Embracing Him

In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps. (Proverbs 16:9)

Last week I decided to give our drab little laundry room a makeover. Its dingy walls were in desperate in need of color, the old shelving needed to be replaced, and the unsightly pipes behind the washer and dryer were begging to be covered.

A fresh coat of paint was first on the makeover agenda. I was ready to begin applying paint right away, but JT noted that the walls needed to be cleaned and spackled before I could paint them. I was anxious to apply the new paint color and wanted to skip the process of prepping the wall but JT assured me that the paint job would not look good if the walls were not prepped first.

Though I was disappointed that I couldn’t start applying paint immediately, I got busy with a cleaning sponge while JT decided to tackle the spackle. As we worked on getting the wall ready to receive paint, I thought about how often I have run ahead of God, executing my own personal plans without seeking His will and without waiting for him to prep me. 

In my own mind, I see my vision and I think I know exactly how things should progress. What I often forget is that God sees the big picture. I fail to remember that God sees everything. He knows the obstacles I will face and therefore knows exactly how to prep me for what is coming.

In order to fully live the lives God has intended for you and me and in order to achieve the goals He has set for us, we must learn to wait for Him to prepare us. Though waiting on God is a critical component of our Christian walk, as you probably already know, this is often much easier said than done because by nature we are impatient beings.  

When we choose to wait on God, we allow Him to use His divine tools to ready us for the tasks He has for us. If we want to prep our human walls, we must ask God to cleanse us. This occurs when we sincerely confess our sins and seek God’s forgiveness every day (and if you’re like me, several times a day!). God will hear our confessions and cleanse us of all unrighteousness (I John 1:9). God will also patch us up, fill us in, and spackle us with the whole armor God, thus making us strong and preventing the enemy from attacking our weak spots (Ephesians 6:16).  

This morning as I stepped into the laundry room, I was greeted by clean, bright, neat walls. The cheery yellow walls provide the perfect backdrop for our faithful washer and dryer, the new sturdy shelving, and the lovely paisley fabric that hides the ugly pipes. I’m thrilled with the newly renovated laundry room and I am glad we took the time to prep the wall.

Likewise, when we allow God to prep us, we will find that our lives provide a pristine background for the glorious plans God has for us. Do you have plans today? Is your heart filled with a certain desire? Submit your plans to God, see if those plans and desires are part of His will for your life, and ask Him to prep your walls. I suspect you’ll be happy with the results!  

Prayer:

Dear Lord, thank You for loving us. Thank You for filling our hearts with dreams, desires, and ambitions. Lord, forgive us for the times we have moved ahead with our plans without consulting You. Help us to see the error of our ways and remind us to seek Your will in all we do. Help us to remember to submit our plans to You for guidance and prep us for the tasks that lie ahead. As we go forward with the plans You have for us, help us to be clean, bright, shining examples in a dark world. Amen.

Food For Thought:

1. What plans do you have? Have you submitted your plans to God to see if He approves of them?
2. When was the last time you ran ahead of God? What unnecessary challenges did you face because you ran ahead?
3. What areas of your life need to be cleaned up and spackled by God?

Photo: Courtesy of Toolshed4 (Flickr)

These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. (Deuteronomy 6:6-7)

When we found out we were pregnant with Sweet Pea, JT and I immediately began discussing how we would instill our Christian values within our children. We wanted them to realize that Bible reading and prayer were not just Sunday activities, but rather daily activities necessary to help them grow closer to God.  We soon realized that one way to make sure our children received constant spiritual nourishment was by involving them in a period of daily family devotions.

Morning devotions have now become an enjoyable part of the girls’ daily routine. On the weekdays, I lead morning devotions because JT has to be at work early. However once the weekend hits, JT takes the helm, leading morning devotion on Saturday and spearheading Family Time on Sunday afternoons.

The girls’ daily devotion begins a calendar activity. This allows them to practice counting, recite the days of the week in order, and investigate the day’s weather. After that, we praise God for the new day by singing This is the Day. The song is followed by prayer. During prayer time, we ask both girls to tell at least one thing they are thankful for and ask for whom they would like to pray.

We have found prayer time to be extremely important as it outlines a pattern for prayer and allows the girls to be active participants in prayer. JT and I are constantly amazed at how well the girls pray. Even little Sugar Plum can verbalize prayers that are relatively easy to comprehend.

After prayer, we read a story from one of the many children’s Bibles we have been given. Children’s Bibles are usually small so we end up using more than one each year. Our current favorites include A Child’s First Bible, The Read and Learn Bible , A Little Child’s First Bible, and The Day by Day Begin-To-Read Bible. Once the Bible story has been read, the girls color a corresponding from Shirley Dobson’s My Bible Coloring Book. The coloring pages are not too detailed and provide wonderful illustrations for all major Bible stories from Genesis to Revelation.

