Praise Be to the One Most Worthy

As recently posted in the Emma Joy Weekly Newsletter

"How We Spend Our Time Is How We Spend Our Lives"


I am convinced that many professing Christians care little about surrendering all to God and giving their hearts wholly to Him.  We surely must know that God Almighty by nature and logic cannot be satisfied with the mere scraps of our time and small bits of our heart we offer Him, yet we claim since we go to church or pray daily that this extent of our spiritual life is just fine.


Friends, do you realize who we are dealing with here?  God Almighty!  The King of kings and Lord of lords.  He who is faithful and true.  Our Creator, our Sustainer, the One who made the heavens and the earth!  The One who has given us breath and provides for us, He who has intervened in our lives and made nothings like ourselves His sons and daughters.  The God who is worthy of all praise.  The One who is a true friend, whose word is truth, who always has our best interest in mind.  The One who can work all things for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose (Romans 8: 28).  ...and we offer this precious Being the leftovers of our time, talent, resources, money, and hearts?  What are we thinking?


Are we really satisfied with keeping Christ at arm's length, to run to when we are in need or feel fear or anxiety all while shutting the rooms of our hearts and lives from Him to do with as He pleases?  Do we really realize who God is (as described in the Bible, His word) and how utterly worthy of our 100% trust and genuine commitment He is?  I would say not given how half-hearted most of us are in regards to Him on a regular basis (and I am speaking to myself as well).


How do we treat prayer?  Is it something we give a few moments of our time to each morning before we shower or drive to work, therefore feeling like we can cross that off of our to-do list (or if we were honest, to get God off our back because there are so many more important things to be doing with our time than prayer)?  Do we realize what Jesus has done for us?  Do we give God the honor due Him by praying on our knees each day, or better yet being on our faces before Him whether we are experiencing times of great pleasure or the sorrows of loss in its many forms?  Do we worship God for who He is instead of trying to force Him to give us everything we want at this time in our lives, thus denying His wisdom and goodness toward us no matter how He handles our requests?


Do we see God through the lens of Scripture or have we attributed negative thoughts, past or current pain, and the lies of satan (John 8: 44) to God and want to run from Him in the process because we view His character as malicious or even evil for all He has allowed or withheld in our lives?


Can we see Jesus clearly through humble obedience, diligently running hard after Him, and acknowledging our Risen King as the One most worthy or are we blinded by our stubbornness, sinful patterns of living or thinking, pride, anger, or comparing ourselves to others we perceive as having better lives (or assuming they always will) than the circumstances we now face?


Ravi Zacharias wrote, "At its core, the call of Jesus is a bountiful invitation to trust and freedom to live in the riches of our relationship with Him. I am only free in as much as I can surrender to God and trust Him to give me the purpose for which my soul longs. This is the wonder and power of a redeemed heart. If I cannot surrender and trust Him, I am not free.


We must know to whom we belong and who calls us all to the same purpose. Only when I am at peace with God can I be at peace with myself, and only then will I be at peace with my fellow humans and truly free."


Do we run to God in prayer and speak to Him like He is our best friend and the One who knows us thoroughly and intimately yet loves us anyway?


Have we hardened our hearts toward God and desire to flee from Him, giving little if any priority to prayer because we just can't understand why our lives have turned out the way they are and we so desperately wish they were more ideal?


I challenge us, seriously challenge us, to get on our faces before God and cry out to Him in respectful humility and complete brokenness saying how much we have failed Him by our selfish actions, attitudes, choices, and words...and plead with Him to restore our relationship with Him and change us in such a way that He is truly our top priority and the One whose light we shine in the lives of everyone we meet!


God alone is wise, God alone is faithful, God alone is deserving of our total devotion and praise.  Let us fiercely guard our hearts, eyes, and time and then daily draw nearer to the Lord through honest prayer and the consumption of His holy and perfect word.


Why wait?  What are we going to say to God on the day we stand before Him...


