Category Archives: Sanctification

Advice, Child Raising, Child Rearing, Christianity, Commands, Disciplemaking, Encouragement, Family, Fatherhood, Forgiveness, God's Will, Inspirational, Love, Mentoring, Modeling, Obedience, Parenting, Revenge, Sanctification, Suffering, Surrender

THE AVENGER

2 THESSALONIANS 1:6

“For after all it is only just for God to repay with affliction those who afflict you,”

Super heroes are popular today in the movies. Who doesn’t like seeing the bad guy defeated by the good guy? There is even a movie called “The Avengers.” Several super heroes come together to save the world. They all have their special skills, but they also have their own egos and challenges. They end up working together but not before great loss.

But look at today’s verse. God is our ultimate avenger. He repays “with affliction those who afflict you.” God doesn’t need help. He can handle it. He doesn’t have an ego that needs to be stroked. He doesn’t have any limitations. The only problem God has is us getting out of the way. We want to avenge ourselves. 

APPLICATION

Children naturally want to “get back” at someone who has hurt them. I have worked with children for forty years now. Girls are notorious for plotting their revenge. They may wait weeks, months or even years for just the right opportunity to strike back. I have seen girls in a cottage wait until the day a girl was leaving to get back at her for something she had done months ago. 

So, we must teach our children to allow the Lord to handle that “payback.” He knows exactly how to do it, while at the same time giving that person the opportunity to turn to Him. After all, that is His ultimate desire. He wants even our enemies to come to Him. 

Is there someone right now in your life whom you are plotting to get back at? Let it go! Turn it over to the Lord. Let Him handle it. He may tell you to just forgive them. In fact, the issue you are having with this person could be all on you. You might be the problem. Seek the Lord on the matter. Let Him reveal to you what He wants you to do.

Lord, I can always trust You to handle the situation perfectly. Teach me, again, to get out of the way. Allow me to place it into Your capable hands.

Standard
Advice, Child Raising, Child Rearing, Christianity, Comfort, Completeness, Disciplemaking, Encouragement, Evangelism, Family, Fatherhood, Forgiveness, God's Will, Holy Spirit, Inspirational, Love, Mentoring, Ministry, Modeling, Motherhood, Obedience, Parenting, Praise, Prayer, Sanctification, Suffering, Surrender, Thanksgiving

WORTHY TO SUFFER

2 THESSALONIANS 1:5

“This is a plain indication of God’s righteous judgment so that you will be considered worthy of the kingdom of God, for which indeed you are suffering.” 

Did you catch that? Because they were suffering, they were worthy of the kingdom. Now, wait just a minute Paul. That’s not what I expected when I got into this Jesus stuff. I thought He would just forgive me of my sins, and I would go on living a perfect life. That’s the problem most of us have. We want to live for Jesus until it requires suffering or persecution. Then it’s too hard.

The phrase “considered worthy” is only used three times in the New Testament. In all three times, it refers to suffering or death. It means to be weighed accurately. In other words, God has you on a scale and finds that you measure up to this. He won’t put more on the other side of the scale than you can handle. He knows your limits, so just trust Him.

APPLICATION

Children don’t know their limits of suffering yet. They have to experience pain and suffering before they know how much they can take. I remember when I was in high school, I broke my ankle at football camp. I walked on that ankle for a week and half before I knew it was broken. I just dealt with the pain. I discovered then that I have a pretty high pain tolerance. 

But physical pain is a lot different than emotional or mental pain. There are all kinds of suffering. Your children will face a multitude of opportunities to “suffer” for Jesus. If you will teach them to trust Him, they will be able to endure the sufferings that come their way. As they watch you endure, they will learn.

Are you going through a time of suffering right now? Thank the Lord for the opportunity to trust Him. Let Him know right now that you are His to mold and make into whatever He chooses. I promise if you trust Him, you will come out the other side of this suffering a more useable vessel. He always perfects. He never condemns.

