Children's Ministry, Proven Path Ministries, The Romans Study For Kids

Romans Study For Kids (Romans 8:28-30)

PPM-3.jpg

After a month on a missions focus the children at Shiloh begin digging back into the book of Romans! We begin Romans 9 this coming Sunday… here are the handouts for Romans 8:28-30.

Romans 8:28-30

28 And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.

29 For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren;

30 and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified

Have you ever wondered why bad things happen? We may not always know why some things happen, but as we look at our verse today we will learn something that will help.

Read Romans 8:28. What does this verse tell us that we should know?

we know that God causes __ __ __   __ __ __ __ __ __ to work together for __ __ __ __

Did this verse say that all things were good? Circle your answer.

Yes             No

Who does this verse say that God will cause all things to work together for good for?

those who  __ __ __ __  God

those who are  __ __ __ __ __ __  according to His       __ __ __ __ __ __ __

According to Romans 8:28 what can we know that God will do with all the things that happen to those who love Him? Use the space below to answer in your own words or draw a picture to answer.

 

 

 

 

Read Romans 8:29. Why would God choose to cause all things to work together for good? Whose image is He making us into?

the image of His __ __ __

 

THINK ABOUT IT…

Have you ever played with play-do? If you have any at home go get some and come right back. Have you got it?

Do you have a mold for the play-do or maybe a cookie cutter? If you do, go get it and come right back. Have you got it?

Okay, now look at the play-do, squish it in your hands. Right now, that play do is like you before you have Jesus. It’s formless and without a purpose. 

Now look at your mold or cookie cutter. That mold is an image of something right? 

When you take the play-do and try to put it into that mold you have to tear away the parts of the play-do that do not fit. As you fit the play-do into the mold, you are conforming it into the image. 

This is kind of like how God conforms us into the image of His Son. Sometimes He has to tear things aways from us, some times He has to squish and shove us, some times He has to press us… but it all will work together for good and eventually we will look like the image of His Son.

Once you get all the play-do in the mold or cookie cutter set it down and read Romans 8:30. 

Read Romans 8:30 and complete the list below.

those whom He predestined He also __ __ __ __ __ __

those He called He also __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __

those He justified He also __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __

Look at your play-do again. Take a moment to slowly pull the mold or cookie cutter away from the play-do. When the mold is removed does the play-do now keep the image? The play-do no longer is formless and without purpose. It now looks like something! It looks like the image it was conformed into. When we are finally glorified, when we finally get our new bodies, we will finally look like Jesus.

Look up and read 1 John 3:2-3. When Jesus appears who will we be like?

We will be like __ __ __

According to this verse, if we believe this, really believe this, then how should it affect our life?

everyone who has this hope fixed on Him                      __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ himself

How can we purify ourself? Look up and read 1John 1:9 to find out. Is there anything you need to talk to God about it? If there is, do it now.

 

Children's Ministry, Proven Path Ministries, The Romans Study For Kids

Romans Study For Kids (Romans 8:18-27)

PPM-3.jpg

After a month on a missions focus the children at Shiloh begin digging back into the book of Romans! We begin Romans 9 this coming Sunday… here are the handouts for Romans 8:18-27.

Romans 8:18-27

18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.

19 For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God.

20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope

21 that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God.

22 For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now.

23 And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves,waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body.

24 For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees?

25 But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it.

26 In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words;

27 and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

Have you considered what it means for you to suffer with Jesus? Well let’s begin to think about this by looking at Romans 8:18.

Read Romans 8:18. What does Paul tell us about the sufferings of this present time? Are they worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us? Circle your answer.

Yes                 No

 

Read Romans 8:19. What does creation wait eagerly for?

the __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ of the sons of __ __ __

 

Read Romans 8:20-21. What do you learn about the creation? 

it was subjected to  __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __

it will be set free from its  __ __ __ __ __ __ __

 

Look up and read Genesis 3:17. What do you learn was cursed when Adam and Eve sinned?

the  __ __ __ __ __ __

 

Read Romans 8:22. How does the creation respond to its slavery and corruption?

it __ __ __ __ __ __  and  __ __ __ __ __ __ __

 

THINK ABOUT IT…

When God created the heavens and the earth they were good. When Adam and Eve disobeyed God sin did not just enter them, it entered the whole world. The serpent, Eve, the ground, and Adam were all cursed because of sin. The earth was created to glorify God and to provide the needs of mankind. After sin came, the earth began to die. Today we have tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes, droughts, and fires. Today trees die, flowers die, and crops die. Today animals attack, bugs bite, and fish eat each other. This is not the way God created it to be. So even the earth groans and suffers and longs to be free from death and be made new.

 

Read Romans 8:23. Who else groans?

__ __      __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __  groan within

__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ , waiting eagerly

 

What are we waiting eagerly for?

the __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __  of our __ __ __ __

Read Romans 8:24-25. How do we wait?

with  __ __ __ __

 

Read Romans 8:26. Who helps us while we wait?

the  __ __ __ __ __ __

 

Read Romans 8:26-27. Let’s pay close attention to what we learn about the Spirit of God in this passage. How does He help us and why does He help us? There is chart below. Finish filling in the “How” and the “Why”

 

HOW WHY
helps our __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ we are not yet in our new bodies (Romans 8:23)
__ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __  for us we do not know how to  __ __ __ __  as we should
searches  __ __ __ __ __ and intercedes for the  __ __ __ __ __ __ He knows what the __ __ __ __ of God is

 

THINK ABOUT IT…

How awesome is it that when we belong to Jesus, the Holy Spirit comes and lives inside of us and helps us. He helps us pray and He helps us hope. He helps us while we wait to get our new bodies to go with our new heart. Jesus promised us that He would send us a Helper and He always keeps His promises.