"But Lord, ___ was my favorite TV show!  Leading a busy life made me feel important and so I always felt run down or too tired to pray to You much.  I know I didn't cherish pouring my heart out to You often or make it a passionate pursuit, but the guys wanted to play golf each weekend or the girls wanted to discuss trivial matters and that was my only time off from a hectic work schedule!  I know I didn't give You Your proper place in my life and decisions, thoughts and words, but at times willfully chose to drown myself in Pop Culture or pornography (or good things in life) to numb my pain or relax instead of turning to You, the Redeemer of my soul, whose healing balm of comfort and joy independent of my circumstances would have sufficed.


Jesus, if I only knew how glorious and perfect You were, how much Your word was a treasure chest of precious jewels and the sacrifice You made on my behalf was worthy of my telling everyone I knew about it...I would have been more devoted to You!  I would have lived fully and wholly for You (even more so than I did) instead of being lazy at times or giving as much time as I did to lesser pursuits (even if they were good).  I could have reveled in Your beauty, enjoyed You more, and loved You more deeply!  I could have known You more than others did.  I would have worried less, been more content, and daily rejoiced in You.  Even though I did love You and lived for You, I wish I would have sought you more fervently.  I have an eternity with You now yet oh how I wish I would have chased after You and pursued You more diligently during my brief time on earth!  You are glorious and worthy of my time!!"


This is sarcasm of course but I am trying to prove the point of how fleeting and pointless all of life is if it isn't lived fully for the One who gave His life for us.  I'm afraid too many of us allow the days and years to go by without devouring God's word and treasuring prayer.  We as believers have the ears of the Maker of the universe and yet we often choose on a daily or hourly basis to say, "Eh, TV or secular music or hobbies, etc. is worth trading hours of my life for and beats the difficult yet rewarding work of keeping Christ first in my life."


Really?  As I proposed in last week's newsletter, let's begin devouring the word of God because it is then we will more fully see Christ's worth and God's call on our lives to glorify Him (which totally trumps the glory we are seeking for ourselves or chasing after the next fun or exciting experience - even if it is good).


"One of the great uses of Twitter and Facebook will be to prove at the last day that prayerlessness was not from lack of time."  John Piper


...or whatever it is to you that keeps you from praying and seeking after the Lord.


"We are never nearer Christ than when we find ourselves lost in a holy amazement at His unspeakable love." John Owen


"There is no place like the feet of Jesus for resolving the problems that perplex our hearts." G. B. Duncan


"No time is so well spent in every day as that which we spend upon our knees." J. C. Ryle


"True Christian prayer is the faith and reliance of the soul breathed forth in words." Jonathan Edwards


"Fear not because your prayer is stammering, your words feeble, and your language poor. Jesus can understand you." J. C. Ryle


"It's not your schedule that keeps you from praying, it's your failure to realize the importance of prayer."  Jim & Elizabeth George


"Prayer is not an exercise, it is the life of the Christian."  Oswald Chambers


"Make no decision without prayer."  Elizabeth George


"Some people think God does not like to be troubled with our constant coming and asking.  The way to trouble God is not to come at all."  D. L. Moody


"Prayer advertises that we are dependent and He is dependable." Mark Dever


"Praying without ceasing isn’t meant to burden us but to liberate us from all our burdens." Burk Parsons


"Prayer should be done regularly, persistently, resolutely, and tenaciously at least daily, whether we feel like it or not." Timothy Keller


"To pray is to accept that we are, and always will be, wholly dependent on God for everything." Timothy Keller


"Pray often, for prayer is a shield to the soul, a sacrifice to God, and a scourge to Satan." John Bunyan


"A prayerless person is a disaster waiting to happen." D. A. Carson


"I am going to judge my circumstances by Jesus’ love, not Jesus’ love by my circumstances." Timothy Keller


"The Bible is a letter God has sent to us; prayer is a letter we send to him." Matthew Henry


"The God who has been sufficient until now can be trusted to the end." C. H. Spurgeon


"If we do not abide in prayer, we will abide in temptation." John Owen


"The beginning of anxiety is the end of faith, and the beginning of true faith is the end of anxiety." George Muller


