Passing on Life Learning

Devotional for 7.25.11

Let’s again hone in on Proverbs chapter 4 as we continue to focus on this season’s GEMS theme, Get Wisdom: Go beyond the Gold!

PASSING ON LIFE LEARNING

Let your eyes look straight ahead, fix your gaze directly before you. Make level paths for your feet and take only ways that are firm. Do not swerve to the right or the left; keep your foot from evil.

Proverbs 4:25-27

In Bible times when people headed out on a long journey by foot they choose a traveling companion that would look out for them and a well-traveled path that would keep them safe. They fixed their eyes on their destination and their feet toward the goal. The same holds true on the faith journey which parents, grandparents, GEMS counselors, and every member of the body of Christ takes with children.  

Be a traveling companion that passes on wisdom. In Proverbs 4 Solomon instructs his son to pay attention and gain understanding (Proverbs 4:1a). He then points to the learning that he received as a child. When I was a boy in my father’s house, still tender, and an only child of my mother, he taught me and said, “Lay hold of my words with all your heart; keep my commands and you will live” (Proverbs 4:3-4). From generation to generation we must pass on the baton of faith by guiding children in the way of wisdom and leading them along straight paths (Proverbs 4:11). What children are you intentionally mentoring right now? Will you grab hold of the opportunity to guide more?

Choose level paths. Safe and level paths protect us from bad choices that almost always come with painful consequences. The safety of firm paths doesn’t guarantee that we’ll never be bruised and battered by hardships. A Proverbs commentator wrote, “Wise living does not bring about the good life. Rather, it keeps one from getting lost. It points out the folly of choosing evil as though it were some path to gain and instead reveals it for what it is, a true loss of life and character.”

Let go. There is a time and season to walk this faith journey hand in hand with children within our home and in our clubs, knowing there will be a time and season when they set out on their own path and are fully responsible for the decisions they make. When they leave the nest or our clubs encourage them to keep God’s word and wisdom in their sight and within their heart (Proverbs 4:21). Remind them of their responsibility to choose well and wisely. In the same way that Paul cheered on Timothy, encourage them to pass on the life learning they’ve received! “Timothy, my dear son, be strong through the grace that God gives you in Christ Jesus. You have heard me teach things that have been confirmed by many reliable witnesses. Now teach these truths to other trustworthy people who will be able to pass them on to others” (2 Timothy 2:1-2, NLT).

Wisdom Step: Be intentional each time your path intersects with children. Pass on His wisdom to a child today.

Discipleship is like the generation gap between parents and children: We often tell kids to grow up. They can’t grow up. They need mentoring. They can’t grow up because they’ve never been there before. We as parents [and mentors] have been there. The goal is not for them to grow up but for us to become like them and show them how. That’s what Jesus did. He became like them to show them how.

Dan Riemenschneider

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Guard Your Heart

Devotional for 7.18.11

We’re up to Proverbs chapter 4 as we continue to focus on this season’s GEMS theme, Get Wisdom: Go beyond the Gold!

GUARD YOUR HEART

Above all else, guard your heart,

For it is the wellspring of life.

Proverbs 4:23

The children’s song, O Be Careful, Little Eyes, wisely instructs children of all ages to be careful what their eyes see, what their ears hear, what their hands do, and where their feet go. According to Proverbs 4:23, it’s missing a verse:

Oh be careful little heart what you keep.

Oh be careful little heart what you keep.

There’s a Father up above

And He’s looking down in love

So, be careful little heart what you keep.

What we keep within our heart, to a great extent determines how we live. That’s why Solomon gives the command to guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life (Proverbs 4:23, NLT).  

In my high school basketball days I was a scrappy guard. I had zero comprehension of what to do on offense, but had an innate understanding that on defense I was to guard the basket at all costs. The context of this verse isn’t a guarding that keeps a basketball from the hoop, or a hockey puck or soccer ball from the net. This verse’s primary focus is not so much to guard our heart by keeping the bad stuff out, but by keeping the good stuff of God’s teachings, commands, and wisdom in!

The verses that precede the instruction to guard our heart reiterate the importance of keeping a vigilant watch over what we keep within. My son (daughter), pay attention to what I say; listen closely to my words. Do not let them out of your sight; keep them within your heart (Proverbs 4:20-21). Deuteronomy 4:9 says, Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them slip from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children (and your GEMS!) and to the children after them.

Our heart houses our motives, thoughts, and emotions. What we keep within the control center of our heart will guide the choices we make and the paths that we take. The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining ever brighter till the full light of day. But the way of the wicked is like deep darkness; they do not know what makes them stumble (Proverbs 4:18-19).  

