Proverbs 22:6 says, “Direct your children onto the right path, and when they are older, they will not leave it.”
Straight teeth, straight A’s, or straight posture cannot hold a candle compared to placing a child on the straight spiritual path. The highest privilege and purpose you have as a parent is to lead your child in the way of Christ. The towering questions for Christian parents are these:
Do my kids know Christ?
Have they tasted His grace and found comfort at His cross?
Do they know their death is defeated and their hearts are empowered?
Parents, assignment number one is discipleship. Help your child walk in the way of the Master. What a phenomenal privilege is yours! Imagine the joy you will feel when you stand before Christ, flanked by your wife and children—when your child says, “Thanks, Dad. Thanks for telling me about Christ.”
From Dad Time
Genesis 37
Joseph’s Dreams
Jacob lived in the land where his father had stayed, the land of Canaan.
2 This is the account of Jacob’s family line.
Joseph, a young man of seventeen, was tending the flocks with his brothers, the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father’s wives, and he brought their father a bad report about them.
3 Now Israel loved Joseph more than any of his other sons, because he had been born to him in his old age; and he made an ornate[f] robe for him. 4 When his brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them, they hated him and could not speak a kind word to him.
5 Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him all the more. 6 He said to them, “Listen to this dream I had: 7 We were binding sheaves of grain out in the field when suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright, while your sheaves gathered around mine and bowed down to it.”
8 His brothers said to him, “Do you intend to reign over us? Will you actually rule us?” And they hated him all the more because of his dream and what he had said.
9 Then he had another dream, and he told it to his brothers. “Listen,” he said, “I had another dream, and this time the sun and moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me.”
10 When he told his father as well as his brothers, his father rebuked him and said, “What is this dream you had? Will your mother and I and your brothers actually come and bow down to the ground before you?” 11 His brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the matter in mind.
Joseph Sold by His Brothers
12 Now his brothers had gone to graze their father’s flocks near Shechem, 13 and Israel said to Joseph, “As you know, your brothers are grazing the flocks near Shechem. Come, I am going to send you to them.”
“Very well,” he replied.
14 So he said to him, “Go and see if all is well with your brothers and with the flocks, and bring word back to me.” Then he sent him off from the Valley of Hebron.
When Joseph arrived at Shechem, 15 a man found him wandering around in the fields and asked him, “What are you looking for?”
16 He replied, “I’m looking for my brothers. Can you tell me where they are grazing their flocks?”
17 “They have moved on from here,” the man answered. “I heard them say, ‘Let’s go to Dothan.’”
So Joseph went after his brothers and found them near Dothan. 18 But they saw him in the distance, and before he reached them, they plotted to kill him.
19 “Here comes that dreamer!” they said to each other. 20 “Come now, let’s kill him and throw him into one of these cisterns and say that a ferocious animal devoured him. Then we’ll see what comes of his dreams.”
21 When Reuben heard this, he tried to rescue him from their hands. “Let’s not take his life,” he said. 22 “Don’t shed any blood. Throw him into this cistern here in the wilderness, but don’t lay a hand on him.” Reuben said this to rescue him from them and take him back to his father.
23 So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe—the ornate robe he was wearing— 24 and they took him and threw him into the cistern. The cistern was empty; there was no water in it.
25 As they sat down to eat their meal, they looked up and saw a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead. Their camels were loaded with spices, balm and myrrh, and they were on their way to take them down to Egypt.
26 Judah said to his brothers, “What will we gain if we kill our brother and cover up his blood? 27 Come, let’s sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay our hands on him; after all, he is our brother, our own flesh and blood.” His brothers agreed.
28 So when the Midianite merchants came by, his brothers pulled Joseph up out of the cistern and sold him for twenty shekels[g] of silver to the Ishmaelites, who took him to Egypt.
29 When Reuben returned to the cistern and saw that Joseph was not there, he tore his clothes. 30 He went back to his brothers and said, “The boy isn’t there! Where can I turn now?”
31 Then they got Joseph’s robe, slaughtered a goat and dipped the robe in the blood. 32 They took the ornate robe back to their father and said, “We found this. Examine it to see whether it is your son’s robe.”
33 He recognized it and said, “It is my son’s robe! Some ferocious animal has devoured him. Joseph has surely been torn to pieces.”
34 Then Jacob tore his clothes, put on sackcloth and mourned for his son many days. 35 All his sons and daughters came to comfort him, but he refused to be comforted. “No,” he said, “I will continue to mourn until I join my son in the grave.” So his father wept for him.
36 Meanwhile, the Midianites[h] sold Joseph in Egypt to Potiphar, one of Pharaoh’s officials, the captain of the guard.
Our Daily Bread reading and devotion
Read: Romans 13:8-10
Love Fulfills the Law
Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law. 9 The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,”[a] and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”[b] 10 Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.
Footnotes:
Romans 13:9 Exodus 20:13-15,17; Deut. 5:17-19,21
Romans 13:9 Lev. 19:18
Insight
Paul’s words in today’s passage remind us of Jesus’ words to the young teacher of the law who asked what he needed to do to inherit eternal life (Luke 10:25-29). Love for God and neighbor is the epitome, fulfillment, and intention of all the laws of the Old Testament. In Luke, Jesus went on to say who our neighbor is and what love for that person should look like (vv.30-37). Paul does a similar thing for the people at the church in Rome. After telling them to love their neighbor in chapter 13, he goes on to tell them in chapter 14 to consider the effect their actions will have on their neighbor. Love is to guide all our actions.
