Sharing God's Word With Children

  5 Love God, your God, with your whole heart: love him with all that's in you, love him with all you've got!  6 Write these commandments that I've given you today on your hearts. Get them inside of you  7 and then get them inside your children. Talk about them wherever you are, sitting at home or walking in the street; talk about them from the time you get up in the morning to when you fall into bed at night.  8 Tie them on your hands and foreheads as a reminder;  9 inscribe them on the doorposts of your homes and on your city gates.  --Deuteronomy 6:5-9 The Message (version) 
I've heard the actor Kirk Cameron say that we all have the ten commandments written on our hearts.  We know right from wrong.  We know that we shouldn't lie, steal, and kill.  We know that we should respect and love God.  There are, though, some questions we should be asking ourselves. 
What are we teaching our children about God?  What are we not saying?  How much is God in our lives?  Are we discussing issues about God with our children?  Are we equipped to teach our children about God? 
The Bible is readily available to us.  That is not enough.  We must know how to study the Bible.  We must ask the Holy Spirit to guide us.  Prayer brings about much, and God wants us to understand His words. 
That's why I think it's important to reach out.  When something does not make sense, it is an opportunity to look beyond ourselves.  It is an opportunity to tap into the wonderful resources that are available to us.  We can turn to people who are more knowledgeable than us.  We can turn to online helps, too.  I believe that when you truly understand what the Word of God means, and believe it, you are ready to teach the Word to your children.  The authority carries more weight in it.  The love you have for God will shine through.  Children need parents who are sold out believers in the Lord our God.  The love of God is manifest, or shown, through His words and through us, the parents.  That's why it is important to search our hearts.  We must see if there is anything in our lives that is not exhibiting that true love that we have for our God.  He loves us and wants us to love Him, too.  I think it's wonderful that we can model that love to our own children.  Just looking back at all the mistakes I could fallen into makes me appreciative of the loving God I have in my life.    I take the time to talk with my children about how God has helped me throughout my life.  Being forty years-old has given me some perspective.  It is the experiences of God's actual love and care in my life that have given me some authority to share with my children.  Everyone has baggage in life from hurts and disappointments; it's what happens as a result of them.  It's the struggles in life that God has brought me through that's important.  How do we handle the day to day life struggles?  Do we depend on ourselves?  Or do we turn to our loving Heavenly Father?  What are we teaching our children about the challenges in life?  What do we want for our children to believe about their struggles?  Are we in a constant state of frustration?  Or are we turning over our struggles to God?  I know that it feels weird to me that I might be the only one who knows what I'm thinking.  The reality, fortunately, is that we are not alone.  God knows what's in our hearts and minds.    Having the Word of God is comforting to me.  Whenever I have a problem, I first turn it over to God.  I turn to His words.  I feel peace.  I trust God.  I trust in no human.  Not everyone understands in that concept--trust God.  The truth is that people will disappoint you.  Family may not protect you.  Friends might back stab you.  The government will continually become too intrusive.    Even nature might seem to conspire against you.  You might want to garden or swim, but it rains.  Should you get upset at all those things?  It is our nature to get mad.  It's whether you learn to control it.  I think about times I have been so upset that my blood pressure caused my blood to boil.   It takes a lot of effort to control oneself, but it says in the Bible that you need self-control.  The Bible is God's word.  God loves us so much that He cautions us to control ourselves.  He is not trying to restrict us from living.  His words are there in the Bible to guide us to live the best life possible.  My question to you, my readers is this: What are you teaching your children?  Are you teaching them about God?  Have you introduced them to the Word of God?  Do they see you cracking open the Bible?  I encourage you to have discussions whenever you can, whether after dinner or as you sit in the car.  Your children and their children, will be blessed, as you share with them the love God has for us all.  I pray that God gives you all, my beloveds, His wisdom and peace. 

This has been an entry for the Spiritual Sundays series. 

To compile this mini- bible study, I visited: http://www.biblestudytools.com/

 

Keep & Share The Ten Commandments

God's word is to be read and shared.

 

Ask now about the former days, long before your time, from the day God created man on the earth; ask from one end of the heavens to the other. Has anything so great as this ever happened, or has anything like it ever been heard of ?

--Deuteronomy 4:32

The above verse is a teaser of sorts.  I have taken this special verse from Deuteronomy 4.  I felt compelled to read through the whole chapter because I had forgotten why I had included this Bible verse in a list that I created many years ago.  The list I had created featured special Bible verses.  These verses explained why I was teaching my children and what they must learn.

In the chapter, Moses was talking to the Hebrews who had come out of Egypt.  They had suffered much oppression, but God had delivered the people out of the rule of the Pharaoh.  Moses was reminding them about all that God had done for them.  He was also telling them about the promises that God had for them.  More importantly Moses admonished the people to listen and obey the rules that he was putting forth to them.

Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them slip from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them.

--Deuteronomy 4:9 

I love that Moses advised the people to do an oral history of what they had witnessed.  What had the people seen?  Because we have the Bible, we know.  Among the many miracles, they saw water turn to blood and the locusts overrun Egypt.  They were able to share with their children how awesome their God was.

And the LORD directed me at that time to teach you the decrees and laws you are to follow in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess.

--Deuteronomy 4:14

We know that the laws did not come from Moses.  No.  The Lord, God, was the author.  The law included what the people were supposed to follow.  Those were the ten commandments.  The important thing to understand was that it was part of a package deal.

Be careful not to forget the covenant of the LORD your God that he made with you; do not make for yourselves an idol in the form of anything the LORD your God has forbidden.  For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.

--Deuteronomy 4:23-4

IMPORTANT:

A covenant is an agreement between two parties, in which certain behavior will or will not be allowed.

The chapter goes on to explain what will happen if the people were to make an idol.  Verses 26-28 explain that destruction will happen to those who anger the Lord.  For the people not to keep the commandments would cause them to be scattered, and they would end up praying to dumb idols that would do nothing for them.  Verses 29-31, though,  explain the mercy of God if they turn from idol worship.  If the people turned back to God with their hearts, God would forgive them, keeping the agreement (covenant) that He had formed with the people.

Acknowledge and take to heart this day that the LORD is God in heaven above and on the earth below. There is no other.  Keep his decrees and commands, which I am giving you today, so that it may go well with you and your children after you and that you may live long in the land the LORD your God gives you for all time.

--Deuteronomy 4:39-40 

  

In closing, I encourage everyone to read the entire chapter 4 of Deuteronomy.  It's easy.  Just click here.  I think it is a perfect word for this season.  With Easter (or Resurrection Day) coming up, we need to be reminded of God's love and mercy for us, especially the requirements He has laid out for us in His covenant (agreement) with us, who have been adopted into the heirship of His chosen (Galatians 3:29).

How about you, my readers?  Are you keeping the ten commandments?  Have you shared the ten commandments with the children in your life?  I hope you take some time today to consider these questions.  It just might make a difference in the lives of your family members and yourselves, as well.

This has been an entry for Spiritual Sundays.  I hope you enjoyed it.

To compile this mini- bible study, I visited: http://www.biblestudytools.com/