Helping Our Children

Proverbs 1:10; "My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not".


Early in our children's lives enticements to sin always come to them. Friends will tempt them to join with their group to enjoy their fun which usually is the pleasures of sin. Being friends with ones that care nothing about what they do or whom they may hurt is one of the biggest mistakes our children make and even we as adults make.

In this verse it says "consent thou not' meaning you don't have to go with them, they can not force you to go with them. It is better to walk away and stay away from them than it is to be one of them. It is wise to tell children they don't have to join things like this, explain to them they have the right to walk away and why.

Proverbs 22:6; "Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it".

Parents who raise their children in the Lord have less to worry about than the parents that have not taken the time to raise their children in the Lord. The world of today is a world full of evil and the children of godly parents can still be influenced by sin and give into it. Being raised in the Lord has taught them the ways of the Lord. Even some of the people of the Bible were God fearing but gave into sinful things.

We, as parents can rely on the Word of God and do as He has asked and told us to do. Training our children in the Lord is one way of trying to make sure our children go in the way they have been directed.

God has also told us to love and obey Him, follow his commands. We can help our children when they are under our care but once they leave we need to pray for the Lord's guidance at all times. Prayer is such an important and powerful thing to do for our loved ones, God not only hears but listens to each of our prayers.

We as adults and parents have a responsibility to our children and the children of others. We always need to be aware of what we are doing and saying. The eyes and ears of children are always watching and listening to us. We aren't supposed to tell them to do one thing and then we turn around and do another. This is being hypocritical and it confuses children. How are they supposed to learn if we do this?

Children have a tendency to look up to others and if we say something, perhaps not actually meaning what it might sound like to a child but none the less they think it is fine to say what this person has said. This may cause some trouble because the child didn't understand what this actually meant. So, BEWARE of what you say as there are children and adults around.

Just as saying something, our actions may not be what they appear to be to a child and they thinking it is okay will do it when in all truth it is completely wrong. This could cause a child to get in real trouble. I guess what I am trying to say is when an adult plays a joke on another and it appears to be okay when in reality it isn't. We need to BE AWARE of our actions.

Don't help a child be enticed by your words or actions. A child can be easily enticed in the world of today. We must help them be able to walk away from words and actions. Always be cautious of everything you say or do for the sake of children.

May you always know the love, joy, and peace of the Lord!

Nothing Is Impossible With The Lord

There was a time I found it easy to ask the Lord if the problem I had was too big for Him. What in the world was I thinking? There is not one thing that is to big or bad that the Lord can not take care of, no, not one single thing.


Jeremiah 32:17; "Ah Lord God! behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, and there is nothing to hard for thee": If I would have just stopped to think a God that made the heaven and earth would have no problem in solving one that I might have. As we grow in the Lord we realize God is the one that will help us with any problem we have.

Jeremiah 32: 27; "Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh: is there any thing to hard for me"? God was telling me in this verse there is nothing to hard for Him to help me with. I think at times I was just plain tired of waiting for Him to work in His time. It is known God always works in His time and not ours. I found that by talking to the Lord about my problem or situation the time seems to go much faster, it also made my problem/situation not seem to be as big as I thought it was.

Even though I didn't know how God would take care of my problem I should have known He would. I should have and should always depend on the promises of the Lord and know He will take care of them; I just need to always know it will be in His time not mine.

Luke 1:37; "For with God nothing shall be impossible".

Another thing, I should have been doing is praising the Lord. When I am praising the Lord I don't have the time to wonder and worry if something is going to be done. I love praising the Lord, it gives me the feeling and knowing God is right there with me. It is as if I can reach out and touch Him, what an awesome feeling! I have no idea why I let the problem become so big that I allowed doubts to enter into my mind. If I would just remember each time to praise Him and rely on His promises, there is nothing to big or bad for Him.

God is a God of endless mercy and loving kindness. He not only shows these to me but to everyone. He does not limit these, He gives to all.

The next time I have a problem I am going to know by His promises He will take care of it for me but in His time. I give Him all the praises and glory for even taking the time to help me with my problem. He is an awesome God.

