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Not Too Deep

7/29/2015

I had an awesome time vacationing with my family and another family who is our close friends. There were 14 of us and 10 of them were children ranging in the ages of 1 to 17. It’s fun watching the children interact with each other and look out for one another. My 3 little ones had life jackets for the pool and 2 of them were surprisingly apprehensive about getting in. We took turns floating them around and teaching them the motions to swim. We wanted them to be comfortable in knowing that we wouldn’t let them drown. We explained to our son that the life jacket was an extra security that would save him even if somehow we got separated. By the end of our pool day he was having so much fun with the other older children. They were playing in the shallow end. At 4 years old it seemed to him like it was deep and all consuming. As they were playing comfortably, one of the girls let go of the life jacket and he began to scream. Everyone else was laughing, and then he began to laugh. It turns out he was taller than the 3 feet of water at the shallow end. It came up to his neck, but he could touch the ground! It never even occurred to me that he was taller than 3 feet. All I saw was his fear. Sometimes, we hinder our kids from advancement because we give into their fears instead of helping them overcome them. Just like that life jacket, God is there to keep them safe. Their fear is usually something that is bigger in their mind, and overcome by facing it. The enemy always tricks us into thinking we can’t do things that we are well equipped to do!

2 Timothy 1:7(KJV)

7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

1 John 4:18(KJV) 18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.

We have to teach our children how to be cautious in dangerous situations without feeding irrational fears. We teach them the perfect love of God so there is no room for the enemy to torment them. We must also know when to let go and let God protect them. We don’t want to cripple our children’s growth by interfering when God’s hand is upon them. Some lessons can be learned from us, but some can only be learned by God through personal experience. We have to be aware of the difference.

Father, we thank You that you are our protector and our children are in Your hands. We put our trust in You and ask for Your discernment to know when to let go and let You teach our children. We pray that Your hand stay on our homes and You keep us from evil. Show us how to create an atmosphere of Your perfect love that casts out all fear. Let us love live in Your power, love and sound mind. Forgive us for feeding fears instead of overcoming them by faith. Show us how to grow in our faith and glorify your name by overcoming. Let us be an example to our children by living out Your word in complete trust and surrender. Show us how to laugh in the enemies face as You free us from our fears. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen!

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Mommy Lied About Santa

7/22/2015

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When I first got saved the Lord began to deal with me in many areas, one of them being the falsehood of Santa Clause, Tooth Fairy etc. If I was to teach my children of a God that was real but not seen, there had to be no confusion. They needed to know that He is real and not just another fairytale. They had to trust a foundation that they could stand firm on. There are so many festivities that we as believers partake in innocently, not knowing its origin. The key is to know the truth. To be in the world but not of it. Balance comes when you can separate fact from fiction, fantasy from reality, the truth from a lie. I had to tell them the truth. The truth is that our culture celebrates many holidays out of a perverted, pagan root. It wants to water down the significance of what is real, causing us to worship the creation instead of the creator. Giving emphasis on what we can get instead of what has already been given. Are we going to hell for having a Christmas tree and lights? No. The key is not to worship them. I enjoy the Santa Claus movies at Christmas, but I know it is not the truth, just as Superman or any other fictional character doesn’t really exist. So I told my girls there was no Santa, that Mommy lied and I had been putting Santa’s name on the gifts. I had been biting the cookies and drinking the milk they had left. I told them what the Bible says and apologized for being dishonest. It is our jobs as parents to identify idols in our homes. We must attack them immediately and expose the lie and speak the truth in every area so the devil doesn’t have a foothold. My younger children were never taught that Santa was real and believe me they still have very active and healthy imaginations. God is creative and has created us to be as well. We don’t take anything away from that by knowing the truth!

Romans 12:2 (Amp)

Do not be conformed to this world (this age), [fashioned after and adapted to its external, superficial customs], but be transformed (changed) by the [entire] renewal of your mind [by its new ideals and its new attitude], so that you may prove [for yourselves] what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God, even the thing which is good and acceptable and perfect [in His sight for you].