"What wings are to a bird, and sails to a ship, so is prayer to the soul."  Corrie Ten Boom


"Man is at his greatest and highest when upon his knees he comes face-to-face with God."  Martyn Lloyd Jones


"Talk to God through short little prayers throughout your day.  Every prayer doesn't have to be long and eloquent."  Unknown


"If you want that splendid power in prayer, you must remain in loving, living, lasting, conscious, practical, abiding union with the Lord Jesus Christ."  C. H. Spurgeon


"Have you prayed about it as much as you have talked about it?"  Unknown


"Replace worry with prayer.  How do you do that?  You make the decision to pray whenever you catch yourself worrying."  Jim & Elizabeth George


"We can be sure our prayers are answered precisely in the way we would want them to be answered if we knew everything God knows." Timothy Keller

Learning to Trust God as We Wait

Originally posted on WholeMagazine.org

Trusting God.


How difficult this can be, yet how needed it is!


There are many times where we are tempted to take matters into our own hands and believe that rushing into a decision or choosing to date someone who isn't a genuine Christian (instead of waiting on God's timing) is what is best, despite how God calls us to be patient, wait on Him, and lead lives in accordance to His word and His prescription for a God-honoring life.  We may doubt that God knows the desires of our hearts and wants what is best for us in all things - even if that means having to wait.


Instead of spending time in daily prayer, offering God a surrendered and obedient heart that is open and willing to embrace His will in everything, and asking for His intervention and guidance in all things, we are prone to rush to our friends or even worldly wisdom such as magazines or articles on various web sites that are anything but Biblical so we can then have the "ammo" we need for making choices in life.


God has so much more for us than merely granting our requests simply because we are persistent in asking.  He very well may answer our prayers, yet asking for His answers to prayer in His way and timing (not ours) will guarantee the best result when our desires are finally fulfilled.


The next time you feel drawn toward seeking advice from your friends or a co-worker, try seeking godly counsel instead and making this a weekly event so you can grow spiritually and be more certain you are living your life and basing your decisions on God's word and counsel that is in accordance to His heart and perfect will.  It is so much better to pray and give all your wishes and longings to the Lord, leaving them in His hands to do with them as He wills, then to doubt His ability to hear and answer in the right timing and do things your way...all to miss out on His best and the lessons He wanted to teach you through waiting and the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5: 22-23) and character change He wanted to build in you as you patiently waited on Him and lived for His glory and honor (in a way that reflects Jesus' example).


Seek to keep God first in all aspects of your life, not just the ones where it is convenient to include Him.  It has been said, "The safest place in all the world is the center of God's will."  Keep this in mind even in difficulty, sorrow, trials, and hardship; knowing that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God and are called according to His purpose (Romans 8: 28) and that His ultimate goal is to conform you more into the image of His Son (Romans 8: 29).


Surely, God sees your sadness, your heartache, your burdens, your worries and concerns, your desires, your wants, your anxiety and fears, your longings, and your needs.


Timothy Keller has said something to the effect of, "Imagine the people around the cross as Jesus was dying, feeling sad and questioning why such a perfect person had to die and why they were going through this, but that part of the Bible wasn't yet written; they didn't have a book explaining why Jesus had to die.  ...the problems in your life, you don't have a book for."


God, being all-knowing, wise, sovereign, faithful, and good always and only has your best interest at heart.  Don't miss out on all He wants to teach you and ways He wants to use you in this season of life because you are too busy desiring to rush into the future and the blessings it holds.


Make the most of each day and let it be your heart's desire to draw nearer to God.  Continue to pray for your future spouse and what you hope to accomplish, yet enjoy this season of life; whether you are still single, haven't started or completed college yet, or are still living at home.

May we rejoice in the advice offered by Elizabeth George:

God’s guidelines for making right choices:

--Always choose to do what’s right.

--Consult your Bible before making decisions.

--Make no decision without prayer.

--Seek counsel before making decisions.

--Believe God has your best in mind.

