Luke 6:31 (NIV)
Do to others as you would have them do to you.
When I was a little girl in Sunday School, dressed in my best patent leather shoes and bow-tied dresses, we repeated this verse every week. It’s served me well for over 60 years.
Let’s go out and do for other children as it was done for me.
When my kids got really angry with me, they’d try to hurt me with their words. Our adopted children said, “You’re not my real mom.” My biological kids said, “I didn’t ask to be born.” Or the old standby, “I hate you.”
When I get really mad at God, I try to hurt him:
I hate you.
I don’t believe in you anymore.
You’re not real.
He could zap me with a thunderbolt, but he doesn’t. He patiently waits for me to grow up, calm down and come to my senses.
What’s your prayer for the children in your life?
How about these?
Love the Lord — heart, soul, mind and strength, and their neighbors as themselves
(Mark 12:30-31)
Be filled with the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control
(Galatians 5:22-23)
Seek first the kingdom of God
(Matthew 6:33)
Use their spiritual gifts to build up the Church
(Ephesians 4:12)
“Americans recognize Mother’s Day, Father’s Day… so why not a national Children’s Day? A day that revives, celebrates, and commits to our children and their future.”
NationalChildrensDay.US
The second Sunday in June is Children’s Day.
Many children in America live in safe homes, with enough food and the support of loving parents. But more than 3.6 million referrals involving more than 6 million children are made every year to child protection agencies. Countless others live in unhappy, unsafe situations.
Let’s pray not just for our own children, but for the millions who find themselves in homes filled with tension and violence, on the street, in foster care and residential treatment. Let’s minister not only to the children we know and love, but also to these unknown children who desperately need love.
Open our eyes and hearts, Lord, to children in desperate need. Drive us to prayer and action on their behalf.
Psalm 20:7 (NIV)
Some trust in chariots and some in horses,
but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.
Our strongest weapon – the name of our God. Don’t be afraid of it.
“Discipline is the soul of an army.”
George Washington (1732-1799)
Washington’s wisdom also applies to God’s army.
Psalm 144:1 (ERV)
Praise the Lord!
He is my Rock.
He prepares me for war.
He trains me for battle.
Better to fight with the Lord than against him.
Genesis 49:25 (NIV)
. . . the Almighty, who blesses you with blessings of the skies above.
“The Almighty.” In his Sunday sermon, my husband noted that the Hebrew word here, Shadday, can mean “deal violently with.”
God, violent? Dose that surprise you?
It shouldn’t, considering how violently God dealt with sin.
Ephesians 6:12 (NLT)
For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.
So we’re in a battle. How do you feel about that?
Much as we’d like to keep it all peace and love, God is quite clear: there’s a battle between good and evil. We have an enemy, and he is at war with us. We need to fight back.
We read stories about brave folks who, back in Hitler’s time, risked their lives to protect others.
We may wish that had been the end of religious persecution, but we know better. There are still places where people of faith are on the run. We pray for them, for their safety, for their escape.
But let’s not forget to pray for those dear souls who give them a moment’s safe passage: a bit to eat, a place to sleep, a space to hide.
Lord, protect those who take risks to protect your persecuted people. Do to them as they do to others — be their safe shelter even as they provide safe shelter for others.
