I Am Resolved

I love contemporary Christian music. In fact, that’s about all I listen to. As I have mentioned several times, I am a child of the 60’s and 70’s, which is when that genre of music first got its start. However, I grew up with a dad who always sang bass in a Southern Gospel quartet and in a Baptist church that instilled the richness and history of the great hymns. So, I am eclectic when it comes to religious music – I enjoy them all.

 

I had not thought about one of my favorite hymns in a long time until I recently began studying the life of the Old Testament hero, Daniel. “I Am Resolved” popped into my head as soon as I read verse 8 of Daniel 1. The ESV says, “But Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the king’s food, or with the wine that he drank….”

Immediate flashback:

I am resolved no longer to linger, charmed by the world’s delight; things that are higher, things that are nobler, these have alluded my sight. I will hasten to him, hasten so glad and free, Jesus, greatest, highest, I will come to Thee.

 

I loved the marching beat and the bass repeats in the chorus – my dad’s part! And I loved the words, the message. But like I said, I hadn’t thought of that hymn in years! Until…..I read that Daniel resolved…..

For background and context, let’s look at Daniel’s backstory. From the first seven verses of Chapter 1, we learn several important facts about him. He was a devout Jew from the nobility or royal class in the southern kingdom of Judah. As the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar won victory over Judah and caused the eventual fall of Jerusalem, Daniel and three close friends were taken captive, along with others, and taken to Babylon. Theologians agree that these young men were 15 to 16 years old when taken. Scripture tells us he was very handsome, highly intelligent, physically fit, and very devout in his faith. Daniel and his friends were just the kind of young adults King Nebby wanted. Once he broke their faith and allegiance to their God, he would put them to work in his very sophisticated society steeped in history, science, mathematics, architecture, and engineering. Babylon was the most dominant, advanced, and powerful kingdom in the world at that time in history. The king always took the best and brightest from the kingdoms he conquered to continue to build his empire – and to keep them from rising up against him.

The King’s formula for all these talented young men captured and brought under his thumb was the same. They were stripped of their Jewish names and renamed with Babylonian names, most of which were in reference to one of the Babylonian gods, they were isolated from other captives not in this same course of training, and they underwent an intense education for three years. Their academic program included learning a new language, mathematics, astronomy, history, science, and magic. In effect, the king’s goal was to strip them of all things Jewish and remake them (or brainwash) in all things Babylonian. The king put Ashpenaz, the chief of his officials, in charge of this academy, and one slip up on his part, and it would be off with his head! Everything about their lives was controlled by Ash, even down to their diet.

Food! Of all things going on, it seems (to us, at least) that food would be the least of their worries. However, that was where Daniel and his three friends drew the line! You see, in their Jewish faith, food played an important part in obedience to the Lord God. He had put forth certain laws pertaining to the kinds of food they could consume and how those foods were to be prepared. Eating forbidden foods or defiled food made one unclean, and thus, unclean to God. For Old Testament believers in Almighty God, that was the ultimate worst thing – to be unacceptable to Him.

So Daniel resolved…But Daniel made up his mind that he would not defile himself with the king’s choice food or with the wine which he drank; so he sought permission from the commander of the officials that he might not defile himself. Daniel 1:8 NAS

Have you ever come to that point in life where enough is enough! Where you think, “I cannot do this, cannot go there, cannot cross that line!”? Maybe you’ve been pushed, maybe swayed, or maybe just plain out tempted, and you given in bit by bit until you decide it’s now or never; time to draw the line. Take a stand for what you know is right; what you know is honoring to the Lord Jesus.

Time to be RESOLVED. No longer to linger, charmed by the world’s delights….

 

Reflections of Motherhood - Part 3

This is the third of three posts about God’s plan for Motherhood. To catch up, please read Part 1 and Part 2.

“Mother means selfless devotion, limitless sacrifice, and love that passes understanding.”

Previously, I wrote that Motherhood is a gift from God in which we GET to participate with Him in the creation of life. The over-arching responsibility of Motherhood is for Moms to be imitators of Christ in all aspects of parenting. This has the most eternal effect on our children.  It is easy to pray for and love our children when they are young, but parenting takes on difficult challenges when those children reach the age when they begin thinking for themselves, being influenced by the culture we live in, and making decisions to live contrary to what we’ve taught and believe is honoring to God. However, the words of 1 Corinthians 13 rings so very true in those tough times:

Love is patient and kind; it does not demand its own way; it keeps no record of being wronged; it never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance. (vv 4-7 NLT)

Yes, indeed, Motherhood is God’s gift to us! But in this last reflection, I want to propose the idea that Motherhood is OUR gift to our children. Let’s think about that for a few minutes.