Take a moment to look up and read John 14:16-17. Then take a moment to tell Jesus thank you for keeping His promise.

That’s enough for today. 

Confessions of a Christian Wife, Proven Path Ministries

Throwback Thursday

PPM-3.jpg

 

There’s this theme that floats around Facebook… “throwback thursday”  My husband like to play this theme game. He has some picks that he will “throwback”. He told me last week that he was going to get into my yearbook and get a picture of me to throwback… and I told him, “Throwback Thursday makes me want to throw up!” 

The last thing I have wanted to do since I gave my life to the Lord twelve years ago was throwback to the days before I knew Him. That girl was dead in Christ and I preferred to keep her there in the grave of the past and press forward in this new life that the LORD by His mercy and grace allowed me to have. For a very long time, I simply shut down that part of my brain that held those memories. There was too much shame and hurt attached to them and I needed to heal.

When I met my husband, I began to walk away from the things that were in my life before him and began to cling to him. I had met the man of my dreams and I did not want to do anything to mess it up. I was the first of my girlfriends to marry, so in becoming a wife,and an immediate mother of an eight year old at the altar, my life pulled inward into family… which was exactly what it needed to do for God to get my attention and for Him to get me moving in accordance with His will.

For the past fifteen years my eyes have been focused forward. Seeking to walk in the will of my Savior and to grow in the grace and knowledge of God and striving to become the woman, wife, and mother that God saved me to be.

So Throwback Thursday has never held any appeal to me.

However today, one of dear friends, a friend I have known since grade school, a friend who I played ball, cried with, fought with, spent most of my summers with is in the final stages of cancer. Having conquered melanoma in 2010, today she is on her way home from Houston to receive treatments here so that she can be with family and friends. Tumors on her brain, in her jaws, on her liver and kidneys, continue to grow at a massive rate… and for days my heart has broke for her and her family. She has at home a young barely teenage daughter and a rambunctious young boy just now loosing his first teeth. She has the brother and sister that I grew up loving as my own and parents that were one of my second sets. My heart breaks for them…

Many are praying for a miracle… many are praying that God would just remove all the tumors… perhaps He will. Perhaps He will use my friend to display His glory in this way… but just in case He does not let us never forget that there is no greater miracle than that of salvation and resurrection!

By His stripes we are healed of the SIN, the sin that condemns all men. By His death He defeated death and our death is defeated the moment we die in Him (Romans 6). Those in Christ NEVER LOSE A BATTLE TO ANYTHING! Our victory over death and all things of this world came the moment WE BELIEVED (Romans 8:31-39, 1 Corinthians 15:53-57).

You see we bring Him glory in life and we bring Him glory in death because we have a Savior. We are children of God! We are the redeemed! The chosen in Him…

So to my friend Mary Beth Wallace Lee , YOU WON the moment you said, Yes Lord, I believe the gospel. You won the moment you said, I believe that Jesus is the resurrection and the life and whosoever calls upon Him shall be saved. I believe He alone is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and no one comes to the Father but through Him. You won the moment that you believed that on that cross He died for your sin and by grace through faith you came to Him for salvation and because He lives you live with life eternal.

Beth, I refuse to give cancer power over you. If you leave this life it is because the One who holds the keys to life and death says, I am bringing My daughter home!

“For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing… The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed, and will bring me safely to His heavenly kingdom; to Him be the glory forever and ever. Amen”

2 Timothy 4:6-8,18

To live is Christ and to die is gain (Philippians 1:21). Precious sister, you are in a WIN WIN situation! You are victorious either way! Our Lord Jesus Christ reigns and in Him is your future and in Him is your hope… He holds you and He holds your precious children and your precious family in His hands of grace. God has used your body to bring two eternal lives into being… He has used you for His glory and as a testimony to His Son and His glorious gospel. He has used your suffering to bring many to call upon Him in prayer… only in eternity will we know how He wove your life, this story, this fight, this suffering in His grand plan of redemption, but make no bones about it, He has and He will use this for His glory and the glory of Christ!

“The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me. Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.

O righteous Father, although the world has not known You, yet I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me; and I have made Your name known to them, and will make it known, so that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them”

John 17:22-26.

Today “Throwback Thursday” doesn’t make me want to throw up. Today “Throwback Thursday” reminds me of the girl I totaled my first car with, the girl I got my first apartment with, the girl I used to stay up all night playing Mario with, the girl I used to play cupball with, the girl I used to trade books with, the girl I used to walk down a gravel road to her grandparents with, the girl I still hung out with once high school was behind us, the girl I used to get into a lot of trouble with, and the girl that also came to know the Lord as her Savior, the girl that I know even when this life is over for the both of us, I will get to spend eternity with…

Beth, this life took us in different directions but I hope you know that I love you and you are forever a part of me and I will see you again my friend! 

photo (13)

*** Beth went home to be with the Lord late Saturday night, October 19th, 2013. She rose to her glorification Sunday morning just like her Lord! She worshiped Sunday morning in His physical presence in the heavenly temple with all the saints of God that have already went home before her. My, I bet it was AWESOME! Our God is good… Jesus just simply could not go another day without wrapping His nail scarred arms around her.

Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.

~ Jesus

Children's Ministry, Proven Path Ministries

Around The World

PPM-3.jpg

Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations,baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.

