Matthew 26:69-70 “69 Now Peter was sitting outside in the courtyard, and a servant-girl came to him and said, ‘You too were with Jesus the Galilean.’ 70 But he denied it before them all, saying, ‘I do not know what you are talking about.’”

Parents, if you haven’t faced that moment in your child’s life when they try to avoid being seen with you because it is just not cool, then just wait. It is coming.

Several years ago our family went on a 3 day cruise. It was our first and last. Lol. It’s just not my wife’s thing. Plus my son got sick and well…it just didn’t turn out great. However…..

They did have karaoke at night. Can you see where I am going with this? We went down to watch, and I couldn’t help myself. I had to get up and sing. I decided to sing…are you ready…”Joy To the World” by 3 Dog Night. Yep, I did. My kids were teenagers, so you can imagine what they were doing. They were trying to get UNDER the table. “That’s not my dad! I have never seen that man before. I was kidnapped by that strange man!”

Peter knew the Lord intimately. He had spent 3 years with Him day and night. And now when He is being tried and convicted, Peter denies ever knowing Him. But Jesus understood, just like I understood my kids. Their denial of me didn’t change my love for them. Peter’s denial of Jesus didn’t change His love for Peter.

May I encourage you when your children start to “put some distance” between you and them? Let them do that safely. Give them some space. But constantly reassure them they are loved, and nothing they can do will ever change that.

Leviticus 9:22-24 “22 Then Aaron lifted up his hands toward the people and blessed them, and he stepped down after making the sin offering and the burnt offering and the peace offerings. 23 Moses and Aaron went into the tent of meeting. When they came out and blessed the people, the glory of the LORD appeared to all the people. 24 Then fire came out from before the LORD and consumed the burnt offering and the portions of fat on the altar; and when all the people saw it, they shouted and fell on their faces.”

I will never forget when I was around 10 or 11 years old the Floyd Hotel in my hometown of Pelham, GA burned to the ground. It was a wooden structure, which had been built many years earlier. The wood was pine so the fire was very hot. It was so hot that the fire department had to keep neighboring buildings wet to keep them from bursting into flames, not from embers but from the intense heat that was put off by the fire. I watched from a distance, but still when I got home, my face was red. Hot fire!!!!

What if you and your children were there at the time when Moses and Aaron came out of the Tent of Meeting and God’s fire fell? It was no wonder that the people “shouted and fell on their faces.” Seeing that fire scared them. They had not been that close to the fire of God. They weren’t sure where that fire might leap. I can imagine that moms and dads grabbed their children to comfort them and try to shelter them.

But you know what? Today, as believers, we have no need to fear God’s fire. In fact, we should welcome the burning embers into our life. Teach your children that the presence of God, which was in the fire the people saw back then, can indwell them through the Holy Spirit. His fire should not scare us. His “Holy Glow” should instead draw us to Him. Are you cold? Come closer to the fire!

Matthew 25:40 “The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’”

Are you ever driving in town with your children and come across people at the intersections holding signs asking for money or food? What do your children ask you? What is your answer? Do you roll down the window and give them a few dollars? Do you give them a gift card to McDonald’s or somewhere else? Just what do you do?

I have to admit that I have become a bit cynical about these people. I have heard from someone who used to do that how many of these individuals are simply conning people. They aren’t homeless or hungry. They just want someone to give them something. However, that does not excuse me from acting when I feel the Spirit move.

Recently I was cleaning out my daughter’s truck for her and found a couple of baggies that contain gloves, crackers, hand wipes, toothpaste and a toothbrush, and a few other items. I asked her what they were for. She said she gives them to people she sees at those intersections when she feels the Spirit leading her. Boy, I was ashamed of myself for my own cynicism and thoughtlessness. My girl had taught me a lesson.

Will you let your children’s tender hearts convict you? When they see someone in need and want to help, let them. Let them be the one Jesus refers to in the verse we read when He said “you did it to Me.

Leviticus 1:1-3 “1 Then the LORD called to Moses and spoke to him from the tent of meeting, saying, 2 ‘Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘When any man of you brings an offering to the LORD, you shall bring your offering of animals from the herd or the flock. 3  If his offering is a burnt offering from the herd, he shall offer it, a male without defect; he shall offer it at the doorway of the tent of meeting, that he may be accepted before the LORD.’”

I know what you are thinking. A devotional thought from Leviticus? Yep! Look at this book carefully. Did you know that almost the ENTIRE book is the Lord God talking? I believe we need to teach our children that when God speaks (yes, even through Leviticus) that they should listen. These verses today are no exception.

The Lord is giving Moses the instructions on how the people are to approach God with their sacrifices. There are two words that pop out at me, “without defect.” Our children need to understand those words and apply them to how they live their lives and what they present to the Lord for their offerings.

They need to know that God deserves our very best, whether it is in giving our tithe and offerings to Him or in our service to Him. Everything we do should be of the highest standard. Why? Because He deserves it. When we give God our very best He is well pleased. Why would we NOT want to please our Heavenly Father?

I had a boss once that said, “Holy Shoddy is still shoddy.” He meant if you do a job poorly but try to spiritualize it, it is still a poor job. Help your children to strive to give their best in everything they do. Teach them to not compromise their walk with Christ. Teach them to give with the knowledge that what they are giving should be “without defect.” And while you are at it, why don’t you do the same. Amen? Amen!

Matthew 24:44-46 “42 ‘Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming. 43 But be sure of this, that if the head of the house had known at what time of the night the thief was coming, he would have been on the alert and would not have allowed his house to be broken into. 44 For this reason you also must be ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you do not think He will.’”

