This is our fundamental calling as parents — to be the smile of God to our children. We are charged by God to bring our children up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. God himself has commanded us to communicate to our children what he is like. And God is fundamentally a Happy Father, a Well-Pleased Parent. And just as the Father communicates his delight in his Son through his words and deeds and demeanor and presence, so also should we.

~ Be the Smile of God to Your Children

I read this post a while back and I was reminded about how important it is for us to speak truth and love and hope into our children… and not just our children but into all people.

I have been in hard place for a while… a place of complaint… aggravation… frustration… and just wanting to shake some people… sometimes…well many times God has to bring me through this cycle to get me into a new place of growth. If you follow my posts you will see the trend.

I was watching the show Wipeout with my twelve year old last night and one of the challenges was this rotating maze. The Wipeout person had to jump into this rotating maze and they spent anywhere from 2 minutes to 15 minutes bouncing around in this contraption until they were able to get their wits about them enough to find the exit and jump out of it. However, they jumped out this challenge, just to land face to face with another one that was ready to try and knock them out of the game. Life is a lot like Wipeout.

I have found myself in times that felt like I was stuck in one of those rotating mazes. I think, in all honesty, I just recently found my way out of my latest. It’s real easy in this day of constant media to get focused on all the things that stir up frustrations… and before you know it you are wrapped up in this thought cycle of negativity and grumbling… and in this place it is easy to forget the power that the darkness has on those who are walking in it. Forgetting the power of the darkness causes you to forget that apart from Christ we are all powerless… and not just powerless, but flat out dead. It also causes us to forget that those who might even have Christ but are currently walking in darkness are blinded and deceived and yes, quite possibly even deceiving.

Many times our reaction to those walking in the darkness is anger or just flat out befuddlement. In this reaction we also forget that we battle 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 6:12) 

Our earthly struggles are actually heavenly battles… which means to have victory in the earthly struggle we have to win the heavenly battle and to win the heavenly battle we have to take the fight to the heavens and the only way we can take the fight to the heavens is on our knees in and through and by and with Christ.

And He said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see the heavens opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”

Luke 1:51

The darkness wants us to fight the darkness with more darkness which actually strengthens the hold of the darkness… but we must fight the darkness with light. Fighting with the light fights in two ways. One, the darkness hates the light and will flee from it. Two, light added to light only brightens and strengthens the light.

God saw that the light was good;

and God separated the light from the darkness.

Genesis 1:4

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This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you,

that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.

1 John 1:5

In Him there is no darkness… None…not a single shadow.

It never ceases to blow my mind that this God of no darkness, of not even a shadow, willingly comes and resides within the darkness of this flesh of ours, stepping into the deepest recesses of our mind and diving down into the darkest depths of the pits of our soul… just to create in us a clean and pure heart that is finally able to fellowship with Him. No nook or cranny is off limits to Him… He wants to shine His light in every dark place within us. He comes in with the light calling us to the Light…

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;

1 Peter 2:9

We are here on this earth, and while here it can feel like we are being thrown in one Wipeout contraption after another… but what we have is this amazing opportunity, for while in the race, what we do have is access to the One who is seeing the whole course laid out and knows exactly the way through the maze and past and through every crazy deceptive imagination set up to knock us out… He is there cheering us on and giving us direction and encouragement and strength and hope… if we will just be still long enough to be steadied by Him and allow Him to get our wits about us.

If we who are walking in the Light would remember how warm the smile of God is… and be willing to smile His light upon others… have you ever noticed how a face will light up when it carries a smile? Oh that we would reflect His glory and that others could behold His glorious light through His face shining upon ours…

The Lord bless you, and keep you;

Smile, precious one, because He loves you.

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