Deborah was a Judge in Israel over 3,000 years ago. She has the distinction of being the only Judge of whom nothing negative is said by the Holy Spirit. Here are three character qualities that all of us can learn from her. Trust in God’s Word Deborah trusted God’s word for what it was. Her faith was strong, even when the men of Israel wavered. Barak failed to trust the word of the Lord and demanded Deborah go with him into battle. Deborah was not afraid to challenge Barak with his lack of faith. This showed Deborah’s courage and trust in God. She was not intimidated by male leadership that dishonored God. This a quality that our daughters must learn […]
Fear of the Lord
61 posts
The sky displays the glory of God. You can see the amazing power of God in the sky each day. But most of us are too busy to take much notice of the daily display of the glory of God. Vacations are more likely opportunities to notice the work of God above. But what about Monday morning? What about today? Moms, Dads, kids, teenagers—all of us will be encouraged if we will just look at the power of God on display above us. This day and every day God declares his majesty in the skies. Psalm 19:1 tells us this is so: The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. The photo in […]
Psalms 111 and 112 both focus on the fear of the Lord. Both psalms have the same acrostic poetic structure. Therefore, it is important to see the connection between the end of Psalm 111 and the beginning of Psalm 112. The end of 111 says that the fear for Lord brings wisdom and the beginning of 112 says the fear of the Lord brings joy or happiness. Wisdom and joy are two good things that you want for your children! The Psalms are built on one great foundational truth: God rules over the earth. Blessed or joyful is the man turns away from the world and delights in the law of God. The appropriate fear of God must always come […]
Jesus tells us in Matthew 7 that regardless of whether one is rich or poor, wise or unwise, prepared or unprepared, young or old, the storms of life will come. These storms come in many forms. Last night the storm of terror swept over Nice, France. There is outrage, sadness and fear. Once again, the question is asked: “Why is this happening?” The answer is that we live in a sin-cursed world. We are told we can be safe. Yet we are shocked to find out there is no safety. We believe we can protect ourselves. We believe that we are entitled to safety and peace. But we are being rudely awakened to the reality that these beliefs are a lie. […]
The lights are out. Something moves on the wall. There is a sudden, unexpected sound. A scary image flashes on the screen of your child’s mind. Next comes the familiar cry, “Mommy, I’m scared.” You enter your child’s room and ask what’s wrong. The weepy answer that you have heard many times before comes once again, “I don’t know. I’m just afraid. Don’t leave.” What do you do? The first thing to recognize is that there usually is not a response you can make at this moment that will magically make everything okay for your child. So, in the moment you comfort your child, pray with her and offer your assurances that she is safe. Often this means staying with […]
The leaders of the G20 nations met and observed a moment of silence regarding the terrorist attack in Paris. At the beginning of each of Sunday’s NFL games there was also a moment of silence for Paris. Tragically, the main purpose of a moment of silence is not to offend anyone who does not believe in Christianity. Everyone can feel included. However, nothing is accomplished except to ignore and offend the Lord of the Universe. It was not always so. In 1944, Franklin Roosevelt led the nation in prayer for the Allied Forces for success on D Day against the “unholy forces of our enemy.” He began the prayer by addressing Almighty God and ended the prayer by asking that […]
In his first epistle, the apostle John speaks of the world as a hostile place. This hostility, however, is masked by deception. The world does not present itself as a hostile enemy. Rather, the world offers itself as the ultimate source of pleasure, fulfillment and satisfaction. The success of this deception is evident in the lives of many children from Christian homes who have been savaged by the world. Too many have repeated the cry of Proverbs: “Afterward you will groan in anguish when disease consumes your body, and you will say, “How I hated discipline! If only I had not demanded my own way! Oh, why didn’t I listen to my teachers? Why didn’t I pay attention to those […]
The world is a scary place. Life is full of things that you and I cannot control. You cannot will your children to safety. You cannot wish cancer away. You cannot remove the drunk driver from the road. You cannot force world leaders to be wise and responsible. You cannot stop dangers on the playground or even in your backyard. You cannot stop the hurricane or earthquake. In short, you cannot eliminate the things that bring fear in this life. Even in scary times, God calls you to trust him. Here is what the Holy Spirit says to you from Psalm 56: When I am afraid, I will trust in you. In God, whose word I praise— in God I […]
The narrative of King Jehoshaphat and King Ahab in 2 Chronicles 18 provides insight into the dynamics of peer pressure. When you or your children yield to peer pressure you are, in effect, dividing your loyalties between God and man. This double-mindedness simply does not work. It results in decision making that is foolish. Many sins that young people become entangled with begin when they yield to peer pressure. This story of King Jehoshaphat demonstrates that young people are not the only ones susceptible to this problem. Jehoshaphat should have realized that forming an alliance with Ahab was extremely unwise, even stupid! When Jehoshaphat declared allegiance to Ahab he became more concerned with pleasing Ahab than pleasing God. To illustrate […]
Too often we cover our backsides with intentions. We intend to love, so we tend to ignore the impact of our actions. For example: “I am so sorry I got angry with you. It is just that I love you so much and I know that what you did will be bad for you. I just needed to get your attention right away.” Hint, your child is not buying this. A decision was made to replace love with anger. But, you may protest, that was not my intention! However, intentions are not safe guides unless they are informed by Scripture. This is why the Bible does not define love by a state of mind or by intent. Love is defined […]