Thank You Father for Your mercy and patience with us as you teach us Your ways. Continue to show us where we fall short so You can come and bring wholeness. Forgive us for not seeking knowledge and being easily conformed to the world. Renew our minds through Your word that we may be transformed. Teach us how to enjoy the world we live in without being of it. We don’t want to have any idols before you, for You alone are worthy. We worship You alone. Show us how to worship you in spirit and in truth. Help us be honest with our children on a level that they can understand. Let Your name be glorified in everything that we do. In Jesus name we pray. Amen!

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Don't Let Them Fall Into A Ditch

7/15/2015

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My high school age daughter has a summer reading project that I am in total disagreement with. It will be exposing her to philosophies that are demonic in nature and can seduce her into false beliefs and witchcraft. She is in Honors English, if she doesn’t do the assignment, it can greatly affect her first semester grade. She has a good Christian foundation. As of now she stands on her beliefs. If I don’t know what she is being exposed to, then how can I answer her questions? So my solution is to also read the book. I need to be able to explain to her why the information is false, and where the truth of each challenge is in the Bible. If I don’t lead her, then her spirit is left vulnerable to these false teachings.

As a believer it is getting more challenging to raise our children in a righteous standard. When they are young we have more influence on them and are able to keep them in a protective bubble of our choosing. The older they get, the more they are exposed to different people and things that can easily become a great influence in their lives. What do we do? As much as we want to, we can’t keep them from growing. They have to have their own life experiences that will grow them into who God created them to be. We have to teach them to be in the world but not of it. We do this first by setting an example. We have to not only teach them the word of God, but also live it. As children, most lessons are caught, not taught. People in general learn by their mistakes and consequences. We can’t keep them from the evils of this world. There is so much that they have easy access to; not only through the schools, but through all of this smart technology that we all love. It is our job to be aware of what they are paying attention to and having a relationship with them that will allow us to speak the truth about what it is. Even when we lay a good Jesus foundation, the devil will always come to seduce them with the excitement of sin. Being consistent is key. They will act annoyed, it may seem like they aren’t listening, or like they already know the answers, but keep speaking the truth. If you don’t give it to them somebody else will be glad to give them explanations that can lead them right into a ditch.

Matthew 15:14 (KJV)

14 Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.

As believers we have access to the Holy Spirit that leads us and guides us into all truth. We must rely on the Holy Spirit to show us when our children are being misled and also how to intervene. We must pray that they are sensitive to their own Holy Spirit and that they obey the instructions and use the discernment that they have access to through the Holy Spirit. Let’s not just be parents to our children. Let’s be leaders with the eyes of Jesus that can guide our children into greatness!

Father, we thank You for wisdom and understanding in raising our kids. Help us be intentional about knowing what they are exposed to and what questions they may have. Give us truthful answers, even for the hardest of questions. Forgive us for not always identifying the need for us to lead our children into truth. Forgive us for letting others have influence to change their beliefs. We know that they have a choice, but we also know that when they know the truth it will set them free. Help us be truth bearers. Give us supernatural answers and discernment for every situation. Expose all of the dark places and let Jesus be their light. We pray that they hunger and thirst for You and continue to grow into the call that they have on their life. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen!

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Set The Standard

7/8/2015

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My 4 year old son is a character to say the least. He has a very big personality and an extremely active mind. I have to be very strategic when talking to him because he doesn’t forget anything. He takes what I say, thinks about it logically, pulls the information apart, and then applies it to his own situations. Kids in general are sponges. If we take the time to explain things to them, they can comprehend way more than we think. We are their first influence. We create a culture in our homes by what we say and how we train them. It is our jobs to set rules and boundaries and enforce them while they are young. As they get older, there are many other influences and rules they will be exposed to. We have to listen to what they are saying and have hard conversations in order to stay in a trusted place of influence in their lives. If we as parents don’t set the standard for acceptable behavior, believe me there is an enemy of their soul that is waiting to step right in. My daughters and son both have their own dress up clothes. My son has firefighter, police, ninja, batman, ironman, etc. My girls have princess, tutus, shoes, purses, jewelry, supergirl, etc. The other day, my baby girl was trying to give my son her purse. His response was “No, boys don’t carry purses. When God gives me a wife then I can help her carry her purse, but I don’t have a wife yet.” My son has been fascinated with having a girlfriend for a couple of years now. So I always tell him that he is too young to have a girlfriend, but when he is ready, God will send him a wife. He has four sisters so it’s extremely important that I encourage Him to grow into the man of God that he is called to be and not emasculate him by putting him into the same category as my other children. There is definitely a difference. I know that I have an advantage because he also has a strong influence from his daddy. I realize, many children don’t have that. The enemy is after our families. A women cannot replace the presence of a good father in a child’s life, but she can set a standard of acceptable behavior. They watch how we let others treat us and how we respond to situations. They listen to our instructions (even when we think they aren’t). We set the standard! The devil wants our families. He wants our men to be weak. He wants to steal the authority from God’s people. We need to raise the bar of what’s acceptable, starting with our own homes. We can’t continue to let the world define what is acceptable. We must not be apologetic about what we believe. The world isn’t ashamed of what they believe. We must rise up as an army. We are raising up the next generation of warriors. The word of God has to be the standard and weapon of choice. We must equip and prepare them for what’s to come. They can be world changers if we set the standard in their hearts.

