I have finally been able to do something I have wanted to do for a long time and purchase my own domain! I have a new site that will be my primary location. Occassionally I will be posting from here, and I will not delete this site, but most of the new content will be posted over at TheLaundryPile.com I hope you come and join me there.
This week we have been reading through Exodus chapters 21-25. When I first started in to the chapters I was not so eager to dive into these chapters. Exodus 21-25 are dealing with the giving of the law at Mt. Sinai. It seemed a rather dull prospect to look forward to as I considered this week’s morning devotions. On Monday I didn’t really take a lot of time, but I did read the chapter. From Tuesday forward my attitude and perspective changed. I was seeing themes that kept coming up, and the Lord was impressing different elements on my heart that needed to be noticed and seen. Even in a book of law.
To begin, I was surprised at how often I was seeing God’s grace played out in these chapters. It was clear that God was being very intentional to teach the people of Israel that they were to treat the people around them with grace, and mercy. God was demonstrating His own character qualities that He wanted the Israelite people to display. Multiple times in these chapters we see God looking out for both people and animals.
2 “If you buy a Hebrew slave, he shall serve for six years; but on the seventh he shall go out as a free man without payment. 3 If he comes alone, he shall go out alone; if he is the husband of a wife, then his wife shall go out with him. [Exodus 21:2-3]
Isn’t it interesting that God made a point to keeping the husband and wife unit together? There are other verses that instruct how to handle a slave who marries while in slavery and what that entails, but here we have God making sure that if a man is sold as a slave, then after a set time he is to be free and his wife also.
21 “You shall not wrong a stranger or oppress him, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. 22 You shall not afflict any widow or orphan. 23 If you afflict him at all, and if he does cry out to Me, I will surely hear his cry; 24 and My anger will be kindled, and I will kill you with the sword, and your wives shall become widows and your children fatherless.[Exodus 22:21-24]
This set of verses is touching to me. God was reminded the Hebrew people to be kind to those who are strangers. He was reminding them that they were once strangers and were treated badly. God wanted His people to be different. In addition God wanted the orphans and widows to be considered and cared for, and God shows that this is something He feels very strongly about.
25 “If you lend money to My people, to the poor among you, you are not to act as a creditor to him; you shall not charge him interest. 26 If you ever take your neighbor’s cloak as a pledge, you are to return it to him before the sun sets, 27 for that is his only covering; it is his cloak for his body. What else shall he sleep in? And it shall come about that when he cries out to Me, I will hear him, for I am gracious. [Exodus 22: 25-27]
I love the picture these verses paint. God wants His people to have grace and mercy to those around them. He wants the Israelites to consider the people who are coming to them for financial help and to not take advantage of them. God even reminds us that when we cry out to Him He hears us.
5 If you see the donkey of one who hates you lying helpless under its load, you shall refrain from leaving it to him, you shall surely release it with him. [Exodus 23:5]
In these verses and others we see images of God’s mercy, and compassion. He is looking forward to the time that is ahead of the Israelites and he sees that there will be circumstances that will come up. He is teaching them that he wants them to be considerate of people and animals.
These verses and several others that are found in these chapters of Exodus remind me that God is paying attention to our lives. He knows what is happening day-to-day. Have you ever had a boss who didn’t really know what was going on in your work environment. And that boss began passing arbitrary rules that he felt would be good for the particular place of business. Over time those rules showed themselves to be what they were, a sham. If a boss is not aware of how the business is run or the unique work environment than any rules he makes will not improve the functioning of that business.
Yet if you have a boss who is actively working alongside the employees and is keenly aware of what is happening each day and in specific departments. He is then able to determine what rules would benefit that department. The boss is working in the trenches and he can clearly see what is happening and what is needed.
If God didn’t have a clear view of the life of the Hebrews he would not have made the rules the way that he did. I believe that God was communicating to His people that he saw their daily life, He saw their daily struggles and He wanted to be actively addressing the concerns that they were dealing with each day.
The blessing in this is, God still sees us today. He knows your struggles, He knows your heartache. God sees the mothers who are pushed beyond exhaustion and feel overwhelmed. God sees the wife whose marriage is tattered and she fears for the worst. God sees all and He loves us. That is a huge blessing to my heart.
