Category Archives: Completeness

Advice, Bible, Career, Child Raising, Child Rearing, Comfort, Commands, Completeness, Direction, Disciplemaking, Encouragement, Faith, God's Will, Mentoring, Modeling, Obedience, Parenting, Qualifications, Sanctification, Scripture, Service, Surrender, Trust, Wisdom

ONE STEP HIGHER

1 TIMOTHY 3:13

“For those who have served well as deacons obtain for themselves a high standing and great confidence in the faith that is in Christ Jesus.”

We find another one-time used word in today’s verse. The Greek word “standing” is only used right here in the Bible.  It literally means a step on the staircase, going one step higher. Figuratively, it implies someone who has made a higher rank or higher position. That may imply something that Paul never intended.

If you look at this verse in context of all the qualifications for a deacon, you will get an idea of Paul’s meaning here. Deacons who serve well will be given more important roles to serve the body. By serving well they have shown they are trustworthy and are ready to do even more. It may also imply they are worthy of being considered as elders, a higher “office” in the church.

APPLICATION

“Okay, Carl, tell me how to teach this verse to my children.” Glad you asked. Children need to earn the right to be trusted with some things. We don’t just give a five-year-old a laptop and set them free. We don’t give a thirteen-year-old the privilege of a cellphone unless we know we can trust them to use it wisely.

Some things are gained by being obedient in the small things. Jesus even taught that. By growing in our faith and experiencing trials, we learn how to help others going through similar times. Our children need to be taught that their small steps of faith now will prepare them for those “leaps of faith” that are coming. And by being proven trustworthy now, they can be given greater responsibilities in the future.

Do you clamor for more? Do you want to be recognized for your achievements? Then do it all for Jesus. By surrendering your will to His, the Lord may just bless you with opportunities. Remember what Joshua 1:8 says. “‘“This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success.’”

All I want is to please You, Lord. If that means I serve lower than the rest, that’s fine. If it means I am entrusted with greater responsibilities, so be it. My joy comes from serving You.

Standard
Bible, Career, Child Bearing, Child Raising, Child Rearing, Commands, Completeness, Disciplemaking, Encouragement, God's Will, Inspirational, Mentoring, Obedience, Parenting, Qualifications, Scripture, Service, Trust

HIGH BAR

1 TIMOTHY 3:2

“An overseer, then, must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, temperate, prudent, respectable, hospitable, able to teach,” 

I am sure you have heard the expression “set a high bar.” It comes from the sporting event of the high bar in which the athlete competes by running and jumping over a parallel bar until he/she cannot jump over it without knocking it off the rack. It is supposed to be challenging.

The office of overseer (Elder) has a high bar. Not everyone can rise to this level. Not everyone is supposed to. It is not for the faint of heart. It is challenging. But just like the athlete who clears the bar to set his personal best record, the man who God leads to be an Elder will be overjoyed at the privilege. Pray for your church leaders (Elders and deacons).

APPLICATION

Parents, sometimes we set the bar too low for our children. We let little Johnny or Susie get away with stuff because they are just so darn cute, right? Sometimes we step in and “rescue” them from failure because we don’t want them to feel bad. Don’t do that. Keep the bar high. Make it reachable but challenging. When we don’t push our children to achieve, we are hampering their growth.

How hard should you push them? Ask the Lord. He will tell you. Their goals should be reachable but high. Setting low standards does nothing to encourage growth in our children. High goals can encourage our children to step out on faith, trusting their Lord to guide and provide.

Are you the “play it safe” kind of person? Or are you willing to reach for the stars? Ask the Lord what you should do. He wants us to be the best at what He asks us to do. He wants us to excel and lead others to excel. Will you do that today? Set your goals so that you have to push yourself. You will feel that same rush the jumper does when they clear that bar.

I will trust You, Lord, to lift me to higher standards in my walk with You. I want others to raise their bar also, so help me lead the way. Then, O God, I will give You the praise.