Romans 12:2 (NKJV)

2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

Father, we thank You that You have set a standard for living that is good and acceptable. Lord, teach us how to renew our minds through your word that we may impart boundaries in our children according to Your will. Forgive us for being lazy and not paying attention to the little details. Forgive us for letting the world set the standard and conforming in some areas. Wash us with Your word and make us examples that our children can look up to and admire. Let us be bold against the world systems and not be ashamed of the Gospel we believe. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen!

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Courageous

7/1/2015

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In a trip with his dad to Toys R Us, our 4 year old son took a ride on the mechanical fire truck. He looked at all the gadgets on the truck. He rubbed the side of the truck as he looked back at his daddy and said “I’m going to be a firefighter when I grow up.” Everything in his heart believes this to be true. Nothing is out of reach in the realms of his young mind. He came home and wanted to watch Mommy’s Fireproof movie. He wanted to reenact the part when the lady is stuck on the train tracks and the firefighters had to pick up the car to save her. He put his toddler basketball hoop horizontal on the floor, called his little sister over and yelled 1, 2, 3 lift. 1, 2, 3 lift. This is the same son that flies around the house being every superhero that you can name. He climbs high, jumps off everything, flips and tumbles. He wants to save people. He keeps me in prayer! God made him fearless. I believe that God put that special trait in most of us. That thing inside that wants to help people. I believe boys got an extra measure of this gift that causes them to act. They are natural protectors and defenders. Just the way God built men is proof. Their muscular makeup and strength is for a reason! Never the less, I must raise him to be a hero while keeping him within boundaries of safety. God is raising up an army. The devil is desperately trying to destroy families by removing fathers and emasculating men. We must not live in fear of our boys being boys. Technology has taken away real play and has limited imaginations. Advancements in technology are good, but we have to limit how much time we let our children spend using it. We must help our children cultivate their abilities and gifts. The only way to do this is to let them do stuff! They might be called to technology, but we have to let them build in addition to play. Let’s make a strong generation of powerful soldiers. Ones that aren’t afraid of the truth or the liars that oppose it. Ones that will help their neighbors and be courageous.

Isaiah 41:6

They helped every one his neighbour; and every one said to his brother, Be of good courage.

Joshua 1:7 (NLT)

7 Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the instructions Moses gave you. Do not deviate from them, turning either to the right or to the left. Then you will be successful in everything you do.

Joshua 1:9 (NKJV)

9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

Judges 6:12 (NLV)

12 The angel of the Lord showed himself to Gideon and said to him, “The Lord is with you, O powerful soldier.”

Deuteronomy 31:6

Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the Lord thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.

Father, we thank you for the strong personalities of our children. You have created each of them for a set purpose and time. Show us how to nurture their destiny’s by encouraging them to be who You created them to be. Give us patience and discernment in identifying their strengths. Forgive us for quenching their gifts because it is more convenient for us. Show us how to pray for them. Make us good generals for our little soldiers. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen!

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Mommy's Garden

Not Too Deep

Mommy Lied About Santa

Don't Let Them Fall Into A Ditch

Set The Standard

Courageous

Bonnie Kay Rimpson

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