Motherhood’s gift to our children

What do you do with a treasured gift? If you are like me, you do something special with it or put it in a special place of honor. Your children are the most special gift you will ever receive, so how do we reciprocate that kind of gift? By honoring them. The most honoring thing you can do for your children is to pray for them fervently just as Jesus prayed for His disciples and for future believers (that’s us!) in John 17:6-24. He prayed that they and us would grow and mature spiritually and be protected from the evil one.

If we are going to be imitators of Christ, we must also pray that our children/grandchildren find salvation, grow spiritually mature, and be protected from the devil who prowls about like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. (1 Peter 5:8)

We never stop parenting, and we should never stop praying fervently for our children. Eph. 6 tells us that the most powerful offensive weapon we have is the Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. Put those two things together, and you have the same power that breathed life into existence. Praying the Word of God.

So whatever phase of life your children are in, from living a life pleasing to the Father, or living a life trying to ride the spiritual fence, or living in outright rebellion to God’s plan, praying scripture over them is unleashing the very power of Creation! 

For spiritual grow and maturity, pray Philippians 1:9-11:

And this I pray, that (child’s name) love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment, so that you may approve the things that are excellent, in order to be sincere and blameless until the day Christ returns.

For protection from the evil one and for restoration, pray the Armor of God on your child/grandchild.

Father, let _____________ be strong in You, and in the strength of Your might. Put on her/him the full armor of God that she/he may be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. Lord, hold her/him tight with the belt of Truth. You are the Truth; help _______ to hold fast to you and not be afraid. Dress her/him with the breastplate of righteousness – search her/his heart, protect her/his heart, and fill it heart with right motives and emotions. Place on her/him the shoes of the gospel of peace. Where ever she/he goes, let her/him go in the spirit of peace and be ready to share Your salvation with those she/he meets. Place in her/his hands the shield of faith that it might deflect the flaming missiles of the evil one. Through faith, let her/him carry out Your purpose and claim the victory that You have already won. And Father, put on _________the helmet of salvation. Remind her/him who she/he belongs to and not let her/him listen to the whispers of Satan. Protect her/his mind from falsehoods and self-defeating thoughts. Transform her/his mind into the mind of Christ as she/he goes about daily life. Finally, Father, let her/him carry the Sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Bring to mind the verses needed for comfort, courage, and battle against Satan. Let her/him remember Your word and claim it as she/he faces the temptations of Satan. Your word says that You have given Your angels charge concerning her/him, to guard and protect in all ways. Thank You for building a hedge of protection around her/him. Finally, I know whom I have believed and I am convinced that You are able to guard what I have entrusted to You until that day when you return. I entrust _______________ to You.

Eph. 6:10-20; Ps. 91:11; 2 Tim. 1:12

Yes, Motherhood is a gift – one that can and will fill our hearts to the bursting point one minute, and will hurt our hearts to the breaking point the next.

Our children are God’s best gift to us. As moms we have a special purpose in God’s plan for this world. And as moms, we have a tremendous responsibility to train our children when they are young and continue to pray for them until we die. Let it be said that the best gift you ever gave your children was a mom who prayed, prays and will be praying fervently for them until your last breath.

“Mother means selfless devotion (to prayer), limitless sacrifice (praying at all times), and love that passes understanding (prayer will bring understanding to both).”

 

Reflections of Motherhood - Part 2

The Gift of the Prodigal Child

This is the second of three posts about God’s plan for Motherhood. See Reflections on Motherhood Part 1 http://heartjourneydebbie.blogspot.com/

·         “Mother means selfless devotion, limitless sacrifice, and love that passes understanding.”

Previously, I stated that Motherhood is a gift from the Father in which we GET to participate with Him in the creation of life. It comes with tremendous responsibilities, of which, being an imitator of Christ in all aspects of parenting has the most eternal effect on our children. It is very easy to discuss the virtues and blessings of Motherhood. However, an often neglected issue, especially in the church, is what to think and do when a child decides to live life in a way that is not honoring to the Lord. That is what I call the elephant in the room.

That elephant is the Prodigal Child. And some of you reading this are mothers of prodigals. I speak to you from a heart full of empathy. And I want you to know that Romans 8:28 still applies:

·         And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose for them.

I am asking you to stretch your mind and your heart to the idea that a prodigal child is also a gift from the Father.

No one wants this kind of gift. In fact, it is the kind that feels like a slap in the face, that causes us to ask “Why?” “Why us, our family? I know I haven’t been a perfect mom, but I’ve tried, I’ve taken my children to church; I’ve modeled Christ-like behavior and attitudes; I taught my children to pray and take their needs to Jesus; I even led my children to know the Lord!”