Porn: A Weapon That Kills Your Heart

"There is an initial attractiveness to sin.  But then it kicks you to the curb.  That is how sin works.  And generation after generation lines up and goes down this same primrose path.  ...Here's how sin works.  There is that initial rush of excitement, even euphoria.  Inevitably, the bill comes due, with interest."  Greg Laurie


Pornography kills.


"Porn is to sex what McDonald's is to food."  Gail Dines


"There is nothing liberating about women being paid by men to be sexually abused by men, for men to watch and masturbate to."  From the Twitter account porntruth


"Porn-Again Christian - a frank discussion on pornography & masturbation" (free eBook here)


"In porn, sex is not about making love. ... In porn, the man “makes hate” to the woman..." (Read more here)


If you have read 50 Shades of Grey or are tempted to read it or see the movie, listening to this ten minute interview is a MUST!


- Pornography is a dangerous vehicle in society that spreads lies about sex.  It's raising a generation of isolated people with warped views.

- A lot of what we see in porn would be illegal or unacceptable in real life. e.g. since when is it OK for a girl to have sex w/ her teacher?

- Pornography offers the illusion that sex can be had anytime with anyone and people will suffer no repercussions.  SO UNREALISTIC.

- Just because it looks good and feels good doesn't mean it's good for us.  Some choices will bring destruction and kill what really is good.

- Porn is the antithesis of good sex.  It shows no communication, treasuring of one's partner, loving them, or being committed to them solely.

- Pornography has taken away the preciousness of gentle intimacy & relationship and replaced it with fetishes, aggression & casual sex.

- Often when we are faced with the opportunity to sin, we foolishly think short-term instead of pondering how such temptation will destroy us.

- As we feed our sins of choice, they take on a life of their own & we start to lose control.  Sadly, our desire for God begins to die.

- If you have lost your sense of shame & remorse over sin, plead with God to restore it and to daily refine, purge, and sanctify you.

- Porn stars are in need of genuine care, pure love & lasting commitment.  They are searching for what having many partners just can't fulfill.

- Loving sex is one thing.  Doing it on film for anyone to see is quite another.  This obviously shows brokenness, insecurity & a warped mindset.

- If you would detest the thought of people seeing your mom or daughter in porn, why will you willingly watch someone else's mom or daughter?

- Pornography cheapens sex and takes away the beauty, meaning, and sacredness of it.

- Pornography use leads to a distorted view of others, the acceptance of degrading acts as normal/worth pursuing & results in less real sex.

- Porn & masturbation lead to loneliness, isolation, broken sexuality, handicapped relationships & an inability to relate to others normally.
Porn isn't harmless.

- Excessive porn consumption will not help your sex life.  Porn is fake/rehearsed/planned.  It trains your mind & body to not perform well.

- Porn use isolates people from others, from reality, from healthy sexuality, from normal attractions...it is dangerous and will wreck you.

- How have we as a society fallen for the lie that porn is cool/harmless?  You're near a screen, aroused/fantasizing/masturbating ALONE.  Cool?

- Porn should actually be frowned upon & scorned because it steals our time, money, harms families & marriages, wrecks your body & reduces sex.

...Think long-term with your decisions.  Don't have a momentary-pleasure sort of mindset.  Our choices don't only affect us, they're far reaching!


"Having integrity requires the ability to refuse to conform.  It means resisting cultural pressure.  And, in our increasingly non-Christian culture, cultivating this kind of integrity is a spiritual survival skill. ...Since we fallen human beings are so easily influenced by the people around us, surrounding ourselves with godly people will help us on the path toward integrity."  Gene Edward Veith


"Sin destroys everything.  It destroys us, it destroys our relationships with others, and it destroys our relationship with God."  Michael Ramsden


"If Marriage & God are to be honored, then what TV show, book, or website do you need to delete from your life that is not honoring to Him?"  From the Twitter account FocusMarriage


If viewing pornography is something you struggle with and can't stop, using an internet filter is a wise choice and important step in keeping this filth away.  I use Covenant Eyes and am thankful to God for blessing me with this tool which has spared me many wasted hours of excessive porn consumption.  It costs between 10 and 12 dollars per month or about 14 for a family plan.  Using my affiliate code here will enable you to get the first month free.