Do No Harm
By Dennis Fisher
Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. —Romans 13:10
Many consider the ancient Greek physician Hippocrates as the father of Western medicine. He understood the importance of following moral principles in the practice of medicine, and is credited with writing the Hippocratic Oath, which still serves as an ethical guide for today’s medical doctors. One key concept of the oath is “to do no harm.” It implies that a physician will do only what he thinks will benefit his patients.
The principle of doing no harm extends to our relationships with others in everyday life. In fact, benevolence is central to New Testament teaching about loving others. In reflecting on the law of God, Paul sees that love is the intent behind many biblical commands: “Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law” (Rom. 13:10).
Each day as we follow Jesus Christ our Savior, we are faced with choices that will affect the lives of others. When we choose a course of action, we should ask ourselves, “Does this reflect Christ’s concern for others, or am I only concerned for myself?” Such a sensitivity demonstrates the love of Christ that seeks to heal the broken and help those in need.
Lord, I admit that it is easy to be consumed with my
own wants and needs. Thank You that You showed
us how to be concerned for others too. Help me
to follow Your example in caring for others.
Caring for the burdens of others helps us to forget about our own.
My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, June 27, 2014
The Overshadowing of God’s Personal Deliverance
. . . I am with you to deliver you,’ says the Lord —Jeremiah 1:8
God promised Jeremiah that He would deliver him personally— “. . . your life shall be as a prize to you . . .” (Jeremiah 39:18). That is all God promises His children. Wherever God sends us, He will guard our lives. Our personal property and possessions are to be a matter of indifference to us, and our hold on these things should be very loose. If this is not the case, we will have panic, heartache, and distress. Having the proper outlook is evidence of the deeply rooted belief in the overshadowing of God’s personal deliverance.
The Sermon on the Mount indicates that when we are on a mission for Jesus Christ, there is no time to stand up for ourselves. Jesus says, in effect, “Don’t worry about whether or not you are being treated justly.” Looking for justice is actually a sign that we have been diverted from our devotion to Him. Never look for justice in this world, but never cease to give it. If we look for justice, we will only begin to complain and to indulge ourselves in the discontent of self-pity, as if to say, “Why should I be treated like this?” If we are devoted to Jesus Christ, we have nothing to do with what we encounter, whether it is just or unjust. In essence, Jesus says, “Continue steadily on with what I have told you to do, and I will guard your life. If you try to guard it yourself, you remove yourself from My deliverance.” Even the most devout among us become atheistic in this regard— we do not believe Him. We put our common sense on the throne and then attach God’s name to it. We do lean to our own understanding, instead of trusting God with all our hearts (see Proverbs 3:5-6).
A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
When They're Out of Your Hands - #7165
Friday, June 27, 2014
All eyes were on Mom. That would be my wife. See, we had just taken our daughter to college 800 miles from home. Her two younger brothers were also with us. Overall, we were pretty impressed at the way the college seemed to think of everything that might concern a parent. Actually, it seemed like they had all the bases covered.
So we started traveling home, and as I said, all eyes were on Mom. See, all three of the male Hutchcrafts expected Mom to cry when we said our final goodbye to her only daughter. My wife and daughter were very close; were then and still are. Well, we drove away and she didn't cry. We headed home and she didn't cry. No tears! Finally, after a while, I guess in frustration, the boys asked, "Why aren't you crying, Mom?" Typical teenage boys! I loved her answer.
I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "When They're Out of Your Hands."
Our word for today from the Word of God comes from Isaiah 54:13 . Oh, by the way, when my wife was asked why she didn't cry, she said, "Well, I only cry when I feel as if I'm leaving one of my children in a situation where they're not in good hands. Now, my daughter's in good hands. She's fine, so I'm fine." Well, as a parent, she was saying she could relax if she knew her child was in good hands.
Well, that's the spirit of Isaiah 54:13 . Listen to this verse, "All your children will be taught of the Lord, and great will be the peace of your children." Isn't that great? If you belong to Christ, then your children are being watched over by Him. He echoes that in Isaiah 40:11 when it says, "He tends His flock like a shepherd. He gathers His lambs (that's your children) in His arms and carries them close to His heart."
See, Jesus goes where you cannot go with your kids. You wish you could, but He can. He provides for them what you cannot. He protects them when your arms can't reach that far. He brings them home when you don't even know where they are. You know what that means? You can let your children go. You can release them to the Lord.
So many parents are so afraid for their children that they over-manage their lives. They nag, they criticize, they smother them, second guess them and push them. And you can literally push a child into the very behavior you're trying to get them to avoid. Children who are over-pursued by a parent often become rebels to escape the pressure.
As a parent, my assignment is to hold up a mirror to my child so they can see the unique person God has created, and to see the weaknesses that could sink them. My mission is to discipline my child fairly and consistently so that they learn where life's boundaries are. And to present a relationship with Christ that is positive, exciting and practical as modeled in my everyday responses to situations. Gradually, to let them move toward independence; practicing freedom while they're still with me in growing increments. That was how my wife and I tried to make our home run.
You can only do that if you believe Isaiah 54:13 that "all your children will be taught by the Lord and great will be the peace of your children." Why not claim that promise for a child you love, for a grandchild you love? Pray it for them every day. And then, like my wife on the day she said goodbye to her daughter at college, you will have a very strange but very real sense of inner peace.
You'll know that your son or daughter is not in the hands of a school, or an employer, or a group of friends, or some hostile environment. Not when you trust that promise we gave you today. You can relax when you know you've left your child in the hands of God himself, because those are the hands you can totally trust.
