Category Archives: God’s Will

Bible, Child Raising, Child Rearing, Commands, Disciplemaking, Encouragement, Following, God's Will, Inspirational, Knowledge, Mentoring, Obedience, Parenting, Scripture, Surrender

HOW DO YOU KNOW?

1 JOHN 2:3

“By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments.”

I get asked a lot by people how they can be sure they are saved. They want a firm reassurance that they can rest on. Well, here is one way. John states it pretty clearly. He says, “By this we know that we have come to know Him.” Both times that word “know” is used it refers to a knowledge gained through experience. You know it because you have experienced it.

Then John goes on to say how we will know – by keeping God’s commandments. Simple enough, right? If you have given your heart to Jesus and are following His commands, you know the Lord. You obey out of love. You don’t obey to be loved. Keeping God’s commandments is just a natural result of knowing Him.

APPLICATION

Do your children obey you? Now, come on. Be honest. Do they obey you all the time? Probably not. Do they trust that what you ask them to do is for their good? Most children do. But why? Because they know you. They have grown up with you. You have been there through all their challenges. You have been there in the good times and bad times. You know them and they know you.

Explain this to your son or daughter the next time you have to discuss a “rule” with them. It is just like obeying the Father. He has known them even before they were born. He knows them completely. He has fashioned His plan for their lives for their good. He has written His Word to guide them towards perfection. They simply have to believe and follow Him.

Doesn’t that all sound easy? Well, we both know it isn’t. In fact, it’s impossible – by ourselves. But when we surrender to the Lord and bow before Him, all those challenges become opportunities to trust Him. All those hard times become times for growth.

Lord, I’m thankful You have given me Your commandments to follow. I know I can trust them to lead me where You want me to go. I trust Your Word.

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Accountability, Advice, Bible, Child Raising, Child Rearing, Cleansing, Confession, Disciplemaking, Encouragement, Forgiveness, God's Will, Grace, Mentoring, Parenting, Promises, Redemption, Repentance, Righteousness, Salvation, Scripture, Testimony

SPARKLY

1 JOHN 1:9

“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 

Man, I loved my first car so much. I guess all guys do. Mine was a 1971 Buick Skylark. It was royal blue with a white vinyl top. It had key-colored mag wheels AND a Craig AM/FM eight-track Powerplay stereo. I kept that car pretty much spotless. I was relentless to remove the dirt and grime. I wanted to present a clean car to everyone.

All we have to do to present ourselves as “sparkly” is to confess our sins to the Father. When we do, He is faithful and righteous (or just) to forgive them and to clean us up. I love that the word “forgive” in the Greek means to send away. He sends our sins away. Why? Because they are cleansed by the blood. He wants us to be presentable to the lost to draw them also to Him.

APPLICATION

Bath time for kids can be a challenge. Most kids go through a time when they just really fight against it. They don’t want their hair washed or they don’t want to have their backs scrubbed. Of course, we bathe them anyway because we know we can’t leave them that way.

The next time you are bathing your child or have to remind them to get a bath, share this verse with them. They will probably think you are crazy, lol. Explain to them the importance of not only keeping their body clean, but they also need to keep their heart clean by confessing their sins to God. Unconfessed sin makes us comfortable with the grime of sin. After a while we stop smelling ourselves.

Are you all scrubbed? I mean are you confessed up? What are you waiting for? Don’t you want to feel refreshed spiritually? Of course, you. Turn to Him right now. Just say, “Father, forgive me for my sins. I confess to You my wrongdoings and failures. I want to walk in Your light. Thank You for forgiving me and cleansing me.” That’s it. You’re sparkly!

Thank You, Father, for sending Your Son Jesus to die for me so I can come to You for forgiveness. I know His blood has covered my sins. Help me walk in righteousness.

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Bible, Child Raising, Child Rearing, Commands, Contentment, Disciplemaking, Encouragement, Following, God's Will, Inspirational, Joy, Mentoring, Modeling, Obedience, Parenting, Rejoicing, Scripture, Testimony

FULL OF JOY

1 JOHN 1:4

“These things we write, so that our joy may be made complete.”

There’s a difference in being joyful and being full of joy. Being joyful can be spontaneous and last for a while. Being full of joy is more about a lifestyle. Let me prove my point from the text. The Greek word for “complete” is pleroo. Any time you see a Greek word which ends in -oo the emphasis is more about the result of the word than the word itself. That word means “fill to individual capacity.