Knowing You are in control of my every suffering gives me peace. I trust You, Lord, to teach me through my sufferings. I count it a privilege to considered worthy of suffering for You.

Standard
Advice, Affection, Child Raising, Child Rearing, Christianity, Completeness, Disciplemaking, Encouragement, Evangelism, Family, Fatherhood, Forgiveness, God's Will, Holy Spirit, Inspirational, Love, Mentoring, Ministry, Modeling, Motherhood, Obedience, Parenting, Sanctification, Surrender, Witnessing

NO FOOLING

2 THESSALONIANS 1:2

“Grace to you and peace from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”

God’s grace and peace are no joke. When Paul wished that upon the Thessalonians, he wasn’t making a wish that could not be kept. We do that a lot, don’t we? We tell people things that we know we can’t keep. We have good intentions, but it is just outside the realm of possibility.

Grace and peace are not like that. Why? Because we aren’t the ones giving it. Our desire, just like God’s, should be that all men be saved. When someone receives Christ as their Savior and Lord, they experience His grace and His peace. God gives it freely and liberally. Paul is desiring that for them and us.

APPLICATION

What is something you can give to your child that they cannot get for themselves? Think of something. Perhaps it is a new bike. Well…nope. They could save their money and get that. How about a new cell phone (God forbid, lol)? Nope again. They could buy that if they had the money.

You can give them a godly parent. They can’t make that happen. You can give them love and respect. They can’t earn that. You can give them discipline and direction. They will learn to self-discipline later, but only after you give it first. These are the things you need to focus on, not material things.

Is there something in your life which you are clamoring for that really doesn’t matter in the eternal order of things? We all have some things like that. Give it up. Let God take over. Let Him determine what you need in your life. He knows best anyway. Don’t you think?  Let Him give you His grace and peace today. 

They never get old.Father of grace and peace, rain down on me today. Let me experience afresh Your grace and Your peace. Then, Lord, let me share that with others.

Standard
Advice, Affection, Child Raising, Child Rearing, Comfort, Commands, Disciplemaking, Encouragement, Evangelism, Family, Fatherhood, God's Will, Heaven, Inspirational, Love, Mentoring, Ministry, Modeling, Motherhood, Obedience, Parenting, Prayer, Sanctification, Surrender, Witnessing

LAST WORDS

1 THESSALONIANS 5:28

“The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.”

Paul ends all his letters mentioning grace. It was his typical closing in which he wished upon the reader grace from our Lord Jesus Christ. It was his way of saying “goodbye.” What better way than to wish God’s grace on someone. It blesses that person as they are finishing the letter.

Saying goodbye can be hard sometimes. It is especially hard if you think you will never see that person again on this side of eternity. I travel to Uganda and Kenya every year to train Pastors. I have gotten to be close friends with several of those Pastors in both countries. Sometimes our goodbyes can last quite a while. But I know I will see them on the “other side.”

APPLICATION

Teach your children to think about these words of Paul when they say goodbye next time to someone. Teach them to bless others with more than just a few simple goodbyes. Teach them to lift up a prayer for them as they are saying goodbye. Teach them to ask the Lord’s blessing on them as they hug them.

Most importantly, teach your children to think eternally with each goodbye. Have them ask themselves, “Is this person going to be in heaven with me?” If they aren’t sure, they should ask them. Children can reach people sometimes that we adults could never get through to. When a little seven or eight-year-old asks you if you are going to heaven, most adults will answer them. They might get offended if we ask that, but not from a child. Your child could be your secret weapon, lol.

Let me encourage you to say goodbye differently next time. Use Paul’s words. Say to them, “May God bless you as we part with His grace and love.” You may get a raised eyebrow, but I bet they won’t soon forget those words.

Give me the words, O Lord, to say goodbye in a way that honors You and points others to You. May my goodbyes really be just “see you later.” See You later, Lord.

