Are Your Children Ready for the Real World?

Jenny grew up in church. She went to Sunday School every week, was active in the youth ministry, and even considered becoming a missionary for a while.
Now Jenny is twenty-two, pregnant, living with her college boyfriend, and she has left her faith and her church behind.

What happened?

As Christian parents, we want our kids to be able to face anything the world can throw at them, anything Satan can send their way. But statistics tell us that almost 60% of faithful church-going kids leave their faith behind once they are eighteen years old. Jenny’s story above is played out every day in America.

Does this mean Sunday schools and youth ministries are failing our youth? Unfortunately, the answer isn’t that easy. We live in a world of professional ministers and professional ministries. Because of this, many parents are leaving their children’s spiritual development to the professionals.

God leaves it up to YOU.

Train up your child in the way he should go... is not a command for the church ministries (though they can be an incredibly valuable resource to help).  What your kids really need is you leading them spiritually – and family devotions can play a huge part in this.

Why do many parents not lead their children in family devotions?

It’s not that they don’t care. Usually it is for one of three reasons:

1.       We didn't know we were supposed to.

2.      We didn't know how.

3.      We didn't have time to prepare.

EZ Family Devotions can help. Subscribe to find out more. 

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What Would Jesus Say To You?

The man spoke with authority, as if he knew the author of the book personally. People weren’t used to that. Most of their teachers were detached, unsure and unconvincing, not this man.

Many who heard didn’t know what to make of his words. His words challenged the status quo, ruffled feathers, stepped on toes. But he spoke with such conviction it was hard not to believe him, or at least want to hear him speak again. Unless you were the status quo, then you were just mad. The religious elite drove him away, pushing him out of town.

But he spoke with such power, the people followed. Multitudes moving through the wilderness shadowed the speaker. His voice pierced their ears. His words pricked their hearts. And they followed.

It was not just his words, but his works that amazed them. He healed the sick and gave sight to the blind. He made leprosy leave, demons depart and cripples dance.

When he looked at them – people with problems, pain, bad attitudes, bad marriages, secrets too dark to ever share – it was with tenderness. When he reached out to touch their dusty, dirty, broken bodies, it was with love.  And when he spoke to them, he spoke with such compassion.

Those who drove him out of the city were arrogant, spiteful, sinful people. Those who followed him into the wild were also. The difference was all in the choice they made. Those who follow the teacher find forgiveness, compassion, healing and hope.

Oh, and when he spoke, he spoke to you too. 

Family Thought:

Too often we make God out to be the big guy who's going to catch our children if they do something wrong. "God is watching..." And He is, but we need to make sure our kids know God isn't looking to squash them. He wants them to be obedient because He love them, and wants them to love Him. 

How Can You Be Sure God Cares

Now when John heard in prison about the deeds of the Christ, he sent world by his disciples and said to him, “Are you the one who is to come, or shall we look for another?” (Matthew 11:2-3)

As Mary entered Elizabeth’s home, John the Baptist, still in his mother’s womb, leapt for joy. As a fetus, he recognized the coming of the Messiah – who was still in his mother’s womb also. He couldn’t see the Savior, didn’t hear his voice, yet, somehow, he knew.

Though they were cousins, there is no evidence John and Jesus ever met until they were adults. Thirty years after John leapt in the womb, he recognized the Messiah again. “The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, ‘Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.’” (John 1:29)

Jesus wasn’t wearing an “I AM” t-shirt. He didn’t have a golden halo of light around his head. But still, John knew.

If John had any doubt – which he didn’t – God would have dispelled it. The Spirit descended on Jesus in the form of a dove, and the confession of the Father’s love came from above. John knew Jesus was the Savior.

But there came a moment, a time of desperation. Doubt crept in. John had ticked off the king and was in prison. He wasn’t going back home.

During this dark minute, John needed assurance. So, he sent his disciples to Jesus for a final confirmation. “Are you the one?”

Jesus could have responded with, “Oh you of little faith. How can you doubt? You watched the dove descend. You heard the voice of my Father call me his Son. What more do you need?”

But he didn’t.

Instead, Jesus had compassion, and used a Messianic passage from the book of Isaiah to help John’s disciples see that Jesus was the one. “Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight, and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, and the dead are raised up, and the poor have the good news preached to them.” (compare to Isaiah 61:1-2) This was the assurance John needed.

There was one part of the prophecy Jesus left out, however. In Isaiah, it says the Messiah will “proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound.” Jesus was telling John, “Yes, I am the one. The Messiah you’ve waited for, preached about, put your faith in has come, but the prison doors I’m going to open are not the ones that hold you.”

This may sound tough, but underneath it is full of hope. John only left the prison after they cut off his head, but the Messiah had come. The prison doors of death would never hold John. There will be tough things you have to face in life – and sometimes it will feel as if God doesn’t show up. But be assured, the Messiah came, and your future is filled with hope.