Being full of joy is a choice we make as believers that has results. We cast that joy onto others. We want to spread the joy to others because we know how great we feel because of it. We know the source of the joy is not of our own making. It comes from the Lord, so the source is bottomless.

APPLICATION

Ask your child if he/she knows what joy is. Let them define it in their own way. This could be quite hilarious. Then ask them if they would want to always feel that way. Some kids may say “no.” Why? Because they don’t know how to handle it? Maybe.

Here’s your opportunity to talk about the reason Christ gives us joy. We are not supposed to handle it. We are to pass it on. When we are full of the joy of Christ, we spread it around to all we meet. You can show your kids this by the way you treat others in your home and in the public.

But Carl, you don’t know what I’m dealing with right now. I don’t have any joy in my life. Remember, I said this is not a joy you produce. It comes from Christ through you to others. You have to surrender to Him. When you do that, the joy flows. It flows to overflowing. It becomes your lifestyle. Be full of joy!

Joyful, joyful we adore Thee. Lord, fill me to overflowing with Your joy. I want to spill out on others.

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Bible, Child Raising, Child Rearing, Contentment, Disciplemaking, Following, God's Will, Grace, Inspirational, Joy, Mentoring, Parenting

HEAR, SEE AND TOUCH

1 JOHN 1:1

“What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of Life—”

Have you ever watched toddlers in a room full of toys for the first time? They run from shelf to shelf grabbing and holding these treasures. They may even squeal with happiness. What fun! They are so excited. They may run up to you showing you their new found toys. They just have to share it.

John is that excited! He has to share all he knew about Jesus. Look what he says. He’s heard and seen and looked and touched! He spent these years with Jesus, this Word of Life, and he is busting to tell someone. You can just feel the joy in the words he has penned for us.

APPLICATION

What gets your child excited? Disney World? A certain movie? How about their favorite meal? Get them to tell you all about it. Watch their facial expressions. In fact, if you can, video them telling you about it. Then let them watch the video. Point out those things in the video that show their excitement.

Now read them today’s verse and talk about John’s excitement about Jesus. Shouldn’t we have the same kind of excitement? Shouldn’t we be bubbling over with joy? The very Son of God came to earth to save us from a certain judgment. Wow! He gave Himself for us.

How would you react today if Jesus showed up? Well, guess what – He already has. He lives in you. He lives in other believers. Why aren’t we more excited to tell someone about it? The greatest story ever told is at our fingertips. Share it with someone today.

O God, I don’t deserve the joy You have given me. I praise You for filling me with capacity for joy. Let it overflow!

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Advice, Bible, Child Raising, Child Rearing, Encouragement, Following, God's Will, Holy Spirit, Judgment, Mentoring, Parenting, Promises, Repentance

GOD’S WISH

2 PETER 3:9

“The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.”

Do you ever make wishes? I have been known to wish for a large, stuffed crust pepperoni pizza. I have wished for a new fishing boat or a new rifle for hunting. We all make wishes, don’t we? We also wish for someone to have good health or we wish someone good luck.

My point? We can wish all day, but we can’t make those wishes come true. God’s wishes, though, are certain. Look what He wishes for. He wishes for no one to perish but for all to repent. Wow! That kind of puts our feeble wishes in place. Shouldn’t we join God in that wish?

APPLICATION

Get your kids to make a wish list. Tell them anything goes. Give them 15 minutes to write down as many things as they can. I am willing to bet that 95% of their wishes are things. Am I right? Unless you have a very special child, most kids are thinking about their immediate satisfaction.

Now, read them the verse above and ask them how many of their wishes line up with God’s wish. I am not trying to get you to make them feel bad. That’s not my point. I am simply trying to get you to point them towards God’s wish list. His list is always about others.

Can you say that about your own wish list? Do you focus more on yourself? Lay that down. Look around you. Who needs your wishes? Your wishes can be turned into prayers for others. Instead of saying I wish so and so, say I pray so and so. Point your wishes heavenward and watch how God works through you.

I am thankful, Lord, for the privilege to pray for others. Show me their needs so I can “wish” them to You. Let my wishes always be Yours.

