I Chronicles 1-3
Name after name after name. It can seem boring, but these genealogical dissertations say something about our God. He is a covenant-keeping God. Names are important.
This should be encouraging to those of us who are praying for our children. When we are in covenant with our God, they have a benefit – even greater than the children in the Old Testament.
Under the old law, the people did not have the Holy Spirit living within them. He could only come after Jesus had paid the price for our sins and had sent the Holy Spirit back to live within us.
Now that He is here, living within us, we have an advocate who helps us to bring about God’s covenant in a more powerful way. We can pray and ask the Father to deal with our children. He can, and does, give them dreams and visions. As we pray he also leads the right people to come across their paths.
The Holy Spirit of God knows our children – young and old – better than we do, and He will fulfill this covenant if we continue to press forward in prayer and obedience.
When I say obedience, I mean that He will direct us as to how to pray and He will impress upon us certain actions we must take to get the job done. (For instance, if there is a grown child who is abusing drugs or alcohol, He may direct us to stop enabling and be more direct).
He will direct our steps if we listen, and He will fulfill our covenant in the lives of our children.
The Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, in order that you may live. (Deuteronomy 30:6)
Our families are important to our God. Believe it and see it come to pass.
John 5:25-47
Jesus speaks in a way that only those who receive Him can understand. And why? Because the One who bears witness to Him is the Holy Spirit of God. Only those who have His Spirit can truly understand Him
He rebukes the Pharisees because they are supposedly keepers of the Word of God, and the Word speaks of Jesus coming to the earth throughout, but they don’t “get it.” Their hearts are not right.
Jesus says something which we should take to heart. How can you believe when you seek glory from one another, and you do not seek the glory which is from the One true God? (V.44)
When people during that time or during our time seek to be approved by men rather than God, they run into trouble. In doing this they remove the standard – the plumb line. Men can take the truths of God and change them to meet their own interests and selfish desires. So they cloud their vision and understanding.
If we truly want to be God’s people, we have to seek His approval, even if others disapprove. Integrity before Him is sometimes not easy, but it is so rewarding.
I would rather be found faithful by God than to be honored by other men. Ultimately, His assessment is the only one that matters.
