PT-3 "The Submission of Children" (Eph. 6:1-3)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 9/7/2019 11:10 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                      Focus:  PT-3 “The Submission of Children”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Ephesians 6:1-3

 

            Message of the verses:  “1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2 HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER (which is the first commandment with a promise), 3 SO THAT IT MAY BE WELL WITH YOU, AND THAT YOU MAY LIVE LONG ON THE EARTH.”

 

            What does it mean to honor your parents?  I suppose that there are many ways we can honor our parents, but one way is to take care of the parents when they cannot take care of themselves.  When a child is born the parents spend a lot of time and effort, along with a lot of  money to care for that child, which takes place on most occasions for around twenty years, and so when the parents get older they are to take care of their aging parents.  I have seen this done in my family and most of it was done by my two sisters, (one has a birthday today, and her age will remain a secret).  I have to say that there were no regrets from the way that they cared for our parents.  My wife is not taking care of the financial situation with her almost 102 year old father who does live in a nursing home, but still has many things that are done by my wife.  There are things that we as a couple cannot do as we take few trips because of we feel we need to stay close to her dad.  The point in all of this is that what I have written about is giving honor to ones parents as spoken of in the Word of God.

 

            As one goes through the gospels we see that the Pharisees in Jesus’ day did not follow this giving honor to their parents and you can read about this in Matthew 15:1-6 “1 Then some Pharisees and scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said, 2  "Why do Your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread." 3 And He answered and said to them, "Why do you yourselves transgress the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition? 4 "For God said, ’HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER,’ and, ’HE WHO SPEAKS EVIL OF FATHER OR MOTHER IS TO BE PUT TO DEATH.’ 5 "But you say, ’Whoever says to his father or mother, "Whatever I have that would help you has been given to God," 6 he is not to honor his father or his mother.’ And by this you invalidated the word of God for the sake of your tradition.”

 

            One can find how to honor and obey their parents by reading the book of Proverbs.  This book was written by Solomon, who by the way did not follow his own writings when he got older, but his book has much wisdom in it to help children as it was written for the benefit of his son, and we can gleam from it as well.  The book of Proverbs can give much wisdom to those who read it.  If you are up to the challenge then begin at the beginning of the month and read through the book of Proverbs one chapter a day.  This will work out good for the months that have 31 days in them, and the other months one will have to read two or three chapters on that last day.  I believe that you will find this a worthwhile thing to do.  In reading this book, either as a child or as a parent much will be learned for both children and parents.

 

            John MacArthur writes “An old Chinese proverb says, ‘One generation plants the trees and the next gets the shade.’  The opportunities and freedoms we have to live and practice our faith were won by our forefathers centuries ago and passed on to us by those in between.  Children raised in Christian families are blessed with the fruit from spiritual trees planted many years earlier by parents and grandparents.  Conversely, it takes three or four generations to reverse the effects of the one wicked group of fathers (cf. Ex. 20:5; 34:7; Num. 14:18; Deut 5:9).  The blessings we have from the preaching, teaching, and fellowship of our local church are fruit of the dedication and sacrifice of believers who have gone before us.”  I can say that the church that I go to began before the civil war in our country, and one can read about the history of our church on the website by clicking on the history tab.  https://firstbaptistelyria.org/  click on the “About Us” and then scroll down to the history tab and click on it.  I am very thankful to be attending a church that God has blessed for over 180 years.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I am thankful for the many things that my sisters did for our parents, and I am thankful for the Lord bringing our family to the church we attend even though when we had to leave our former church which we attended for 32 years, it has been a blessing to be where we are now.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  I desire to continue to be filled by the Holy Spirit so that He will keep me from pride and bring humility into my life.

Quotation from "Love in Action"  "Encourager' is one of the names of the Holy Spirit according to the King James Bible.  The title 'Comforter' translates to the word paraclete which means 'to encourage.'  When we encourage people, we live out the ministry of the third Person of the Trinity.  He is the Encourager."

 

9/7/2019 11:43 AM 

 

           

 

           

           

PT-3 "The Submission of Children" (Eph. 6:1-3)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 9/6/2019 10:55 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                      Focus:  PT-2 “The Submission of Children”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Ephesians 6:1-3

 

            Message of the verses:  “1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2 HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER (which is the first commandment with a promise), 3  SO THAT IT MAY BE WELL WITH YOU, AND THAT YOU MAY LIVE LONG ON THE EARTH.”