9 Then Moses went up with Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, 10 and they saw the God of Israel; and under His feet there appeared to be a pavement of sapphire, as clear as the sky itself. 11 Yet He did not stretch out His hand against the nobles of the sons of Israel; and they saw God, and they ate and drank. [Exodus 24:9-11]
Last week the chapters we studied also brought out this idea. God is holy. His holiness is beyond our ability to understand. That holiness requires a covering for us to be in his presence. Just like the ceremonial cleansing that the leaders of Israel had to go through before they approached the mountain of God. The Bible tells us that Mt. Sinai was covered with a fire with smoke rising to the heavens. Can you imagine the feelings of the people? Last week I talked about how the people must have felt as they felt the ground shake and saw a massive fire burning this huge mountain.
I think we need to be reminded more often of God’s holiness. I find I am guilty of seeing God as a permissive father. Someone who is always quick to forgive or ignore my sins. Yet I believe a more accurate picture is God is grieved over my sin, yes he forgives when I confess, but He isn’t just ignoring them. His Son died for me! My sins that I am so quick to toss aside and say they aren’t so bad caused the nails to be driven in the wrists of Jesus Christ. I think I need to consider my sins more carefully.
I pray that as we move through our days we are reminded that God is Bigger than what we consider. Even as we need and want an intimate relationship with the creator of the universe. We should never forget His holiness.
This post is part of Good Morning Girls Blogging Through the Bible. Click the Link below for More information.
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Getting married was an eye-opening experience for me. I had lots of ideas of what married life would entail and how my life would change once I got married. After returning home from the honeymoon I was surprised how much changed. I basically believed that being married was similar to being single, only there was someone around to share life with. In the time period before I got married I lived alone for the most part with a few roommates here and there. So I thought I was aware of the problems that might arise once I got married.
I did not take into account that in marriage the two are not just separate roommates. The two are to become one. The two are now something completely different from what they were before they got married.
One of the ideas I thought I understood had to do with the idea of leadership. I have held the belief for a long time that in marriage there must be a leader. I also believed that leader should be the man of the home. I thought that coming under that authority of my husband would be a rather smooth transition once I was married.
Before I got married I had a lot of freedom. I was working full-time. I owned my own house. I could come and go as I wanted and I could buy what I wanted. I didn’t have someone telling me what I should do, or shouldn’t be doing with my time, money or energy.
I was surprised how much say my husband wanted to have over the details of my life. I fought against his leadership. I grated against someone telling me what I needed to be doing and how those things should be done. My husband was rather shocked by this turn of events as well. We had discussed the topic of leadership in marriage before we got married, and we both believed we were on the same page. Until we actually got married.
The problem my husband and I faced, and still struggle with at times is the idea of what leadership is supposed to look like. I believed a loving leader husband would look one way, and my husband believed that it would look another way. Both of us were wrong. We both were holding on to worldly ideas of what it means for the man to be the leader of the home. Both of us have been tainted by the culture around us, believing the lies of what a “submissive” wife looks like and what a “leader” husband looks like.
We are still working out some of these issues to be honest, but I am learning a lot as we work through what the Bible actually says about leadership and submission.
I have learned one thing that I am sure of: We are called to lay down our lives for those around us. Thinking about the full weight of that really a big concept. Laying down my life for my husband can mean all sorts of things in different ways.
These are just a few ways that I personally can lay down my life for my marriage and for my husband. I am not saying that following the Biblical idea of submission is an easy thing to do, but I am saying it is Biblical. We are called to say down our lives for those around us. The argument could be made that this verse is not specifically referring to husbands and wives, but I would say that it still applies, because if we are to behave this way towards strangers, how much more should be behave this way towards our husbands.
In a culture were so man women are looking to a book that portrays submission in a distorted sexual behavior, it is important to be reminded what it means to be Biblically submissive. There needs to be a leader in our home, but it should not look like what the world is telling us male leaders look like.
God requires a lot of our men, and he is calling our men to be leaders that step out and guide their families in powerful ways. God will hold them accountable for what they do and what they do not do. God will hold us as women accountable for our behavior towards out husbands as well.
So I pray that as we as women find the strength to come under the authority of our husbands, and to lay down our lives for those around us, including our husbands, that we will grow closer to Jesus Christ who is our ultimate example of laying down His life in order to reconcile us to Himself.