Wise prayer suggestions:

• Plead with God to break you, show you His worth, open your eyes to the ugliness of sin & that He and His will would prevail in your life.
• Beg the Lord to let all that is of the world (its empty pleasures & false promises) fade away in comparison to your relationship with Him.
• Ask God to make you a new creature in Him (Second Corinthians 5: 17) and show you steps to take in order to pursue purity and a godly life.
• Pray hourly that God would free you from walking the same destructive paths you have to this point & to guide you in paths of righteousness.
• Ask God to put the fear of Him in your heart; to give you a love for Him & His word and a wholesome dread of displeasing Him.
• Pray daily that God would teach you lessons, build the fruit of the Spirit in your life (Galatians 5:22-23) & give you a hunger for His word.

When Life is Discouraging

 

Life can be so discouraging, can't it?  We have so many questions, worries, doubts, and fears that keep us trapped.  We might fear the future, worry often, feel anxiety over different situations and people in life (or work and school) and we question how we will make it through another day if things don't change soon.

Lately, I have been under stress in various ways because life isn't going quite how I want it to and it can be frustrating to wait.  I do realize that life as a whole is a process.  Think about that.  It's a process to get promoted at work.  It's a process to lose weight.  It's a process to get in shape through regular exercise and the consumption of vitamins, healthy food, and plenty of water.  It's a process to get the whole house clean.  It's a process to grow in our walk with God.  It's a process to build relationships.  And it's a process to learn new things.

Something that really helps me is to remember that God is ultimately in control of all things in our lives and He is faithful to cause all things to work together for good to those who love God and are called according to His purpose (Romans 8: 28).  Yes, we make choices, and yes, our choices can bring suffering, consequences, and much pain and regret to us...yet God is able to build our trust in Him and our character even through poor or sinful choices.  Our choices do not hinder God from working on our hearts and transforming us, yet on the same token, our choices can hinder the process of transformation and sanctification and can prevent future blessings because of the consequences they very well may incur.  An example of this is desiring intimacy and not wanting to wait until you meet your future spouse so you might be intimate with someone you just met or in a dating relationship with someone you know will not end up being your spouse.  Not only will a portion of your heart, emotions, time, and thoughts (to a greater or lesser degree) be given to that person, but if your body is given to them as well you might contract an STD.  For those who have suffered the repercussions of intimacy with someone (or quite a few!) who are not your spouse and contracted herpes, an STD, or even AIDS from it, I'm sure you look back and think sincerely, "If only I was willing to wait!"

The next time you feel down, discouraged, disillusioned, lonely, disappointed, sad, ungrateful, angry, or like you could literally just give up on life, try reading the Bible for hours straight.  Seriously.  Read through the entire book of Proverbs and the book of Psalms.  Read the book of Ephesians in the New Testament and one of the Gospels.  Pray beforehand that God would speak to you through His word and give you eyes to see, ears that hear, and a heart that understands His truth and for a willing heart toward God.  Pray that the Lord would reveal Himself to you in a way that you cannot deny and to deliver you from any hypocrisy or heart attitudes, actions, and behavior in life that keep you distanced from Him.

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God."  Second Corinthians 1: 3-4

"casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you."  First Peter 5: 7

"He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their sorrows."  Psalm 147: 3

How to Make Wise Choices

 

By Elizabeth and Jim George

God’s guidelines for making right choices:


--Always choose to do what’s right.
--Consult your Bible before making decisions.
--Make no decision without prayer.
--Seek counsel before making decisions.
--Believe God has your best in mind.


These guidelines will help you proceed through your day, confident that you are seeking to make the right choices.

