I grew up listening to my mom’s stories, stories about her life growing up on a dairy farm, how she and my dad planned a quick wedding before he went off to college out-of-state, how I was finally born three weeks past my due date, and many more. I’ve heard the same stories again and again, but somehow I can’t seem to remember all the details. I need to be reminded of these true stories that are important to my family’s life.
The Israelites had been miraculously delivered out of slavery in Egypt. They had spent 40 years wandering in the desert while the Lord miraculously fed them daily with bread from heaven. And now they are going to miraculously cross the Jordan River into the Promised Land of Israel.
Their children will need to hear these stories told again and again. They will need to be reminded of how God provided and God delivered and God led His people, not just so they’d know their people’s history but so they’d know their God.
Our children need to know how God worked in our lives, so they will trust that He can work in their lives, too.
Remember, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” (Hebrews 13:8 ESV) Let’s tell our children some stories about how the Lord has worked in our lives, setting up some Stones of Remembrance for them to know and trust God. This is one of many reasons I wrote the story of my Jesus transformed my life from Evangelical Atheist to Evangelical Christian.
I’d love to hear your stories. Leave a comment here so others can be encouraged by how the Lord has worked in your life.
Heavenly Father, You are the eternal, unchanging God. You have always been perfect, and You always will be. But, Father, we need change. We need transformation. We need to be made new creations by the power of Your Spirit in us. And so do our children and our neighbors. Please work in us and through us, give us courage and wisdom to share the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ with whoever You place in our path. Let us not forget the Stones of Remembrance that You have given to us. May we remember You, and how You have led us, delivered us, and provided for us. In the Name of Jesus Christ we pray. Amen.
Read through the Bible in 2 Years: Deuteronomy 33-34
Sixteen years ago my youngest son was born. He is the “son of my old age” 😂 and the source of great joy in my life. Watching him grow to a man before my very eyes has truly been a treasure. Reading Deuteronomy 33-34, I was reminded that Moses never knew these twelve sons of Israel. They’d all passed into eternity before Moses has even been born – as had Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob themselves – yet God remained faithful to His promises for their offspring.
“…This is the land of which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, ‘I will give it to your offspring’…”
Deuteronomy 34:4 ESV
I want to take this page today to offer up a prayer for my son, along with my other children, and to the offspring that the Lord will give me through each of them.
Heavenly Father, Being a mother is a high calling and privilege. It is an honor to carry a child in the womb, to birth a helpless little baby, and to bring it up day after day in the fear and knowledge of the Lord. I have often fallen short, so I ask You to cover my shortcomings with Your grace and wisdom.
Bless my children. Bless the spouses that You have provided (and will provide) for them. Bless the children that they will bear, along with their children’s children, the children I may never see with my own eyes or hold in my arms, but who will walk in the legacy that my husband and I are leaving behind.
Father, I don’t ask for financial or physical blessings. Rather, I ask You for spiritual blessings – the blessings of faith, wisdom, righteousness, peace, and joy – founded on their trust in You. I ask for deep and abiding relationships between the mothers and their children, the fathers and their children, and especially between the husband and his wife, because these relationships point to You – Your faithfulness, Your kindness, Your integrity.
I pray that my family line will be full of servant-leaders, humble men and women willing to sacrifice their own comfort for the good of others and for the glory of Your Name. May the light of Christ shine out of them, that others will be drawn to You through their life and testimony.
In the Name of Jesus Christ, Our Perfect Example and Perfect Savior, I pray. Amen.
Read through the Bible in 2 Years: Deuteronomy 31:14-32:52
And the LORD said to Moses, “Behold, you are about to lie down with your fathers. Then this people will rise and whore after the foreign gods among them in the land that they are entering, and they will forsake me and break my covenant that I have made with them. Then my anger will be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them and hide my face from them, and they will be devoured. And many evils and troubles will come upon them, so that they will say in that day, ‘Have not these evils come upon us because our God is not among us?’ And I will surely hide my face in that day because of all the evil that they have done, because they have turned to other gods.