I have found that as I have been working through last weeks verse with my children, the verse I chose to go along with our character quality was a difficult one for my children to learn. So I plan to revisit the character quality of Thankfulness again another week. This week I did not choose the whole verse, but merely a portion of the verse that we are to study for this week. I hope that it will make our memorization go a little bit more smoothly.
I am finding that when I have a specific verse to focus on teaching my children and to learn myself has been a fantastic tool for teaching my children Biblical principles. I want my children to know what the Bible says so that they are able to apply the principles themselves. I also believe that our children need to be studying the scriptures themselves and learning what it teaches so that they know I am not just making up ideas to benefit me as their mother.
I picked this week’s character quality because I am not always a good demonstration of this to my children. I find that I can be harsh, demanding, and critical. I want to be developing a spirit of gentleness in my life. I want this character quality to be so engrained in my life that it isn’t merely seen in my speech, but it is present in my thoughts as well. I want my heart to be gentle towards those who are around me. I need to learn this as much as my children need to learn this quality. If I do not demonstrate the characteristics of gentleness then how can my children really learn it?
In general my children are very gentle with one another. They are usually very considerate of each other and help each other when things are needing to be done around the house or one of them has a problem. There are moments though when they do not demonstrate gentleness. Overall this quality is for both our benefits.
We have been working through the book of Exodus in our Blogging through the Bible with GoodMorningGirls.org. This past week I was struck by God’s gentle responses to the Israelites even when they were responding out of fear or rebellion. God took into account the people’s weakness even though they were acting in a sinful way towards Moses and God Himself. It can be so hard for me to step outside of my emotional responses when my children are behaving in a sinful way. I find it difficult to respond in a biblical way, yet I am upset because of my children’s sin not because of my own sin in responding to them in a way I shouldn’t. We find it so easy to see the speck in others eyes, and complete miss the log in our own.
While looking at the book of Exodus I am stunned by God’s graciousness to the people, even when they are complaining and griping. AGAIN!
This is the type of gentleness that I want to live out in my home and for my family. I pray that God will richly use this in our lives this week as we strive to parent our children well.
There is so much that can be said about the Ten Commandments. There are times when I believe they are so familiar that we don’t really know what they say any more. In fact as I was reading through them verse 7 really stood out to me.
There is a common phrase that I hear all the time. It is a phrase that is not allowed in our home because I find it offensive. Many people prefer to abbreviate it because that has become a fashionable thing to say. I am hesitant to even use the phrase in this post. It seems to be that the Bible is pretty clear that we need to be very careful about how we use the name of our Lord. To use God’s name or even reference to the creator of the universe in a flippant way is not something that we as Christians should be doing.
I find that we like to be so close to the culture we live in, that there are times we don’t want to look any different that those who do not believe what the Bible says. Yet if we are christians, and if we are striving to live in a way that is in accordance to what God is teaching us, the Bible is clear. We must be careful with our words, and how we speak and reference God in our speech.
God wanted the Israelite people to see his power demonstrated in a dramatic way. Even though the people were afraid, God was showing them Himself in only a small portion of his power in order to teach them a lesson.
All the people perceived the thunder and the lightning flashes and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they trembled and stood at a distance. Then they said to Moses, “Speak to us yourself and we will listen; but let not God speak to us, or we will die.” Moses said to the people, “Do not be afraid; for God has come in order to test you, and in order that the fear of Him may remain with you, so that you may not sin.” So the people stood at a distance, while Moses approached the thick cloud where God was. Exodus 20:18-21
Moses was telling the people that God wanted the Fear of Him to remain with them. Why? So that they might not sin. It seems like we are so quick to put God into a pretty little box that allows us to view Him as something cozy, and precious. Almost like a genie in a bottle. We begin to believe that we can pray and all that we ask for will be given. When things become difficult or painful we become angry and demand that god behave the way we want him to. We quickly forget that God isn’t something to be tamed, or controlled. Our pride needs to be confessed and we need to humble ourselves. We are not the ones who are controlling our lives. God controls everything and we need to be reminded that the same God who caused the people of Israel to tremble– who just witnessed the plagues of Egypt–is our God today.
The God of the Universe, the Creator of All things, Our Banner who Goes before us into Battle, This is the God we worship. It is important that we have a proper view of who God is, and perhaps we will be less likely to use His name in a way that is dishonoring, and in vain.
Guard your tongues.
