God is faithful to keep every word of every promise. If He said it, we can trust it. We may not know exactly when it will come to pass, but we can bank on it that it will. Like His words to the Israelites as they took possession of the Promised Land,
But just as all the good things that the LORD your God promised concerning you have been fulfilled for you, so the LORD will bring upon you all the evil things, until he has destroyed you from off this good land that the LORD your God has given you.
Joshua 23:15 ESV
Are we promise-keeping parents? If we tell our child that we will take them for ice cream if they finish all their chores, do we do it? If we tell our child that they will get a spanking if they do that ‘one more time,’ do we do it? Am I the only one who has an easier time keeping my promise of a treat than my promise of a punishment?
In God’s absolute sovereignty, omniscient wisdom, and omnipotent power, He is able to keep every promise, like we never could.
Let’s trust Him and cling to Him and try to be more like Him which includes not making random threats that we’re never going to keep nor manipulating our children with promises of rewards that we don’t intend to give.
Heavenly Father, I’m so glad that I can trust You. I’m so thankful that You are honest and faithful, mighty and true. You are a promise keeping God. If you’ve said it, I can believe it. Grow my faith, Lord. Bury Your Word deep in my soul, water it with Your Spirit, bathe it in the sunshine of Your love, that it may bear great multitudes of fruit and bring You glory. I love You, Lord. Turn my heart, and my mouth, to sing Your praise and to speak Your Holy Words to others. In the name of Jesus Christ, the Words made flesh, I pray. Amen.
Read through the Bible in 2 Years: Joshua 14:6-15:63
Heavenly Father,
Thank You for the example of Caleb who followed You wholeheartedly. I pray that You would give my children faith like his.
Give them strength to stand alone, trusting in Your promises and in the truth of Your Word. Help them to be steadfast in the light of ridicule and persecution. Give them the courage to swim against the current, to stand out from the crowd – not in pride but in humble submission to Your holy, revealed will.
Please, Father, give each of my children a faithful friend like Joshua to walk the lonely path of righteousness with them and to lift them up when they stumble.
Lord, You hold my children’s lives in Your hands. You alone know the number of their days. Please bless them with long life, sustain them physically and spiritually, that they may testify to Your Great Goodness for many, many years, and someday, Lord, many years from now, bring them into the Promised Land of Heaven to live in Your presence for all eternity.
In the Name of Jesus Christ, the only true Savior and Sustainor of Life, I pray. Amen.
In Numbers we read about when the Israelites were afraid to go into the Promised Land because the spies had brought them reports of the people already living there. And, now, in Joshua 10, here it is. They are facing these cities and kingdoms and armies. And it’s scary.
Friends, there are lots of scary things in life. Things like cancer and job loss, hurricanes and forest fires, wayward children and wayward husbands. But there is no situation – no matter how terrifying – that is beyond God’s reach.
There is nothing too hard for our God. There is no person beyond His reach. There is no crisis on earth that God does not hold in the palm of His Almighty hand. Fear not. He is still on His throne.
Heavenly Father, sometimes life here is awfully scary. Like a child imagining what might be hiding under the bed or in the closet, sometimes I let my mind wander to all those unsettling, scary what-ifs. Please, Father, help me to cast all my anxiety on You and trust that You care for me. You care about me, and You take care of me. You are cradling me in the palm of Your Almighty hand, sheltering me under the wings of Your Steadfast, Omniscient Love. You know all things. You are in control of all things. You are wise. You are good. Help me to trust You right now, in this moment, and in all the moments still to come. In the Name of Jesus Christ who triumphed over sin and the grave, I pray. Amen.
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 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 16:17-18:14
The Lord knows man’s heart, and the Lord knows the future. He knows that we are prone to be partial and selfish and unjust. He knows how easy it is for us to go astray, whether we are a common laborer or housewife or the highest leader in the land.
So, in His mercy, He gave us the Law, His Word to memorize and to meditate on. Though the Israelites had never had a king, God knew that someday they would, and so He made provision especially for him, saying, “Don’t get a bunch of horses and wives and stuff because then your heart will turn away from Me.” But He didn’t stop there. God didn’t only have a ‘don’t do’ list. The Lord went on to say,
“And when [a Hebrew king] sits on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself in a book a copy of this law, approved by the Levitical priests.
And it shall be with him, and he shall read in it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the LORD his God by keeping all the words of this law and these statutes, and doing them, that his heart may not be lifted up above his brothers, and that he may not turn asidefrom the commandment, either to the right hand or to the left, so that he may continue long in his kingdom, he and his children, in Israel.
Deuteronomy 17:18-20 ESV
This is a good word for us, too.
There is great value in not only reading the Word, but also in writing it. Take the time to write down the actual words of the Bible, along with your own personal thoughts.
Read the Word daily. Meditate on what it says. And obey its commands. Remember that the Lord your God is in your midst and fear Him, that you will be humble and it will go well with you.
Heavenly Father, Thank You for giving us Your Word. We want to know it, that we may know You. We want to walk in Your ways. We want to be more like You. Help us to be merciful and humble and just. Keep us from pride and self-sufficiency. Help us to love and honor You, by loving our neighbors as ourselves. We lift up our nation’s leaders to You. We pray that You will guide and direct their steps. We pray that You will “open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in [You].” (Acts 26:18) In the Name of Jesus Christ I pray. Amen.
Read through the Bible in 2 Years: Deuteronomy 10-11
Behold, to the LORD your God belong heaven and the heaven of heavens, the earth with all that is in it.
Yet the LORD set his heart in love on your fathers and chose their offspring after them, you above all peoples, as you are this day.
Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no longer stubborn.
Deuteronomy 10:14-16 ESV
Heavenly Father, You are God and God alone. All of heaven and earth are in the palm of Your hand. You are above all things. You rule over all things. You are the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, the eternal and unchanging One. It is by Your will that all of the universe came into existence, and it is by Your will that all of life is sustained. What is man that You are mindful of him? Who am I that You care for me? The very thought that You know me by name, that You love me, oh, Lord, such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to understand. Thank You, Lord. I pray that I would fear You with holy reverence, that I would walk in Your ways, that I would love and serve You with all my heart and soul, keeping Your commands and loving others as You have loved me, all the days of my life. In gratitude to my Savior and Lord, Jesus Christ, 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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