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Advice, Bible, Child Raising, Child Rearing, Deception, Destruction, Direction, Encouragement, Following, God's Will, Mentoring, Modeling, Obedience, Parenting, Scripture

DON’T RIDE A DONKEY

2 PETER 2:15

“forsaking the right way, they have gone astray, having followed the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness;”

We all know the story of Balaam, don’t we? He was the prophet of God that Balak asked to come curse the Israelites. Remember his donkey? He spoke to Balaam. Now, I don’t know about you, but if a donkey started talking to me, I might change my direction. Not Balaam. He kept on riding that donkey straight into disobedience.

How many times have you rode your donkey into disobedience? The Greek word for “gone astray” means to get off the correct path. It is so easy, isn’t it? We compromise on a business deal or we fib a little on our taxes. Before you know it, you are way off course. Don’t you wish God would make your donkey talk?

APPLICATION

Keeping our children on the right course can be challenging. It’s hard enough when they are small, but when they become teenagers it can seem impossible. They are exposed to so many influences. Friends, media and the digital world are all clamoring for their attention. Getting off the right path can happen in a blink of an eye.

You cannot be there all the time, so you have to entrust them to Jesus. You do have the responsibility to ground them in the Word and teach them which path to follow. However, there comes a time when you have to let their hand go. Wow! That’s hard. But you must do it. There is no growth without challenges. God loves them much more than you do. Entrust them to His capable hands.

Are you riding and beating your donkey, heading in the wrong direction? Stop it! Get off that critter and turn back to Jesus. Let Him get you back on the straight and narrow. He knows exactly where you are and how to reroute you. His GPS is never wrong.

Forgive me Father for getting off course. Forgive me for straying. I need You to lead me back to Your path of righteousness.

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Accountability, Advice, Bible, Commands, Courage, Direction, Encouragement, God's Will, Inspirational, Joy, Modeling

STIR ME UP, LORD

2 PETER 1:13

“I consider it right, as long as I am in this earthly dwelling, to stir you up by way of reminder,”

Have you ever been stirred up about something? I have seen large crowds stirred up over a bad call by a referee on the ballfield. I have been stirred up over bad news that I received about something. I did a little digging on this Greek word for “stir up.” I found a couple of interesting things.

This word is only used 6 times in the New Testament. Four of those times refer to Jesus or His actions. Check them out at Mark 4:39, Luke 8:24 (twice) and John 6:18. In three of these Jesus is stirred and in one He stirs the water (I believe He did that to teach the disciples). The other two times the word in used is here in 2 Peter (1:13 and 3:1).

Listen to me. Jesus is involved in all this stirring. He stirs us up for a purpose. The Holy Spirit inspired Peter to pen these words stating that through the Spirit he would stir them up to godly living. Don’t we all need that?

APPLICATION

I don’t know why, but I have this image in my head of children riding one of those little teacup rides at the carnival. You know the ride. You sit in a curved seat enclosure and the seat spins around on a circular track while the whole ride spins around. That’s what I call getting stirred up.

Now, God doesn’t want to make us sick, like that carnival ride. But He does want us to get out our complacency and get enthused about living for Him. We need someone to stir us up. We need someone to shake us up sometimes.

Are you finding yourself in need of being stirred up? Ask the Holy Spirit to send someone into your life to do that. It may be your spouse. It may be a friend from church. Whomever it is, listen to them. Let the Spirit speak through them to get you stirred up for Jesus.

Lord, thanks for stirring me up. Thanks for “unsettling” me at times to move me on to serving You.

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Accountability, Advice, Bible, Child Raising, Child Rearing, Disciplemaking, Encouragement, Exhortation, Following, God's Will, Heaven, Inspirational, Mentoring, Modeling, Parenting

A BUG IN YOUR EAR

2 PETER 1:12

“Therefore, I will always be ready to remind you of these things, even though you already know them, and have been established in the truth which is present with you.” 

Have you ever heard the expression “Let me put a bug in your ear”? Usually that means “I’ve got something to tell you” or “You really need to hear this.” It doesn’t mean I’ve got an ear wiggler, and I am about to put it in your ear. Lol

Peter is telling the readers that he stood ready to “put a bug in their ear” or remind them of the things he has just told them about. We need people in our lives to hold us accountable. We need people to call us out when we aren’t living right. We don’t like it, and we just might get mad. But we still need it.