Standard
Advice, Affection, Child Raising, Child Rearing, Christianity, Comfort, Commands, Completeness, Disciplemaking, Encouragement, Evangelism, Fatherhood, Forgiveness, God's Will, Holy Spirit, Inspirational, Love, Mentoring, Ministry, Modeling, Motherhood, Obedience, Parenting, Sanctification, Suffering, Surrender, Witnessing

BEGGING

1 THESSALONIANS 5:27

“I adjure you by the Lord to have this letter read to all the brethren.” 

Paul is begging here. That kind of surprised me. Paul doesn’t strike me as a person who would beg for anything. But he is begging them, adjuring them, trying to persuade them to share this letter. After all, there wasn’t Face Book or Instagram back then, lol. Paul couldn’t tweet out his message. He had to rely on others to pass on his words.

Have you ever been asked to help spread the word about something? Maybe someone is having a yard sale and asks you to let your friends know. Perhaps the church is hosting an event and asks all its members to invite others to come. We invite people to stuff all the time. But do we share the good news about Jesus enough?

APPLICATION

Ask your little Johnny or Susie if they have good news to share with someone? They may say, “What do you mean, Mom?” Explain to them that if they are a believer, they have the best story in the world to share. They should be telling everyone they know about how much Jesus loves them. Keeping that to themselves is…well…selfish. Don’t you think?

Help them make a list of people they want to tell about Jesus. And it’s okay for them to list people who are already saved. They may just need a little encouragement that day. We never know what people are dealing with. The words of a child to an adult can be very soothing. If needed, go with them to talk to those people. But make sure you follow up to see if they talked to those individuals.

To whom do you need to talk to today? Who, in your sphere of influence, needs to hear about the saving power of the blood of Christ? We have such wonderful news. Don’t keep it to yourself. I adjure you to share it today.

Lord, put people in my life today to whom I can share Jesus. Let me be bold and courageous as I step forward to represent You in my community.

Standard
Advice, Child Raising, Child Rearing, Christianity, Comfort, Commands, Completeness, Disciplemaking, Encouragement, Evangelism, Family, Fatherhood, God's Will, Holy Spirit, Inspirational, Love, Mentoring, Ministry, Modeling, Motherhood, Obedience, Parenting, Sanctification, Surrender, Thanksgiving, Witnessing

SOMEONE TO COUNT ON

1 THESSALONIANS 5:24

“Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass.” 

As we come towards the end of this first letter to the Thessalonians, I feel like every word and every phrase is so important. I want to just linger and absorb each letter of each word of each phrase of each verse. God doesn’t waste words, so these last few verses are just as important as the first one.

Today’s verse just sums up our relationship with our Lord. Look at it again. “Faithful is He who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass.”God is faithful! God calls you! God will keep His word! Simple, yet profound truth. But God can only be faithful to those whom have answered His call. Then and only then do all of His promises come true.

APPLICATION

Why do you remain faithful to that wayward child? Because they were birthed into your family. They may stray away for years, but you still yearn for them. God yearns for us. He created us in His image with that “God-sized” hole in our hearts that only He can fill. Did your children ever play with those shape toys? You know the ones where they have to fit the round piece in the round hole and the square piece in the square hole. Pull that back out and explain this verse using those.

That is such a simple way to explain the hole that God fills in our life, when we surrender to Him. And just like that piece will always fit that hole, God will always fill that gap in them. But we have to let Him. He won’t force Himself into that gap, even though it is a perfect fit. We have to let Him in. Your children need to know that. Only THEY can let Him in. You can’t do it for them.

Have you allowed the Lord of the universe to complete you? If you have, rest assured that He is faithful to you. He will bring all His promises to fulfillment in your life. He wants to bless you more than you can possibly imagine. Just surrender your will to His and watch what He does in and through you.

I am constantly amazed at what You do in and through me, Lord. I am not capable of loving some people, but You are through me. I am not able to obey Your Word, but as I meditate on it through Your Spirit, I have the urgency to obey.

