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A Reward Is Coming!

5/25/2016

Sometimes parenting can leave us confused, doubtful, and discouraged. We sacrifice, encourage, discipline, reward, and pour everything that we know into our children. We teach them right from wrong, manners and respect. Yet still, sometimes it seems as though all of our efforts have fallen to the ground....

I want to encourage all the parents today to keep praying, pressing and do what you are doing! We plant the seeds, we water (along with others), but only God can give the increase.

1 Corinthians 3:6-8(NKJV)
6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. 7 So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase. 8 Now he who plants and he who waters are one, and each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor.

Our assignment is to do everything that we know how to do according to the Word of God and trust that God will bring forth fruit. His Word says that we will receive a reward according to our labor. This means that we can’t give up! No matter what it looks. The more we labor the greater our reward. Our reward will be the manifestation of the prayers that we labored for our children. They will become everything that we declare as we speak the Word over their lives.

Isaiah 55:11 (NKJV)
11 So shall My word be that goes forth from My mouth;
It shall not return to Me void,
But it shall accomplish what I please,
And it shall prosper in the thing for which I sent it.

We can’t go wrong with speaking the Word into the lives of our children. It may seem that their lives are the exact opposite of what we have been praying, but we can’t lose hope. The Word promises that if we train them in the way that they should go then when they get old they will not depart from it (Proverbs 22:6). As they grow in maturity God will arrest their hearts as your voice reaffirming everything that you have poured into them. Do you ever hear your mother’s voice as you start to do something? My mom taught me many things which I didn’t understand then, which now I truly appreciate!

I have so many moments as a mother when I feel like I am failing, but then I have to remember that all that I can do is my part. Children are little human beings with their own flesh and own will. We can’t make them into who we want them to be. We can only guide them to the right path. They still have a right to make their own decisions. We just have keep praying and enjoy the moments when their light shines!

For my birthday a little while ago my 16 and 12-year-old made me a beautiful poem and picture. It really blessed me and spoke words of appreciation and admiration over me. I was overwhelmed with a sense of accomplishment in doing something right in raising them. God is faithful to encourage us along our journey. One day our children will call us blessed and our husbands will praise us! God will say “daughter, you excel, them all”.

Proverbs 31:28-29 (NKJV)
28 Her children rise up and call her blessed;
Her husband also, and he praises her:
29 “Many daughters have done well,
But you excel them all.”

Father, we thank You for our children. Forgive us for wanting to give up. Forgive us for forgetting that only You give the increase. Help us endure and keep praying no matter what it looks like. Help us remember Your Word and keep declaring Your promises over them. Our children belong to You and only You will get the glory for their lives. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen!

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Do They Know You By Your Love?

5/18/2016

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My oldest daughter took my three little ones to the park in our new neighborhood. We live on a cul-de-sac and the park is two houses down from us. It extends behind all the houses and ends a couple blocks down. On the way back she decided to take the long way home from the other side of the park through the neighborhood sidewalks. It was a nice day outside so there were many people out enjoying the weather. As they walked home, each person they saw took the time to wave, smile, and say hello to them. My daughter came home amazed. She couldn’t believe how friendly everyone was.

What she said next is what took me down. She said, “They are friendlier than church people”! What? “People at church walk past me and don’t even smile or speak.” I was very disappointed by her observation. Not because she was wrong but because of how she felt. Has the church let her down?

I don’t think that this is a reflection of my church, but “the church”. I think sometimes we are so broken that we forget that people are watching. I think that we become too familiar and forget that they (the youth) are starving for God’s love. I think in our own “religious behavior” we become judgmental and condescending and forget that Jesus came to us while we were yet sinners.

John 13:34-35(NKJV)
34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. 35 By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

We should be known by our love. If the world is out loving us, then we will lose the next generation. This is why kids get caught up in gangs, cults, drugs, alcohol, and sex; because they are trying to fill a void that can only be filled by love. They are longing to be discipled. We often get the correction part right, but we miss the unconditional love part.

Ephesians 4:31-32(NKJV)
31 Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. 32 And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.

