Family Connection 01.22.2014 The Lord spoke to Joshua, the son of Nun. Joshua was Moses’ helper. The Lord said “Joshua, no one will be able to stand up against you as long as you live. I will be with you, just as I was with Moses. I will never leave you. I will never desert you. Be strong and brave. You will lead these people, and they will take the land as their very own. It is the land I promised with an oath to give their people long ago. Be strong and very brave. Make sure you obey the whole law my servant Moses gave you. Do not turn away from it to the right or the left. Then you will have success everywhere you go. Never stop reading this Scroll of the Law. Day and night you must think about what it says. Make sure you do everything that is written in it. Then things will go well with you. And you will have great success. Here is what I am commanding you to do. Be strong and brave. Do not be terrified. Do not lose hope. I am the Lord your God. I will be with you everywhere you go.”-Joshua 1:5-9 (NIrV) In those four verses in the book of Joshua God told him three separate times to be strong and brave. He also told him to not be terrified and not to lose hope. God assured Joshua that He would be with him and would never leave him alone. God told Joshua that He would be with him everywhere he would go. I’m not sure about you but sometimes I put the men and women in the Bible up on pedestals and almost forget they are human, just like we are. They had fears (Joshua), they blew it (Moses), they lied (Abraham), they cheated (Jacob), they betrayed Jesus (Peter) and some of them even murdered (David and Paul). But the thing that was constant with each of the people listed above was they continued to follow God. They continued to do what God asked them to do even though they blew it and they allowed God to define who they were rather than being defined by their actions or circumstances. They received their identity from God and defined their “I am” by the great I AM (God). (If you would like to learn more about this, please watch Chad’s message from the weekend of January 17-18) Sometimes it is hard for children to understand how their “bad” behavior doesn’t make them a “bad” person. When my children were little my wife and I tried to make sure we drew a line between what they did and who they were. (I can’t always say we were successful but we tried). I bet at one point when your child was being disciplined for doing something wrong he/she asked you if you loved him/her. This may seem like a manipulation (and sometimes it might be that) but children have a hard time separating their circumstances from who they are. As parents one of the things we can do to help our children is to reassure them of our love, especially when they have blown it, but even more importantly reassure that God loves them no matter what! Also help them understand that if they have said “Yes” to Jesus He has already done everything for them and couldn’t love them any more or less, regardless of what they do. If you’re like me, that’s a lesson I need to hear as well. We are continuing our God’s Heroes series in Kids’ Zone and this week we will be looking at Joshua. One of the things we tell the kids every week is “When you say “Yes” to Jesus you can be a hero for God too, and that’s just super. If you would like to watch the video of the teaching for this upcoming weekend click here: January 24-25.2015 https://vimeo/116022460 In Early Childhood we will be teaching: I can ask Jesus for help and we will be learning about the 10 men who had leprosy found in Luke 17:11-19. I am glad to be here and part of the spiritual development of your children! Thank you giving me the opportunity to walk alongside your family as a pastor for your children. I would love to hear from you on how your children are growing in Jesus. Walking by your side, Brett Humphrey Pastor H
Posted on: Thu, 22 Jan 2015 23:18:44 +0000
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