Standard
Advice, Child Raising, Child Rearing, Christianity, Comfort, Completeness, Disciplemaking, Encouragement, Family, Fatherhood, God's Will, Inspirational, Mentoring, Ministry, Modeling, Motherhood, Obedience, Parenting, Prayer, Sanctification, Thanksgiving

THE WHOLE ENCHILADA

1 THESSALONIANS 5:23

“Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” 

I thought it interesting that Paul used the word “entirely.” And when I looked deeper it was even more interesting. Did you know that word is only used one time in the New Testament? So, what does it mean? It means to be wholly completed, to reach the end result. Paul is praying that the God of peace would perfect the Thessalonians’ sanctification. Can you imagine being completely, wholly sanctified on earth?

And Paul prays that their body, soul and spirit would be kept (guarded, protected) completely. “Completely” is only used twice itself. It means a divinely allotted wholeness. Wow! Only God is capable of anything divine, and He wants to guard you completely. What a promise and prayer from Paul!

APPLICATION

How do you explain completeness and entirety to children? Do your children like puzzles? I do. I enjoy a good puzzle. But one of the most frustrating things in the world is when you are missing pieces. The puzzle isn’t complete. The entire picture isn’t shown.

Get one of their puzzles and remove a piece before you start putting it together with them. They may recognize fairly quickly that a piece is missing, if they have put this puzzle together a lot. That could be even more frustrating. They know what the missing piece is. Explain to them that the Lord knows exactly what “pieces” we need in our lives. He has them all, if we will just let Him supply them and keep them.

What piece are you missing? Are you whole and complete in Him? He wants to sanctify you entirely. He wants to keep you completely. Will you let Him? 

Father, You are the ONLY one who can do that for me. I know that. Help me to surrender ALL my pieces to You today. I want You to “put me together” according to Your master plan.

Standard
Advice, Child Raising, Child Rearing, Christianity, Commands, Disciplemaking, Encouragement, Family, Fatherhood, God's Will, Inspirational, Mentoring, Ministry, Modeling, Motherhood, Obedience, Parenting, Passion, Sanctification, Surrender

LET IT GO

1 THESSALONIANS 5:22

“abstain from every form of evil.” 

I love to dig in and discover what words really mean in Scripture. A lot of the time the English translation just doesn’t do it justice. Today’s verse is an example of that. The word “abstain” seems to imply to just not do something, to keep yourself away from evil. But look at the definition of the Greek word. It means “to have one thing by separating from (letting go of) another.”

You can’t have that which is good if you hold on to the evil stuff. You can’t live in the flesh and the spirit at the same time. The two just don’t co-exist. Also, this word is in the middle voice which means YOU have to do this. No one is going to do it for you.  So, I must let go of the evil, fleshly stuff in my life in order to fully embrace the godly things the Lord has for me.

APPLICATION

This can be a fun verse to illustrate to your children. Get a bunch of their toys or stuffed animals. Load their hands and arms up with them to the point that they can’t hold anymore. Then place in front of them their favorite candy bar or dessert. Tell them they can have it, but they can only use their hands to get it.

I bet they will literally drop all that stuff in their hands, lol.  Who doesn’t want their favorite dessert, right? Now, explain to them this verse with that illustration fresh in their heads (and the treat fresh on their lips). God has such wonderful things for us, but we can only access them when we let go of the worldly things that we are holding on to. We can’t have the peace of God until we let go of the fears in our life. We can’t experience true joy until we abandon our will for His.

What do you need to let go of today in order to obtain what God has for you? It may be a job that you KNOW is holding you back from following the Lord. It could be a person whom you KNOW is holding you back from living for the Lord. Whatever it is, let it go. Let the Lord give you the BETTER thing. But you have to let go first. It’s your choice.

Lord, I am so thankful that whatever I let go of is replaced by something so much better by You. I will abandon the fleshly for the spiritual. I will trust You to give me exactly what I need for this life.