A Genuine Commitment

Taken from chapter one of "A Woman After God's Own Heart"

by Elizabeth George

Commit yourself to God daily---Our devotion to God is strengthened when we offer Him a fresh commitment each day.  Every morning, in a heartfelt prayer either written or silent, start fresh with God by giving Him all that you are, all that you have...now...forever...and daily.  Lay everything on God's altar in what one saint of old called the "surrendered life."  Give God your life, your body (such as it is), your health (or lack of it), your husband, each child (one by one), your home, your possessions.  Nurture the habit of placing these blessings in God's loving hands to do with them what He will.  After all, they are not ours---they are His!  A daily prayer of commitment helps us to release what we think are our rights to these gifts.  As the saying goes, "Hold all things lightly and nothing tightly."  I also find these words from nineteenth-century devotional writer Andrew Murray helpful:
"God is ready to assume full responsibility for the life wholly yielded to Him."

So aim at some kind of commitment to God made daily.  It can be as simple as this prayer, the first of F.B. Meyer's seven rules for living:  "Make a daily, definite, audible consecration of yourself to God.  Say it out loud: 'Lord, today I give myself anew to You.' "

Perhaps the prayer of commitment I love best (and have written on the front page of my Bible) is that of Betty Scott Stam, a China Inland Mission worker.  She and her husband were led through the streets of China to their execution by decapitation, while their baby lay behind in its crib.  This was her daily prayer:

Lord, I give up all my own plans and purposes, all my own desires and hopes, and accept Thy will for my life.  I give myself, my time, my all, utterly to Thee to be Thine forever.  Fill me and seal me with Thy Holy Spirit.  Use me as Thou wilt, send me where Thou wilt, work out Thy whole will in my life at any cost, now and forever.

In this case, the cost was high.  This total commitment to God cost Betty Stam her ministry, her husband, her child, her life.  But that kind of commitment is indeed our high calling as His children (Romans 8: 17).

Ways to Love Your Children

Sermon notes from "10 Ways to Love Your Children" by Elizabeth George:

"...Doing things God's way is always a matter of the heart.  That includes choosing to focus your heart on raising your children God's way and praying with each breath that they'll develop hearts after God.  Dear mom, no matter what your situation at home is, whether your children believe in Jesus Christ or not, whether their young or older, whether their dad is a Christian or not, whether you're new in the faith or know a lot, whether years of ignorance or neglect of God's word have gone by up to this point, do your best from this second on!  Give your best efforts.  And since you want your children to love God and follow Him, set the focus of YOUR heart on God and let them see you love Him and follow Him.  Just be a mom after God's own heart.  He'll help you take care of everything else. ...When (one of my daughters) was expecting one of her children, our church hosted a baby shower for her and our Pastor's wife asked me to share a devotional during the party.  When I began preparing for the shower talk, they told me that I had ten minutes.  So I wrote out a brief list I titled "10 Ways to Love Your Children".  Believe me, it was a soul searching exercise to go through my Bible from cover to cover and look back at my own attempts at child raising, and it was a lot of fun at the shower to pass my list onto the other moms and grand moms who were at every age and stage of parenting.  Now here's the list:

1.  Take time to nurture your heart.

Deuteronomy 6: 6 puts it this way: "And these words (God's words), which I command you today shall be in your heart..."  You can't possibly love your children and do everything that's required of you without nurturing your own heart first, so don't neglect yourself in this area.  Before we can ever mother and train our precious children, we need to take care of business with God.  We need to take care of our own hearts.  We're to love the Lord and obey His word.  His word is to live in our hearts.  It really is all about us as moms, and then our godly training of our children and our diligent teaching of God's word will follow.  I like the way one Bible teacher summed up Deuteronomy 6: 4-9.  He says, "We are to love God, think constantly about His commandments, teach His commandments to our children, and live each day by the guidelines of His word."  As a mom, when I didn't take time to nurture my heart, guess what happened?  I was running on empty most of the time.  I had no spiritual energy.  I was on autopilot which meant I began putting up with things the way they were.  I made very little effort to mold my child's heart toward God.  And believe me, there was a lot of screaming, yelling, and bad behavior going on!  The solution is simple, but you've got to take advantage of it.  Pick up the Bible and read it.  When you do, God will touch and transform your heart into the mom you so want to be for your children.  For starters, get a hold of a one year Bible.  Read it ten minutes a day.  You'll find you've read through the entire Bible in no time.  It's a little choice that'll reap big benefits both in your heart and in the hearts of your children.  It will accelerate you down the path to becoming a more dedicated mother after God's own heart.

