One day some parents brought their children to Jesus so he could touch and bless them. But the disciples scolded the parents for bothering him. When Jesus saw what was happening, he was angry with his disciples. He said to them, “Let the children come to me. Don’t stop them! For the Kingdom of God belongs to those who are like these children. I tell you the truth, anyone who doesn’t receive the Kingdom of God like a child will never enter it.” Then he took the children in his arms and placed his hands on their heads and blessed them. Mark 10:13-16
Great is the Lord, and highly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable. One generation shall praise Your works to another and shall declare Your acts. Psalm 145:3-4
Love the Lord, all his faithful people! The Lord preserves those who are true to him, but the proud he pays back in full. Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the Lord. Psalm 31:23-24
Today's thoughts from today's verses:
Today is week two of a five-week devotional series entitled, “Marriage, Family, and Beyond.” We have just recently celebrated Mother’s Day and Father’s Day is just around the corner. So, it seems fitting to provide such a series as this. This series is for people building toward marriage, married couples, and those whose marriages didn’t work out. It is for those who hope to have children, have children, and those without children (or raised children) who seek to bless the children in the sphere of their lives. It is for all of us who want to be better equipped to bless the next generation by being people of faith who pass their faith forward. It is for all of us who want to be kingdom people with great relationships in all areas of life including the church, the family, the neighborhood, the workplace, and the world (marketplace).
We hope the “Marriage, Family, and Beyond” devotional series will encourage you, challenge you, and guide you as you seek to walk with God in these all-important areas of life. The series is a compilation of separate weeks of Devotional material. They were selected and put together because they all contribute very nicely to this emphasis. This series has five weeks of Devotional material with two weeks having six Devotionals and three having five.
Week One: Marriage for a Lifetime. Week Two: Raising Kids to Live Fully. Week Three: Passing Our Faith to the Next Generation. Week Four: God’s Faith Filled People. Week Five: The Stewardship of Relationships. We begin Week Two, Raising Kids to Live Fully, with the following:
When it comes to raising kids, what most of us really want in the end is to have them grow up to know, love, and live for God fully. If you are looking for a formula that makes that happen easily, neatly, and thoroughly, it does not exist. The pursuit of raising godly kids is as hard as it gets, is very messy, and offers little certainty or finality. However, God’s presence, guidance, strength, and comfort can be counted on completely as we stay faithful to the task. Faithfulness has its own reward and as a reward it is ample and often very loosely connected with results. This is a good thing for several reasons: (1) the results anticipated are not always realized; (2) the results anticipated may not be in accord with the actual task to which we need to be faithful and contribute to our settling for much less than we should; (3) even when the results anticipated come about and are the result of our faithfulness to the task, our kids may not recognize it as such even to the point of viewing the good spot they have gotten to as having come about in spite of our efforts. Results are God’s doing. Our job is to stay close to God throughout the journey, seek His guidance for the task, rely upon him for strength and enabling, and experience His deep comfort in all our faithful efforts. This is what helping our kids to know, love, and live fully for God is really all about and this is the focus of this week’s Devotionals.
Today's prayer response from today's thoughts:
Lord, I get it. When I consistently experience your presence, guidance, strength, and comfort in my life, I will be living fully. When I live fully, I will be faithfully helping my kids to live fully. To this end help me to be faithful and all the while help me to leave the results in your capable hands, Lord. Amen!
