I was at a conference recently where the statement was made that your morality determines your theology. Just think about that for a minute.

Many people don’t want to believe in God because they would also have to believe in sin. Even Christians sometimes misinterpret the Scripture because of their pride, prejudice, or self-sufficiency.

Ezekiel 12:2 says rebellion can make you blind and deaf to the word of God.

“Son of man, you dwell in the midst of a rebellious house, which has eyes to see but does not see, and ears to hear but does not hear; for they are a rebellious house.”

My eyes are ever toward the LORD;
         For He shall pluck my feet out of the net. Ps. 25:15

Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their masters,
         As the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress,
         So our eyes look to the LORD our God,
         Until He has mercy on us. Ps. 123:2

What role do the “rules” play in the Christian life? For many people both Christian and non-Christian, Christianity is defined by the rules. Are we missing the point? The true Christian is one who is driven by a heart to know, follow, please, and glorify the Savior who loved us and washed us from sin.

Not, “We don’t do that!” but, “I’m concerned that won’t honor my Lord.”

Not, “You shouldn’t do that!” but, “That has the potential to distract you from knowing Him.”

The heart of the matter is that our eyes are on Him then He plucks our feet out of the net. Don’t choose things that may entangle your feet.

Is it hard to pray for the families in your church when they are not sick or having some other physical difficulty? What can we pray for them that goes beyond, Lord bless ____?

How can we help our children to learn to pray?

Here is an idea we have used recently.

I put the names of each of the families of our church on a card. Then I put scriptures to pray on another set of cards. For example, Psalm 1 could be a prayer that "they would walk not in the council of the ungodly, nor stand in the way of sinners, but delight in the law of the Lord." Give each child a family card and a scripture card and asked them to pray for that family using the scripture. It is wonderful to hear the little ones praying the scripture and to be able to pray in a meaningful way for families.

We did this for about two weeks. Then it seemed like it was time to add new verses. Now to find the time to make more scripture cards, so we can start again!

I have been enjoying my younger children in a new way recently. For several years, I have had the luxury of older children to baby-sit for me, so I have not been taking my younger children out shopping on a regular basis. Lately we have had fun going out together with a mission. Our goal is to see how many smiles we can get from others. This gives my little ones a reason to be on their best behavior. It reminds them that they are not with me to tell me what they want. It gives me a way to tell them how proud I am of them, and how much I enjoy taking them with me. Since it is still only a once a week treat, the novelty has not worn off, even after five or six trips.

How many of you realize how complicated the template editing can be for someone who knows nothing about it?  I have been trying to make the template include links that I like and list the names of my friends with their posts on my friends page. I do have a son that can help me, but he is working on an essay that is due tomorrow. He stopped long enough to fix a few things and I think we have done what I wanted to do for now. I wonder if this Mom of 9 has time to learn HTML and other template design information. No, I am sure I don't, but I think more of  my children will have time in the near future.