2.  Teach your children God's word.

Romans 10: 17 says "Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God".  I became a Christian several years after (my daughters) were born and my life changed as God began to work in my heart.  I bought a Bible and I read it, every chance I got.  It was incredibly eye opening to me and it wasn't long before I started teaching my little ones about God too.  If you think you need to have a teaching degree or experience in order to do what God asks of you as mom, good news: You don't!  God only requires of you a heart that desires to follow after Him and obey His directive to teach your kids.  If you love your children, and I know you do, teach them God's word!  And the earlier, the better.  Your faithful teaching of your children gives them a foundation to live their lives God's way.  The Old Testament Jewish custom emphasized religion from the cradle to the grave.  ...You can never begin too early to teach God's word diligently to your children.

3.  Talk to your children about God.

So how do you fit that into an already crammed schedule?  Deuteronomy 6: 6-7 comes to our rescue.  It says, "And these words which I command you today will be in your heart.  And you will talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up."  Just talk about God through out the day in the normal comings and goings.  When you do, you honor and glorify Him.  You obey His teaching to talk of Him to your children and your chances for positively affecting and impacting your children go sky high.  You never know what wonderful things will happen as you faithfully obey God.  So, speak up!  ...Do some soul searching.  Ask yourself some tough questions, think about what you talk about with your kids.  What do you point them toward?  What activities do you reward most?  What achievements thrill you the most?  What accomplishments make you the happiest?  It's never too late to commit yourself to the priority of teaching God's word, of talking about Him, of pointing ALL of life toward Him. ...

4.  Tell your children about Jesus.

...Telling your children about Jesus; what a privilege!  And what a challenge!  As moms, there's no question: we love our children.  Feed them, take care of them, worry over them, and pray over them.  But as a mom after God's own heart, we're also to be full fledged ambassadors for Christ to our children.  Here's a thought provoking question I was asked as a young mom: "What do you consider to be the target of all you do for your kids?  What's the purpose of your parenting?"  How to tie shoe laces?  Good manners?  How to catch a ball?  How to make an A?  Respect for others?  The list is endless, isn't it, and all good and well.  But are you making sure to tell them about Jesus?  As moms, we must wake up every morning and say without a doubt, that today, if I don't get anything else done, I must teach my children about my Lord Jesus.  Read out loud to your children from the Gospels.  Have them share in the reading too.  Have them memorize verses that point to salvation.  John 14: 6 is a great one!  "Jesus said, 'I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.' "  Even your three year old can scrawl out a few letters of the alphabet!  Well, make those letters "J E S U S".  Encourage your children to write letters and prayers to Jesus about what they're learning.  Only God can save your child's soul.  And only God can work in your child's heart.  But His Spirit works through YOU.  Your little flock is right there at home, so make telling your children about Jesus the priority purpose of your parenting.  Be faithful to prepare, to teach, and to preach.  Be faithful to hang in there and persist, and never give up.

5.  Train your children in God's ways.

I love Susanna Wesley's practical rules for rearing children.  As a mother of John Wesley and eighteen other children, this noble mother's two hundred year old plus rules are still helpful today.  ...Here's one that sounds a bit old fashioned, but you know it's so true even of children today:  "Subdue self will in a child and thus work together with God to save his soul."  "Teach each one to pray as soon as he can speak."  "Require all to be still during family worship."  "Give them nothing they cry for and only that for which they ask for politely."  "Never allow a sinful act to go unpunished."  "Commend and reward good behavior."  "Strictly observe all promises."  ...It's never too early to start training your children and it's also never too late.