“Now therefore write this song and teach it to the people of Israel. Put it in their mouths, that this song may be a witness for me against the people of Israel. For when I have brought them into the land flowing with milk and honey, which I swore to give to their fathers, and they have eaten and are full and grown fat, they will turn to other gods and serve them, and despise me and break my covenant. And when many evils and troubles have come upon them, this song shall confront them as a witness (for it will live unforgotten in the mouths of their offspring). For I know what they are inclined to do even today, before I have brought them into the land that I swore to give.”
So Moses wrote this song the same day and taught it to the people of Israel.
Deuteronomy 31:16-22 ESV
In reading Deuteronomy 32, the song of Moses, don’t forget these words from Deuteronomy 32. This song has purpose, as all songs do. Songs have the power to drill words deep into hearts. I can recite word for word songs from my childhood and my teenage years even though I haven’t heard them for years. How about you?
What songs are your kids listening to?
What songs are you listening to?
What music is playing in your car? In your home? In your mind?
What songs do you sing at church on Sunday mornings? Are they rich? Are they lovely? Do they draw your heart to worship the Lord and do they teach timeless truths?
If you’ve been reading my blog regularly, you’ll know how often I share a song to go with the scripture for that day. I’m so very thankful that the Lord gave us the gift of music – that we can give it back to Him, but also that we can have a song reverberating in our own hearts and minds as we go throughout our day.
Heavenly Father, Thank You for giving us the gift of music. We want to give it back to You. We want to worship You in song. With words and with musical instruments, we pour out our praise and our griefs before You. Help us pay careful watch to the music that we’re putting in our mouths and our minds. We want to memorize whatever is true and lovely and good and excellent and praiseworthy. We don’t want ugly songs stuck inside our heads. Please, Lord, prick our hearts with these words from Your Scriptures today and help us to be careful how we walk. In the Name of Jesus we pray. Amen.
Come Thou Fount (Above All Else) – Shane and Shane
There is a Fountain Filled with Blood
1 There is a fountain filled with blood Drawn from Immanuel’s veins; And sinners, plunged beneath that flood, Lose all their guilty stains: Lose all their guilty stains, Lose all their guilty stains; And sinners, plunged beneath that flood, Lose all their guilty stains. 2 The dying thief rejoiced to see That fountain in his day; And there may I, though vile as he, Wash all my sins away: Wash all my sins away, Wash all my sins away; And there may I, though vile as he, Wash all my sins away. 3 Dear dying Lamb, Thy precious blood Shall never lose its power, Till all the ransomed ones of God Be saved, to sin no more: Be saved, to sin no more, Be saved, to sin no more; Till all the ransomed ones of God, Be saved to sin no more. 4 E’er since by faith I saw the stream Thy flowing wounds supply, Redeeming love has been my theme, And shall be till I die: And shall be till I die, And shall be till I die; Redeeming love has been my theme, And shall be till I die. 5 When this poor lisping, stammering tongue Lies silent in the grave, Then in a nobler, sweeter song, I’ll sing Thy power to save: I’ll sing Thy power to save, I’ll sing Thy power to save; Then in a nobler, sweeter song, I’ll sing Thy power to save.
First Moses told all Israel, “Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the LORD your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.” Deuteronomy 31:6 ESV
Next, Moses immediately summoned Joshua to tell him personally, “Be strong and courageous, for you shall go with this people into the land that the LORD has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you shall put them in possession of it. It is the LORD who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.” (Deuteronomy 31:7-8)
Several months ago I deleted my Facebook account. I don’t miss it much. I’ve gained more than I’ve lost. But one thing I do miss is reading Sunshine Meister’s beautifully written testimonies of God’s daily sustaining grace in her life after her son Nahum’s traumatic brain injury in 2021. This morning I woke up thinking about her and tried to find a way to follow her somewhere other than Facebook, and I stumbled on this testimony on YouTube.
Her words will encourage you more than mine. To God be the glory. Do not fear or be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you.