Do you remember playing “Hide and Seek” as a child. Maybe you taught your children to play that game with their siblings or friends. I can still remember playing that in our yard in South Georgia. One of us would be picked to be “It,” and the rest would run and hide somewhere as “It” counted to 100. Then “It” would holler, “Ready or not, here I come.” My heart would be pounding from the excitement, hoping “It” would not find me.

Our children need to know that Jesus has already hollered “Ready or not, here I come.” We see right here in the Scriptures that He is coming “at an hour when you do not think He will.” Are your children ready? Are you ready?

We should not frighten our children with this news. That is not how God works. But we also should not hide the fact that He is coming. And when He comes, He will come to take all His children home to heaven. That is a good thing. He comes and tags us, not as “It,” but as “His.” Unlike the game of Hide and Seek, we WANT to be found by Him when He comes. We want to be carried home.

Point your children toward home. Prepare them to watch for His coming. Let them know that they are loved and cherished by a Heavenly Father who just wants them home for eternity. Ready or not, here He comes!

Exodus 40:34-38 “34 Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. 35 Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud had settled on it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. 36 Throughout all their journeys whenever the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the sons of Israel would set out; 37 but if the cloud was not taken up, then they did not set out until the day when it was taken up. 38 For throughout all their journeys, the cloud of the Lord was on the tabernacle by day, and there was fire in it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel.”

Can you imagine how that looked? Can you just picture it if you and your kids were there watching that cloud? I can just hear the children, “Are we there yet?” And the parents answering, “No Levi, do you see that cloud? Is it moving? Then we are not there yet?” Well, maybe not exactly like that. Lol

But think about it. They were TOTALLY dependent on the movement of God through that cloud. Verse 38 called it “the cloud of the Lord.” They did not go anywhere the Lord did not lead them. Wow!

How about your family? Are your steps governed by the direction of the Lord? Do you wait on Him to move before you move? Do you stay where He takes you, for however long He keeps you? Or are you restless and eager to “get on with it”? Don’t rush! Don’t panic! Wait!

Matthew 23:1-3 “1 Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and to His disciples, 2 saying: ‘The scribes and the Pharisees have seated themselves in the chair of Moses; 3 therefore all that they tell you, do and observe, but do not do according to their deeds; for they say things and do not do them.’”

How many times did your parents say, “Do as I say and not as I do”? Well, I heard that a few times. I know parents who drink but tell their kids not to. They smoke but tell their kids not to. Now, I am not judging you if you drink or smoke. That is between you and the Lord. I am just saying that our actions speak much louder than our words to our kids.

In this passage Jesus is pointing out the Scribes and Pharisees who “have seated themselves in the chair of Moses.” What does that mean? Moses’ chair? He was referring to the place where people came to have Moses judge them or give them advice. Are you sitting there now? Are you sitting in judgment over your kids, all the while you are doing the very thing you are judging them for doing?

May I encourage you today to be a model of the very behavior you desire in your children? If you want them to be kind to their sibling, then be kind to your husband or wife or that stranger you meet in the line at the grocery store. If you want them to keep their room clean, then keep your bedroom tidy. You get the drift. Do, don’t just say! Don’t be a Pharisee. Be real to your kids.

Exodus 34:29 “It came about when Moses was coming down from Mount Sinai (and the two tablets of the testimony were in Moses’ hand as he was coming down from the mountain), that Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because of his speaking with Him.”

Seriously? Really? He didn’t know his face was shining? Well, For the past forty days and nights Moses had been so focused on hearing from God that he can forgotten about himself. The glory of the Lord was so bright and glorious that his eyes had become accustomed to the glow. So as the Lord released him to return to the people with the Second Edition of the Ten Commandments (lol) the glow was normal for him.

Dads, is the glow of Christ on you? Moms, does your face shine with the glory of God? Are your children seeing the “glory glow” on you? Do they shy away from approaching you because of the powerful presence of God that they see in you?

If you are like me, that is probably NOT the case. There have been times when I felt that glow. But those times seem too infrequent. You see the problem is we aren’t spending the time we need with God to absorb the glow. Moses had spent forty uninterrupted days with God. He had absorbed His radiance. Now, I know you can’t spend forty days alone with God. But how about forty minutes? I bet if you did, you would absorb enough of His radiance from His Word that your kids could tell a difference. What do you think?

Matthew 22:15-22 “15 Then the Pharisees went and plotted together how they might trap Him in what He said. 16 And they sent their disciples to Him, along with the Herodians, saying, ‘Teacher, we know that You are truthful and teach the way of God in truth, and defer to no one; for You are not partial to any. 17 Tell us then, what do You think? Is it lawful to give a poll-tax to Caesar, or not?’ 18 But Jesus perceived their malice, and said, ‘Why are you testing Me, you hypocrites? 19 Show Me the coin used for the poll-tax.’ And they brought Him a denarius. 20 And He said to them, ‘Whose likeness and inscription is this?’ 21 They said to Him, ‘Caesar’s.’ Then He said to them, ‘Then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s; and to God the things that are God’s.’ 22 And hearing this, they were amazed, and leaving Him, they went away.”

Moms and Dads, most people read this passage and focus on giving to Caesar what is his. Not me. I focused on giving God what is His. Agree? So the question has to be asked – What is His?

We need to teach our children early that everything we have belongs to Him. Our very breath is a gift from God, which He gives us liberally. The clothes on our back, the food on our table and the toys we give them all come from Him. When our children learn this early, they are more likely to respect what they have and also share with others.

Our world is so focused on getting all it can that we fail to teach that everything belongs to Him. We hold all our possessions with open hands so that we can release it to Him or someone else. Won’t you help your child to learn this basic truth of stewardship today? It will be a lifelong lesson for them which you can begin now.