Standard
Advice, Bible, Child Bearing, Child Raising, Child Rearing, Comfort, Commands, Completeness, Encouragement, Faith, Family, Holy Spirit, Love, Motherhood, Obedience, Parenting, Sanctification, Scripture, Surrender, Trust

CHILD BEARING

1 TIMOTHY 2:15

“But women will be preserved through the bearing of children if they continue in faith and love and sanctity with self-restraint.”

I have to admit something. I don’t fully understand every verse of the Bible (big surprise, right?). And today’s verse is one of those. There are as many interpretations of this verse as there are commentators. I don’t have the time or space in this devotional to argue every one of them. So, I am going to give it my best shot with the warning to check it out yourself.

The word “women” is not in the original. This verse is actually referring back to Eve in verse 14, but has reference to all women in the last part. Paul seems to be attempting to back off the harsh words of the previous verses. Women were the vessel the Lord used to bring forth the Messiah. Women have the incredible responsibility of child bearing and rearing. And that is done through self-restraint as they practice faith, love and sanctity.

APPLICATION

Okay, here is the challenge. How do you apply this verse to your children?  Well, Paul is NOT saying that your little Gertrude’s sole role is child bearing. Children don’t “complete” a woman anymore than marrying does. They are not saved by giving birth to children. But, if the Lord allows them the privilege of children, He has a duty for them. They are to practice faith, love and sanctity with self-restraint.

What is self-restraint? It actually means soundness of mind, sanity, self-control, or sobriety. The word was used previously in 1 Timothy 2:9 where it was translated “self-control.” So perhaps the lesson is not about child bearing at all. It’s more about learning to exercise self-restraint. That can only be done through the power of the Holy Spirit in their lives.

Are you showing self-restraint? In your walk with Christ, are you continuing in faith, love and sanctity with self-restraint? This admonition applies to all believers, not just the female ones. Men need self-restraint just as much as women, maybe more. Allow the Holy Spirit to control you so you can show the world how a believer lives.

Lord, I am thankful I don’t have to fully understand every verse of Scripture. I know as I am able to grasp its truths You will reveal the hidden treasures to me. Thank You.

Standard
Advice, Bible, Child Raising, Child Rearing, Comfort, Commands, Completeness, Direction, Disciplemaking, Encouragement, Forgiveness, God's Will, Mentoring, Obedience, Parenting, Prayer, Scripture, Surrender

IN GOD’S EYE

1 TIMOTHY 2:3

“This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior,”

When I travel to my other two home countries of Uganda and Kenya I am normally greeted by “You are most welcome.” That is to say my friends there are very glad to see me. I am very welcomed in their homes. I just love that. I know I can rest and enjoy my time there because I am welcomed just like I am part of the family.

The word “acceptable” comes from the verb form of the word which means just that. You see when we pray as Paul instructed in verses 1 and 2, we are welcomed into the very sight of God. In His eyes we are doing good, which inspires others. He is pleased. He is blessed by our prayer life. Did you read that right? Yes, God is blessed by our obedience to pray.

APPLICATION

How have your children blessed you? Have they done something you have instructed them to do lately without being reminded? That always blesses our hearts, doesn’t it? I will never forget the time my son mowed and trimmed our yard in Florida while I was away on a trip. When I returned home to see it done (and done well), I was blessed.

Explain to your little Elrod that God is blessed when He sees him doing what is expected. Willful obedience is so much better than forced obedience. Doing what we are asked or commanded to do in His Word is expected. We have clear instructions to follow. Teach your child to do as the Lord asks. They will see God’s response. He will be blessed and will also bless. 

Do you struggle to obey? Do you obey kicking and screaming? I have to admit that there are times when I do. I feel just like Paul in Romans 7 when he says he does what he doesn’t want to do and doesn’t do what he wants to do. I may eventually yield to the Spirit, but I am worn out in the process. Don’t do that. Surrender your will to His today. Do what is good and acceptable in His sight.