Sunshine Meister – Finding Comfort in God’s Presence
Read through the Bible in 2 Years: Deuteronomy 29-30
And Moses summoned all Israel and said to them: “You have seen all that the LORD did before your eyes in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh and to all his servants and to all his land, the great trials that your eyes saw, the signs, and those great wonders. But to this day the LORD has not given you a heart to understand or eyes to see or ears to hear.”
Deuteronomy 29:2-4 ESV
These people were eyewitnesses to numerous unexplainable miracles, yet they didn’t understand. Like Jesus who spoke with such wisdom, yet many didn’t understand.
Each of us need the Lord’s tender hands to circumcise our hearts and our children’s hearts, so that we will love the LORD our God with all our heart and soul, that we may live. (Deuteronomy 30:6)
Let’s pray.
Heavenly Father, I have seen You work with my own eyes, yet I am so quick to forget. I’m quick to go astray, to wander away from You. Please, open the eyes of my heart, that I might truly see and believe. Please, circumcise my heart, though it’s painful, I need it. I have grown calloused. Break my heart for what breaks Yours. Strengthen me to obey You, loving You with all my heart, soul, strength, and mind, and loving my neighbor as myself. In the Name of Jesus Christ, my perfect example and my Savior, Amen.
The Lord has brought the people out of their slavery in Egypt, and now He is bringing them into this blessed land flowing with milk and honey. The commanded response, as well as the logical response of gratitude, is to offer back to God some of the fruit of this land – and not just any of the fruit, but the first fruits. Giving first fruits demonstrates faith and dependence on the Lord.
But, if I’m honest with myself and with you, I have to confess how stingy I am with the many gifts that the Lord has given me, whether with my time, my talents, my treasures, or my testimony. I treat these things as though I have earned them myself rather than recognizing that they are gifts from God, given to me to give back to Him and to share with others.
Heavenly Father, I pray that I would have a heart overflowing with gratitude for all that You have given me. Truly, what do I have that I haven’t been given? Where would I be today if You hadn’t brought me by the hand every step of the way? Now, today, I offer back to You the first fruits of my labor. My children, my home, my work, my mind and mouth and money, are Yours. I give them back to You as an offering of praise. They are Yours. They were given to me by You, and now I again give them back to You, laying them down, prying my fingers off of them, leaving them on the altar of Your Holy presence. In the Name of Jesus Christ I pray. Amen
Read through the Bible in 2 Years: Deuteronomy 24-25
Again and again the Lord makes special provision for the sojourner , the fatherless, and the widow. Reading through my Bible today, and not getting much out of these chapters of “various laws,” my eyes feel upon a note in my Bible’s margin from the last time I read it cover to cover.
Sojourner – God is my resting place.
Fatherless – God is my father.
Widow – I am His bride.
Sisters, write notes in your Bible that you can find next year. Leave reminders to yourself of how the Lord turns your heart while you read His Word. Let these remind you – and those who come after you.
As members of God’s kingdom, we’re all sojourners, wanderers, aliens in this world. Our true citizenship is in heaven. God has called us to be His ambassadors.
As members of God’s family, we’re His children and He is our Father. We can come to Him with confidence, knowing that He loves us dearly and cares for us tenderly, as a Father loves and cares for his children.
As the bride of Christ, we are called to be shining lights for Him, His hands and feet on earth, humbly depending on Him for strength, comfort, and guidance.
Read through the Bible in 2 Years: Deuteronomy 16:1-16
As I wrote about yesterday, I grew up the younger of two daughters to a hard-working mother and father. My mom went back to college to finish her degree when I started kindergarten, and then she started working full time. In spite of her long hours at work, she was still determined to serve a home-cooked meal for dinner every night. No McDonald’s drive thru or frozen pizza for us. Mom served us pork chops and potatoes or chicken breasts and stir fried vegetables, even after a long day’s work.
Likewise, my sister and I were expected to work hard, too. We had our own responsibilities around the home: washing our laundry, setting the table for dinner, unloading the dishwasher, taking care of our pets, and doing our schoolwork to the best of our ability. My parents didn’t tolerate laziness. We were capable of getting A’s at school, so A’s we should get. The thought of skipping an assignment or not studying for a test never even entered my mind.
