foundation

What Do We Desire For Our Kids to Know?

Today’s reading is Judges 1-3, Psalm 16, and Luke 20.

We read in the book of Joshua where the Israelites reached the Promised Land under the leadership of Joshua. As he lead them he stated these famous words in Joshua 24:15, “..But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” When we read of Joshua’s death in Judges 2:6-10, we learn his generation and his children did serve the Lord, but we read in Judges 2:10 where the following generation “did not know the Lord or the work that he had done for Israel.”

We then read on in Judges 2-3 where the Israelites did what was evil in the sight of the Lord in the following generations and under the next leaders (Judges 2:11, Judges 2:19, Judges 3:7, Judges 3:12). We also read in Judges 2:20 where this angered the Lord and Israel lost His favor and then as a result the protection of God because they turned against Him (Judges 2:21-23). For all those reading this who live in America, this probably brings us concern as we see our nation and its people turning further and further from God and what the Bible teaches.

We recalled earlier Joshua’s promise in Joshua 24:15 to serve the Lord and it seems as though he and his children’s generation did, but then what went wrong and why? The Bible doesn’t tell us, but I’m confident it’s not because the Israelites were always on their iPhone browsing Facebook and Instagram instead of spending time with and teaching their children or taking their kids to travel sports games instead of church (guilty here on both accounts). However, there must have been other distractions or reasons why they fell away from teaching their kids about God and all he’d done for them. Maybe they were too busy working to run the home or too busy battling other people for ground or maybe they just stopped focusing on the good God had done for them and focused only on their problems falling out of love with Him. We can only guess.

This is a good reminder and wake up call to us on how we must teach our children about God, what His Word teaches, and our love for Him (and His love for us), so that when our children are out of our house they will continue to stay close to Him, His Word, and live the way He desires us to.

Here are a list of things we can do to help lay a strong foundation with our children in their formative years with us so they will stay close to Him when they leave our home and so they someday can lead their children to God as well.

Attend Church Regularly – We are tired. We want to rest and relax the one day we can which is usually Sunday. We have kids’ sports and activities or when we don’t this is our one day off. But, we need fed God’s Word and time to worship Him. Studies show when we go to church, our kids are significantly more likely to when they are out of the house, too. When we are traveling, we can still try to watch or listen online together.
Join a Small Group/Bible Study – This is important for us to stay in God’s Word and close fellowship with other believers and will also show by example our kids how God is a priority and important amongst our busy schedules and lives.
Read a Daily Devotional and Your Bible (and let your kids see you doing it) – Staying close to God’s Word will pay dividends and improve our parenting as it speaks to us (Hebrews 4:12) each day. Quiet time alone with God in prayer reading is important as Jesus modeled (Luke 5:15, Mark 1:35), and I also think our kids knowing we do this and even seeing us reading from our Bible firsthand with their own eyes and how we make this a priority is also very valuable.
Listen to Worship Music – While our family loves many genres and time periods of music and listens to them frequently, I believe it’s also valuable to listen to Christian music and for our kids to see us singing and praising God while we’re in the car, making dinner, or during fellowship time. While our kids go to their own church service, we also try to attend a few worship music nights our church has with the entire family where we can all sing and praise God together.
Talk About What You Are Seeing and What God’s Word Teaches– We are now seeing on the news, in commercials, in TV shows and movies, and even things taught and/or allowed in our grade schools things that go against God’s Word. We must help our kids know at a young age what God and His Word says. The different sins of others are no worse than our own sins in God’s eyes and our kids must know this. We must teach our kids it’s ok to disapprove of sins that just may be different than our own (which we also disapprove of), and we can still love others in their sin the same way God loves us in ours. In the end, what’s most important is that they know what God’s Word says is right and wrong.
Discuss and Share Being in Awe of God – For those with younger children (and even older), discuss the beauty of His Creation around us..it could be as simple as the sunrise and sunset. Share what God is doing and has done in your life and the lives of others…even through challenging times. Remind them that, “God is great..all the time!”
Family Devotional Time – Consider taking time weekly to do a devotional together as a family and discuss. This is a great time to bond and model being in His Word and doing it together. I know for our family this is one we must improve on!

In between writing this, one of our small group members sent to our group a social media video of a pastor who said we should ask our children what they think the #1 thing is their parents desire for them to know. He said if they don’t answer, “to know God,” then that is a major problem. He commented that if they get great grades, but don’t know God..what does it matter? If they have a beautiful wedding, but don’t know God..what does it matter? I would add knowing God’s love and where our kids will spend eternity is what does matter.