As we are reading through the Bible one chapter at a time, we will be and are coming across things that will be challenging to us and our culture, but I pray that these truths will grow us, and remind us that we are to be different from the world around us.
This post is a part of the Blogging Through the Bible with Good Morning Girls. To learn more click the button above.
Have you ever felt like God has been moving you in a direction that you didn’t want to go? Have you been in a position in which you are overwhelmed and feel like you can’t take it one more day?
2 Corinthians 1:8-12 New American Standard Bible (NASB)
8 For we do not want you to be unaware, brethren, of our affliction which cameto us in Asia, that we were burdened excessively, beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of life; 9 indeed, we had the sentence of death within ourselves so that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead; 10 who delivered us from so great a peril of death, and will deliver us, He on whom we have set our hope. And He will yet deliver us, 11 you also joining in helping us through your prayers, so that thanks may be given by many persons on our behalf for the favor bestowed on us through the prayers of many.
There is a common saying that is used a lot today. “God won’t give you more than you can handle.” I don’t believe that this statement is true. Here Paul tell sus that they were, “Burdened excessively, beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of life.”
I have had some bad days. I don’t think I really believed I was going to die, I probably said I felt like I was going to die, but I wasn’t really close. Yet there have been days when despair is close at hand, and everything seems so much beyond what I could ever begin to manage to handle. My heart sinks into a dark place that makes everything that much harder. On those days I try to think about people like Paul the Apostle and others who have faced such difficult things. Paul says that things were so bad within themselves that they could not trust themselves but only God and why only God? Because only God can raise the dead! Paul had set his hope on God and not on his ability to make it through the terrible situation that he had found himself in. 
I have begun to think that yes God does give us things that are too much for us to manage. He takes away our ability to manage at times even. Why would God do such a thing? Why would God want to make my life harder and more difficult. If He loves me why would He do such a thing?
Those of you who are parents consider your children. Do you want your children to live a life that is limited and dependent upon others to do everything for them? Or do you want your children to learn to read, write and function as a strong part of our community? Do you want your children to be godly people who make an impact for the Kingdom of God? I am assuming the answer is yes to at least most of those questions. So then If you do how do you go about molding them into those people who you want them to become?
During our home school time there often are tears flowing at least once a day. I have a daughter whose first impulse is to sit down and quit when things get to be hard and difficult. She will say I just can’t do that. Her frustration is real, and her belief that she can’t do whatever it is, is a real belief in her heart. But she is wrong. I can see things that she can’t see. I can see that in time my daughter will be able to do all sorts of things that she believes she is unable to do. In her eyes when things are hard it means she can’t. If I leave her alone to flounder on her own, she probably wouldn’t be able to do the things I am asking her to do, but with my help and some patience she can do more than she imagines.
Isn’t that how it is with us? We are mere children whose eyes are not fully able to see all that is happening around us. The pain, and hardship comes and we despair believing we are not capable of taking one more step. In our own strength and ability we may not be able to take one more step, but if we rely on the strength of the God who made all things? What then? He will enable us to do more than we ever dreamed we would be able to do because we are working in HIS strength not our own.
Here are the lyrics to a song that is a great reminder for us.
“Strong Enough” by Matthew West
You must
You must think I’m strong
To give me what I’m going throughWell, forgive me
Forgive me if I’m wrong
But this looks like more than I can do
On my ownI know I’m not strong enough to be
everything that I’m supposed to be
I give up
I’m not stong enough
Hands of mercy won’t you cover me
Lord right now I’m asking you to be
Strong enough
Strong enough
For the both of usWell, maybe
Maybe that’s the point
To reach the point of giving upCause when I’m finally
Finally at rock bottom
Well, that’s when I start looking up
And reaching outI know I’m not strong enough to be
Everything that I’m supposed to be
I give up
I’m not stong enough
Hands of mercy won’t you cover me
Lord right now I’m asking you to be
Strong enough
Strong enoughCause I’m broken
Down to nothing
But I’m still holding on to the one thing
You are God
and you are strong
When I am weakI can do all things
Through Christ who gives me strength
And I don’t have to be
Strong enough
Strong enoughI can do all things
Through Christ who gives me strength
And I don’t have to be
Strong enough
Strong enoughOh, yeah
I know I’m not strong enough to be
Everything that I’m supposed to be
I give up
I’m not stong enough
Hands of mercy won’t you cover me
Lord right now I’m asking you to be
Strong enough
Strong enough
Strong enough
As we have been working through this series on teaching Biblical character qualities to our children, I have been learning a lot about how I parent, and about several things I have been doing wrong. By taking the simple step of adding a Bible verse into our weekly habits I have had a powerful, and helpful tool in my tools box aiding me in teaching my kids. In those moments when I am frustrated and struggling the Lord opens my eyes and reminds me of our weekly verse. That pause helps me to get my emotions under control and to refocus the entire situation.
