Category Archives: Testimony

Advice, Child Raising, Child Rearing, Commands, Direction, Encouragement, Modeling, Parenting, Peace, Righteousness, Sanctification, Testimony

RUN!!!

2 TIMOTHY 2:22

“Now flee from youthful lusts and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.”

Too many of us try to resist or fight our youthful lusts. No!!! Paul tells Timothy and us to flee, to run away, to get out of Dodge. We tend to think we can play with matches and not get burned. Listen, my brother or sister, you cannot! That’s why Paul tells Timothy to run. He tells us the same thing.

And as we are running from those youthful lusts, we need to be pursuing righteous, faith, love and peace. We already have all of those, if we are believers. They are all centered in and through Christ whom we possess at the moment of salvation. However, we allow ourselves to pursue other things and drop it.

APPLICATION

Most kids are good at following orders. Not really, lol. I mean, inside they want to please you and God. All they have to do is listen to what you say and do it, right? All they have to do is read God’s Word and do what it says, right? What if you read them this verse and told them when they are tempted to do something wrong to run? What do you think they would do?

Make a game of it. Write out some of these “youthful lusts.” What are those? Well, they do involve sensual pleasures, but they also include things like the inclination to gratify the appetites and senses of the body. They even include things like  pride, ambition, vain-glory, rashness, contention, obstinacy. These things make young people obnoxious. Mix in some good things like faith, hope and love. Use your imagination. Hold up one of the cards and have them either run toward you for a hug or run away.

But let me ask you a question. How do you respond to these things? Do you run towards these lusts or away? Do you shun them or embrace them? We adults must have the same flight response as children. These things will defeat us and cripple our walk with Christ. Pursue the good stuff and soar.

You are an amazing God who gives us everything we need to succeed in our walk with You. Help me today to listen closely to You and allow You to lead me away from those things that seek to harm me.

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Child Raising, Child Rearing, Disciplemaking, Evangelism, Friends, God's Will, Parenting, Scripture, Surrender, Testimony, Witnessing

SEARCHING, SEARCHING

2 TIMOTHY 1:17 

“but when he was in Rome, he eagerly searched for me and found me—”  

Have you ever done a search for something? Of course, you have. It may have been your keys, your wallet, your purse, or, heaven forbid, your child. Sometimes the search can get frantic. You get nervous and run around like you are crazy. All you can think about is that lost item. 

Onesiphorus didn’t just look for Paul. He “eagerly searched” for him. This particular, Greek word for “eagerly” only occurs three times (Luke 7:4, here and Titus 3:13. It means to act speedingly or diligently. He didn’t waste any time. At this time, Paul was in his last imprisonment. Perhaps Onesiphorus knew time was short. He wanted to get to Paul before it was too late. 

APPLICATION 

I hate to sound like an alarmist, but time is short. We need to be searching for as many people as we can to bring them the Gospel. There is no time to waste. And as we are doing that, we need to be teaching our children to do the same. People, just like Paul, are in prison – the prison of sin. They are in chains.  

Just like Onesiphorus, we are to bring comfort and not be ashamed of those we reach out to. Is there someone in your family or your neighborhood for whom you are praying to receive Christ? Take your children with you to share the Gospel. Invite them over to dinner so they can see your family living out the Christ life.  But whatever you, don’t do nothing. 

Who reached out to you? Do you remember? Do you recall the joy you felt at hearing the good news for the first time? Don’t hold that to yourself. Seek out those around you are chained to sin with no hope of escape. Free them with the Gospel. 

Father God, You are the one who sends us to the lost. Show me whom You would have me go after. Give me the opportunity to to just be Jesus. 

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Child Raising, Child Rearing, Comfort, Encouragement, Faith, Family, God's Will, Grace, Heaven, Light, Love, Parenting, Testimony

SPOTLIGHT

2 TIMOTHY 1:10 

“but now has been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel,”  

I don’t know why, but every time I see the Greek word phaneroo in the New Testament I think of a spotlight. The phrase “has been revealed” in today’s verse is that word. It can be translated “manifested” as well. It means to make visible with light. 

People spotlight stuff all the time. They spotlight the preacher on the stage. They spotlight the front door at Christmas to show off the wreath or welcome sign. Some people spotlight their whole house. Whatever they decide to spotlight, it is to make sure others see it without a problem. You don’t spotlight something you are trying to hide. 

APPLICATION 

So, I said to myself, “Self, what is Paul telling us in this verse? What is God spotlighting?” I believe it is His grace. His grace is spotlighted through the resurrection of Jesus, which “abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.”  How do you explain this to your children? 