6.  Take care of your children.

...My friend Lisa taught Home Economics at a university and in a book she co-authored called "Designing a Lifestyle That Pleases God", she shared her culture shock of motherhood and her struggle to adjust to her role as a new mom, and the care and the time it requires.  Sound familiar?  ...(Here's) what I call "Little choices that reap big blessings":  Bone up on diet and nutrition.  The health of your loved ones depends on your knowing more about these things.  If it's possible, get everyone together at the same time for at least one meal each day.  Keep kids physically active, and that's no easy job in this day of TV, computers, games, and text messaging.  Everything's working against any real physical playtime.  And do I have to say, 'Limit TV time'?  That goes for any screen involvement; computers, gaming, phones.  Have some resemblance of a daily routine.  You'll do better and so will your children.  Double check reasons behind misbehavior.  Is it lack of sleep?  Are there other issues that need to be looked at?  Even abusive behaviors?  Make sure you have fun times, and that includes you and your husband.  And most of all, plan a special break in your mommy madness.  It's absolutely a requirement if you're going to be encouraged in your role of being a mom after God's own heart."

7.  Take your children to church.

Sundays are a real commitment of time, I understand that.  Yet this one practice slowly, steadily, and surely over time, ingrains something into a soul.  Sooner or later it makes a difference in a life, a heart, and in a family.  God used our parent's dedication to taking US to church to eventually get US back to church, to cause US to want to take our children to church where I became a Christian and (my husband) renewed his commitment to Christ.  And then, you've probably guessed it, in time, our little ones became believers in Christ.  And they are now taking their little ones to church.

8.  Teach your children to pray.

...Children are so wonderful when it comes to prayer.  They want to pray.  Even a baby in a highchair will fold his or her little hands into a fist, scrunch their eyes shut, take a peek or two, and say something resembling 'amen' when the prayers finished.  When you get a minute to yourself (and I'm smiling as I say that!), think through your normal day (and okay, there's another smile!).  Think of what you and your children have to give thanks for and where you need God's help, then show them the way.  ...I was told once, 'Elizabeth, remember that everything you do and don't do teaches'.  So dear mom, when you pray, you teach your children to pray.  When you pray with your kids, you teach them to pray.  And when you don't, you're teaching them prayer isn't that important, so pray, pray, pray.  Let them see and hear your passion for God.

9.  Try your best.

Colossians 3: 23 says, "And whatever you do, do it heartily as to the Lord, not to others."  Lift up your prayers and cries to God for wisdom, for discernment, for His strength, and most of all, for His grace.  Let me encourage you that it's the same for all mothers.  Being a mother is a commitment, a responsibility, and a calling from God for a lifetime.  And being a mom is our highest joy and our greatest challenge.  So what can we do?  Every time you ask yourself that question, the answer is always the same: You can only try to do your best.  It's one more way you can love your children.  Elisabeth Elliot wrote, "There is no nobler career than that of motherhood at its best."  I believe with all my heart that your best is born out of knowing who you are.  If you have children, you're one of God's moms!  That's who you are.  Loving God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength is and always will be your ultimate priority.  Realize too, that, on every single one of your days, the world will be sending you signals that you're a nobody unless you're a focused, sold out, working woman.  Moms' old fashioned.  They'll tell you, 'You need to take care of yourself', that you're number one, that your kids will make it just fine without your constant care, but they're wrong.  You can rest in your heart and know with all the confidence and strength in the world who you are and what it is you're to do.  Here's my best advice for you:  Just focus on making today count.  Try your best to be the best mother you can be, just for today.  Oh, you'll have days when you're an utter failure.  We all do.  But don't give up.  The reward is too great to not give it your all each and every day.

10.  And talk to God about your children.

"Be anxious for nothing", says Philippians 4: 6, it goes on, "But in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God."  The same principle applies to your children.  Prepare, educate, and train the whole child.  Physically, we take care of our children to the best of our ability so they're healthy, strong, and fully developed.  Mentally, we make sure they're educated and equipped for life.  But spiritually, we teach, train, and show the way, and pray.  ...No matter what your children's ages, you'll be teaching your children the Scriptures that will train them for God and guide their lives.  And you'll be talking to your child about God at any and every opportunity.  But most of all, you're going to be talking to God about each of your precious ones.  And mom, do it with all your heart, for life!  ...purpose in your heart to do what you do heartily, faithfully, willingly, excellently, joyfully, prayerfully, and thankfully.