May you always know the love, joy, and peace of the Lord!

What Type Of Friendship

Everyone likes to have friends. I would think something was wrong with you if you didn't. Friends are great to have around. What kind of friends do you have? There are two kinds of friends, the good ones and the bad ones. Are your friends the good ones, the kind that love, care, help, and listen? Do they want the best for you even if they don't have the best? Are your friends the bad ones, do they really care about you and do they jump at the chance of helping you? Do they want the best for themselves and they don't care how they get it?


James 4:4; "Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God". The adulterers and adulteresses that is spoken of here is the 'friendship of the world' meaning unfaithfulness to God and the pledge of commitment to Him. The friendship of the world enjoys the world's sin, values, and the evil pleasures. The friend of God is just the opposite; they enjoy the things of the Lord. Their enjoyment is doing things for the Lord and His children; they want things that are righteous. Is your friends the friend of the world or are they the friends of God?

Proverbs 17:17; "A friend loveth at all times, and a brother is born for adversity". A friend will love you all of the time even when you make a mistake and will stand by your side; he is there to help you. No matter what the circumstances they will be by your side.

Ecclesiastes 4:9; "Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour. v.10 For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up". Friendships have many advantages; God didn't want us to live without having fellowship with another. Friends give us love, help and support, we all need this. We also need the daily companionship of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. Nothing is complete without them. Jesus Christ is our true friend. There is none better than what He is. Never let Him go.

A true friend will help you in all circumstances even if they know you really don't want to hear what they are going to say. They say it to you because they know it will help you in some way. A true friend will tell you even if you will be upset about it and possibly be angry with them because you mean a lot to them. A person that says they are your friend but won't help you in this manner is actually not a good friend.

A true friend wants you around all the time and there are the ones that only want you around to use you to get what they want.

My true friend is the Lord Jesus Christ. He gave me Dave for another friend and then Debi, my daughter, and then all of my family. I also have Pat, a friend from high school; she has stuck with me through many years. I have the best friends a person could ask for and I praise the Lord for each of them.

Which kind of a friend do you want? Do you want the kind that really loves you and cares what happens to you or the kind that will just have you around until your usefulness is over?

May you always know the love, joy, and peace of the Lord!

We Are Like A Pencil

Have you ever thought about your life being like a pencil? Stop and think about, a pencil makes a mark, doesn't it? Well, in our lives we make marks also. Some are good marks and others are not, some beautiful marks and some ugly.


Whatever we do in our life a mark will be made. Some of these marks can be corrected easily but some cannot, no matter which mark is made there will be consequences. The marks that are not easily corrected or perhaps not at all are the mistakes we make in our life. Even if they are corrected their will be an imprint made.

A pencil has to be sharpened to be able to make a mark. We like a pencil have to be sharpened. God is the one that does this. He does this through His Word, by other people, going to Sunday school, going to church, and sometimes by music. God uses the method He feels best for you. He will improve your life.

We should always remember, like a pencil, what is on the inside that counts. It the wood had no lead on the inside it would not be able to leave a mark of any kind. We are like that; it is what is on the inside, our hearts that count, whether it is a heart full of love or a heart full of hate it will make its mark. We may be beautiful or handsome on the outside but it makes no difference if we have no love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance, all these are the fruit of the Spirit.

Galatians 5:22-23; "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, v. 23 Meekness, and temperance: against such there is no law".

Love is caring and looking for the best of another person and doing so with no motive or special gain.

Joy is happiness based on love, grace, blessings, promises, and nearness of God and belongs to the ones believing in Christ.

Peace is a calmness of the heart and mind resting on the knowledge that everything is well between the believer and his/her heavenly Father.

Longsuffering is fortitude, tolerance, being slow to anger or despair.

Gentleness does not want to hurt someone and tries to keep from causing someone pain.

Goodness desires truth and righteousness and hating evil. You can show this by being kind and correcting evil.

Faith is being faithful, firm and unwavering in loyalty and dedication to a person whom one is united by promise, commitment, trustworthiness, and honesty.

