.  My husband bought a cord that plugs into our stereo system that plugs into the iPod and we all have listened to "The Fellowship of the Rings" together every evening.  We also have an adapter for it in the car and we have listened to many a history CD (LOVE Diana Waring!) as we travel about. The "little rectangle" (as I used to call it before I understood all it could do) holds a TON of stuff.  I love my iPod.

ANYWAY........so we've been listening to a series on Forgiveness......where was I??????  OH!  Yes, well, after we listened to each sermon, the kids and I would chat about all the implications that the information we had just heard, could have on our lives.  And I've been tossing around the word "grace" a lot in conjuction with what God provides for us by way of His own forgiveness towards us. 

Tonight I went to The Shepherd's Scrapbook.  Great blog, but I can only really focus on it when I'm not totally fried from playing mommy all day.  You know, it's deep and thoughtful - one of THOSE blogs.  ;-)  Somehow, tonight, I was able to focus, and Tony, the blog owner, had posted a quote by Sinclair Ferguson.  It goes like this:

No such ‘thing’ as grace
by Sinclair Ferguson

“There is nothing between the person of the Lord Jesus and the person of the believer as that union and communion develops and grows. I think this is a very important thing for us to grasp. Let me put it the way I sometimes put it: The union with Christ we have is not that we somehow or another share His grace. Because – follow me carefully – there actually is no ‘thing’ as grace. That actually is a Medieval Roman Catholic teaching. There is a ‘thing’ called grace that can be separated from the person of Jesus Christ. It is something Jesus Christ won on the Cross and He can bestow it on you. And there are at least seven ways it can be bestowed on you and they all, as it happens, turn out to be in the hands of the church. And you can have this kind of grace, and this kind of grace, and this kind of grace … There is no such ‘thing’ as grace! Grace is not some appendage to His being. Nor is it some substance that flows from us: ‘Let me give you grace.’ All there is is the Lord Jesus Himself. And so when Jesus speaks about us abiding in Him and He abiding in us – however mysterious it may be, mystical in that sense – it is a personal union. Do not let us fail because of the abuse of expressions. Do not let us fail to understand that, at the end of the day, actually Christianity is Christ because there isn’t anything else. There is no atonement that somehow can be detached from who the Lord Jesus is. There is no grace that can be attached to you transferred from Him. All there is is Christ and your soul.”

-Sinclair Ferguson on John 15 at the Banner of Truth Ministers’ Conference in Grantham, PA this Spring.

It's always easy to let things or ideas take the place of Christ, isn't it?  I'm afraid I've been focusing more on "grace" than CHRIST with the kids, and will have to do a HUGE U-turn in our conversation tomorrow.  Just another instance of Mom not being perfect.  sigh.  ;-)

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May. 26, 2007 - He Keeps Me Singing

This is an article I wrote for our support group's newsletter.  After I wrote my last post I was reminded of this.  It's the perfect example of how God was able to control the situtaion I was in.  It's such a relief that I know He has my back!  :-)

He Keeps Me Singing

I sat on the couch, listening to my children bicker, bicker and bicker even more with each other, just as they had been all that morning.  Just as they had been all that week!  It was Friday, and I totally understand all the implications Friday brings.  Celebration!  Relief, knowing that it’s the last day of the work week and that the next day we get to relax!  TGIF, right?  I guess my kids don’t totally get that yet, because they were going full steam ahead with the status quo for that week

Darin and I have specific goals in mind for our children.  We have our mission statement, and it’s burned on our hearts and minds.  In a nutshell, it’s to raise our children to be better prepared for life that we were.  Sounds kind of vague, but it has very specific meanings for us.  Part of the very specific meaning for us is to focus on their spiritual lives.  Yet as the kids had worn me down with their bickering all week, I began to lose my resolve. 

We were getting ready for our morning Bible study.  I sat on the couch with my Bible and hymn book in my lap, rubbing my forehead with my first three fingers in total despair and frustration, until I thought I was going to wear a permanent red mark there.  I was shedding a few tears and silently praying, “God, I see the vision You’ve given Darin and me for our kids, but would it really hurt to call it a Movie Day?  They can space out to movies, and I can get away from their arguing with each other and me.  Sounds fair, ya?”  No.