I want to be pleasing in Your sight today, O Father. I want to know that all I do is good and acceptable to You. Forgive me when I fail to obey.

Standard
Advice, Bible, Child Raising, Child Rearing, Christianity, Completeness, Glory, God's Will, Heaven, Inspirational, Love, Scripture, Thanksgiving

THE IMMORTAL

1 TIMOTHY 1:17

“Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.”

Did you know God is immortal? Sure, you did, but do you know what that means? It means literally undecaying. He will not decay. He will live forever. His substance, whatever it is, will not rot away. Not true for us. From the moment we are born we begin to die. We are not immortal, at least not on this side of eternity.

But God is. So, what does that mean for us? It means we have a God who can never die. He has always been and will always be. No matter how uncertain our days, He is certain. No matter how defeating our days, He is the victor. No matter how low we feel, He is the lifter of our heads.

APPLICATION

Your children may have a favorite superhero. Some of them can seem immortal. They always win the battles. But no one, except the Lord, can retain that title. Only He is the immortal one. Ask your little Susie what that means to her. Ask her to explain immortality to you. She will probably struggle with defining it. Most of us do.

But, as I mentioned earlier, immortality is ours for the asking. But we must die first. We must die to ourselves and allow Jesus into our hearts. Then, one day, we will live with Him in eternity as immortals. This old, decaying flesh will be replaced with a glorified body that will never die. Hallelujah!

Do you possess that promise of immortality? It is yours for the asking. Christ is waiting to make you immortal, just like His Father. Now, you won’t become a god. There is only ONE God, and you ain’t Him, lol. But you will have the promise of immortality with Jesus.

Father of immortality, forgive me for not believing in the immortal life that awaits me. It’s hard to get my head around sometimes. But I want to thank You for making me immortal when I enter Your kingdom.

Standard
Bible, Child Raising, Child Rearing, Christianity, Comfort, Commands, Completeness, Direction, Disciplemaking, Encouragement, Evangelism, God's Will, Love, Mentoring, Modeling, Obedience, Parenting, Scripture, Surrender, Trust, Witnessing

ENTRUSTED

1 TIMOTHY 1:11

“according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, with which I have been entrusted.”

Do we really understand what this verse says? This is huge! This is big time! God, THE God of the universe, the God who saves me through His Son Jesus, has faith in ME! That’s what it says. He has so much faith in me that He has entrusted me with His Gospel. He has placed His trust in me to carry out the delivery of His message to a lost world. Despite all of today’s technology, God still uses people.

“Entrusted” comes from the same Greek word as “faith.” It means to be convinced of something. This verb “entrusted” is in the passive voice, which you will remember means the object of the verb is acted upon by something else. In this case, God acts upon us by entrusting us with His Gospel. Wow! Faith is a two-way street. We have faith in God to save us, and He has faith in us to carry out His message.

APPLICATION

This can be a good verse to act out with your little Susie or Johnny. You can entrust them to do something. Give them a chore to do with the promise of payment in return. Make sure it is something they can actually do according to their age. When they have completed the chore, sit them down and give them their payment and explain what just happened.

You gave them a task (you entrusted it to them), and you fulfilled your promise (you paid them). In the same way, although with much more purpose, God entrusts them with His message. He “pays” them through His promise to save them. Make sure they understand that our salvation does not depend on works. Our works are simply our way of showing God how much we love Him and how grateful we are to Him for having faith in us to be a part of His plan.

Do you believe God has entrusted you with a purpose? He has, you know. He believes in you as much as you believe in Him. He wants to use you to accomplish great things in His name. But you have to be willing. You have to do it. He won’t make you, but He knows you can do it. Will you? 

Doing Your Will is my purpose, O Lord. I know when I am obedient You are pleased. You love me unconditionally, but You are well pleased when I serve You.

Standard
Advice, Alone, Bible, Busyness, Child Raising, Child Rearing, Christianity, Commands, Completeness, Direction, Disciplemaking, Encouragement, God's Will, Love, Mentoring, Ministry, Modeling, Obedience, Parenting, Purity, Questions, Scripture, Surrender

WHAT DRAWS YOU?

