A Charge to Parents

Deuteronomy 11:18-20  "Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.  Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.  Write them on the door frames of your houses and on your gates, so that your days and the days of your children may be many in the land the Lord swore to give your ancestors, as many as the days that the heavens are above the earth."

This is the example of how we are to lead, guide, and teach our children.  The Word of God is not meant to be something spoke about only on Sundays or Wednesday nights at church.  It's not just a simple prayer before meal time.  It's a continual fixation on the goodness of God.  It's a realization of our need, reliance, and desire for the Word.  That without our lives will never flourish.  It must be ingrained in us.  

When the Lord is at the forefront of our lives in our homes and the places that others don't see, it will show through to all those we come into contact with as we enter the battle field of this world.  Scripture should pop out at us in times of struggle.  Bowing our hearts in prayer should be a natural response.  The counsel we give should be from the Lord, wise, discerning and loving.  When we aren't in a daily obedience to Christ, it also will show to be true.  

Proverbs 4:23 "Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it."

Matthew 12:34 "For whatever is in your heart determines what you say."

I was thinking about the legacy I will leave my children.  Do I want them to say, "Mom was a hard worker. She always kept our house clean.  She did what needed doing, and she did it well."  Sure, that would be nice.  Or how about, "Wow, I was able to skip a grade in school because my mom was such a good teacher.  She helped me so that I would be successful in life."  But how much greater would it be to hear, "Mom loved us so much.  My life will be successful because she taught me the importance of living for the Lord.  Everything she did, she did as unto the Lord (Col. 3:23).  Whenever hard things came up, she was on her knees.  I know what the Word says because she was diligent in teaching it to us."  I want to be the mom that my boys look at and say, "She always thanking the Lord.  She's always praising him.  I want that joy!" 
1 Thes. 5:18 "...give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."  THAT is the legacy I want to leave.

His Provision- Do We Remember

Deuteronomy 8:1-5, 10-18
1Be careful to follow every command I am giving you today, so that you may live and increase and may enter and possess the land the Lord promised on oath to your ancestors. 2Remember how the Lord your God led you all the way in the wilderness these forty years, to humble and test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands. 3He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your ancestors had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. 4Your clothes did not wear out and your feet did not swell during these forty years. 5Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so the Lord your God disciplines you.

Amazing how the Lord took care of them in such a dry, desolate land.  They didn't even see the provision.  So often they forgot.

10When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the Lord your God for the good land he has given you. 11Be careful that you do not forget the Lord your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day. 12Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, 13and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, 14then your heart will become proud and you will forget the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. 15He led you through the vast and dreadful wilderness, that thirsty and waterless land, with its venomous snakes and scorpions. He brought you water out of hard rock. 16He gave you manna to eat in the wilderness, something your ancestors had never known, to humble and test you so that in the end it might go well with you. 17You may say to yourself, “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.” 18But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your ancestors, as it is today.

Nothing we do is of our own making or abilities.  We are nothing without God.  All we have is his.  It was given to us that we might honor him with it.