Fast forward forty years to my life today.
There are so many conveniences – and so many entertainments – available, it’s become increasingly hard for me to really work hard.
Who needs to clean house and cook dinner? There are housekeepers and restaurants for that.
Who needs to plant and tend a garden? I can buy whatever I need at the store.
Who needs to go to the library or the grocery store? I’ve got the world wide web and grocery delivery at my fingertips.
Hence, I no longer feel the need for a time of rest, like the Lord gave to His people. The Lord knew how strenuous their days were and He commanded them to set aside days every week and every year to rest and feast.
But, wait, I can just hear you saying, “Don’t you look forward to your annual vacation at the beach?”
Why, Yes. Yes, in fact, I do! I treasure those days spent watching the sun rise with my Bible open on my lap, meditating on the Lord’s words and listening to the waves’ quiet melody. But, to be honest with you, I don’t need a holiday like the Israelites did, and I’m afraid some of that is because almost every day for me is a holiday of sorts.
Ice cream and brownies aren’t only for birthdays.
Watching a movie isn’t only for that one special Saturday night in the summer when everyone piled into the station wagon and Dad to the drive-in.
Going out to dinner with my husband is a regular occurrence, not just a twice a year event reserved for Valentine’s Day and our anniversary.
In light of all this, I’m trying to be more conscious to fill my days with work. My work might be writing this blog or creating a YouTube video. My work might be reading the Bible with my son. My work might be embroidering a gift for my daughter or being a listening ear for a hurting friend, but I need to work. I need to make the most of the time God has given me.
I want to number my days that I may have a heart of wisdom. (Psalm 90:12)
Maybe you can’t relate to this post at all. Maybe your weeks are filled to the gills with work – in the home and outside the home. Then, my words to you are these: Great! Good for you! God designed His people to work hard! God gave us the sun to light our days, and He gave us the soil to grow food. God wants us to be diligent like the ant. But don’t forget to rest and feast. God also gave His people a weekly sabbath rest and annual times for dedicated resting and feasting. He designed us to need them, that we would have time to renew our minds and bodies, and that we would remember Him and be grateful for all we have.
Proverbs 6:6-11 ESV — Go to the ant, O sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise. Without having any chief, officer, or ruler, she prepares her bread in summer and gathers her food in harvest. How long will you lie there, O sluggard? When will you arise from your sleep? A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man.
Ephesians 5:15-16 ESV — Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.
Psalm 39:4 ESV — O LORD, make me know my end and what is the measure of my days; let me know how fleeting I am!
Heavenly Father, I’m your child, and I want to be about Your business. I’m thankful for all that You have given to me and for all that You have given me to do. You have created me for a good purpose, and You have good works that You want me to accomplish. Help me to be faithful and diligent with the time that You have given to me. Help me to work hard and to rest well with a grateful heart. Make me a good steward of my time, talents, treasures, and testimony. For the glory of Your Name I pray. Amen.
Read through the Bible in 2 Years: Deuteronomy 7-9
Moses had some words of wisdom for the Israelites before they entered the Promised Land. He warned them not to turn away from God saying to themselves, “My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth,” (Deuteronomy 8:17) and “It is because of my righteousness that the LORD has brought me in to possess this land.” (Deuteronomy 9:4) He was worried that when they were full and had built nice houses to live in and had plenty of sheep, cattle, gold, silver and children, they would “forget the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.” (Deuteronomy 8:14b)
This was a very real danger for the Israelites, and it’s a very real danger for us.
Beware, sister, lest you forget that God chose you while you were yet a sinner, an enemy of the gospel. Beware, sister, lest you fall away and trust in your own righteousness rather than Christ’s. Beware, sister, lest you no longer see your need for the Lord’s salvation and provision.
Heed the words to the church in Laodicea from Revelation 3:17-18
For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see.”