 

            I stated in our last that we will look at some more Greek words as we begin this SD and the first one is “Dikatos” which is translated “right” and this refers to that which is correct, just, righteous—to that which is exactly as it should be.  MacArthur writes “For children to obey and honor their parents is dikaios, exactly as it should be.  For children to obey and honor their parents is declared of God, ‘Then Thou didst come down on Mount Sinai, and dist speak with them from heaven; Thou didst give them just [or right] ordinances and true laws, good statues and commandments’ (Neh. 9:13).  ‘The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart,’ David said; ‘the commandment of the Lord is pure enlightening the eyes’ (Ps. 19:8).  Another psalmist wrote, ‘I know, O Lord, that judgments are righteous,’ and ‘I esteem right all Thy precepts’ (119:75, 128).  Hosea closed his message with these beautiful words:   ‘Whoever is wise, let him understand these things; whoever is discerning, let him know them.  For the ways of the Lord are right, and the righteous will walk in them, but transgressors will stumble in them’ (Hos. 14:9).

 

            “Now the “right” attitude behind the right act of obedience is “honor” (timao), which means to value highly, to hold in the highest regard and respect.  In both its verb and noun forms the word is often used as a term of reverence, preciousness, and honor regarding God the Father and Christ (1 Tim. 1:17; 1 Pet. 2:17; Rev. 4:9, 11; 5:12-13; etc.)  It is also used by the Father in reverence to the Son (Heb. 2:9; 2 Pet. 1:17).”

 

            The first time that God introduced His written law is in the form of the Ten Commandments which are seen in the book of Exodus, chapter 20.  From that we learn that the first law relating to human relationships was “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be prolonged in the land which the Lord your God gives you” (Ex. 20:12).  This is the law that Paul is referring to in verse two of Ephesians six.  This is the only commandment given in the Ten Commandments that refers to the family, and the reason is because that one principle alone, when obeyed, is enough to secure the right relationship of children to their parents.  It is not only that, but it is the key principle behind all right human relationships in society.  A person who grows up with a sense of respect for and obedience to his parents will have the foundation for respecting the authority of other leaders and the rights of other people in general.

 

            When Moses wrote “He who strikes his father or his mother shall surely be put to death,” and also “He who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death” as seen in Exodus 21:15, 17 we can see that the respect for parents is of great importance to the Lord.

 

            I have mentioned that it was probably in the mid 1970’s that John MacArthur preached the series on Ephesians that this commentary was written, and he states that in the United States at least eight million serious assaults are made each year by children on their parents.  I would have to say that this number has greatly increased.  I can remember a case when I was working at my regular job some 25 years ago that a person that I worked for was killed, along with his wife, and many thought that their son did this but it was not proven when it went to trial.  I also worked with the man’s brother and he did not believe that the son was at fault.  The killing was with a knife which shows many times of great anger while killing someone.

 

            As I look at our country today and if this one commandment was kept by children then our nation would not be in the terrible shape that it is in at this point in history.  God gave the Ten Commandments so we know that Satan will try and have people break them.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I think that at least some of my grandchildren are ready to understand the teachings that Paul gives here in Ephesians 6:1-3.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  It is my desire to have my life clean in order for the Holy Spirit to fill me, which will cause me to be humble.

 

A very short quotation from “Love in Action” for today:

 

“But when the Comforter is come….

John 15:26 KJV”

 

9/6/2019 11:34 AM

PT-1 "The Submission of Children" (Eph. 6:1-3)

SPIRIRUAL DIARY FOR 9/5/2019 9:50 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                      Focus:  PT-1 “The Submission of Children”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Ephesians 6:1-3

 

            Message of the verses:  “1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2 HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER (which is the first commandment with a promise), 3 SO THAT IT MAY BE WELL WITH YOU, AND THAT YOU MAY LIVE LONG ON THE EARTH.”

 

            Today we begin looking at the first main point from John MacArthur’s commentary, as we look at the submission of children which will probably take a number of days to complete.