Matthew 28:19-20

On Saturday Sept 28th, I had the privileged of taking some of my kids on a field trip. We loaded up the church van about 6am that morning and headed south to Lineville, Alabama. I had heard about this place through one of our homeschool co-op mom’s. Her and her daughter had been a few years before.

As a children’s ministry leader I am always looking for opportunities for my kids to learn how to flesh out the gospel. I want to expose them to all the different opportunities I can so that maybe, just maybe, a fire will be ignited within them at an early age with a passion for the great commission. I believe that we can raise Joseph’s and Esther’s and Daniel’s and Mary’s. I simply don’t buy our backwards American culture that says every child has to be a rebel without a cause with a past full of regrets being dragged behind them into adulthood. I believe rather that they can be a rebel against this culture with a cause… the cause of Christ!

My heart, while the Lord allows it to beat, is to teach every child (and every adult) that the Lord allows me to teach, to have a passion for Christ, a passion for His Word, and a passion for His people.  I have such a strong desire to teach these children to see outside themselves and realize how big this world is and yet at the same time see that it is so very small… I want them to learn to be content with what they have and not live life for the next big thing, or new thing, or gotta have it thing, but to live it for the glory of God.

Needless to say, I was pretty excited when I heard about SIFAT, Servants in Faith and Technology.

SIFAT

The morning began with the introduction into what SIFAT stood for… our guide asked the kids, “What do you think of when you hear the word technology?” They began to respond with Ipod, Ipad, Xbox, DS, etc. Our guide then asked them, “Well, if you lived in a place where there was no electricity how much would this technology benefit you?” The kids quickly responded with, “It would only be good for one charge and then it wouldn’t be good anymore”

Hmmmm… have you ever thought about that? We pay hundreds of dollars for items that are completely worthless if they have no access electricity. There is no alternative use or worth for them. Apart from a plug, uncharged, they are just a piece of junk.

Anyway.

Our guide shared with the children that SIFAT works to create appropriate technology and brins it into these countries and areas that we were about to pretend to visit. She explained that appropriate technology was technology that was actually useful for the people where they were at. One of the examples that the children would see would be a smokeless wood burning oven…

Our trip began in the rural mountains of Bolivia:

Bolivia

 

photo (11)

The kids learned that the Bolivians lived in small huts, slept on blankets on dirt floors, and raised guinea pigs for food and farmed on the side of the mountains. They thought Bolivia was pretty cool…

Next we visited Guatemala and the kids got to make homemade tortillas and eat them!

IMG_1579

So they thought Guatemala was awesome as well.

Next we visited the Philippines.

IMG_1597

IMG_1603

While visiting the Philippines they learned about tinikling…

IMG_1618

 

 

We visited several other rural settings in several other countries. I believe we visited Uganda, Liberia, Nepal, and Malawi…

IMG_1696

 

and the kids also learned about to make bricks for building some of the homes they visited…

IMG_1718

 

IMG_1732

 

I was beginning to wonder if they were going to get it.

You see all my kids are outdoors kids. These are farming kids and hunting kids and just get outside and play kids. They walked around these rural villages thinking they were the coolest “tree houses” and “club houses” they had ever seen. They were fighting over whose house was the boys house and whose house was the girls house. They thought all the woods and bridges and trees and walking sticks were great. They were a little unnerved by the lack of bedrooms and the fact that everyone was all in one room and they would have to share beds with their brothers and sisters, but over all. I could see their minds thinking that this would be like the most awesome camping trip ever. They were having a blast.

Then it was time for our last “village”.

The slums.

IMG_1736

 

Our guide set all the kids down and explained to them what they were about to see. Then he shared with them that over one million people lived in slums, and these slums are found in every country in the world. He also told them that before they went in they were to walk through and think about the things that would be difficult about living here. He also shared with them that they were to be respectful, for many people, this was home. They were to refrain from being rude about the living conditions.

I was concerned before the children went in… I wondered how they would react…

IMG_1740

 

IMG_1749

 

IMG_1750

 

The kids were quiet.

They walked through and you could tell they were thinking…

For the first time that day I believe it finally hit them. In this village no one was running in and out of the homes fighting over whose house was whose. There was no picking the girls house or the boys house. This was not a place they wanted to call home.

After they spent some time in the slums our guide began asking them questions about what he asked them to think about before they entered the village… and I loved hearing them answer because it showed they were really seeing.

I don’t know if this trip has planted a seed for the desire to serve in a foreign land in the hearts of any of these children… but I do pray that at the very least it opened their eyes to their abundance of so many things… so that when they hear of need they would meet it.

Our people must also learn to engage in good deeds to meet pressing needs, so that they will not be unfruitful.

Titus 3:14

Hopefully one day they will at least be able to decide that sending an orphaned child to a school that will teach them the Word of God and providing for their medical needs will be more important than that daily Starbucks stop. Perhaps they won’t grumble and call themselves poor and broke simply because they can’t afford that new car or that satellite upgrade.

Hopefully it was enough to plant a seed of awakening to the needs of others more than their own… Perhaps it will encourage them to be good stewards of the grace of God and His gospel… Perhaps it is a start in the end of the “me generation” and spark for a Psalm 24:6 generation…

This is the generation of those who seek Him,
Who seek Your face…

Psalm 24:6

 

*******

For more info on SIFAT click here: Servants in Faith and Technology

 

Confessions of a Christian Wife, Proven Path Ministries

God Forbid It! (continued)

PPM-3.jpg

Yesterday I wrote a post, God Forbid It!, but time (and already being way over the recommended blog post word count) didn’t allow me to complete my train of thought. Today I hope to come closer to completing it, though probably not, because on this side of eternity and with this finite mind it’s simply impossible to complete any thought on our God, except the thought that He is indeed GOD.