Meekness is self-control together with forte and courage. This is a person that can be angry (righteous anger) when it is needed but can be modestly submissive when submission is required.

Temperance has control over one's own desires and passions; this includes faithfulness to a person's marriage vows, purity, and chastity.

The fruit of the Spirit is formed in the children of God as we permit the Spirit to control our lives so we are able to destroy the power of sin, particularly the works of the flesh. Walking in fellowship with the Lord and act according to His will.

As the pencil needs sharpened we too need sharpened. Allowing the Spirit to give us the fruit of the Spirit is like being sharpened. This allows us to leave good marks in our life.

To be the best pencil it has to let the hand holding it guide it to make its marks. It is the same with us, we must allow ourselves to be held and guided by the Hand that holds us; the Hand holding you is the Lord Jesus Christ.

May you always know the love, joy, and peace of the Lord!

Puppy Size

Debi my daughter, author of Nuggets from God sent this to me and I thought it was really cute plus there is meaning to the story. I hope you enjoy this story as much as I did.

You will know precisely what this little girl is talking about at the end of the story.

YOU NEED READ THE STORY; DON'T JUST LOOK AT THE PICTURES!!!!!

Puppy Size

"Danielle keeps repeating it over and over again. We've been back to this animal shelter at least five times. It has been weeks now since we started all of this," the mother told the volunteer.

'What is it she keeps asking for?' the volunteer asked.

'Puppy size!' replied the mother.

"Well, we have plenty of puppies, if that's what she's looking for.' '

I know...We have seen most of them,' the mom said in frustration...

Just then Danielle came walking into the office

"Well, did you find one?" asked her mom.

"No, not this time," Danielle said with sadness in her voice. "Can we come back on the weekend?"

The two women looked at each other, shook their heads and laughed.

"You never know when we will get more dogs.

Unfortunately, there's always a supply," the volunteer said.

Danielle took her mother by the hand and headed to the door.

"Don't worry, I'll find one this weekend," she said.

Over the next few days both Mom and Dad had long conversations with her.

They both felt she was being too particular.

"It's this weekend or we're not looking any more," Dad finally said in frustration.

"We don't want to hear anything more about puppy size, either," Mom added.

Sure enough, they were the first ones in the shelter on Saturday morning. By now Danielle knew her way around, so she ran right for the section that housed the smaller dogs.

Tired of the routine, mom sat in the small waiting room at the end of the first row of cages.

There was an observation window so you could see the animals during times when
visitors weren't permitted.

Danielle walked slowly from cage to cage, kneeling periodically to take a closer look. One by one the dogs were brought out and she held each one.

One by one she said, "Sorry, but you're not the one."

It was the last cage on this last day in search of the perfect pup. The volunteer opened the cage door and the child carefully picked up the dog and held it closely. This time she took a little longer.

"Mom, that's it! I found the right puppy! He's the one! I know it!" She screamed with joy. "It's the puppy size!"

"But it's the same size as all the other puppies you held over the last few weeks," Mom said.

"No not size...The sighs. When I held him in my arms, he sighed," she said.

"Don't you remember? When I asked you one day what love is, you told me love depends on the sighs of your heart. The more you love, the bigger the sigh!"

The two women looked at each other for a moment. Mom didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

As she stooped down to hug the child, she did a little of both.

"Mom, every time you hold me, I sigh. When you and Daddy come home from work and hug each other, you both sigh. I knew I would find the right puppy if it sighed when I held it in my arms," she said. Then, holding the puppy up close to her face, she said, "Mom, he loves me. I heard the sighs of his heart!"

_______________________________

Why not close your eyes for a moment and think about the love that makes you sigh.

They are the sighs of God. Take the time to stop and listen; you will be surprised at what you hear. I not only find it in the arms of my loved ones, but in the caress of a sunset, the kiss of the moonlight and the gentle brush of cool air on a hot day?

'Remember life is not measured by the breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.'

I hope your life is filled with lots of Sighs!

Appreciate every single thing you have, especially your family and friends!

Life is too short not to appreciate them.

Love the people who treat you right and forgive the ones who don't.

May you always know the love, joy, and peace of the Lord!