 

            The word that is translated children is “Tekna” and it speaks of not only young children, but all children who live under the parent’s roof, as all of the children are to obey and honor the parents.  The word obey has to do with action, and the word honor has to do with attitude.  We have already learned that men and women who leave the house are no longer under the authority of their parents once they themselves marry as seen in 5:31 “31 FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER AND SHALL BE JOINED TO HIS WIFE, AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH.”   Those who leave the family home are to have special respect for their parents.  In the nation of Israel during the time when this letter was written and even before when the son gets married most of the time the house of his parents was added onto so that he and his wife would actually live in the addition to the parent’s home.  This would actually be good for the young couple along with when the parents got older the couple could then care for the parent’s.  Now one of the things that this section shows us is that the child who is brought up to obey and honor his parents will always be sensitive to their wisdom, counsel, and welfare.

 

            Let’s look at the word obey, as it is translated from the word hupakouo.  This word means “to hear under,” that is, to listen with attentiveness and also to respond positively to what is heard.  The children are to put themselves under the words and also the authority of their parents.

 

            As we look at the words “in the Lord” we see this refers to the sphere of pleasing the Lord, to obeying parents for the sake of the Lord.  Children obey their parents as reflective of their obedience to the Lord.  The context makes it very clear that “in the Lord” applies to honor as well as to obey.  The parent’s are to be obeyed and honored because to do so is to obey and honor the Lord.

 

            John MacArthur writes “Parents stand in the gap, so to speak, between children and God while the children are too young to have a full and mature relationship with Him themselves.  Parents are God’s stewards, His proxy authority, for their children, who are simply loaned to them in trust by their own heavenly Father.  That is why children are commanded, ‘Be obedient to your parents in all things, for this is well-pleasing to the Lord’ (Col. 3:20).  The only exception to that obedience is in the matter of doing God’s will as taught in Scripture.  He should say with Peter and John, ‘Whether it is right in the sight of God to give heed to you rather than to God, you be the judge; for we cannot stop speaking what we have seen and heard’ (Acts 4:19-20).  Otherwise, however, a child is to obey his parents ‘in all things.’

 

            “The basic reason for children to obey and honor their parents is simply that it is right.  The rightness is not based on psychological case studies or other human evidence or theory, but on God’s standard of right.  God’s declaration makes it right.”

 

            Lord willing we will begin our next SD on this subject by looking at some more Greek words that should help us better understand this section better.

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I have to say that I am thankful to the Lord for giving me two children who were very easy to raise and for the most part we had little problems with them.  They pretty much obeyed my wife and me and so now as they are married they have had a good background in order to raise their children in a similar way that they have been raised.  Praise the Lord for this.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Humility has been on my mind since the beginning of this year, to which the Lord has taught me much about it and continues to do so even though at times I feel like I have been out in the wilderness learning from the Lord, as there have been some great trials in learning more on this subject, but I believe in the end that the Lord will make me better off in going through these trials.

 

Quotation from “Love in Action” “Paul reminded his readers that Jesus Christ is also, at the very core of His ministry, and encourager.”  Now I suppose that most everyone who reads these Spiritual Diaries has figured out that in this section there is one day given a Scripture verse or verses and then the next day gives some application from that verse or verses.

 

9/5/2019 10:25 AM

PT-4 "Intro to Eph. 6:1-4)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 9/4/2019 12:01 PM

 

My Worship Time                                                                  Focus:  PT-4 “Intro to Eph. 6:1-4

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Eph. 6:1-4

 

            Message of the verses:  “1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2 HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER (which is the first commandment with a promise), 3 SO THAT IT MAY BE WELL WITH YOU, AND THAT YOU MAY LIVE LONG ON THE EARTH. 4 Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.”

 

            In John MacArthur’s commentary he goes into talking about how in the Socialist countries that one of the things common in these countries is to take the children out of the home and have the state educate then so that there will be no moral or any religious things taught to them which certainly goes against the things that we find in the Word of God.  Even in our country today we see are so called schools and colleges doing something very similar, actually making fun of the things that are found in the Word of God.  I have always said that I have both good news and bad news for those doing these kind of thing in our country, and the good news is that they will win, and the bad news for them is that they will win.

