TODAY’S WORD FOR THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 24, 2015.
FAMILY
A household; descendants of a common ancestor; lineage.
And God said to Abraham, “And in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” Acts 3:25.
To Timothy, a beloved son: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
II Timothy 2:2.
Nothing has been more important to us over the years, except our relationship with God and our Lord, than our family. God has blessed us with a large family. Because we have six children and their spouses along with 20 grand-children (two are married) and one great grandchild, we have had many experiences, good and bad, that have been a good learning process for us and we believe God has allowed many things to happen so we can share the lessons we learned with wonderful friends like you.
We receive more emails from people who read our devotionals asking us about how to deal with a family situation than any other question. Many more are asking us to pray for their family situation. This is a society problem because statistics show us that over 50% of marriages do not last and in many communities over 70% of the children have only one parent living with them. The victims of a broken marriage and a broken home always are the children.
We both come from families where our parents raised us according to Biblical principles. We made a commitment even before we were married to make God the head of our home and raise our children with the same Biblical principles that governed our lives. It blesses us to see all six of our children, to this day, putting Christ first in their lives and secondly, all six children have families and are raising their own children according to the Biblical principles they learned as children. While we no longer have the responsibility of raising our children, we have the responsibility of praying for them every day.
As we look back on our years with our parents and then with our family we feel one of the best decisions we made was to always have dinner together with all the family -- all six children and both of us. The pluses were many. Since we did not allow the T.V. or radio on during dinner and there were no cell phones or electronic games to play, dinner was a time of fellowship and meaningful conversation while enjoying our meal.
At every evening meal we asked each child to tell us about their day. We asked if they had any prayer requests for themselves or their friends. We all learned by memory every week a new scripture verse and after dinner we read a portion of the Bible and went around the table with each one praying.
This was a bonding time for all of us and we could, as parents, learn of potential problems coming and were then able to face them as situations and not as problems.
By the way our first book is titled NO PROBLEMS ONLY SITUATIONS and we share our years together as a family. You can go to our website and order a copy if you would like.
Being together for every meal was tough many times. Schedules had to be changed but the end result was excellent. A family, we believe, that eats together at dinner and talks and reads God’s Word and prays together will stay together.
Families today are basically dysfunctional because they do not communicate and spend quality time together. Parents become too busy with their own schedules and things that are of no lasting value. This is not acceptable, in our minds, if you want to raise a God-fearing child.
Our memory verse for this week is found in Hebrews 11:6.
And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.
As parents, help us to make the necessary sacrifices in our schedules to spend time to lead our children into a God-fearing life. Help us to discipline ourselves to spend time with You and to prepare ourselves spiritually to be Christ-like and God honoring parents and grandparents.
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It includes 10 golden rules for a happy family.
It includes 10 golden rules for a happy family.