Wisdom Step: Do a heart check. What is your greatest affection and treasure? Is it God and His Word? Your family? Your agenda? Work? Money? Weekends? Travel? What you treasure will determine the course of your life. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also (Matthew 6:21).

God be in my head, and in my understanding;

God be in my eyes, and in my looking;

God be in my mouth, and in my speaking;

God be in my heart, and in my thinking;

God be at my end, and at my departing.

Old Sarum Primer, 1558

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New devotional coming to this page on Monday as we turn our focus to next year's theme -- Get Wisdom: Go Beyond the Gold!
Have a blessed week!

Devotional 3/14/11

DON’T MISS HIS SIGNS

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Go to Pharaoh, for I have hardened his heart and the hearts of his officials so that I may perform these miraculous signs of mine among them that you may tell your children and grandchildren how I dealt harshly with the Egyptians and how I performed my signs among them, and that you may know that I am the LORD.”

Exodus 10:1-2

Last winter my husband and I were driving in a city that we weren’t familiar with. As we made our way from the motel parking lot to a service road we stopped, but didn’t see a sign. Nor did we see traffic, which would’ve immediately clued us in to determining if this was a one way or two way street.

“I think it’s a one way,” Mike said.

I disagreed. “I think it’s a two way. Just take a left then we’ll be closest to the exit we need.”

He should know better than to listen to me when it comes to directions. He took a left and we met a semi in our supposed lane. Thankfully it was a slow moving semi. The driver simultaneously swerved and wailed on his horn letting us know that it was indeed a one- way street. Oops. I missed the sign.

God performed multiple signs for the Israelites before the exodus – a river of blood, frogs in kneading bowls, dust to gnats, swarms of flies, dead livestock, boils, hail, locusts, darkness, and death of firstborn so that they would know that He is the LORD (Exodus 10:1-2). On their way to the Promised Land, the signs continued – a pillar of cloud by day, a pillar of fire by night, a walk through the Red Sea on dry ground, manna, quail and so much more (Exodus 13:22, 14:22, 16:13-14). Yet they missed the signs!

The spies that were sent to explore the land of Canaan returned with a large cluster of grapes, pomegranates and figs, all signs that what God said about the Promised Land was true. It is a rich, fertile, and bountiful land! Sadly, the people were so blinded by the stories of giants that they missed His signs.

The LORD said to Moses, “How long will these people treat me with contempt? How long will they refuse to believe in me, in spite of all the miraculous signs I have performed among them?” (Numbers 14:11). Only because God is slow to anger, abounding in love and forgiving sin and rebellion were they spared from plague and destruction (Numbers 14:12- 20).

Does He say to you and me, “How long will she refuse to trust Me and believe in Me, in spite of all the miraculous signs I have performed for her?”

PASSION Step: Don’t let the giants of disaster, disease, or other distressing circumstances blind you and cause you to miss seeing His signs.

Keeping our eyes on Jesus takes work. If we can’t find a window to see Him through, find a knothole.
Bob Goff

Devotional 3/7/11

During the month of March our GEMS are focusing on “Notice God in the Ordinary” in their Sparkle and SHINE brightly! Bible lessons. Let’s get in the Word with them.



NOTICE GOD IN THE ORDINARY


You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.

Jeremiah 29:13



The Psalms contain a number of cries and pleas that God not hide His face from His people. How long, O LORD? Will you forget me forever/ How long will you hide your face from me? Do not hide your face from me. When you hid your face, I was dismayed. Do not hide your face from your servant; answer me quickly, for I am in trouble. Why, O LORD, do you reject me and hide your face from me? Do not hide your face from me when I am in distress. Turn your ear to me; when I call, answer me quickly (Psalm 13:1, 27:9a, 30:7b, 69:17, 88:14, 102:2).

Horror of horrors if God turns His face from us or sets His face against us! Yet, how many times have we turned our face from Him, or shut our eyes to His works and wonders, our ears to His Word and Spirit, or failed to notice Him in the ordinary?

The Psalmists acknowledged and understood that we need God’s face to shine on us so that we may be saved and restored (Psalm 80:3, 7, 19). They also gave the repeated reminder that we must seek God’s face!

Look to the LORD and his strength; seek his face always. My hearts says of you, “Seek his face!” Your face, LORD, I will seek (Psalm 105:4, 27:8).

To seek God with all our heart means that we passionately look for Him. It’s a fervent, zealous search for God that doesn’t hope to see Him, but firmly expects to see evidence that He is near! We seek God when we read the Bible, when we listen to God the Holy Spirit and His promptings in our mind and heart, when we open our eyes to His presence and spot Him at work in our lives and the world around us.

