Journal 3-23-14

            In the morning time, it is quiet and I feel fresh. This is the best time to hear God for me. No distractions that the day brings have had an opportunity to creep in and cloud my thoughts yet. God has prayer on my mind today. A week or so ago I began having trouble writing and I believe it was because I was trying to do it and not letting God guide me! It’s obvious in my life that God needs to guide me in everything, including prayer for me to get it right. What a screw up I’ve been!

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

Colossians 3:21 – Fathers, provoke not your children to anger lest they be discouraged.

Ephesians 6:4 – And, ye Fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.

Deuteronomy 4:9-10 (KJV) – Only take heed to thyself, and keep thy soul diligently, lest thou forget the things which thine eyes have seen, and lest they depart from thy heart all the days of thy life: but teach them to thy sons, and thy son’s sons…

Deuteronomy 4:9-10 (ESV) – Only take care, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. Make them known to your children and your children’s children.

            So we’ve discussed already that prayer was on my mind. This morning as I was praying for my children and looking at their pictures, their smiles, thinking of their personalities and their innocence, I see that they are just like me in that all they really want in life at this point is to be loved and cared for by their parents. I’ve taken them for granted and I have an apology to make to them. Sin will do that to moms and dads. It will distort our natural tendencies as parents to feed our children the one thing we all deserve – Love. Sin could come in the form of anything but what it does is destroy our little ones hopes and dreams to have a mommy and daddy who love them the way God has planned and the way He loves us.

            As I was praying for Zarria, Savanah, Faith, Hunter, and Mia this morning, I recognized that not everything that I write about or post may interest you or be exactly what you are dealing with in your life right now. But if you take the time to read these daily, when this problem does come around in your life or in a friend’s life, you might be better equipped to make it through that situation than you would have. Moses could not make his people obey all the time and neither can I. But I can encourage you with love and make my experiences, strengths, and hopes known to you so you might be more equipped to handle the world than I was. That’s my job as your father and your friend.

Prayer: Father God, I pray Deuteronomy 7:12-16 into the lives of my family, friends, and the people whom I love. Your will be done and not mine. “And because you listen to these rules and keep and do them, the Lord your God will keep with you the covenant and the steadfast love that He swore to your fathers. He will love you, bless you, and multiply you. He will also bless the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your ground, your grain and your wine and your oil, the increase of your herds and the young of your flock, in the land that He swore to your fathers to give you. You shall be blessed above all peoples. There shall not be male or female barren among you or your livestock. And the Lord will take away from you all sickness and none of the evil diseases of Egypt, which you know, will He inflict on you, but He will lay them on all who hate you. And you shall consume all the peoples that the Lord your God will give over to you. Your eye shall not pity them, neither shall you serve their God’s, for that would be a snare to you.”

Thoughts: Isaiah 62:5 “For as a young man marries a virgin, so shall your sons marry you: and as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, so shall thy God rejoice over us.” God makes all kinds of promises and He is trustworthy to follow through with His blessings and love if we will follow, as individuals, His lead. Read, pray, turn from sin, and surround yourselves with people doing the same!