We all can be an influence for God in the lives of others.
This faith, this truth, is all about Jesus. It is the only thing that transcends time for all eternity.
There is a big difference in being judgmental and speaking the truth in love. The first is totally wrong and against the teachings of Christ. The other is offering a lifeline to eternity.
My parents, especially my Father, protected me by setting boundaries in my life. Teach a child in the ways she should go and she will always return.
Christians of all people should understand the ultimate empathy of the incarnation itself. As the book of Hebrews declares, “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin.”
In Philippians, Paul says, “In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross!”
The Son of God himself dove into the quicksand. He experienced it all. Birth and death. Hunger and temptation. Friendship and betrayal, and it culminated in oppression and torture. He can empathize with the worst human experience.
Here’s the critical thing: He did not wait for any of us to be worthy of his empathy. He didn’t wait for us to change, to wave the white flag of surrender on our obstinance and defiance. Read Paul again, this time in Romans, “But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Christ’s version of empathy doesn’t excuse our sin, but it certainly did not wait for our virtue. David French
When you model the truth, the truth becomes real to your family.
One of the most influential persons in my life was my Grandmother and her consistent, daily prayer on her knees. She prayed 3 rosaries a night, one for her deceased children, one for her living children and grandchildren and the last for world peace. Her actions modeled her faith. The other was my Father…we were at Mass every Sunday and every Holy Day. When my Father no longer could find his way to Church, as a result of Alzheimers, I had the privilege of going with him. Even when he no longer remembered if we attended Mass …He still knew that it was the top priority in his life. He believed. And I am so very thankful for his faithfulness. Was he perfect? No. Was he a Christian role model for me? Yes.
Teaching from The Tree Church today!
Deuteronomy 32:46-47
46 and he said to them: “Set your hearts on all the words which I testify among you today, which you shall command your children to be careful to observe—all the words of this law. 47 For it is not a futile thing for you, because it is your life, and by this word you shall prolong your days in the land which you cross over the Jordan to possess.”
Joshua 8:34-35
34 And afterward he read all the words of the law, the blessings and the cursings, according to all that is written in the Book of the Law. 35 There was not a word of all that Moses had commanded which Joshua did not read before all the assembly of Israel, with the women, the little ones, and the strangers who were living among them.
Joshua 24:14-15
14 “Now therefore, fear the Lord, serve Him in sincerity and in truth, and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the River and in Egypt. Serve the Lord! 15 And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
Choose whom your family will serve!
True worship is making God is your top priority.
Deuteronomy 6:4-9
4 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one! 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.
6 “And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
Deuteronomy 6:24-25
24 And the Lord commanded us to observe all these statutes, to fear the Lord our God, for our good always, that He might preserve us alive, as it is this day. 25 Then it will be righteousness for us, if we are careful to observe all these commandments before the Lord our God, as He has commanded us.’
As long as there is life there is hope…the scripture is careful to highlight ”the Prodigal Son”. We must stress the power of grace in ALL that we do.
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