Our Choice, His Work

Deuteronomy 6:5 says, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength."  It is repeated in Matthew 22:37 verbatim except for the word 'strength' becomes the word 'mind'.  And again, it is repeated in Luke 10:27, but this time it ends "...with all your strength and mind", thereby combining the two previous words.  I think the progression of the final words of that scripture is important.

Our discipleship memory verse this week was Deuteronomy 6:5 and the day after we had our little lesson, the scripture we read is Jesus Calling, which we do each morning, was none other than Deuteronomy 6:5.  I did not plan that, but God did!  The three of us were amazed as we drove to school and reflected on how God was speaking to us through the repetition of that verse in our lives.

As we talked about how to show that we lived out of Deut. 6:5 and what that looked like, we talked a lot about the strength and mind part.  We have to make a daily decision to show that we love God, it takes strength of character, strength to sustain it in hard situations and it takes a change of mind set.  What do you think about through the day, what controls our mind and decisions?  Whatever controls our minds threatens or intends to become our master.  But if we truly live out Deut. 6:5, our motivations and behaviors are different.  It is a choice we make and God answers and affirms that choice.

Both my kids have had moments with God lately where He was clearly speaking to them on things that were inconsistent in their lives and I was privileged to watch these events.  For Cole, it was an understanding that what fills his mind can either separate him or attach him to God and for Emma it was a desire from God for her to meet Him in prayer.  Both came through a repetition of scripture, lessons taught at school and lessons at church.  God speaks to us and our kids and often it is through a theme that repeats around them.  What a joy to be able to point to what God is telling them and have Him call them by name.  As parents, they are entrusted to us so that we will do just that; point to what God wants and then allow Him to do the work in their hearts.  If we bring them to His feet in a loving and grace-filled way, He will do the work only He is able to do.

By His Grace

D3: Love God!

John 17 is the longest recorded prayer Jesus prayed.  It was prayed shortly before his crucifixion so it holds significant weight as a final prayer.  This prayer serves as the base for my next three discipleship lessons with my kids.  It is also the guidance for our three top priorities as disciples of Jesus.

The first section of John 17 focuses on Jesus' love of God.  So I actually went back to the beginning with my kids.  We read through the 10 commandments in Deuteronomy 5 and then skipped a little ahead, and after Moses explained the 10 commandments he underscored it with Deuteronomy 6:5.  So after all the commandments given, the most important concept to take away is, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind."  (Deut. 6:5)

We then talked about if we lived every moment reflecting our true and sincere love for God what would that look like?  How would our actions immediately be love actions?  How would we treat others?  What would change in our daily lives?

We talked about when Moses left the mountain and the fact that he felt ill-equipped to carry out the task of leading the Israelites.  But God went with him.  Moses did not want to leave His presence but God promised to be with Him.  Exodus 33:14 says, Then He replied, "My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest."  God promises to go with us but and our first priority must be our love for Him. 

Then in true kid's discipleship fashion, we drew a picture to represent our concept for the week.

 

 

The bottom corners of the triangle will be our next two lessons.  We ended with our week's memory verse Deut. 6:5.

 

By His Grace



Foundation to Dwelling

As the days roll on and I am unable to stop the growth of my children, I tend to ask myself if what we do as a family and the things that I have tried to set up as tradition are sinking in.  Will they want to continue our traditions or will they completely turn their back on our familial foundations?  And as we disciple our kids and make deposits in their foundation, will they remember those and will they hold on to those or will they also turn their back on God?

The important thing that God pointed out to me in the midst of my conviction last week was this: how our children treat their foundation, how often they check it, how often they draw from it, is truly, in the end, up to Him.  We are called to make deposits, to point to Him, to use His word as the blueprint, to love them well with care and discipline.  But in the end, they belong to Him and have only been entrusted to us.  So while our deposits are of utmost importance, of final important is that we trust Him to reach their hearts.

Ephesians 2:22 says, "You also are being built together for God's dwelling in the Spirit."  I loved this!  We are helping to build our children through discipleship and modeling, but they are being built for His dwelling!  Not for our pride, not as a reflection of our walk and relationship with God, but as a place for God to dwell.  And, where He dwells, things happen.

As we took out our ornaments and house decor this past weekend, I actually released control and my kids unpacked and started to put out the ornaments.  For the first time, in my poor recollection of memories, they remembered the meaning of most things and did most of the decorating on their own, with me watching and enjoying every second.  What they had heard and seen in previous years, came out as tradition that blessed this mom's heart.  It was encouraging to me, that as I attempt to be obedient in the path He has shown me for discipling my kids, the deposits and lessons really only make a bigger place for God to do His work, which is the work that will count in their lives.  The bigger the foundation, the bigger the dwelling, I hope!

By His Grace