APPLICATION

Ask your children if they like be reminded to do their chores. I can bet you I know what they will say. No way! If you are brave, try this experiment. Tell your children that for the next week you are not going to mention their chores once. I bet they will sing hallelujah. But let them know you will still be watching to see if they get their chores done.

At the end of the week reward them based on the completion of their chores. They won’t know what this reward is and will be surprised when you bring it up. They may even get mad that you didn’t mention the reward. God is watching how closely we follow His instructions. We are still in the family, but we may not receive all the rewards we could have received if we had lived according to His Word. We’ve missed out.

We don’t do things to get things from God. That’s not what I am saying. Any rewards we receive are laid at the feet of Jesus anyway, right? The very act of living righteously and following Him is a blessing. Heaven is a bonus. Experiencing the joy of Jesus here is worth it all. At least, that’s how I feel. I am glad I am going to heaven, but there is so much joy here also.

I can’t wait to lay all my rewards at Your feet, Lord. I deserve nothing. But I am thankful I can experience Your joy while I am here in this world.

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Advice, Bible, Child Raising, Child Rearing, Encouragement, Following, God's Will, Heaven, Inspirational, Modeling, Obedience, Scripture

COME ON IN

2 PETER 1:11

“for in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you.”

This verse is tied to the previous verse. Without reading it, you are left wondering what “this way” is. Look back at verse 10. “Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble;”

“This way” is living the life outlined in verse 10. You have to practice (live) according to God’s principles. That, of course, begins by accepting Christ as your Savior and is continued by surrendering to His Will daily. When Peter says it “will be abundantly supplied to you,” he means you will be lavishly supplied to achieve a grand objective. Living for Jesus here makes our entrance into heaven even more elaborate.

APPLICATION

Let me give you an example. Use this with your family. The next time you plan a family trip I want you to have a family meeting. I want you decide on one of two options for packing. One – everyone goes to their room and haphazardly grabs anything they want and throws it into a suitcase without any consideration of your destination. Two – you make a list of the things you are going to need where you are going and then help each person pack accordingly.

Which of those two scenarios is going to turn out for the best? Of course, number two is. Why? You followed the instructions based on the information about where you are going. Hmmm. Does that fit with today’s verse? We have been given the instructions in His Word. This all prepares us for heaven. Why wouldn’t we follow it closely?

How are you packing for the trip? Are you packing your moral excellence and self-control? How about your brotherly kindness and perseverance? These are all necessary to prepare us for the journey. Now, here me carefully. Once you ask Christ to come into your life and you have accepted Him as your Savior, your ticket is punched. You are going to heaven. But living according to His principles makes the journey to heaven so much more enjoyable.

I am so thankful I have Your Word to guide my every step. I know, Lord, that You are there to make sure I follow Your principles for a full and glorious life here and one beyond.

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Bible, Blessing, Completeness, Contentment, Encouragement, Gifts, God's Will, Inspirational

GETTING YOURS

2 PETER 1:8

“For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” 

Oh, what a verse! I say that a lot, but it is so true. And sometimes the best hidden gems are things you have to dig out. They just don’t pop out at you in the English translations. This verse has one of those gems, actually two,

Peter says, “For if these qualities are yours.” In the Greek, “if” and “qualities” are not there. They are more implied, but could read “For these are yours.” Peter is referring to all those things mentioned in the previous verses. But the real gem is in the word “yours.” Peter is implying a possession of something. He uses two Greek words to show this, and the second one, huparchó, means to already have possession of something that already exists. It’s already under someone else’s discretion.

Don’t miss this! All those qualities you have now as a believer already existed and were under the discretion of God. He gives them to you as you seek Him. They are gifts to you. Isn’t that incredible?

APPLICATION

I am sure you love giving your children gifts. I know I always loved doing that. Have you ever given them something that was yours? I had a very nice knife once that was given to me by my dad. When my son was old enough, I had it cleaned up and sharpened to give to him. I even had the sheath repaired and restitched.

The point is that knife existed and belonged to me before I gave it to my son. It pre-existed him. But when I gave it to him, it was his. It still had my dna on it. It had history with me. That was passed on to him with my blessing. He got it when he was ready, not before.

Do you get what I’m trying to say? God can’t wait to give you these qualities, but He won’t until you are ready. You have to seek Him. You have to surrender. Then these qualities flow. Don’t you want to be more like Him? He wants you to.

Oh Father, bless me today. By Your love I will love others and strive to be more and more like You.

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