Revelation 3:17-18
I was reminded of something I wrote about earlier this week about the roadblocks that stand in the way of us teaching our children. One stumbling block that I hadn’t thought about at the time, though, was pride. Sometimes we feel like we don’t need to teach our children because we think, “They’re good kids. They know God’s Word. They don’t really need me to teach them.” In our self-sufficiency, we become lazy parents. We take pride in our children’s accomplishments, thinking that we must be really great parents to have produced such great kids, rather than humbly acknowledging God’s mercy toward them and us.
Dear friends, the Lord did not choose you because you were mighty or lovely or powerful or smart or good. In fact, you weren’t any of those things before, and you’re not any of those things now. Sure, you might be more kind or beautiful or smart or religious than your husband or sister or neighbor, but compared to God we are all filthy and wretched.
Compared to the wisdom of God, you are a fool.
Compared to the kindness of God, you are a selfish beast.
Compared to the power of God, you are nothing more than a grasshopper perched precariously on a blade of grass.
Moses had never read my favorite Bible verse, Romans 5:8, “But God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us,” yet, the Holy Spirit inspired him to write Deuteronomy 7:6-8. God is unchanging, sovereign, and good. Trust in Him and Him alone.
“The LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the LORD set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but it is because the LORD loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers, that the LORD has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.”
Deuteronomy 7:6b-8 ESV
Let’s pray.
Heavenly Father, thank You for Your mercy and grace. Thank You for Your forgiveness. Thank You for the peace that You have given to me, redeeming me and bringing me into Your family and Your kingdom. I pray that You would keep me humble. You have given me so much. You have anointed my head with oil again and again. My cup indeed overflows. Keep me on my knees. Help me to seek You and You only. Help my heart to truthfully say, “There is nothing on earth that I desire besides you.” Let me not boast in anything save in the cross of Christ. You are all I need. In the Name of Jesus Christ, my Treasure and Savior, I pray. Amen.
Read through the Bible in 2 Years: Deuteronomy 5-6
And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart.
You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.
You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
I like to begin my days with my own time in the Word. This means early mornings, but it’s so worth it. Rising before the sun starts my day off right and helps to set my mind on heavenly things. Then, as I go throughout my day – teaching English online, vacuuming, washing dishes, doing schoolwork with my son, going for a walk in my neighborhood – my thoughts often return to what I read that morning or that week.
In praying about what to write today, I was reminded of Luke 6:45b ESV, “Out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.” If my heart is full of grumbling, my mouth will be full of complaints, but if my heart is full of gratitude and wisdom, my mouth will be, too. I can’t speak of the Lord’s goodness, if I don’t in my heart believe that He is good. I know how much I need the Lord to renew my heart and mind daily. I know how prone to wander that I am. If I miss even one day with my Savior, I can feel it in my spirit.
She opens her mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.
Proverbs 31:26 ESV
The only way for your tongue to speak wisdom and kindness is for your heart to be full of the wisdom and kindness found in the Word of God. Start there for yourself, and let your heart overflow into your children as you rise and sit and walk and lie down day after day. Just like you would casually tell your children about what you bought that day at the store or about that friend you ran into that day at work, share with your children what you learned that day in the Word or in the circumstances of your daily life.
Your children need the wisdom that comes from living. Let your successes – and your failures – guide them to the path of life in Jesus.
Let’s pray.
Heavenly Father, help me to sit at Your feet each and every day, day after day soaking in Your Word and Your presence. Draw me close to You that my life and my mouth may overflow with love for my children. May my mouth be full of wisdom and kindness. May my eyes be gentle and bright. May my ears be attentive and compassionate. May my mind be fixed on things that are above and not on the things of this earth. Help me to remember that this earth and its tribulations are passing away, while the unseen things are eternal and weighty. Fill my heart with Your love. Fill my mouth with Your Word and Your words. Help me to live for what matters. Give me the strength to love my children as myself, to be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger. Make me Your mouthpiece, teaching truth diligently to my children – from the time they awake until they go to sleep – for the glory of Your Name and for the good of Your kingdom. In the Name of Jesus Christ, my Savior and my Lord I pray. Amen.
Teach What is Good 
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