In what areas do you struggle to remember He is in control?

Great Faith

Near the beginning of Jesus earthly ministry, he and his disciples were at a wedding. You know the story. The host ran out of wine, and Jesus’ mother turned to Jesus for help. He, of course, turned water into wine.

I’ve heard people say, “Jesus was such an obedient son, he did what his mother asked.” There’s no doubt Jesus was an obedient son, but technically she never asked for anything. She told him, “They are out of wine,” and then she said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”

What kind of faith is that, to trust he would do something not even asked for? Can you imagine going to Jesus, and just saying, “Here is a need,” and then believing he would help with it? Jesus always responded positively to faith. When four men ripped open the roof to lower their paralytic friend to Jesus, he didn’t discipline their destruction. Instead, seeing their faith, he forgave the man’s sin and healed him.

In one instance, a centurion, a Roman soldier, asked Jesus to heal his servant. His faith was so great, he believed Jesus didn’t have to go to the centurion’s house, but only speak. Jesus rewarded the man’s faith and the servant was well.

When the Canaanite woman, not a Jew, came and asked for help, Jesus declined. However, seeing the woman’s persistent faith, Jesus relented saying, “O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire.”

But how many times do we also read the reprimand, “O you of little faith”? Storms on lakes, meals for multitudes, powerful demons, were problems with simple solutions for our Savior, yet for his disciples, these situations brought fear, confusion and discouragement.

What about you? Are winds and waves about to wash you away? Are you surrounded by a multitude of hungry people, longing for a taste of the bread of life? Is your servant sick?

The God who spoke the waves into existence can, surely, command them still today. Why do you doubt? The Savior, who sacrificed his own self, can still satisfy every need of everyone. Why do we live without forgiveness, without power or without wisdom? Do you doubt he can provide?

God rewards great faith. Can you imagine the joy of hearing these words from the Creator of the universe, “Be it done for you as you desire”? Knowing if He said it, it would happen. There is nothing that can overcome what He speaks.

Yet, even though this is true, how often do you doubt? How often have you felt God must be in heaven, shaking His head, saying, “O you of little faith”? You don’t ever have to hear those words again. 

Believe. 

Trust.

He is…the Mighty God…the Lord of Heaven’s Armies…a Mighty Fortress…Faithful and True…a Strong and Mighty Tower…a defender of the weak…Love…Life…

A Holy Priesthood

For sixteen years the temple had been silent, sacrifices stopped, worship suspended. Judah followed an evil king, Ahaz. He led them away from the Almighty and into idolatry. He led them to defeat and discouragement.

“But Ahaz slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of Jerusalem… And Hezekiah his son reigned in his place… And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord…” (2 Chronicles 28:27-29:2) One of Hezekiah’s first acts as king was to round up the Levites and priests so they could clean up the temple. Ahab had brought elements of the false gods into the temple.

The priests and Levites had to purify themselves, and purify everything in the temple. This was what God had appointed them to do. The rest of Judah couldn’t worship God in the temple – nor would God enter the temple – unless this was done.

Once things had been purified, their job wasn’t finished. They had to make sacrifices for the people – lots of sacrifices. “They brought seven bulls, seven rams, seven lambs and seven male goats” (2 Chron. 29:21). With these sacrifices complete, the people came and worshiped the Almighty.

But the job of the Levites and priests wasn’t over. They had to help the people restore their relationship with God. There were more sacrifices. “The number of the burnt offerings that the assembly brought was 70 bulls, 100 rams, and 200 lambs; all these were for a burnt offering to the Lord. And the consecrated offerings were 600 bulls and 3,000 sheep.” Wow! This was some tough work.

Obviously, if these men had been doing their jobs over the past sixteen years, this wouldn’t have been such a big ordeal, but they hadn’t. They had gotten lazy. They hadn’t been worshiping other gods, just going through life – eating, drinking, buying and selling – but not doing their job.

What about you? God has called us to be “a kingdom of priests” and “a holy priesthood” (Rev. 5:10; 1 Peter 2:5). Have you been going through life, or have you been maintaining the purity of God’s temple…your body? Have you been busy sacrificing so others can come and worship our glorious God? Have you been sacrificing so others can restore their relationship with the Father?

Priests stood between the people and God, working to bring them together. Without their work, there would have been disaster for the people. It was a tough job.

It still is. Almost five billion people in our world are moving, each day, closer to disaster – an eternal separation from God…in hell. Your Father has appointed you to stand between, to move them towards Him. If you saw someone drowning in a swimming pool, would you:

• sacrifice the time it would take to pull them out?
• sacrifice the discomfort of jumping in a cold pool with your good clothes on?
• sacrifice your own safety, knowing they could pull you under if you weren’t careful?

Or, would you stand sadly at the edge, wishing there was someone to help? You are that someone. Make the sacrifice. Jump in.