 

            John MacArthur writes the following near the end of his commentary’s introduction:  “From the beginning of Scripture it is plain that children are a blessing from God.  When Cain was born Eve exulted, ‘I have gotten a man-child with the help of the Lord’ (Gen. 4:1), and when Seth was born she said, ‘God has appointed me another offspring in place of Abel’ (v. 25).  When God blessed Leah with sons because she was unloved by Jacob, she recognized His gracious hand in the births and said of Reuben, ‘Because the Lord has seen my affliction’ and of Simeon, ‘Because the Lord has heard that I am unloved, He has therefore given me this son also’ (Gen. 29:32-33).  Throughout both Testaments children are shown to be the Lord’s gifts—blessings to be cherished, loved, and cared for with gratitude and faithfulness.  ‘Behold, children are a gift of the Lord; the fruit of the womb is a reward.  Like arrows in the hand of the warrior, so are the children of one’s youth.  How blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them’ (Ps. 127:3-5).  The qualification for true blessing in parenthood is that of raising children to love the Lord and to follow His ways.  It is the righteous, godly child who brings blessing and happiness to his parents.  ‘The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice, and he who begets a wise son will be glad in him’ (Pro. 23:24).  Women make their most unique contribution to the church, as well as find their own highest fulfillment, in childbearing and in their involvement and activity in the home, which precludes their seeking the male role in the church (see 1 Tim. 2:15).”

 

            The paragraph above talks about what will happen to children whose parents raise them in the way that the Bible talks about which will more than not bring about children who will become born-again and live lives to the fullest to the Lord, but if parents do not follow the things taught in the Word of God then chances are that their children will not come out following the Lord.

 

            “In God’s Word, parents have every truth and every guideline necessary for raising their children in righteousness and godliness.  And what a child needs to know about how he should relate and respond to his parents in there also.  The Bible was completed two thousand years ago, but men have not changed since then and neither has God.  What Scripture has to say is timeless and up-to-date.  No human discovery, philosophy, or attitude is new or surprising to God or outside the scope and judgment of His revealed Word.

 

            “Ephesians 6:1-4 continues Paul’s teaching on the mutual submission of believers (5:21) by moving to the family.  Verses 1-3 focus on the submission of children and verse 4 focuses on the submission of parents.”

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I think that since my parenting days are not past that being a good grand-parent is what I should focus on at this time, doing things that the Word of God teaches me to do.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Humility is needed in being a parent or grand-parent and so I must be continually filled with the Holy Spirit in order to do these things, including being humble.

 

Today’s quotation from “Love in Action:”

 

Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and our God and Father, who

Has loved us and given us everlasting consolation and good

Hope by grace, comfort your hearts and establish

you in every good word and work.

 

II Thessalonians 2:16, 17

 

9/4/2019 12:31 PM

 

 

           

PT-3 "Intro to Eph. 6:1-4

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 9/3/2019 9:02 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                                              Focus:  Intro to Eph. 6:1-4

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Ephesians 6:1-4

 

            Message of the verses:  “1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2  HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER (which is the first commandment with a promise), 3  SO THAT IT MAY BE WELL WITH YOU, AND THAT YOU MAY LIVE LONG ON THE EARTH. 4 Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.”

 

            We said that we would begin in this SD with the second cause of family problems and that is the satanic world system in which we live in.  Now we know that it is God’s plan to strengthen and protect the family, so that means that the opposite is true for the satanic world system, that is to undermine, weaken, and to destroy it.  Satan will do this by every means possible using the world’s system to try and accomplish it.

 

            John MacArthur writes “The world’s mold should not be a perfect fit for the Christian.  It should not fit at all.  God commanded Moses to tell Israel, ‘You shall not do what is done in the land of Egypt where you lived, nor are you to do what is done in the land of Canaan where I am bringing you; you shall not walk in their statutes.  You are to perform My judgments and keep My statutes, to live in accord with them; I am the Lord your God’ (Lev. 18:3-4).  ‘Do not defile yourselves by any of the things,’ he says later, referring specifically to various immoral sex practices.  ‘For by all these the nations which I am casting out before you have become defiled’ (v 24).  From the beginning it was God’s intention for His people to be different and distinct, to be separated from the ways of the world.”