During this season at GEMS we’re calling our seeking after God Noticing God in the Ordinary. Some call it God-Sightings, others call it God STOPs (Savor The Observable Presence of God), and still others have termed it going on a God Hunt. Regardless of what expression you use, it’s the daily practice of being on watch for God. And when we go on a wide-eyed, wholehearted search, we will see Him! You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart (Jeremiah 29:13).

Noticing God in the ordinary feeds the fire in our hearts because we see Him making Himself known to us, and we take note of all the tender ways He cares for us.

PASSION Step: At the end of the day ask: Where did I see God at work? Repeat daily for the rest of your life. Record it in a journal as a spiritual act of worship.

The lesson I learned early on [from my mother] was to remember to look for God in my day (what I once heard someone call “God sightings”). She explained that God shows up every day; however, we don’t always recognize Him.
Marilyn Hontz

Devotional 2/28/11

BE SWIFT FOOTED


How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!

Romans 10:15b



In 7th grade I nearly jumped out of my size 10 shoes when I read Isaiah 52:7, How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, “Your God reigns!” Middle school boys tend to prey on girls’ greatest insecurities and one of the boys in my class tormented me about the size of my feet. So when I heard the news that those who proclaim good news have beautiful feet that sealed the deal. When I graduated I would be a missionary in India and my feet would be beautiful! Fast forward to today. I’m not in India, I still wear size 10 shoes, and thankfully, have a much deeper and more accurate understanding of this verse!

No matter the size or agility of your feet, God deems them beautiful when we open up and talk about Him. It is a beautiful privilege to share the Good News of His redemption, salvation, and peace and it is evidence of our salvation! If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved (Romans 10:9-10).

Be swift-footed in sharing the message. Paul urges his readers in Romans 10:14-15, How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent? Do you faithfully pray and support pastors, missionaries, and ministries that tell children and adults, locally and globally, about Jesus Christ? Do you have a Top Ten list of people you know that need Jesus? If not, start one! Daily pray for them and regularly share the Good News with them.

Be swift-footed in correctly explaining the Word of truth. When the Holy Spirit came at Pentecost and the bewildered crowd was trying to make sense of how each one heard the wonders of God in their own tongues, they were amazed and perplexed. They asked one another, “What does this mean?” (Acts 2:12) When people ask us, “What does this mean?” Are we ready to give a clear, truth-filled response? Oswald Chambers writes, “If you cannot express yourself well on each of your beliefs, work and study until you can. If you don’t, other people may miss out on the blessings that come from knowing the truth.” Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15).

PASSION Step: Take a look at your feet. Are you dragging your feet when it comes to telling people about Jesus or are you swift-footed? Be beautiful: Open up and talk about God.

Witnessing is not a spare-time occupation or once-a-week activity. It must be a quality of life. You don’t go witnessing; you are a witness.
Dan Greene

Devotional 2/21/11

OPEN YOUR EYES


Jesus said, “Do you not say, ‘Four months more and then the harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest.”

John 4:35



While devout and pious Jews did everything they could to avoid traveling through Samaria, Jesus walked to it, sat, and opened up to a sinful Samaritan woman about who He was: a Jew (John 4:9), greater than Jacob (John 4:12), a prophet (John 4:19), the Messiah called Christ (John 4:25, 29).

Jesus’ example of opening up and talking about God shatters excuses I’ve used for not being bolder in my witness for Christ.
I’m not sure how to start up a conversation with a stranger who is so different than me. Jesus was blameless and without sin speaking to a Samaritan whom Jews did not associate with, who had five husbands and was living with a man that was not her husband (John 4:9, 17).
I’m too tired. Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well and talked to her (John 4:6, 7).
I’m thirsty and hungry. So was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food) (John 4:7-8).

When the disciples returned with lunch they were surprised to see Jesus talking to a Samaritan woman. The woman left her water jar, went to town, shared the good news of the living water that had been given to her, and returned to the well with a number of townspeople who needed Jesus, too (John 4:27-30).

Can you picture it? Hungry and thirsty souls made their way to Jesus. People streamed out of the village to receive living water and the Bread of Life. They accepted the invitation: Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, your soul will delight in the richest of fare (Isaiah 55:1-2).

As the people came for spiritual nourishment, the disciples had their eyes fixed on physical bread. They urged him, “Rabbi, eat something” (John 4:31b). Jesus told them that He is feasting on food! “My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work” (John 4:34). He shifted their gaze from their stomachs to the harvest, to see the people that were walking to the well, and to the people beyond them, in this generation, and the generations beyond them. “I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest” (John 4:35).

PASSION Step: Open your eyes! Open your mouth and talk about God! There are hungry and thirsty souls that need Jesus today.

Do you know how hungry people are for something bigger than them themselves? People all around you feel empty. Pay attention. Open your eyes. (Mark Buchanan)