Then our pride takes over, “I am embarrassed, ashamed and feel guilty about the choices my son or daughter has made!” “I sure don’t need to be a leader at church or teach SS; no telling what people are saying about us behind our backs.”

Then the enemy whispers, “I guess your relationship with the Lord isn’t what you thought it was or this wouldn’t have happened.” And you feel that God has let you down!

I think I have said enough to paint the picture of what can happen and many times does happen when a believer’s child decides to rebel against the family values you’ve instilled and against the Lord. That’s when feelings of anger, bitterness, and rejection are primed to take root in our hearts if we are not on guard.

As I stated, you may be one of those moms, or you know moms to whom this has happened. And you may know moms who are no longer involved in church or Bible study because they have a prodigal.

First, let me say this with utmost conviction: Shame on the church who shuns the family of a prodigal and or the prodigal. And shame on any believer who is a Pharisee in sheep’s clothing and doesn’t love on and pray for that family and their child. How will that person who is enslaved in Satan’s chains ever get free if those that are supposed to love him, pray for him, treat him like Jesus would treat him, turns their back and treats him like a leper?

That’s not being imitators of Christ. So how would Christ treat the elephant in the room? We have only to look to the passage in John 4 where Jesus met the women at the well.

You know the story:

·         It was the middle of a hot day at Jacob’s well, which was in Samaria. Jews didn’t like to go through Samaria, but Jesus did. The disciples had gone into town to get food and left Jesus alone at the well.

·         A woman came to the well at this odd time – probably to avoid the gossip and looks of the other women who came at the normal times. She was an outcast – especially by the religious!

·         Jesus asks her for a drink. She asks why He is asking her….she’s a Samaritan and a woman.

·         Jesus tells her that if she knew who He was she would be asking Him for living water which will spring up to eternal life.

·         She asks for that water and Jesus tells her to call for her husband. She had to admit she had no husband. But Jesus already knew that. Then He tells her about herself. She had been married five times and was living with another man at the time.

·         She is amazed by Him and believes in Him. She is so excited that she drops her water pot and runs into town to tell others. She brings dozens back with her to meet Jesus.

·         She was a prodigal, living a sinful lifestyle, but Jesus sought her out! He offered her salvation and love and acceptance. And it changed her life!

·         He accepted her – not her sin.

That’s how moms of prodigals and the church, individually and corporately, should treat our wayward ones. Loving on and embracing the person, but not the sin. Unfortunately, we do not always do a good job at this.

Now, Mom, what do you do when you are struggling with those feelings of defeat, guilt, anger, bitterness, shame? How do you respond to your child that has strayed?

The Bible gives us instruction in the parable of the Prodigal Son. Luke 15:11-32

Do what the father did. Again, you know this familiar story.

·         The younger son was rebellious and asked for his inheritance, which the father gave him. REBELLION

·         He left home to live life his way.

·         He squandered his money – probably on high living and prostitutes.

·         Completely broke and homeless, he hired himself out to a farmer who put him to work feeding the pigs (that’s irony for a Jew!)

·         He realized that his father’s servants were better fed and taken care of than he, so he decided to return home and ask forgiveness and ask to be one of the hired hands. (REPENTENCE)

·         The father sees him coming and runs to embrace him. (RESTORATION)

o   The father had been watching and waiting for the son to return.

o   As a devout Jew, he had been faithfully praying for this son to be restored.

o   He felt compassion for the son and began running to meet him.

o   He didn’t even let the son finish asking for forgiveness.

o   He celebrated the son and his return.

o   He didn’t ask questions or give a lecture that he had come to his senses!

o   He accepted his son and didn’t hold anything against him.

Obviously, this is a picture of man’s separation from God and God’s forgiveness and mercy when he turns his life over to the Father. We are to be imitators.

If your prodigal has returned, bless you! God has answered prayers and worked His power. Celebrate his return and hold no grudges, no “if only’s”, show the grace and mercy demonstrated by this father.

If your prodigal has not returned, bless you! God IS working to restore him, to bring him to his senses. Do as this father did – watch and wait patiently, never neglecting to pray with thanksgiving for that celebration day that is to come. Do NOT let anger, pride, shame, guilt or bitterness take root in your heart. Those attitudes will rob you of your joy, and your eyesight will be clouded – you may miss the opportunity to celebrate your child.

So, why is having a prodigal a gift? It is a gift that, if you’ll let it, will help make you more like Jesus.

James 1:2-4 – When troubles of any kind come your way, consider it a sheer gift, an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.