1 TIMOTHY 1:6

“For some men, straying from these things, have turned aside to fruitless discussion,” 

It is so important to understand not just what, but how the Scriptures are written. What do I mean by that? I mean the choice of verbs and adjectives is important. Today’s verse is one perfect example. The verb phrase “have turned aside” is in the passive voice, which means an action has been done on the subject. In this case, we have to ask what turned them aside. It’s in the phrase before, “straying from these things.”

Don’t let me lose you. Hang on! You see, when we stray, when we miss the mark, we are turned aside from where we should be going to where we should NOT be going. That can be “fruitless discussion” or something more dangerous. You see, sin will take you further than you ever thought you would stray, cost you more than you ever thought you would pay and keep you longer than you ever thought you would stay (this saying is not original to me).

APPLICATION

This is why one of our most important jobs as parents is to teach our children to focus on the eternal perspective. When they lose sight of the eternal, the temporal will cause them to stray. Learning to sacrifice immediate gain for ultimate reward is huge. Setting long term goals is critical, even for children.

Let me give you an example. When I began mowing yards as a young boy to make some money, my dad took me to his company credit union to open an account. I gave him money each time I got paid which he deposited into that account. When I turned fifteen, I had enough money to buy my first car. He helped me see past the bubble gum and movie tickets to my ultimate goal (though years away) of getting a car.

Are you making deposits for your spiritual future? Or are you spending every blessing you receive as fast as it is received. We need to examine every decision we make with eternal eyes. How do our decisions affect our eternity and the eternity of others? That’s a heavy question, but one we need to ask ourselves.

Father, You are so good to give me exactly what I need when I need it. Teach me to see all things eternally and to let go of my own selfish desires. Pleasing You is so much more important than pleasing myself or others.

Standard
Advice, Bible, Child Raising, Child Rearing, Christianity, Commands, Completeness, Direction, Disciplemaking, Encouragement, Family, Fatherhood, God's Will, Grace, Holy Spirit, Inspirational, Love, Mentoring, Ministry, Modeling, Obedience, Parenting, Peace, Scripture, Surrender

ALL WE NEED IS LOVE

1 TIMOTHY 1:5

“But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith.” 

The line from the Beatle’s song just jumped off the page to me when I read this verse. Now, before you excommunicate me for doing that (lol), let me try to explain. I am NOT implying that the Beatles got the inspiration for their song from this verse. Paul is reminding Timothy, that in the midst of all his instructing, don’t forget love.

Have you ever had a teacher you just loved? I bet you loved them because you felt they loved teaching, right? They loved seeing students “get it.” They loved passing on the knowledge they had gained. And Paul gives some qualifiers – pure heart, good conscience and sincere faith. In other words, you can’t fake this kind of teaching. It all comes down to love.

APPLICATION

Why do you teach your children? Because you love them. You want them to be prepared to face life head on with confidence. If you lied to them as you taught them, what good would that do? You teach them with a pure heart, don’t you? Your conscience is clear as you give them the house rules. And, of course, your faith must be pure for you to pass it on.

Children will be crushed if they find out later that all you have taught them is false. They will struggle with life questions if your teaching has all been based lies. That’s why it is important (spoiler alert) that you be truthful about things such as Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy and the Easter Bunny. If they find out (and they will) these things weren’t real, you can actually put doubt in their minds about all you have taught them about Jesus, whom they also cannot see.

How do you teach? Let me encourage you to evaluate your motivation for teaching anyone. It should never be to JUST pass on knowledge. Knowledge in itself will never transform. The purpose of knowledge and the application of it has the potential to change everything. Will you be that kind of teacher?

Father God, You are the perfect teacher. All You give is pure, good and sincere. Teach me to teach just like You.