We are running into some normal issues, as the kids fight against learning to memorize the verses. I have been praying that the specific children who are giving me the most attitude will have their hearts softened by the process of hearing the word of the Lord spoken into their hearts. I have already seen some progress in this area, but there is more that needs to be done. I am very thankful for these tools that the Lord has given us right in his Word to help us train our children.
This week’s Character quality of the week is:
And our verse of the week is: 
I have found that we forget to be thankful in all situations here in our home. I know that I personally struggle when my feelings are hurt or things aren’t going my way, but this verse reminds us to Always be in the active mode of giving thanks.
Let’s look at the verse within context a little bit to understand what it is talking about:
Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil. So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not get drunk with wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord; always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father; and be subject to one another in the fear of Christ. Ephesians 5:15-21
Paul is reminding the Ephesians that the days are evil and life is very hard. Yet there are things we can be doing to help ourselves and each other as we live in these dark days.
Isn’t it beautiful how God gives us the tools that we need to live fully in these difficult days? I pray that you will be blessed this week digging into God’s truth.
I am so much like the Hebrews. At the first sign of trouble I panic. I wish I could say I am a woman whose faith is strong and courageous. I can’t say that. I am so much like the Israelite people in the book of Exodus. At the first sign of trouble I panic and I start complaining about how hard I have it. I can picture this scene. There is a great sea before them, and suddenly there is a mighty army racing towards them. This clumsy group of people standing in a place that seems hopeless, this group who can’t even defend themselves. They begin to complain to Moses,
“Why did you bring us out here to die in the wilderness? Weren’t there enough graves for us in Egypt? What have you done to us? Why did you make us leave Egypt? Didn’t we tell you this would happen while we were still in Egypt? We said, ‘Leave us alone! Let us be slaves to the Egyptians. It’s better to be a slave in Egypt than a corpse in the wilderness!’” (Exodus 14:11-12)
They were fearful that the Egyptian army was going to kill them. Pharaoh wasn’t going to kill all of them. He wanted to return them to Egypt, and the Hebrews are saying they never should have left. I think Pharaoh would have agreed with them. Perhaps for different reasons though. 😉
I must admit I would have been complaining and panicking right there with them. God brought them to a spot that seemed to be absolutely undefendable. From a military standpoint they had backed themselves into a corner. Now what were they going to do? God had a plan that was so much bigger than anything these people or Pharaoh could have ever imagined. Even after all the miracles they had just experienced in Egypt. God had something even bigger.
“My great glory will be displayed through Pharaoh and his troops, his chariots, and his charioteer. When my glory is displayed through them, all Egypt will see my glory and know that I am the Lord!” Exodus 14:17b-18
What?!?! Dry ground, the Middle of the SEA?!?!?!?
Can you put yourself in the shoes of these people? Can you even begin to think what you might be feeling at this moment? I picture myself in the middle of a crowd of about 500,000 people. I am busy trying to keep my kids calm while my heart is full of fear and panic. I am convinced that I am about to die out in the middle of nowhere. I look around to see Moses, a leader that I am not fully sure I trust climb upon a rock that stands at the water’s edge. He raises his staff and suddenly something happens that I never could have imagined. The waters pile up on either side. Emotions flood through my head, fear, panic, hope, uncertainty, lack of understanding and confusion. What could possibly be happening? Where are my children? What are we supposed to do? Is this the way out? Can I trust this enough to walk my children into the sea bed that is now….. dry….?
Even considering the moment makes my mind go a little bit weird. I can’t really begin to put myself in the place of these terrified people. God was continuing to do wonders that were beyond anything anyone had ever experienced. God was displaying his wonders for the Israelites, but also for the Egyptians. God was teaching these people who He was and how powerful HE was. More powerful than any Egyptian army.