“God, I can see the vision You’ve given Darin and me for our kids, but surely it wouldn’t hurt if I just called a timeout and spent some time building myself up for a change, rather than being bombarded with complaining and disobedience.  It would help me to be able to deal calmly with them later, ya?”  No.

“God, I can see the vision You’ve given Darin and me for our kids, but I am worn out!  I don’t think I can go on, YA?”  No.  You can.  You have to.  Do you see the vision I have given you?

“Okay.  Please help me!”  Ya.

I usually let the kids pick the songs we will sing, but this time I picked it!  “Trust and Obey”.  This was no time to be subtle!  These kids needed to learn to Trust, and especially to Obey, right?  As we sang this song, I felt nothing but wiped out, but we made it through with little stress so I asked Lydia what she would like to sing.  She looked at the hymn book, and pointed to the song across from “Trust and Obey”, which we had never sung before, but I knew it, so agreed to go for it.  As I read the title, I chuckled a little at the irony.  It was “He Keeps Me Singing”.  I thought, “Oh, please!  I am singing, but not cheerfully!”  Here is my thought process as we sang this song:

“There’s within my heart a melody,”
Oh yeah, I’m just jumping for joy, here!  WHAT melody?
“Jesus whispers sweet and low;”
Oh, I guess I can’t hear that melody above my own complaining and disobedient attitude!  Bummer!  Well, it’s going to take me awhile to get over this.
“Fear not, I am with thee, peace be still,”
That’s right.  You said you would help me. I’m sorry.  Please help me to feel Your true joy and be able to truly disciple my children for You!
“In all of life’s ebb and flow.”
Even today!  Thank You!

(Sing it if you know it!)
“Jesus, Jesus, Jesus! 
Sweetest name I know!
Fills my every longing!
Keeps me singing as I go!”

Doesn’t He?  Yes.  He keeps us all singing as we go along the road if we remember to Trust and Obey His words.  And I thanked Him then, and thank Him now for His faithfulness in keeping His vision for our children alive in my heart that day.  We had a wonderful time of Bible study and hymn singing, and the rest of our day went so much more smoothly than when it started.  I like Ezra 8:22.  It says, “…the hand of our God is upon all them for good that seek Him.”  He never forgets a promise.  Thank you, God!

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Jan. 31, 2007 - Bronc Bustin'

Quite often I feel like a bronc buster.  I'm the buster, and my kids are the bronc.  As I go from one hardhead to the next, I picture myself on a bucking bronco with my head down and right arm up in the air, holding on for dear life.  I never imagine myself falling off because I remind myself that God has my back.  He is holding me on the horse as steady as can be, and as long as I can remember that, I can be faithful. 

Today was a day that I had to constantly remind myself of that.  Our six-year-old has decided in the last two weeks to stop doing his chores.  And right after I wrote that glowing post about how wonderful the kids are to keep up with their chores!  Isn't that just the way it goes?  Every day last week, and then again yesterday he just refused to do his chores, and we have piled on the consequences to the point where today, I just about didn't have the heart to pile on more.  More for my sake, than his.  I got to the point where I just didn't feel like punishing him anymore....I was tired of being the strong arm and just wanted to stop.  But I pressed on because I know that if I give up, that ol' bronc will buck harder next time the same issue comes up.  

And I'm praying for him.  Something that has finally occurred to me over the last couple of months is that my kids are not a spiritual extension of me.  They have their own journey to make with God that has nothing to do with what I think they should do, or how they should do it.  So I pray for each of my kids and in a lot of situations, I am learning to take a step back and allow God to work on their hearts after I've prayed for them.  And I pray for them out loud and in front of them!  They hate it, but I got the inspiration from listening to a Little Bear CD.  He was talking about a missionary, and I can't remember who it was right now, but the missionary wrote about what a deep influence his father was on him, and that when he was growing up, his father would do the out loud prayer thing, and he said that nothing else could bring on the remorse better than that prayer.  This guy may be a little less hardheaded than my kids.  So far, I haven't had them fling themselves down at my feet and ask for forgiveness, but I'm expecting it any day now.  ;-)   

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Dec. 27, 2006 - Oooooof!