Whether your children are young or old, family devotions are a fantastic addition to any child’s day. This special time will enrich the lives of all family members, draw all members closer to God, and strengthen the bonds of the entire family. Keep in mind your devotions do not have to be done the same way our devotions are done. We have tailored our family devotional time to meet the ages, interests, and needs of our girls. In fact, my friend Monica prefers evening devotions, so she has included a devotional period as part of her daughter’s bedtime routine. We have created devotions that best suit our family’s needs and we encourage you to do the same.

If you’re unsure of where to begin, consider what we did. Simply incorporate a weekly time of devotion. The daily family devotional time we enjoy today began as a weekly Family Time activity on Sunday afternoons. Once we discovered how much information the girls retained and saw how much they enjoyed the games, activities, and demonstrations included in Family Time, JT and I decided to add a daily devotion. When beginning family devotions, JT and I think it’s best to begin slowly, see how your children respond, and tweak activities to meet their needs.

Perhaps you’re unsure of where to begin or you would like to improve your current devotions. JT and I highly recommend the Family Activity resources and parenting seminars listed at The National Center for Biblical Parenting. We use their Family Time Activity books for our weekly Family Time lessons and have never been disappointed.

Prayer:

Dear Lord, thank You for the gift of children. Thank You for the love, laughter, and exuberance they bring to our lives. Forgive us for the times that we may be harsh and impatient with our children. Forgive us for the times when we forget or are too busy to pray and for the times we neglect to read our Bibles. Give us hearts full of the fruit of the Spirit so that we may treat our children with love. Help us to lead active prayer lives and engage in personal Bible study so that we may set good examples for our children and teach them about You.

Food For Thought:

1. Is family devotion a part of your family’s life? Why or why not?
2. If you already do family devotion, what can be done to improve this valuable time together?
3. If you do not have family devotion, what barriers are preventing you from doing so? How can you and your family overcome those barriers?
4. Besides incorporating a period of family devotion, how else can we “impress” the truths of God in our children’s hearts?

Welcome to Monday Motivation, a new feature here at Embracing Him! When you stop by on Mondays, you’ll find a short devotion designed to encourage you (and me!) at the start of each week.

Each devotion will include a key scripture, a prayer, and some food for thought. A response to the questions is not necessary, but I pray we’ll think carefully about our responses and that God will bless us as we strive to meet the goals He has set for us.

May Monday Motivation bless you as it blesses me!

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…The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” (I Samuel 16:7b)

I hate to shop for jeans. It is a long, painful, emotional, draining process. Though shopping for jeans eventually becomes a necessary evil, I try not to go diving into the “jean pool” for two reasons.

First, there are too many styles and lengths of jeans to ponder. By the time I finish sifting through low rise jeans, bootcut jeans, hipster jeans, flared jeans, short jeans, average jeans, and long jeans, I have acquired a major headache. In addition, because there are so many types of jeans, I’m forced to endure an agonizing, self inflicted fashion show in the dressing room just to find one pair of jeans that fit just right!

Thankfully, God does not see us the same way we see ourselves. When He looks at us, He looks past wrinkles, bad hair days, extra pounds, and ill fitting jeans. God sees far beyond our T-shirts and jeans and peers directly into our hearts. The latter part of I Samuel 16:7 confirms this saying, “…The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

What God sees when He looks into our hearts is much more important than what we are wearing on the outside. We may look beautiful on the outside, but if we’re harboring anger or jealousy in our hearts, we’re not so attractive to God. Likewise, we can be a disheveled on the outside but have kind, loving, merciful hearts that please God.

Our superficial exterior does not always reflect our true internal nature and we must constantly ask God to help us with our spiritual grooming. If we are not satisfied with what we find in our hearts, God’s help is only a prayer away. We can go to Him, admit our shortcomings, seek His forgive and guidance, and enjoy a fresh start!

Prayer:

Dear Lord, you are such a loving and merciful Savior! The love you extend to us is marvelous and much needed. We admit that we sometimes forget to groom our hearts with the same fervor we use to groom our bodies. Forgive us for not monitoring our hearts carefully enough. Thank You for loving us enough to challenge us to become the righteous people You intend for us to be. Help us to allow the light you have placed within our hearts to radiate more brightly and bring You the glory! Amen.

Food For Thought:

1. How does the thought of God looking into your heart make you feel and why?
2. What do you think God sees when He looks into your heart?
3. What would you like God to see when He looks into your heart?

Photo: Courtesy of psykochatter (Flickr)