How easily we forget that the God who preformed these miraculous things so long ago is the same God that we worship today. He hasn’t changed. The God we worship is this powerful. The God we worship is this amazing. The God we serve is the God who Created EVERYTHING! Why are we so easily blinded? Why are we so quick to put this amazing God into a box of our own design. Why do we want to control and tame HIM? These people were panicked because they couldn’t defend themselves. But Moses called them to just stand still, They didn’t have to lift a finger. God wouldn’t fight for them.
I want a faith like that. A faith that lets me just be still and wait for the Lord to fight for me. So often I have taken the battle on myself and I fail miserably each time. Will I ever learn to just be calm? I pray I will learn to lean heavily on the Lord and depend on His leading in my life. I pray that I will remember that the Lord I worship is the same Lord who preformed even mightier acts than these. He has conquered death! I have been set free just as the Hebrews were. I can live in victory instead of walking in fear.
Each year many of us make New Year’s resolutions that seem like changes that we need to make in our lives. We have high hopes for how different we will be once the next year comes around. We have images of what we may look like, or how our life will be different.
December makes its way back around and our lives are pretty much the same as they were the year before. Nothing has changed. Nothing looks like we envisioned and disappointment sets in and we begin to believe that we are not capable of changing. Other people may have the ability to change their lives but for some reason we are not members of that exclusive club. We enjoy watching others struggle on TV as they fight to lose the weight and we might even become inspired by these dramatic shows. Yet there is still the idea in our head that this true change is beyond our ability.
God tells us that He has something different for us as His children. He desires us to live our lives free from the sin that so easily entangles. God has set us free, and we are no longer slaves to sin. Why then do we still live as though we are slaves and unable to live our lives differently.
God has given us special gifts, that came to us when we were given the Holy Spirit. These gifts are:
If we already possess these things then why are we living our lives as if we don’t have these gifts? Why am I? Why do I struggle with my temper, it certainly isn’t gentle when I raise my voice to my kids. Why do I struggle with anxiety and depression? Those things are the absence of joy and peace. [I am aware that there are types of depression that requires medication. I am not referring to clinical depression which often has a powerful chemical imbalance to it.]
I struggle with anxiety and depression at times. These emotional struggles usually come when I indulge in self-pity. As I allow myself to feel sorry for my difficult circumstances, I am not seeking joy from that situation. Often when I take the time and effort to shut down those thoughts of self-pity I can find many things that bring joy, thankfulness and peace. When I take the time to turn my attention to the Lord and His work in my life I can fight against the pity part that comes and threatens to pull me down that slippery slope. Does the anxiety still come? Yes, but I want to seek the Lord’s best for me even while living in this world that is so fallen.
Each day may be a fight, each day may be a battle. But God has called us to be different from what our flesh calls us to be. We are to be growing each day in the image of God.
Are you destroying the things that rise up and try to pull you back down to the pit from which God has raised you? Are you taking every thought captive as you move forward in your daily walk with Christ? I pray that I will be each and every day as I strive to be obedient to the calling the Lord has placed on my life.
This past week I was surprised at how often I needed to use the word of the week [Kindness] in our home teaching our kids about how to act with each other and towards each other. I even struggled with the topic coming up between me and my husband as we worked through several issues that came up as the week progressed.
It was a reminder to me of how important it is to teach my kids these basic biblical qualities, in addition to revisiting these important lessons for my own heart. I found that the Bible verse from last week became an important reminder for me not only for being kind, and cultivation kindness, but also the issue of forgiveness. I was reminded that I am required to be forgiving to the people around me who are hurting me. Not because these people deserve my forgiveness but because “God in Christ has forgiven me.”
I picked the character quality this week because of some struggles we have been having in the area of discipline issues in our home, and also because it is important for all of us to learn to come under the authority of those over us. It may mean a wife coming under the authority of her husband, or a man coming under the authority of his employers. If we are going to give our children the strength to come under the authorities that are in their lives, I believe it is important to give them the Biblical basis for obedience.
I expect to revisit this character quality again with a different verse at different times. There are many different bible verses that speak to the issue of obedience. Obedience can be a struggle for all of us. I don’t like to be told what to do. I don’t want someone telling me that I am not allowed to do one thing or another. I would much rather make my own decisions about my life from day-to-day. The truth is God has called us to be obedient to Himself. If we are not able to be obedient to the authorities that God has placed in our lives than what makes us believe we will fully come under the authority of God.
Growing Together 