I got a kick in the stomach through a gumball on Christmas Day.  Or maybe a punch in the arm?  Either way, another lesson learned.  :-)

We don't chew gum here at our house.  Sounds silly to most, I know, but there are a few reasons why I would prefer my kids not to chew it:

1) sugar.  I know, I know.  We can't totally avoid sugar, and we don't go out of our way to do so, but it's easy to avoid sugar in something like gum - a nonessential.

2) aspartame.  The fake sweetener is just as obnoxious as the real sweetener.

3) food coloring.  I hate food coloring.  It is SO unnecessary!  Take egg nog for instance.  I looked at the list of ingredients on egg nog at the grocery store this month, and it has Yellow #5 in it.  WHY????  For what purpose????  I ended up making our own egg nog here at home, and it was also yellow because of the egg yolks.  So why do the makers and sellers of egg nog feel the need to add yellow?  The Feingold folks can give anyone a good education about food coloring. 

4) I read a short blurb about gum chewing that explained that when we chew, our brains receive the signal to tell our bodies to start producing the acid needed for digestion which can wreak havoc with our tummies.  My husband struggles with GERD already.  I see no need to add to his troubles with this, or expose our kids who might have the same weakness, to possible trouble for a stick of gum.

So that's my reasoning over gum.  What a scrooge!  It's a piece of gum, right??????  Oh, well.

So the big lesson learned..........I've told the kids that gum is not all it's cracked up to be and that their Dad and I have decided to opt-out where it is concerned.  The problem is that we would only discuss it in the checkout line at Target when the kids see the gum and ask if they can have some.  So I spent all of two seconds telling them no, that it's bad, bad, bad for them. 

Well, my daughter bought a big thing of gumballs for her brother for Christmas with her AWANA bucks at the AWANA store.  My husband or I were not there with her while she was doing her shopping, and she wrapped all her gifts on her own.  I didn't say anything when my son opened her gift.  I mean, come on, I'm not going to ruin a good gift-opening moment like that!  But as I thought about it throughout the day, I realized that the reason that my daughter gave those gumballs to my son was because even though my husband and I prefer that the kids not chew gum, we had never really explained why we thought it was not the best choice to our kids. Communication was lacking, which led to a lack of conviction on my daughter's part.

This made me think back through my life as a Christian gal.  I went through a loooooong period of lukewarm Christianity because, quite honestly, a lack of communication on the who, what, where, when's and why's of what Christianity is all about.  I was just told what sort of Christian I needed to be, which was great, but without a roadmap to get me there, I was floundering all over the place.  I had no conviction, which led to many bad decisions that make me cringe to this day.  If only........!

So those goofy gumballs have given me a fresh reminder that I need to be communicating with my kids about all this stuff rather than just telling them to "do this" and "do that" because it's best for them.  Works as long as they stay two years old their whole lives!  But they are getting older, and are going to need SOMETHING to base their decisions to follow God or reject God when they leave our home, and I had better be about the business of supplying them with that something!  After all, I am one who must give an account of my work.

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Nov. 12, 2006 - Proverbs 18:19

"A brother offended is harder to win than a strong city,

And contentions are like the bars of a castle."

 

The notes in my MacArthur Study Bible say, "There are no feuds as difficult to resolve as those with  relatives; no barriers are so hard to bring down.  Hence, great care should be taken to avoid such conflicts."

 

Who hasn't experienced this???  I see it in my kids every day, and have felt the pain of it myself with my own brothers and sister at one time or another. 

 

PRAY for your children.  PRAY that they will not EVER develop a rift that is too wide to cross to each other.  Their relationship as brothers and sisters will make or break their relationships with everyone else with which they will come into contact.

 

I like to pray using Proverbs 16:24.  It says,

"Pleasant words are like a honeycomb,

Sweetness to the soul and health to the bones."

I will say, "God, I pray that my children will understand that 'pleasant words to each other are like a honeycomb that will provide sweetness to the souls and health to the bones of each other."

 

Do know that prayers like this aren't always answered in a week's time.  It may take years to see the fruit of a prayer like this, but God is faithful and will answer!

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