For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment. Genesis 18:19.
In God’s sight, a man is just what he is in his family. The life of Abraham, the friend of God, was signalized by a strict regard for the word of the Lord. He cultivated home religion. The fear of God pervaded his household. He was the priest of his home. He looked upon his family as a sacred trust. His household numbered more than a thousand souls, and he directed them all, parents and children, to the divine Sovereign. He suffered no parental oppression on the one hand or filial disobedience on the other. By the combined influence of love and justice, he ruled his household in the fear of God, and the Lord bore witness to his faithfulness.
He “will command … his household.” There would be no sinful neglect to restrain the evil propensities of his children, no weak, unwise, indulgent favoritism, no yielding of his conviction of duty to the claims of mistaken affection. Abraham would not only give right instruction, but he would maintain the authority of just and righteous laws.
How few there are in our day who follow this example. On the part of too many parents there is a blind and selfish sentimentalism, which is manifested in leaving children with their unformed judgment and undisciplined passions, to the control of their own will. This is the worst cruelty to the youth and a great wrong to the world. Parental indulgence causes disorder in families and in society. It confirms in the young the desire to follow inclination, instead of submitting to the divine requirements.
Parents and children alike belong to God to be ruled by Him. By affection and authority combined, Abraham ruled his house. God’s word has given us rules for our guidance. These rules form the standard from which we cannot swerve if we would keep the way of the Lord. God’s will must be paramount. The question for us to ask is not: What have others done? What will my relatives think? or, What will they say of me if I pursue this course? but, What has God said? Neither parent nor child can truly prosper in any course excepting in the way of the Lord.
Conflict and Courage p. 49
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Prayer Requests
—— Pray for my two friends, Ron and Frank. Ron is at the ___ medical center and i just heard last night that Frank called his wife, Veronica and told her he was in pain on the road driving semi and he was in North Carolina. He told her he was calling 911. The next thing Veronica heard was from a nurse calling her and he was be air life’s to _____. He is in ICU with a bleed in his Arorta. They operated last night and Veronica and her daughter got a flight out of Detroit and is with him now. They told her that most people do not make it to the hospital and only 50 per cent make it through surgery. He has done both so PRAISE JESUS OUR LORD. The next. 48 hours will have further information. PRAY FOR HEALING FOR BOTH OF MY FRIENDS. PEACE BE WITH YOU AND BLESSINGS. A
—– Please lift up a prayer for my mom. She has been in the hospital the last two weeks for something that was thought to be bronchitis, then pneumonia, possibly tuberculosis, and just a got a call from my dad that now she is on a machine that is helping her breathe. I don’t know the severity of it all… but we are bypassing all our plans for Spring Break to drive out to Texas today. I think I am more scared that I should be, but you know, you just never know. DO
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Dear Friends,
When Esther was a teenager, she often babysat for evangelistic meetings. It was fun for her as she loves babies and little children. When the parents would leave their little ones in her care, they often would cry and want their mothers. Esther would pick up the crying child and tell them that their mama will come back for them. Then she would share with them her experience as a child when I would leave her in the care of those who were babysitting for some meetings. She had feared that those people were trying to steal her and she would never see her mama again. This would usually cause the crying to stop. The child would cling tightly to Esther, for here was someone who understood his fears.
How often we feel frightened and alone in this sinful, old world. How many times we feel like our whole world is crashing in upon us. Praise God! We have a Savior Who understands what we are going through and is standing there waiting to help us through all of our trials. He assures us, “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee.” “Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name, thou art mine. When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee, and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned, neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. For I am the LORD thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour.” Heb 13:5,Isa 43:1-3
Indeed, Our Loving Saviour went through more for our salvation than we ever possibly could experience. Isaiah prophesied of Him, “He is despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him, he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray, we have turned every one to his own way, and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken. And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth. Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him, he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many, for he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors, and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.” Isa 53:3-12
What a wonderful Loving God we serve! He went through so much sorrow and grief for us so that we can be saved. Let us cling to Him even tighter than those little children clung to Esther. Let us cast all our care upon Him for He cares for us and will work all things out for our good. <1 Peter 5:7, 1 Cor 10:13> Let us confidently follow Him all the way to His Glorious Kingdom no matter what is transpiring around us.
Rose