You can read yesterdays full post by clicking the title of it above. I am beginning this post by copy and pasting the ending of the it:

I have learned that before I pray, I am to ask God how I am to pray, because I do not know the greater purpose behind the circumstances.

Our human reaction to suffering is to remove it from ourselves and others as quick as possible… but sometimes, no most of the times, the sufferings are meant to bring us into the very presence of God, because without them, sin and Satan convince us that we don’t need Him…

In the days of His flesh, He offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears to the One able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His piety. Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered. And having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation,

Hebrews 5:7-9

So how we do know what to pray when we are faced with suffering… or we are faced with the suffering of the ones we love?

In the above passage in Hebrews, did you notice how Jesus approached His suffering?

…with loud crying and tears to the One able to save Him from death

Did it sound like Jesus was super duper excited about His sufferings or not concerned about it all?

Absolutely not!

Yes, He is God, but let us not forget He is also the Son of Man. He came to be the answer to all our questions… He came in the flesh so that He would be able to sympathize with everything that we will ever go through. As we consider how to handle suffering and what to pray when faced with suffering, we don’t have to look any further than our Jesus… who came to teach us all things.

In the gospel of Mark we read

And He said to them, “My soul is deeply grieved to the point of death; remain here and keep watch.” And He went a little beyond them, and fell to the ground and began to pray that if it were possible, the hour might pass Him by. And He was saying, “Abba! Father! All things are possible for You; remove this cup from Me; yet not what I will, but what You will.”

Mark 14:34-36

Jesus called out to His Father in heaven and said, “All things are possible for You” He had no doubt that God could keep Him from going through this suffering. ALL THINGS are possible for God. Jesus never had a doubt concerning the authority, power, or ability of God. Jesus knew that God was not up in heaven wringing His hands together, pacing the streets of gold, racking His brain, trying to figure a way out of this mess so that His Son would not have to suffer. Jesus fully knew with absolute certainty that with one thought His Father in heaven could remove this cup from Him. Ability and possibility was never the issue.

The issue was always the will of God.

The soul of Jesus was grieved. He was hurting. The agony of His heart is clearly seen. It has been recorded here for us, I believe, so that we can know that the pain we feel, the grief we experience, the agony that comes from suffering does not mean we doubt our God, nor does it mean we lack faith… it simply means this hurts.

We see this again, as we see our Jesus respond to the suffering of others.

Therefore, when Mary came where Jesus was, she saw Him, and fell at His feet, saying to Him, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.” When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, He was deeply moved in spirit and was troubled, and said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to Him, “Lord, come and see.” Jesus wept. So the Jews were saying, “See how He loved him!”  

John 11:32-36

Jesus saw their weeping and was deeply moved and troubled and He Himself wept. He saw their suffering and it broke His heart. He wept with them… He wept with them KNOWING He was about to raise Lazarus from the dead. The fact that He knew eternal life was coming did not negate the fact the separation of death hurt. And the fact that the separation of death hurt did not mean that Jesus lacked faith or assurance in the resurrection.

Jesus also wept knowing that Mary’s accusation was true. He didn’t rebuke Mary for her words. Jesus did not have to let Lazarus die. However, this was the will of God. He was to die… He was to die because Jesus was to raise him from the dead, so that all who were watching would see the works of God displayed!

Beloved it’s okay to weep. It’s okay to hurt. Death’s separation hurts… and just because it hurts it does not mean that we doubt that those in Christ live even though they die. It doesn’t mean we lack faith. It doesn’t mean we love our God any less… it simply means this hurts.

Jesus rebuked Peter when he said, “God forbid it!” but He did not rebuke Mary when she said, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.” 

So how do we pray and what do we pray?

“Abba! Father! All things are possible for You; remove this cup from Me; yet not what I will, but what You will.”

We pray in faith, knowing that God can do all things, yet we pray in humility and trust, ready to accept His will, even when we don’t understand.

We, here in the States, live in a day when it seems that we should have the means and ability to save everyone from physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual pain. We have a self-help books and universities full of people seeking for the right pill and method to stop suffering. Yes, I believe medications and treatments are gifts from God to help us in this fallen world, but they are not our salvation. God’s word has told us to pray for the sick and the suffering, but let us pray also remembering that suffering is never needless nor is it ever without purpose.

 The sufferings remind us that we are fallen.

The sufferings remind us that we are helpless.

The suffering remind us that we need a Savior.

The sufferings cause us to look out from ourselves.

The suffering allow the works of God to be displayed in us…

Our human reaction to suffering is to remove it from ourselves and others as quick as possible… but sometimes, no, most of the times, the sufferings are meant to bring us into the very presence of God, because without them, sin and Satan convince us that we don’t need Him… 

Sin, suffering, mercy, grace, judgment, joy, love, peace, and everything in between either draws us to the cross of Christ or causes us to run from it… My hope is that no matter what you suffer, or how you see others suffer, this suffering causes you to run to the cross of Christ, to the throne of grace that His suffering made available to all who would come through Him.

Most of all, let us never forget that this world is not our home.

Confessions of a Christian Wife, Proven Path Ministries

God Forbid It!