In closing, when getting to know a potential new financial planning client, I ask them what’s important for the 5 Capitals they have in their life – Relational, Physical (time), Intellectual, Financial, and Spiritual. More than a few recently whose kids have just grown up and are now out of the house have commented that they are believers and pray but regrettably had not gone to church while their kids were growing up and now realize the not so favorable impact. I admire their awareness and have encouraged them their kids are still watching and following their lead..even if their kids are out of the house. And at the same time this is a good wake up call for those of us who still have kids living under our roof.

I’m asking myself what 1 thing from my list above is that I can improve on, and I would encourage you to do the same.

For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, with Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 3:11

Jesus as our foundation. This is one of my favorite analogies of who Christ is. Paul goes from planting and being God’s field to the foundation of God’s building(v.9).

I’ve never been a mason. One summer I in my late teens I helped a family friend put up a new chimney. (I was mainly the person who would carry the bricks and mortar up and down the ladder) When the opportunity arose for me to help with the bricks I often went too fast wanting to get done quicker and thinking about the way I was going to be using the money. The gentleman I worked with quickly put me in my place about taking my time and the importance of lining up of the bricks. The importance of the cornerstone.

This brings me to today, our verse about Jesus being our foundation. In order to capture more wisdom of this verse, I listened to the sermon called The Judgement of the Believers Work by John MacArthur which helped me to connect all the parts of this section that includes verses 1 Corinthians 3:10-17.

I’ve challenged myself this last week with the question if Jesus is my cornerstone, how am I building the rest of my building?

Back in 2017, BJ wrote specifically about Jesus being our Cornerstone.

Our life should be built only on Him. As the builder who gets to lay bricks every day I have to remember that one day I will be face to face with Jesus and he will look at my building and have a final judgment. Just looking one verse ahead tells me,

“According to the grace of God which is given unto me as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth on it. But let every man take heed how he buildeth upon it.”

Do I just rush into the day without being in His Word? Do I find weak substitutes in my own desires? What are my motives behind my daily actions and words? We all believe that Jesus is our foundation. His Living Word, the Bible, provides us deep footings to align our life. What kind of building are you building today?

MacArthur said, ” Some people are trying to build their lives on morality, and ethics, and good deeds, and all of these things. But the only foundation for a life and the only foundation for corporate life, which is the church, is Jesus Christ. If that foundation goes, everything falls. ”

For many years of my life, I didn’t even know my foundation. Through other believers, friends, family, bible journal writers, and the people of the Church, you helped point me back to our foundation, Jesus. He is our foundation, the cornerstone of what each day of our life should be lived on. I have misplaced some bricks, I’ve placed bricks too fast, I replaced bricks with idols, I laid bricks just to try to impress others. Every brick I lay should be for Jesus. He is our foundation. When that final judgment comes God is going to judge our motives, conduct, and service. Did I use the gifts He provided me to build upon His foundation His glory or for my own?

2 Corinthians 5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.

Dear Jesus,

You are our foundation. You have given us your Living Word and it all points to you. Father, help me to build my life around your foundation and while laying every brick I point it all back to you. Jesus please help guide and direct us to use the gifts you have provided to us in order to be the hands of feet of You. We love you! Thank you for being our foundation. Amen

Ezra 3 – Returning Home

Ezra was a priest, a scribe, and a great leader. His name literally means “help” and this is exactly what Ezra did. Ezra helped fulfill the promise of the Jewish people returning to Jerusalem. In this short chapter, Ezra 3 has some powerful insights and reminders that can speak to your heart today.

The first insight is noticing one of the most important things the Jews did upon returning to the city. Their first focus was on creation and use of the alter. It was the symbol of God’s presence back in Jerusalem . What does God’s presence look like to you? Is there a presence in your home? For me I think of some of the little things that represent and remind me of our trust in Him. The verses that hang on our walls, the calendar that shows family pictures with verses written, the kids Sunday school handouts hanging on our fridge, the Resolution certificate framed from our marriage small group study sitting in our dining room. In a kitchen you can find a mason jar full of prayers and praises from this year. I also reflect on what do we model when others come stay? What are we modeling when we are alone? Are we intentional in having a place where we can rest in His presence and show our trust in His protection and presence like the Jews did upon returning home?

3 Despite their fear of the peoples around them, they built the altar on its foundation and sacrificed burnt offerings on it to the Lord, both the morning and evening sacrifices.

