Exodus 20:5-6 (CEV)
If you reject me, I will punish your families for three or four generations. But if you love me and obey my laws, I will be kind to your families for thousands of generations.
Better a blessing for a thousand generations than trouble for three or four.
Matthew 5:48 (CEV)
But you must always act like your Father in heaven.
Father God, you are one hard act to follow.
Can my children see you in me?
Help me! I certainly can’t do this on my own.
“God strikes not as an enemy, to destroy;
but as a father, to correct.”
James H. Aughey (1828-1911)
Every now and again, we need a little Fatherly correction.
What of your earthly father do you see in your heavenly Father?
People with mean, judgmental and arbitrary earthly fathers sometimes see those same characteristics in their heavenly father. God is better than that.
Those with kind, encouraging and consistent earthly fathers see those same characteristics in their heavenly Father. God is better than that too.
“Fathers and mothers, do not forget that children learn more by the eye than they do by the ear.”
The Duties of Parents
J.C. Ryle (1816-1900)
Methinks I talked too much.
1 John 4:10 (NET)
In this is love:
not that we have loved God,
but that he loved us
and sent his Son to be
the atoning sacrifice for our sins.
God knows what it is to lose a child.
Every person who died in the Orlando shooting was someone’s child. There are many broken-hearted parents.
Comfort them, Father God, as only you can.
Jesus felt each life slip away, and he grieves with every survivor over the loss of friends, family and security.
Isaiah 53:4 (ESV)
Surely he has borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows.
We just celebrated Children’s Sunday. I asked, “What’s the best part of having children?”
Years ago, back when our first child was a wee tyke, this question was asked in adult Sunday School. My husband answered, “You get to play with their toys.”
Blessings, indeed!