 

            Now we look at a third major factor in the destruction of the home and that is the perverse influence of humanistic philosophy.  In his commentary John MacArthur quotes a so called popular speaker who goes and speaks to college students:  “To free the child, we must do away with parenthood and marriage, we must settle for nothing less than the total elimination of the family.”  Now if that does not come from the lips of the evil one I would be totally surprised as this goes directly against what the Word of God teaches.

 

            I have to say that I have some things that I have planned to do this morning and so in our next SD, Lord willing, I want to continue in giving some quotations from the first International Year of the Child that was given in 1977, something that may at this time be coming into happening as this was over 42 years ago that it was spoken.

 

Quotation from “Love in Action:”  “Paul reminds us that one of the purposes of the Old Testament is to provide encouragement for us today.  God’s Word is filled with truth, given to us for the sole purpose of encouraging our hearts.  There’s no need to find substitutes from other sources.  Everything from Genesis to Malachi was written for our learning, so that we, through the encouragement of the Scriptures, might have hope.”

9/3/2019 9:28 AM

 

PT-2 "Intro to Eph. 6:1-4)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 9/2/2019 10:41 AM

 

My Worship Time                                                                  Focus:  PT-2 “Intro to Eph. 6:1-4”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Ephesians 6:1-4

 

            Message of the verses:  “1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2 HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER (which is the first commandment with a promise), 3 SO THAT IT MAY BE WELL WITH YOU, AND THAT YOU MAY LIVE LONG ON THE EARTH. 4 Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.”

 

            We have been talking about the OT and how the Lord brought about the nation of Israel to be the instrument that God would use to instruct them how the family should operate in a way that would please the Lord and bring glory to Him.  Now the first step in bringing this about was to teach the next generation the truths that are taught in the Word of God about the family.  We find the following in Deuteronomy 6:7 “and you shall teach them diligently to your sons 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 up.”  We see here that parents are to continually to speak about the things of God, so that knowledge and love of Him would become a matter of life and breath for the family.  Now when parents were not speaking the testimony would continue as seen in verse 8 “And you shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead.”  So even when the parents were gone this testimony would remain because it was to written on the doorposts of their house and even on their gates as verse 9 tells us:  “"And you shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”  So what we see here there was always to be both verbal and visible commitment to the Word of God in the home.  It has been and always will be the plan of God that His Word is passed on from one generation to the next. 

 

            Now we know that there comes a great problem because of the fall that is described in Genesis chapter three as from that time forward every person born through the seed of man will be born with the sin nature.  The curse of the fall is built into the family and it is the curse that causes men to be chauvinistic, women to usurp the place of men, children to be disobedient to their parents, and parents to be abusive to their children.  Only where Christ is in control as Savior and Lord can a family live up to the standards and the fulfill ministry that God commands.

 

            John MacArthur writes “The Minnesota Crime Commission, demonstrating the truthfulness of the biblical view, issued a report which said in part:

 

‘Every baby starts life as a little savage.  He is completely selfish and self-centered.  He wants what he wants when he wants it: his bottle, his mother’s attention, his playmate’s toys, his uncle’s watch, or whatever.  Deny him these and he seethes with rage and aggressiveness which would be murderous were he not so helpless.  He’s dirty, he has no morals, no knowledge, no developed skills.  This means that all children, not just certain children, are born delinquent.  If permitted to continue in their self-centered world of infancy, given free reign to their impulsive actions to satisfy each want, every child would grow up a criminal, a thief, a killer, a papist.’”

 

            I realize that when a precious little baby is born that parents and grand-parents make a big fuss over it, but the truth is that as long as that baby gets it own way that baby will be happy, but when that baby gets hungry or in need of a change of diaper it will show that it was born with the curse found in Genesis chapter three, that is it has been born with the sin nature.  I remember listening to a sermon that was about the birth of John the Baptist, and also the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ.  In this hypothetical situation Elisabeth was talking to Mary about her young baby and telling her all of the things that little John was doing, things like crying and all of the normal things that a baby would do and then would ask her how little Jesus was.  Mary’s answer was “perfect, just perfect.”  I have to say that I agree with that answer as Jesus was the only baby born of the “seed of the woman,” who was born without the sin nature, and so He was perfect, just perfect.