PPM-3.jpg

 

This world is fallen and full of suffering. The decaying of this earth is evident all around us, even though todays science tries to convince us that the earth started out as decay and has progressed to its current “superiority”. Most of our life’s mission is to remove suffering from mankind. We have decided that with enough education and control we can make this earth a perfect place. We will find the cure for all the effects of sin! We will find a pill to fix all emotional ills, a treatment for all physical ills, a method for all mental ills, and a stage for all spiritual ills. We shall not accept the consequences of sin… or see any purpose in suffering.

Our first reaction to anyone we hear of suffering is usually always the exact same of that of Peter… “God forbid it!”

 

From that time Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day. Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You.” But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but man’s.”

Matthew 16:21-23

Jesus announced that he must go to Jerusalem to suffer… the suffering was in the purpose of God from the beginning. The suffering was the only way to bring salvation to mankind. However, Peter was not on board.

God forbid it!

God forbid that you, the one I love, should ever be mistreated, hurt, or have to suffer in any way. God forbid that you go through any pain. God forbid it. Not you! Peter never even took a moment to let the words of the One He had just pronounced the Christ, the Son of the Living God, sink in. As a matter of fact He rebuked Him. Can you imagine? Peter rebuking the Son of the Living God? Can you just imagine the pain and fear that shot through Peter’s heart as he heard these words of Jesus? It would have to be a pretty emotional moment for him to rebuke his Teacher. This suffering made no sense to him at all. He did not want to see the One he loved suffer. Do any of us?

When we hear of anyone going through any kind of suffering, our first knee-jerk reaction is pull out the Scripture reference a couple of verses above this passage from Matthew 16…

I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.

Matthew 16:19

We start casting out cancer cells, rebuking illness in the name of Jesus, binding the suffering and loosing the healing as if we are God. “God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You.”  Then when the cancer doesn’t listen and the illness remains and the suffering continues we find ourselves questioning our faith, our god, our prayers, and we even find ourselves making excuses for our god… and I use a lower case “g” on purpose in this context.

How does Jesus respond to Peter’s knee-jerk reaction of God forbid it?

 “Get behind Me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to Me; for you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but man’s.”

Get behind me Satan? What? I mean Peter just doesn’t want to see the one he loves suffer… how could that be Satan? Isn’t Satan the one who inflicts and causes all suffering, so someone wanting the opposite of that and keeping that suffering from happening must be on God’s side right?

Not according to God.

”We use a term quite often here in the States, “needless suffering”.

I disagree with this term.

I don’t believe that suffering is ever needless… or purposeless.

We see this fact Biblically in the life of Christ and in the history of the early church. Jesus healed. He made the lame walk, the blind see, the deaf hear. He cleansed the leper, cured the lunatics, and raised the dead. After His death, burial, resurrection, and ascension He sent His apostles out all over the world doing the same to validate their words were His words and their power was His power.

The sufferings remind us that we are fallen.

The sufferings remind us that we are helpless.

The suffering remind us that we need a Savior.

The sufferings cause us to look out from ourselves.

The suffering allow the works of God to be displayed in us.

Suffering is never needless or without purpose.

As He passed by, He saw a man blind from birth. And His disciples asked Him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he would be born blind?” Jesus answered, “It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents; but it was so that the works of God might be displayed in him.

John 9:1-3

Last week during my 9 year old Bekah’s bedtime devo, one of the questions asked was, “What has God done to show His power to you?“

Bekah’s response was quick. She immediately said, “Aunt Tracy and Aunt Phillis. God saved Aunt Tracy and Aunt Phillis has had breast cancer, colon cancer, and now has liver cancer, but God is taking care of her”  

My sister Tracy was in a horrible car accident, she still suffers pain from this accident until this day. My sister-in-law Phillis has been fighting some form of cancer for years and takes regular chemo treatments, but both these women suffer with grace. They still love their God and I dare say they love Him more today than they did before their sufferings began. 

And as a result of their sufferings, when their nine year old niece sees them, she thinks of the glory of God, of the power of God, of the works of God.

For this finds favor, if for the sake of conscience toward God a person bears up under sorrows when suffering unjustly.

1 Peter 2:19

These women didn’t do anything to deserve these sufferings… there was no particular sin that they openly and purposely participated in to bring on these sufferings. They came upon them simply because this world is fallen and sufferings come as a result.

When we look back at the acts of our Christ, think, would these people have ever came to Him had they not been experiencing sufferings? Would those who witnessed their sufferings ever have put forth the effort and energy to get them to Jesus had they not shared in their sufferings as they witnessed them?

No beloved, just because we don’t like suffering, does not mean that is needless or without purpose.

I have learned that before I pray, I am to ask God how I am to pray, because I do not know the greater purpose behind the circumstances.

Our human reaction to suffering is to remove it from ourselves and others as quick as possible… but sometimes, no most of the times, the sufferings are meant to bring us into the very presence of God, because without them, sin and Satan convince us that we don’t need Him…

In the days of His flesh, He offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears to the One able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His piety. Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered. And having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation,

Hebrews 5:7-9

Book Reviews, Children's Ministry, Proven Path Ministries

Is Your Child Manipulating You?

PPM-3.jpg

This is probably one of my most favorite chapters. This is a chapter that I find of utmost importance because it is so easy as a parent to find yourself on the receiving end of it, before you even come close to realizing it.

There are two things that get in my crawl more today than ever before because I fell prey to it often before my eyes were opened and my heart strengthened enough to stand against it… being patronized and being manipulated.

There are some that are very good at this… and there are many I once respected greatly, until I realized this was their trade, and after several interactions, I have forgiven, but no longer trust them.