Go into their room with a flashlight. Ask them to pick out something in their room which everyone needs to see to get out of that room (door, door handle). Now cut off the lights and look around the room with the flashlight until you see it. Turn on the lights and ask them if they think God wants everyone to find the door to heaven. That’s why He sent Jesus to die and rise again. He is the spotlighted door that leads to heaven. 

Now, that may sound super simplistic, but children need concrete, visible illustrations sometimes. I am sure someone could take that illustration and destroy it theologically if they tried. That’s okay. The truth still stands – God is not trying to hide the way to heaven. He has manifested it (spotlighted) for everyone to see. Will you shine for Him? 

I proudly shine my testimony which is a direct result of Your manifested power of grace in and through Jesus Christ. Help me to always get out of the way of that door to glory and let others see it clearly in You. 

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Advice, Bible, Child Raising, Child Rearing, Comfort, Contentment, Death, Disciplemaking, Encouragement, Grace, Heaven, Modeling, Obedience, Parenting, Peace, Testimony

EMPTY HANDED

1 TIMOTHY 6:7

“For we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either.” 

Come on! Think about it. When you are born what do you bring with you? Nothing! Nada! Zero! And when you die, you leave this earth with…the same! So, let me ask you a question. Why do we spend so much time accumulating stuff? Now, don’t get me wrong. I like stuff as much as the next guy. But does the process of getting it ruin it for you?

I recently discovered that one of my ancestors was Charlemagne, a king in the 1stCentury who ruled over the Franks, Lombards and Romans. He was buried in 814 seated on his throne with his crown on his head and scepter in his hand. It seems even in death, he was determined to rule and hold on to what he had. But he couldn’t. No one can.

APPLICATION

This is kind of a morbid topic for kids, huh? Well, I don’t mean it to be. What I am trying to say in this devotional is stuff doesn’t matter. Whatever we manage to get here on earth will be left for someone else. Do this! Take your child to their room and ask them to pick out their five most important possessions. Put them in a box and tell them you want to see how long they can “live” without them.

After the crying stops (just kidding) talk about those five things. What were they? Why were they important? Who gave it to them? Read them today’s verse and let the words sink in. Those five favorite things can’t go to heaven with them. When they are older, they will have five different favorite things. They can’t go either. Instead help them focus on what can go with them – their love for Christ, the Word of God they have memorized and the peace in their hearts that God is real and loves them. Those are true possessions.

What are you holding on to with a death grip? Would you willingly lay it down if the Lord asked you to? If not, you’ve got a problem. Parents, you can invest in your children’s lives and lead them to a saving knowledge of Christ. You may be gone long before they are, but one day they will be with you in eternity. Now, that’s something to hold on to.

O God, I long to see Your face. There is nothing on this earth that I would hold on to that could keep me from coming to You. You have blessed me, and I only want to You.

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Child Raising, Child Rearing, Disciplemaking, Encouragement, God's Will, Mentoring, Modeling, Obedience, Parenting, Testimony, Witnessing

BE AN EXAMPLE

1 TIMOTHY 4:12

“Let no one look down on your youthfulness, but rather in speech, conduct, love, faith and purity, show yourself an example of those who believe.” 

I love that Paul encouraged Timothy to be strong and bold in his youth. Now, Timothy wasn’t a teenager here. He was probably in his mid to late thirties by now, but to Paul he was still a young whipper-snapper, lol.  I feel the same way sometimes about some people. They just look too young to be doing what they are doing.

Back to the point of this verse. Paul is not focused on Timothy’s youth. He is more concerned about the example he is living. The word “example” has the word picture of a die stamp that is used to put a mark on something. It would be placed on an object and then struck with a hammer to leave an impression on the object. That’s what we should be doing. Leaving the impression of Christ on others.

APPLICATION

This will be a fun verse to act out with your kids. Get a die stamp, maybe of the letter of your last name. Maybe you can find one that says “Jesus.” That would be cool. Then get a hammer and a piece of wood and a piece of metal. Place the die stamp on the wood and hit it with the hammer. Let your son or daughter see the impression it made on the wood. Now let them try it. They probably won’t hit it hard enough the first time, so let them hit it again.

Then use the piece of metal. Now it’s going to take a much harder blow to make an impression. It’s the same in our lives. Some people are easily influenced by our Christian testimony. Others are harder to reach. We have to make a stronger effort. Make sure your kids understand that it is NOT our image we are leaving on them. It is the image of Christ.

Are you leaving an impression on others? Are you being an example? You are probably doing that more than you know. So, the question is whose impression are your leaving? If it’s yours, stop. If it’s Christ’s, keep pounding away.

It is only Your image which I choose to leave on others. Help me show them just how strong an impression You have on me. Let them only see You in me.

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