Standard
Advice, Bible, Busyness, Child Raising, Child Rearing, Christianity, Comfort, Commands, Completeness, Disciplemaking, Encouragement, Family, Fatherhood, God's Will, Holy Spirit, Inspirational, Love, Mentoring, Modeling, Motherhood, Obedience, Parenting, Sanctification, Scripture, Surrender, Thessalonians

TIRED OF BEING GOOD

2 THESSALONIANS 3:13

“But as for you, brethren, do not grow weary of doing good.”

If you know me personally, you know I spent over 30 years of my 40+ years of ministry serving in the Child Welfare environment. I served in various capacities at several Children’s Homes. So many of the children I worked with would start learning how to handle their own behavior and make progress in school and home. But most of them would reach a point when they would regress to previous bad behavior. When asked why, they would say, “I am just tired of being good.”

That may sound like a cop out, but until they learned the truth of the Gospel, they were doomed to repeat this roller coaster of good behavior and bad behavior. Once they learned they didn’t have to be good and to allow Christ to live through them, they began to stabilize their behavior. They weren’t always good, but they recognized it was all about surrender.

APPLICATION

Don’t teach your children to be good. Yes, you read that right. Don’t teach them to behave. Teach them, instead, to trust the only Good One. When our children learn to depend solely on Christ, behaviors will improve. When they learn to follow Christ’s example of selfless living, they will put others first. 

You can’t teach goodness. You have to live it out. You have to experience life. Your children will have ample opportunities to “be good.” But nothing they can do will ever make them good. Only Christ can do that.

Are you pointing others to Jesus by your “goodness”? Are you allowing Christ to live in and through you? Apart from Him you have absolutely no goodness in you. You might be morally good. You might treat others nicely. But there is no goodness in you. We are simply sinners, saved by grace. Let His goodness lead you to do good works.

O Lord, I am so grateful that I don’t have to do good works to achieve my “goodness.” I recognize that no amount of deeds on my part will achieve that. Only You can make me “good” in Your sight.

Standard
Advice, Bible, Child Raising, Child Rearing, Christianity, Commands, Completeness, Direction, Disciplemaking, Encouragement, Evangelism, Family, Fatherhood, Inspirational, Mentoring, Ministry, Modeling, Motherhood, Obedience, Parenting, Rapture, Sanctification, Scripture, Surrender, Thessalonians, Trust

BE A MODEL


2 THESSALONIANS 3:9

“not because we do not have the right to this, but in order to offer ourselves as a model for you, so that you would follow our example.” 

Before you start freaking out about my title today, let me explain. I am NOT telling you to be a fashion model or a swimsuit model. You may want to do that, but that is not what I am referring to in today’s verse. Paul is telling the Thessalonians that he and his companions were examples or models of Christ. He wanted them to only see Jesus in them.

I was told recently by someone that they could tell just by watching me that I was a nice person. They observed this in me not through conversation or interaction. They came to that conclusion by the way I was behaving and interacting with others. I was quite humbled and was very glad I had behaved myself, lol. But our goal should always be to model Christ, so that others would be drawn to Him, not us.

APPLICATION

Well, here we are again. The best way for us to teach our children this truth is to MODEL it ourselves. We have to live it for them to see it. We have to look like Jesus. I don’t mean to grow out your hair and wear a robe. I mean to treat others as Christ would. I mean to parent your child as Christ would. I mean to live and act like Jesus. Be a model of Christ to them.

As we do that our children learn to model Him too. They have to have an example to follow. What better example than Jesus? If your children can learn this truth at an early age, they will avoid a lot of heartaches because of the way they interact with others. Modeling Jesus isn’t easy, but it is the best way to live your life. 

“But Carl, I have blown it so many times.” That’s okay. Start fresh. Begin today to change your appearance. Be a model of Him for others to follow. Make sure when others point out your “specialness” that you point it right back to Him. It is only through Him that you can begin to look and act like Him. 

I want to look like Jesus, Father. I want others to see Him in me. Help me today to share the gospel and, if necessary, to use words.

Standard