So knowing how these two tools of getting what we want greatly hurt others, the last thing I want to do is teach my children to do this to others by allowing them to practice and perfect this trade on me.

Our girls try.

Why of course they try… and sometimes had not my husband and I been working together and been very careful to have each others back our girls would have been successful in using manipulation to get their way. It’s easier to see from the outside looking in than when you are caught in the middle of it.

Our girls have never raised their voice to us, but when not taking no for an answer they have resorted to trying to change that no to a yes by pulling out guilt initiating cards. You know, make us feel bad for the no, by throwing in a completly unrelated, “but you said…” Our girls know how much we value keeping our word and how much we value them keeping their word, so trying to make it appear that we have not done so is their favorite tool of manipulation to get what they want.

In this chapter Dr Scott Turansky and Joanne Miller share:

Don’t allow your children to convince you to make changes you know aren’t in their best interest. Furthermore, don’t let them use manipulation to get what they want. Habitual manipulation over time damages relationships. Many adults are manipulative. It’s time to address this dangerous area now, in children, before it develops into a lifelong pattern.

Being able to accept no as an answer is a spiritual skill all people need to learn. A lot of temptation is out there, and children need to learn to say no to themselves in order to stay within appropriate boundaries. Salvation provides a framework for us to know what to say no to. Titus 2:11–12 shares these helpful words, “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say ‘No’

~ The Christian Parenting Handbook (from chapter 30, Don’t Give In To Manipulation)

 

When I wholly surrendered to the Lord, I for the first time had the power, insight, and discernment to say “no”. I could really say no to things that before I could not. The grace of God and the Holy Spirit in me gave me authority that I had never owned before. If our children know the Lord, then they have the power to say “no”. We have to teach them that the grace of God teaches them when to say no. Until they understand this, and especially if our children do not know the Lord, we have to say no for them, and we have to stick to it, because they have not the power within themselves to stick to it.

No matter how many times, or how many different tools our children try to use to get our no turned into a yes, we have to hold our God given parental authority ground.

In this chapter Dr Turansky and Mrs Miller also point out that we need to recognize the difference between perseverance and demandingness. They share that the line has been crossed when children value their issue more than the relationship. When a child yells at a parent or says unkind things because he doesn’t get what he wants, he’s crossed the line.

In this chapter they also point out that badgering, arguing, whining, dramatics, silent treatment, and passive resistance are all tools children use to manipulate their parents into giving them what they want. Our children can be very stubborn and very persistent in their stubbornness… Let us not forget that our beautiful little rays of sunshine are still selfish sin sick creatures.

One thing my husband often tells our girls is, “I promise, you cannot out stubborn me.”

They will try.

We have no doubt they will try.

However, my husband and I are on the same team… and we have been down this road before… we know the tools… we have tried them ourselves on our own parents when we were kids. You see, we are ready to stand together. Yes, that’s right. It’s us against them, yet working with Him, to get us ALL on the same team: The Jesus Team.

You still have time to enter the book giveaway.

And if you miss the giveaway you can order one from here.

And once again if you live anywhere around Somerville AL, join us in January at Shiloh as we go through the book and it’s study guide together.

 

 

Proven Path Ministries

Come Away

PPM-3.jpg

 

…and they reported to Him all that they had done and taught. And He said to them, “Come away by yourselves to a secluded place and rest a while.” (For there were many people coming and going, and they did not even have time to eat.) They went away in the boat to a secluded place by themselves.

Mark 6:30-31

 

I suppose my Father already knew that I would come home crying last Wednesday night, feeling like I was stuck on a hamster wheel, overwhelmed by a world that never seemed to be satisfied. A world where nothing is ever “done”- not the laundry, the dishes, the lists, the budgets, the running, etc. A world where it doesn’t seem to matter what you accomplish there is always something you forgot…

I came home crying, overwhelmed with life and wondering if this was what ministry was really about… I cried as I shared with my husband how I couldn’t even remember the last time I completed a thought without being interrupted with another thought, a rolodex of unending lists constantly running through my brain. I came home crying as I looked at all the time I had invested in planning events that were not even given the effort to be looked into, papers that were printed to be left laying on the floor, lessons and studies planned, typed, printed, and delivered that appeared never even looked at. I saw my families life being planned out and scheduled a year in advance with obligations for others, who could and would take them or leave them, because for them this was just an “option” for their family.

Then, I add on top of these emotions guilt…

Guilt for having these emotions because I know others are struggling with juggling much more than I.

But God is faithful and my Jesus knew where I would be at this time, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually… And so He already had it in place for my family to come away by ourselves, to a secluded place, to rest.

The crazy thing is that I have to fight feeling guilt for this opportunity to rest…

It is just not in my make-up to not DO.

So for the next few days its just me and Jesus, and my man, and my girls. Confirmation given to fight the wave of guilt in my study time this morning that we are right where we need to be to be able to keep doing what God has called our family to do…

As I continued to study in Mark 6:30-44 and also comparing it with Matthew 14:13-21, Luke 9:12-17, John 6:5-15… I found myself underlining

 

in Matthew:

They do not need to go away; you give them something to eat!”

And He said, “Bring them here to Me.” 

He gave them to the disciples, and the disciples gave them to the crowds

 

in Luke:

You give them something to eat!”

and kept giving them to the disciples to set before the people.

in John:

so that nothing will be lost.

and in Mark:

But He answered them, “You give them something to eat!”

Go look!