 

            Lord willing, we will talk about the second problem for the family in our next SD which is the satanic world system we live in. 

 

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  Whether we call the problem we are born with the sin nature or the flesh it is still something that I do battle with every day, and in order to live a life that is pleasing to the Lord I have to be filled with His Holy Spirit.

 

My Steps of Faith for Today:  Humility is something that is so very important for me as a believer, and this can only happen by denying self and to be filled with the Holy Spirit.

 

Today’s quotation from “Love in Action:”

 

For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that

We through the patience and comfort [encouragement]

Of the Scriptures might have hope.

Romans 15:4-5

 

9/2/2019 11:19 AM

PT-1 "Intro to Eph. 6:1-4)

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 9/1/2019 8:40 PM

 

My Worship Time                                                                  Focus: PT-1 “Intro to Eph. 6:1-4”

 

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Ephesians 6:1-4

 

            Message of the verses:  “1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2 HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER (which is the first commandment with a promise), 3 SO THAT IT MAY BE WELL WITH YOU, AND THAT YOU MAY LIVE LONG ON THE EARTH. 4 Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.”

 

            John MacArthur entitles the 24^th chapter in his commentary on Ephesians “The Responsibilities of Children and Parents.”  As seen it covers the first four verses of chapter six in the book of Ephesians. As in many of his introductions he has written several pages on this section which will probably take us several days to go over.

 

            I suppose that most everyone has heard about putting a frog in cool water inside a pot and slowly increase the heat until the frog is killed as the water begins to boil.  When we look at the family in our country in the day and age we live in we can see this same kind of thing happening.  Sorry to say that this kind of things is also happening to the Christian family in our country.  A number of years ago, actually perhaps 30 years ago when we watched most of our TV by the use of an Antenna we only got a few channels and as the programs on our TV’s continued to get more morally worse and worse we would turn to the new stations, and the station in our area was 43 and so I made the statement that the families were watching the new 43 were getting better moral programs than the other main stations.  Today you can watch about what you want to on cable and as stated it was like the frog in the pot not realizing the water was going to kill him in the end as it began to boil.

 

            In the Christian world today we actually see the divorce rate very close to the divorce rate of those who are non believers, which helps us to understand the decline of the family in our country.  John MacArthur states “It is high time we leave the evil system that is engulfing and destroying us and reestablish ourselves in God’s revealed standards of fidelity and moral purity.  We have long lost the luxury of living in a society that gives some nominal support to the church and to Christian values.”

 

            I have to say that my wife and I have been too many Christian marriage seminars and have heard some wonderful truths at them, but it seems that most everyone who attends them will do better for a while and then fall into the same old ways they were in before they came.  The best way for families to get better is to read and understand the Word of God, to have times of prayer to seek the Lord for help and one of the things that I know that I need to do is to read more and watch less TV.  I can also say that I am not convinced that psychology books can help in the raising of our children.  When I was a child the families in our country were mostly made up of a husband who worked, and a wife who stayed home to care for her 2-4 children.  Today in most families both parents work and the children are many times sent to the daycare centers.  Not good!

            I will conclude this SD with another quote from John MacArthur’s commentary. 

 

“When God called the Hebrews to be His chosen people, He destined them to be the people through whom ‘all the families of the earth shall be blessed’ (Gen. 12:3).  At Sinai He commissioned them to be ‘a kingdom of priests and a holy nation’ (Ex. 19:6).  Israel was to be a witnessing nation, a witnessing people, for God.  They were not called to be simply a repository of God’s truth and blessing but to be a channel for His truth and blessing to be shared with the whole world.

 

The heart of God’s truth is about God Himself.  The central truth of Old Testament revelation is:  ‘The Lord is our God, the Lord is one!’ (Deut. 6:4).  The corollary truth is about man’s response to God:  ‘And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.  And these words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart’ (vv. 5-6).  That message Israel was to take for herself and then pass on to the world.”

 

Lord willing, we will continue on this path in our next SD.

 

Today’s quotation from “Love in Action:”  “In the New Testament, the theme of encouragement is everywhere, especially in Paul’s writings.  When Paul wrote to Timothy and Titus, he reminded those young pastors of the critical importance of using God’s Word as a tool for encouragement.”

 

9/1/2019 9:12 PM