Mothers

 "Only God Himself fully appreciates the influence of a Christian mother in the molding of character in her children."
-Billy Graham

What We Dwell On

 



Our minds dwell on many things each day. The next paycheck, bills, our next vacation, our next home, our next goals. These things bear a lot of  importance to us in our earthly life, but none in our eternal life. These "temporary" concerns take up a lot of our time. They are important to us, but while we are doing them we can always have a focus and peace in our hearts and minds. A permanent "background" of God's peace amongst our other time consuming tasks.

How much time are those thoughts taking and how much of our thoughts are we giving to God?

Our minds and hearts should be dwelling on God and on the heavenly kingdom, even while we are going about our menial tasks.

Are we making an idol of things on earth? Are we making an idol of our dreams on earth? Anything we dwell on too much can become like an idol that distracts us from God.

Dreams are important, God gave them to us and allows humans to dream and to dream for Him.

Are our dreams His dreams? Maybe we are seeking on this earth things He has never set before us to seek.

We have so little time on earth and it shouldn't be wasted. The only way we can know where to direct our time is if we pray and seek God's guidance.

Seek what He wants for you and it will be greater than you imagined.

Dwell on God in your thoughts and in your heart and on the eternal.

The things of this Earth will pass away, but our treasures lie in heaven.

We will not take our money, house, or the vacations we went on to heaven. What we will all take is the work we did on Earth for God and to see those in eternal life that we love.

Ask God each day what our mind and heart should be dwelling on and what He is putting before us to set our heart and mind to.

Stand firm in thought and dream the big dreams God has for you in this life.

"Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and He will give you everything you need."
 -Matthew 6:33

God Heals

 


God heals.
  Those two words are powerful words that as Christians we often forget. When we have a health ailment, do we actively pray and ask God to heal us? Whether it is mental, physical or a spiritual wound that needs healing we often forget to pray and ask God to restore us.
  Is our there a wall of limitation in our hearts and minds about God's power?

Did He box up His healing power long ago after the time of the Bible? Did He give it up as an old hobby?

No, the same God of the Bible is the same God today. The years that have passed did not age his healing power. It is still the same. He still heals today in 2013. He does miracles. Ask for it, and believe.

You may not be healed in the exact way you are asking for, but God will provide you His peace, that may be His healing for you. He may allow you to struggle a little more to learn more about Him. He may not heal you at all, but the healing may come in a different form than you thought. Your healing could be His reassurances that He is walking with you.

God's ways are higher than ours. Ask Him to heal you in the way He has planned for you. He will.

 "O LORD my God, I called to you for help and you healed me." Psalm 30:2

"Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted.  But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed." Isaiah 53:4-5

"He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds."  Psalm 147:3

"He said to her, "Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering." Mark 5:34

For Mothers: Our homes and the spirit of God

God has taught me many lessons since becoming a mother. I have heard God's voice in a new way. If I had not slowed down to "stay at home" I would have never learned them. One lesson God has been speaking to me lately is about what is in my home and the spirit it reflects.

  God has given each of us a home. It might be a small room, a studio, an apartment, a condo, our dream home, whatever size it is is our home. You might own or rent or live with family. You might even dislike the looks of the walls that surround you. Whether we live in our home for a week and then move, or years, it still is our temporary earthly home. But what does God call us as mothers to fill it with for our families? Do we fill it with things? With multiple tv's? What DO we fill our home with to make it feel like a home?

The most important thing isn't a thing at all. Our home starts being filled with the spirit of God and everything else is extra. Does our home reflect that spirit? How do we infuse our home with the spirit of God?  No decoration, no flower arrangement, no picture or candle will put God in our home if He does not first live in us each and every day.

As mother's, we are raising little ones to be the next generation. How can we pass on the right things to the next generation if we are not right within ourselves? God has to weed the things out of our hearts and minds as mothers as we are mothering. He makes us better each day as we pray and ask for help.  As we actively listen to His voice telling our hearts and minds what He is working on, what He wants to weed our of ourselves to mold and shape us better. We are changed as our children are molded and shaped too.  That is a gift God gives us. Slowing down to be with our children, to listen to God and to teach our children to listen. We have to be on the journey with God to finding wisdom and rest in Him.
 None of us start our mothering years being a perfect person nor will we end them perfect either. Isn't it wise to allow ourselves to be worked on as we mother rather than the alternative? The alternative is ignoring all of our personal baggage, all of our "issues" and continuing on in this life blind to them and never growing. What happens then? It get's passed on to our children. The change and growth for the next generation begins with us. We are growing and changing for the better in Christ. Only then can we have the knowledge to train and teach our children correctly.

As mothers, the spirit of God living in us daily is what brings Him alive in our homes and in our children.

Stand firm on working on yourself and building up your home on the wall of God's peaceful spirit.  Ask yourself, if you don't reflect God to your child, who will?

" A wise woman builds her home, but the foolish woman tears it down with her own hands." Proverbs 14:1

"The career of motherhood and homemaking is beyond value and needs no justification. It's importance is incalculable." - Katherine Short

"Home is the grandest of all institutions."
~Charles Haddon Spurgeon

One expression in Titus 2 deserves special notice. It is the word homemakers. The Greek word is oikourgous, which literally means “workers at home.” Oikos is the Greek word for “home,” and ergon means “work, employment.” It suggests that a married woman’s first duty is to her own family, in her own household. Managing her own home should be her primary employment, her first task, her most important job, and her true career.
-John MacArthur