God will use everything in your life, from the joys to the storms, to help mold you into the woman of God He purposed you to be. That includes wayward children and the choices they make. Whenever I focus on poor choices my children make, I see nor feel any joy. But when I focus on what God wants to do in my life through those choices, I can get excited! And when I pray with thanksgiving for my children, I can focus on the grand celebration that is going to take place when they allow God to have first place in their lives once again.

We looked at Motherhood as God’s gift to us. But Motherhood is also our greatest gift we can give our children. More on that next time.

 

Reflections on Motherhood - Part 1

This is the first of three posts about God's plan for Motherhood.

The Gift of Motherhood

I didn't want to begin with a dictionary-type definition of Mother, so as I was browsing through various articles and devotionals, I found the description that seemed to be a good overall summary of that word.

• “Mother means selfless devotion, limitless sacrifice, and love that passes understanding.”

From the time they are toddlers, most girls think about becoming mommies. They “mother” their dolls, their puppy dogs, and their younger siblings. As they grow older, they dream about their future children – how many, what sex, what names. Then, for most, that day finally comes when that tiny new life is put into her arms, and the enormity of the responsibility of motherhood begins to set in.

Let’s think about the idea of that innate nurturing need and the biological need to be a mom. Now to be fair, not every female has a strong sense of nurturing. I didn’t like dolls all that much when I was a little. I was much happier playing cowboys and Indians, cops and robbers, and army maneuvers than dressing a doll and pushing a toy baby carriage. But when I did become a mom, that nurturing thing kicked in. That sense of nurturing and the biological need to have children is a God-planted seed in us placed there in the very first woman, Eve, and passed down throughout generations to us.

Non-believing scientists will tell us that it is simply nature’s way of propagating the human race. And it is – with a twist. The twist being God – it is His way of continuing the humanity He first created.

With that spiritual twist, we see that motherhood, parenthood, is much more.

Motherhood is a gift from the Father of life!

·     Psalm 127:3-5 – Don’t you see that children are God’s best gift? The fruit of the womb His generous legacy? Like a warrior’s fistful of arrows are the children of a vigorous youth. Oh, how blessed are you parents, with your quivers full of children! (MSG)

And besides continuing the human race, He gives us the gift of children to teach us about the character of God.

We learn about who God is through those parental, familial relationships. The fruit of the Spirit listed in Gal. 5 is a snapshot of God’s character – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Those words are all nouns – things. God is love; God is peace; God is patience, etc.

·     Eph. 5:1 – Imitate Christ, therefore, in everything you do, because you are His dear children.

If we are to be imitators of Christ, WE are to be love; WE are to be peace; WE are to be patience, etc. All of those take on a deeper meaning when one becomes a mom. As we understand what it is to love someone enough that we would give our lives for her/him, we begin to understand the Father’s great love for us. As we understand the patience it takes to teach a little one right from wrong, we begin to understand the patience the Father has for us as we continue to miss the mark of what He desires for us.

The other aspect of being imitators of Christ is that legacy part of Psalm 127. Just as Jesus taught the twelve disciples about God and prayed for and with them, we are called to do the same with our children. That is our legacy. Leading our children to salvation and a life lived by faith.

·     2 Timothy 1:5 – (Jesus writing to young Timothy) I remember your genuine faith, for you share the faith that first filled your grandmother Lois and your mother, Eunice. And I know that same faith continues strong in you.

That is a legacy of faith!

All of us know mothers in all stages of motherhood.

Some are young, not very far along on their journey. Hopefully, they are hearing some wise words about how God wants them to parent – By being an imitators of Christ, asking themselves and Him what He would do in various situations they find themselves in as parents.

Some facing the empty nest, hoping they've prepared their children for independence, making their own decisions and choices. Hopefully, they are hearing that they never stop modeling Christ-like behavior and attitudes. And they never stop praying fervently for their children.

Some have nests have been empty a long time. Their children are adults with families, jobs, and responsibilities of their own. Hopefully, they are watching the fruit of their labor (their legacy) live successful and God-honoring lives. But even in those later years, parents are to continue to be imitators of Christ. That means they continue to live and model Christ-like behavior and attitudes, and most importantly, continue to pray fervently for their children and now their grandchildren.

Many Christians would stop there and think this been a good uplifting message to mothers around Mother’s Day. But that would be ignoring the elephant in the room. However, I am led to write a word about that elephant and to the mothers of those elephants.

That will be posted in Part 2 of this 3 part series on Reflections on Motherhood.

For now, remember that Motherhood is a gift from the Father in which we get to participate with Him in the creation of life. It comes with tremendous responsibilities, of which, being an imitator of Christ in our home has the most eternal effect on our children.