The second focus was on building of the temple, the people didn’t look ahead at the finished product, or the walls to protect the city, they focused on the foundation. This could be a sermon on its own but I’ll keep it short. Our foundation is everything. It doesn’t matter if you are building temple, house, or a fort. The foundation is essential. It’s Just like in our lives. Our marriages, decisions about jobs, raising a family, making a decision to move… really anything we do has to be given to God first. Our foundation has to be in God. If you short change, alter the appropriate materials, or modify the accurate dimensions of a foundation it can lead to disaster. For some of the Jews, this had already happened to them once. They didn’t want it to happen again. If our foundation is not strong, and when pain kicks in, hardships, fear, anxiety or lowliness sets in, without a solid foundation you will waiver and eventually fall. Take time daily to build your foundation! Now, think about how the people reacted once the foundation was done. It says they sang, praised, and gave thanks. For He is good, and His loving kindness endures forever… Ezra 3:11 Take time today to sing, praise, and give thanks! Amen

2 Timothy 2:19 says, 19 Nevertheless, God’s solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness.”

Lastly, look at the end of Ezra 3. At first I was unclear about verses 12-13. The contrast between shouting for joy and weeping? In my study bible it talks about the mix of emotions being felt at that time between the generations. That some Jews had lived when their first temple was originally built, while others were part of something for the first time. How many times does the Holy Spirit produce that same emotion in us? I can be standing in church arms up, praising God singing, without any care for my pitch. The next moment, my hands wiping tears from my face convicted once again. I can often become sobered by my shortcomings, and full of joy, thanksgiving in other moments. In these moments I can see how there are times when it is hard to decipher. Only God can move us that way.

12 But many of the older priests and Levites and family heads, who had seen the former temple, wept aloud when they saw the foundation of this temple being laid, while many others shouted for joy. 13 No one could distinguish the sound of the shouts of joy from the sound of weeping, because the people made so much noise. And the sound was heard far away.

Where do you turn when your world has been flipped upside down? Maybe it was a marriage, job, your own child, a bad decision? Where do you return? You return home to the Lord. If you have been lost, or maybe just need to rebuild. Head into the wonderful arms of our Lord.

Have a blessed Tuesday.

United In Christ

Good Morning, today’s Bible Journal post is by my friend and brother in Christ Jeremey Helmer. Praise! 1 Corinthians 3

As I read through the first few chapters of 1 Corinthians, especially Chapter 3, I can’t help but be reminded of the spiritual journey my wife and I have been on to find a church home since we wed ten years ago. I grew up Catholic while she spent her childhood in Baptist and evangelical churches, so we began our journey miles apart from a theological and liturgical perspective. I think we’ve regularly attended somewhere around ten churches in the ten years we’ve been married. Now, some of the changes were due to relocating from city to city. However, others were admittedly due to the fact that we just couldn’t find a pastor or church that (insert subtle sarcasm) represented a perfect blend of our Catholic/Baptist backgrounds.
Or, to put it another way, since we were both walking away from the faith traditions of our childhoods, we wanted to be sure we found a pastor that was undeniably “right” in both our minds.

Fortunately, through the frustrations of this journey, I’m thankful we’ve returned to Christ as the foundation of our walk together. And now, hopefully we’ve come to a minimal level of spiritual maturity to see the how what we’ve been searching for has been here all along. So with this context in mind, Paul’s opening of Corinthians speaks volumes about spiritual maturity and the roles of the church and its leaders.

The chapter begins with Paul essentially saying, “Look, the fact that there’s division among you regarding which pastor you choose to follow is demonstration that you’re still spiritual infants.” Basically, Paul pointed out that the envy and strife among them should have been evidence that they were completely missing the point. Neither camp was going anywhere fast because they had taken their eye of Jesus as the foundation of their faith. So for Andrea and I, the more we clung to our theological background and held on to our own right-ness, the more prone we were to take our focus off the person of Jesus Christ.

Paul then goes on to explain “Apollos and I are just servants. Don’t boast or brag that you follow either of us. And, even worse, if you can put together a 43-point narrative about why I’m right and Apollos is wrong, you’re even further from the truth.” Several times this past week, I saw a post pop up from a pastor at a small church calling out and refuting some remarks made by Franklin Graham. I won’t go into details on the post, but I was struck by some of the conversations and remarks between sympathizers of the small-town church pastor and fans of Franklin Graham. Each side was firmly entrenched, supporting the leader of their cause to the detriment of their brotherhood and sisterhood. At one point, I too, caught myself thinking “yeah, this guy is completely right, and anyone that supports the other guy just doesn’t have a clue.” It’s so easy to fall into that trap. But then I wondered, “where and how does the reconciliation begin? How could these two sides ever come together to form a body of Christ that would be a beacon of light to the world?”

I could be wrong, but I have to think the communal reconciliation begins the same way that Andrea and I have reconciled our differences through the years – returning to Christ as the foundation, and laying down our entrenched “wisdom.”

Christ Alone ~ Hillsong