Youth need extra grace and mercy. They are sure to make many mistakes as they discover who they are in Christ. If God forgave us, then we should surely be able to forgive them. We have to learn to be tender towards the things that concern them, even when their issues seem frivolous to us as adults. We can’t expect them to demonstrate concern beyond their own maturity. That’s why they need to be discipled!

1 Corinthians 13:1-3(NKJV)
The Greatest Gift
13 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. 2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned,[a] but have not love, it profits me nothing.

They are just learning life and will rebel against the truth if it’s not extended in love and kindness. In fact, they won’t even hear it. I’m convinced that this is why we have so many issues raising our teenagers. In our frustration with their foolishness, we address them in our anger instead of the love of God that brings correction. I’ve realized that I need to upgrade my prayer life for my children. I need to pray that the Holy Spirit leads them and guides them to truth and that they are also convicted of their wrongs by the Holy Spirit. I need to pray that their hearts are tender to my correction and that I administer it in love.

I want to be known by my love. I don’t want the world to beat me in loving my children! I want people to be drawn to God by His loving kindness that is displayed through me. I want God’s perfect love to consume me, my family, and the church! Let the light of our kindness shine as beacons of Christ everywhere we go!

Father, we thank You for Your unconditional love. Forgive us for not loving like You love. Forgive us for letting the world deceive our children with their counterfeit love. Fill every void in our children’s hearts with Your all-consuming love. Show us how to disciple our children and bring correction that they can receive and understand. Let them be filled with the Holy Spirit as their helper to reveal who they are in You. Help us never forget how You forgave us so that we may extend extra grace and mercy upon our children. Make us reflections of Christ and be known by our love. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen!

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He Knew It Was His!

5/11/2016

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When choosing the house that we just purchased, my son was captivated by the hamster that the owners had. When he found out that this was going to be his new house, He couldn’t wait until we moved in because he wanted to play with the hamster. I had to explain to him that the hamster belonged to the previous owners and it didn’t come with the house. What I said to him went through one ear and out the other. He told me that the hamster was his and that they were going to leave it. I persistently told him that it didn’t come with the house and he couldn’t have it. He was convinced without a doubt that the hamster was staying and he wasn’t going to listen to anything else I had to say about it!

The day before our closing, we had our final walk through and the hamster was still there. He was so excited to see it. Right in front of the sellers I told him that the hamster was leaving with them and he could not have it. The husband said excitedly, “Do you want it?” They were moving out of state and the person that was supposed to come get it never showed up!

I’m not a pet person. I have many children and don’t want to have to clean up after animals…… but how could I say no? My son knew that the hamster would be his. He had unwavering confidence and spoke it into existence. It’s like God showed him, he declared it, and he had unmovable faith.

Romans 4:17
17 (as it is written, “I have made you a father of many nations”[a]) in the presence of Him whom he believed—God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did;

I couldn’t crush his spirit. I wasn’t going to interfere with what God worked out for him! What we think is impossible, is always possible with God. What He reveals to us, we need to be unmovable in standing on faith to receive despite what those are saying around us (even if it’s your praying mother)! God didn’t reveal to me His plan, but my son knew. When praying for our children we need to pray that they hear the voice of God and know how to be obedient to His will. We need to pray that the voice of the nay sayers won’t stop them from believing in what God has promised them.

What have we allowed to die because we didn’t have faith to speak about it like it was already so. God has promises for all of us that He wants to fulfill. It’s time for us to truly believe that they will happen. It starts with our confession. Our tongues have power. It’s time to speak to our future!

Father, we thank You for child like faith. Forgive us for being satisfied with what seems right and not expecting the “impossible”. Show us what we have let die in our lives that need to be spoken into manifestation. Help us not discourage our children when their dreams seem out of reach! We know that all things are possible with You and You have given us power by Your Spirit to accomplish what seems foolish to man. Our faith is in You and we trust You as we follow Your lead. Tell us what to speak and teach us how to hold our tongues when necessary. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen!

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Mommy's Garden

A Reward Is Coming!

Do They Know You By Your Love?

He Knew It Was His!

Bonnie Kay Rimpson

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