He kept giving them to the disciples to set before them

 

As I looked at the context of this miracle of Christ, I discovered that it occurred as the Passover drew near… as I looked at what I had underlined along with the context of this miracle and let this all sink in, I begin to realize that this miracle was a beautiful lesson for the disciples of Christ. I realized it had nothing to do with the awesomeness of making five loaves and two fish feed thousands of people’s stomaches and it really had nothing to do with letting the disciples see how powerful their Jesus was.

John the Baptist had just been beheaded for standing for the commands of God and for preaching repentance and the coming of the kingdom of heaven…

And Jesus was about to go to the cross.

He had just blessed this bread and broken it and handed it to His disciples and had them hand it to the crowd.

And very soon He would take bread before His disciples and bless it and break it… and proclaim that this bread was His body… broken for them… for us… for me.

And because He was broken, many would be fed… not physical bread, but the Bread of Life.

And we, His disciples, would be the ones to feed them because that’s the way He designed it to be.

The crowds would come to Him and He would give to us what was needed to feed the crowds.

He would keep giving to the disciples so that the disciples could feed the people.

As His disciples we need to see the need of the crowd, of the people, we are to go and look and see what provisions are available, and we are to bring them  back to Jesus, and place whatever we have into His hands, and trust that He is more than able to supply whatever is needed.

He is more than enough. He kept giving to the disciples then, and He keeps giving to them now.

The disciples are to feed His sheep.

I wonder if Peter was reminded of this event the day that He sat with His resurrected Lord, partaking of fish that Jesus had provided, and maybe also remembering Jesus’ words to him in the beginning… follow Me and I will make you a fisher of men. Did he think on these things as Jesus repeated to him three times that day feed My sheep.

So though last week I was overwhelmed I am reminded today that it is Jesus that keeps giving to me and I then in turn can give to others… the supply only becomes depleted when I, myself, forget to first bring to Him.

Seek first His kingdom…

See them.

Don’t send them away!

Feed them!

Go look!

Bring to Him…

Know that He will keep giving to His disciples so that they can continue to give to others.

Then go behind them and gather up all that remains so that nothing will be lost.

 

 

Children's Ministry, Confessions of a Christian Wife, Proven Path Ministries

Don’t Practice In The Grocery Store

PPM-3.jpg

Don’t Practice in the Grocery Store is the title of chapter 24 in The Christian Parenting Handbook. In this chapter Dr Scott Turansky and Joanne Miller focus on parenting in public. The thing is parenting in public doesn’t begin in public, it begins at home. One of the quotes at the beginning of the chapter is “Kids who haven’t learned how to accept correction at home without a bad attitude will miserably fail the test when they have an audience.” 

They share how “you don’t practice your discipline strategies in the grocery store. That’s the final exam! You practice in the kitchen, bedroom, laundry room, and backyard. Children need to learn how to to handle disappointment at home so they can accept a no answer in the check-out line.”

In this chapter they share this example from Mom and four year old Ricky:

photo (10)

My husband and I can testify to this method.

This is something that was always important in our home. To this day when we call our children’s names, the response from them is “Coming!” It’s not “what” or “why” or “wait a minute” or “let me finish” and it is definitely not no acknowledgment. The only acceptable answer is “Coming!”

There are three words that my husband and I are under firm conviction that our children clearly understand.

Stop

No

Their name.

This was not so we could execute tyrannical fear and power over them, it was because we knew that their ability to immediately respond to these three words could mean their very life. If our girls were chasing a ball out into the street and we yelled “Stop” they had to know to stop! Not ignore us. If our girls were about to stick a wire in a light socket they had to know that when we shouted “No” it meant “No”. If our girls heard us call their name they had to know that this meant come and come now. What if we saw danger approaching and we knew that any change in our demeanor would give away the fact that we knew danger was approaching and we needed that knowledge to remain unknown and we needed our girls by our side immediately? When we called their name they had to know to come to us, regardless of the reason.

I remember how this conviction was even more deeply rooted in me after I walked through the ghetto in Warsaw and through the death camps in Poland. These children’s ability to obey their parents, to be quiet when they said quiet, to come when they called their name, to stop when they said stop, to be accepting when they said no… could mean their life and the life of others.

Just because my family is not fighting a seen enemy does not mean we are not fighting one….

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.

Ephesians 6:11-12

The conviction to these words came from the beginning with our girls. We didn’t baby talk with them. I hear parents quite often look at their little newly mobile children, just now crawling and beginning their adventure into the things of this world, and as they crawl toward danger, the parent picks them up and smiles and giggles as they baby talk to them and say, “No, No, that’s a No, No” and the baby just smiles and giggles back at the parent…

The parent has just made “NO” a game.

No is never a game.

The same thing happens with Stop…

Then they wonder why their now two, or three, or four, or fourteen year old has zero respect for their “No” or “Stop”

Moms and Dads…

 But let your statement be, ‘Yes, yes’ or ‘No, no’; anything beyond these is of evil.

Matthew 5:37

********************************

But above all, my brethren, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath; but your yes is to be yes, and your no, no, so that you may not fall under judgment.

James 5:12

Dr Scott Turansky and Joanne Miller share how we get into relational patterns with our kids. Perhaps you are in the same rut with your kids that Ricky’s Mom was in. This book helps you identify that pattern, then gives you the practical tools you will need to change it. Or maybe you just needed encouragement that you were on the right path in some areas after all. This book will do that as well.

I am telling you, it’s really good stuff!