Standard
Advice, Child Raising, Child Rearing, Christianity, Commands, Disciplemaking, Encouragement, Evangelism, Family, Fatherhood, God's Will, Inspirational, Mentoring, Ministry, Modeling, Motherhood, Parenting, Praise, Sanctification, Surrender, Thanksgiving

WHAT IS GOD’S WILL?

1 THESSALONIANS 5:18

“in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” 

I want to challenge you to do a word study. Look up how many times the Bible mentions “God’s will” or “the will of God.” Make a list of all the things it says is God’s will for your life. The list may just surprise you. And here we have one more thing that is included in God’s will for you – to give thanks in everything.

Notice, Paul didn’t say “for” everything. It’s hard to thank God for some things. But IN whatever situation, we can thank Him. My brother and sister-in-law give thanks for my brother’s cancer he had several years ago. Now, they don’t thank Him FOR the cancer, but they are truly grateful for the opportunity it gave them to trust Him afresh with his very life. 

APPLICATION

Help your little Elrod or Gertrude make a list of things for which they are thankful. They will probably list the good stuff. Most of us would also. But help them think of some things that were difficult. Talk about what they learned through those things and how they can thank God for them. This is a deliberate choice on our part. We don’t naturally do this.

How about helping them thank God for the difficult people in their lives? “What?! Carl, you can’t mean that!” Well, I don’t, but God does. He places people in our lives who will challenge us and whom He will use to make us more like Him. We can thank Him for that. We don’t enjoy the process, but we sure love the outcome.

Are you thankful? Are you giving the Lord all the gratitude for all the things He allows to touch you? If you are like me, you probably aren’t. It’s hard to thank Him when your eyes are on the situation. Look up. Know that He is there. His will, His desire for you, His best offer can be accepted or rejected. What will you do with it.

Lord, I must confess that sometimes I find it hard to thank You for some of the things that come into my life. But I must trust that if You allow them, You have a purpose for them. For that I am thankful.

Standard
Advice, Child Raising, Child Rearing, Christianity, Comfort, Commands, Disciplemaking, Encouragement, Evangelism, Family, Fatherhood, Inspirational, Love, Mentoring, Ministry, Modeling, Motherhood, Obedience, Parenting, Praise, Sanctification, Thanksgiving, Witnessing

REJOICE – ALWAYS


1 THESSALONIANS 5:16

“Rejoice always;” 

This is a first for me. I have put the entire verse in the title, lol.  One of the shortest verses in the Bible. In fact, in the Greek, it is shorter than the commonly thought of shortest verse “Jesus wept.” How ironic that the verse we think is the shortest has an exact opposite thought than the actual shortest verse. On the one hand we have weeping and on the other we have rejoicing.  That was just interesting to me. It didn’t cost you anything extra.

What does Paul mean here? This word “rejoice” is a command. We are commanded to rejoice ALL THE TIME. Is that possible? We can if we understand where this word comes from. “Rejoice,” “joy” and “grace” all come from the same root word in the Greek. If you understand grace and have experienced it through salvation, you will have joy. And if you have joy, you can’t help but rejoice. Even in bad times, God’s grace and joy will explode in rejoicing.

APPLICATION

Have you had a “Rejoicing Party” lately with your children? What fun! Put on a cd with some songs of rejoicing and praising our Savior. Dance and sing. Rejoice! Children love to dance with daddy and mommy. They love to watch us celebrate. 

Teach them this verse. Even a three-year-old can memorize this one. But explain it to them. Make sure they understand that rejoicing is based on joy and grace. We rejoice because of what God has done through His Son Jesus. We can’t rejoice in anything we’ve done. What a great verse – rejoice always.

Do you? Do you rejoice? Do you rejoice always? It is possible, if you allow yourself to die to your selfishness and pride. If you allow the Holy Spirit to flow through you, He will bring the joy to the top and it will overflow with rejoicing. Let it flow!

I praise You, my Lord, for filling me with Your grace and joy through the knowledge of Your Son. Because of Him I can rejoice always, even when the world is dead set against me. I WILL rejoice.

Standard