************************************************************

For those who might not be fully aware of the historical context of the death camps and ghetto mentioned in this post, please know that these camps were initiated  by the German Nazi’s led by Adolph Hitler. I walked through the camps located in Poland in 2006 with the March of Remembrance and Hope:

The March of Remembrance and Hope (MRH) is a program designed for university and college students of all religions and backgrounds. The program takes place in mid-May, and includes a two-day trip to Germany, followed by a five day visit to Poland. The international MRH program was founded in 2001 by Dr. David Machlis of the United States and Eli Rubenstein of Canada, both of whom were involved in the March of the Living program.

During the trip students visit locations in Germany and Poland related to the Holocaust and other World War II genocides, including the site of the Wannsee Conference, and the former concentration/death camps of Auschwitz, Treblinka and Majdanek.

The purpose of the March of Remembrance and Hope is to teach students of various religious and ethnic backgrounds about the dangers of intolerance through the study of the Holocaust and other World War II genocides, and to promote better relations among people of diverse cultures.

Holocaust survivors also participate in the March of Remembrance and Hope program, sharing their painful memories in the very places in which their stories transpired. During the trip, the students also meet one of the Righteous Among the Nations, and learn of the heroic actions a minority of Europe’s population took to resist Nazi tyranny.

Children's Ministry, Confessions of a Christian Wife, Proven Path Ministries

Ideas are Easy

PPM-3.jpg

 

 

As I shared in my last post, It’s Another Giveaway, Dr Scott Turansky and Joanne Miller are offering another special on their book, The Christian Parenting Handbook. In the introduction of this book they share that “Ideas are easy. Implementation is hard, because that’s where things get complicated.”

We are flooded today with books and seminars of ideas and opinions on how to raise our children. Teachers at our children’s school or day care, our friends (or maybe not friends) at church, our extended family, all have their own ideas and methods to share on how we could best raise our children.

So I have to share a quote from a study that I am currently in, Raising Godly Children in an Ungodly World. In the video lesson for this study Ken Ham asks:

Do you know what God’s Word says about raising children? If not, whose methods are you using to raise yours? 

The bottom line is, you are using someone’s methods. So whose is it? Stop for a moment and think and ask yourself…

Why do you make the rules you do?

Why do you allow what you allow?

Why do you discipline the way you discipline?

Why do you discipline what you discipline?

Whose model do you use to form the relationship that you have with your children?

Whose words do you use in a moment of frustration with your child?

Whose words do you use in a moment of praise over your child?

What are you teaching your children through the way you interact with them?

What direction are you leading them?

 

Have you ever sat down and even asked yourself these questions, or are you just trying to survive until bedtime?  Do you even like your children? If not… why not? How much time do you spend comparing your child to others and evaluating your success or failure as a parent on what you think you see in someone else’s family? If you do, how does this effect the way you see yourself and your children?

Do you know what I love about this book?

bookandhandbook

 

 

This book, this study, is designed to help you implement! It is designed to help your individual family implement. Dr .Scott Turansky and Joanne Miller recognize that every child is different and every parent is different and the circumstances in every home are different. However, God’s Word does not change. He does not change. Therefore, He is the only One who can be the solid foundation on which any family can build. In this book we as parents are taught how to take God’s truth, His opinion, and His methods on how to raise our children and implement them in our own individual and unique homes.

This book teaches us how to not just focus on the behavior of our children, but to focus on their hearts… because as our Lord says:

…the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart…

Matthew 15:18

 

One thing I have realized in our world today is that we spend a lot of time covering our kids mouths, hanging our heads in shame when something comes out that is quite embarrassing, or rushing to apologize for what our child just said and telling them that we better never, ever, ever, hear that come out of their mouths again… but in our embarrassment and rush to just get out of the situation, do we ignore what this moment has just revealed about the condition of our child’s heart and the content of their character?

Have we just missed an amazing opportunity given to us by God through the revealing of our child’s heart that we cannot see with our human eyes? Is this a moment gifted to us by the grace and mercy of God for us to take hold of and not let pass by?

A moment when we can clearly see into the heart, mind, and soul of our child.

A moment, an open door, to teach them the things and thoughts and ways of God…

The bottom line is every single one of our kids is born with a sick and deceitful heart (Jeremiah 17:9), not a one our kids escaped this heart condition. Not a one. They all need Christ. They all need teaching, training, reproof, correction, encouragement, love, and grace…

I remember once in Children’s Church I had a young man upset and in tears because he felt someone had lied to him and not kept their word to him. In his tears he was plotting his revenge on what he was going to do to get back at them. I then remembered some of the tools I had learned from this book, and I remained calm, and took the young man’s face in my hands. I looked him in the eyes and told him that I understood that he was hurt and upset, but God tells us that we should not return evil with evil, but we should return evil with good. I shared with him, that he may not have all the information, and maybe this was not that this person had lied, but maybe they just had made plans before they knew what their family was doing that day. He shook his head and wiped the tears from his eyes with the back of his hand and walked out the door to head to the sanctuary. After I had gathered all the other children and got them seated I sat down beside this young man. He then turned to me and said, Mrs Nicole, I am going to take their things that are in the tree house and clean them all up for them, so when they are able to come everything will be ready.

I was so proud of him!

So moms and dads, let’s not shake our heads and say, I can’t…  

Let us instead fix our eyes on the One who says, YOU CAN!, and get up and fight for the hearts of our children. I believe that the Word of God can work! Do you?

 

 

*** If you are in the North Alabama area my church will begin studying through this book in January on Sunday nights at 5pm. You are welcome to join us!

 

 

 

 

 

 

The writing and teachings of Nicole Love Halbrooks Vaughn