Parenting 101

Proverbs 22:6 NKJV

Parenting 101: Lord, I pray our children are equipped to follow their live's paths guided by the Spirit.

Good or Bad, Name Lasts Forever

[S] Numbers 25:14-15 --
14 Now the name of the slain man of Israel who was slain with the Midianite woman, was Zimri the son of Salu, a leader of a father's household among the Simeonites. 15 The name of the Midianite woman who was slain was Cozbi the daughter of Zur, who was head of the people of a father's household in Midian.

[O] I am wondering why God recorded the names of these two people when they clearly died from their sin against God.  One thing I noticed was that their fathers were in leadership roles in respective nations and yet they both got wrapped up in Baal of Peor worshiping and eventually Cozbi became the reason for God's judgment of Medianites.

[A] For me, this passage speaks to me about how important it is to raise up my own children in the upright way to fear God and Him alone especially when I am in leadership roles in my social and spiritual community because my children intentionally or not learns how to influence others.  So it is very crucial for them to influence others with the right motives and faith.

[P] Dear Father, as I ponder on my own ways of influencing my children, I realize more and more how I must lean on You every moment so I don't attempt to teach my children my own ways or experiences but what You instruct me to pass on to them on daily basis.  Please continue to overflow my heart with Your love and grace.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Not a Man is Left

[S] Hosea 9:12 --
12 Though they bring up their children,
Yet I will bereave them until not a man is left.
Yes, woe to them indeed when I depart from them!

[O] What God speaks through Hosea is pretty stern and fearful because He outlines the consequence of not following His ways.  Even though at first things may look ok, the end result is pretty clear about how desolate it will become.  At the end of the day, we as humans adore our own offsprings but God makes it clear that no matter how we adore them they will all be gone when God leaves them.  This is no joke.

[A] It is very difficult to parent my children because I get so caught up in trying to raise them what I see best instead of what God would see.  It is true that there is a fine line between where my desires end and where I, as a parent put here by God, carry out my responsibilities but I need to draw a tremendous wisdom from His word in order to define that line and not be on the wrong side at wrong times.

[P] Dear Father, may Your wisdom fill my heart to raise my children so that they'd be pleasing You and not me, per se.  Allow me to take each day soaking in Your word so I would not miss the cues that You send my ways.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Decision Making Priorities

[S] 1 Timothy 5:14 --
14  Therefore, I want younger widows to get married, bear children, keep house, and give the enemy no occasion for reproach;

[O] Making decision is always a difficult task because there are so many factors to consider to make the most sounds judgment.  However, I could go on and on weighing endless numbers of factors without making a timely decision which can actually be more damaging than making a "bad" decision.  In light of this the decision-making process gets tougher when ethics or legality is involved because it gets very confusing to know what is right from wrong.  In this verse, Paul addresses the situations of widows remarrying and after he lays out some conditions to follow, he concludes with this statement of the highest priority in our decision making -- give the enemy no occasion for reproach.  No matter what decision is made, the result should be to leave no room for the enemy to take advantage.

[A] I can apply this to many areas of my life now but want to focus on my parenting.  I can lay down the "house rules" to the max for my kids to adhere to, but I must teach them the most fundamental aspects of living a righteous life is to not let the enemy wedge himself into their lives slowly but surely by always making decisions not based on analytical knowledge but willingness to please God foremost.

[P] Dear Father, thank You for providing a simple view into my life's decisions.  I don't want to give any room for the enemy to influence my life but Your word.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Shepherding My Heart

[S] Proverbs 4:23 --
23 Watch over your heart with all diligence,
For from it flow the springs of life.

[O] This verse summarizes all of today's reading because it covers what's at the core of it all.  What type of heart I foster will define who I am.  Instead of worrying about this area and that area of my life I need to keep my heart saturated in His wisdom such that His wisdom will overflow out of all I do and my decisions also be in sync.  The rest of Proverb chapters touch on how I need to live a morally upright life as well as to be an upright parent to my children.  Then Romans 8 covers how Jesus had to deliver us from the bondage of our own sin leading us into victory that we do not deserve.  It's all about my heart's condition.

[A] Especially applying this to my parenting these days, I believe the following sequence of events much take place in order to have the heart mentioned in this passage: 1) get my heart in order by immersing into God's word daily; 2) get my children's hearts into God's word daily so if their hearts are "squeezed" nothing but His word will spill out; 3) victory in Christ.

[P] Dear Father, please continue to shepherd my heart so it will be molded into the shape of Your love and grace.  May my life be a reflection of who You are for our fallen world.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

From Hearing to Understanding

[S] Matthew 13:14 --
14  "In their case the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says,
‘You will keep on hearing, but will not understand; you will keep on seeing, but will not perceive;


[O] Hearing vs. understanding and seeing vs. perceiving are two key concepts here.  Hearing and seeing are mere activation of sensors in our body sending electrons up to the brain while understanding and perceiving goes beyond to process those senses into a comprehensible conclusion.  Anybody can hear and see, but only those who work to process further will gain understanding which requires God's granting us through the Holy Spirit in the first place.

[A] As I'm raising my children, I am more convicted to pray and guide my children so they'd attain God's permission to understand and perceive the wisdom God desires them to grasp as they live their lives.

[P] Dear Father, please seal Your Holy Spirit's granting my children to understand Your words and for them to not just hear and see things around them and simply react to them.  May Your wonderful wisdom take root in their hearts deep inside.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

God's Word Dwell-o-meter

[S] Colosians 3:16-17 --
 ¹⁶Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God. ¹⁷Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father.

[O] One of the key indicators of how well the word of Christ dwells in me is how joyful I am with others around me.  The joyfulness can be measured by how I am high spiritually filled with hymns, songs, and thankfulness in my heart for knowing that I belong to God.  It also follows with admonishing one another, uplifting others.  Overflowing the love of God has for me to others seems like a good indicator for me to track as I interact at work, home, church, and many other places I visit.

[A] It seems like this passage was God sent after I sought after some wisdom on how to communicate some points with my children.  What it meant to me was more so than the concept itself, I need to do it with a heart full of joy and thankfulness so the word of Christ will overflow into them foremost.  Thankful heart + admonishing others around me indicate my richness in the word of Christ

[P] Dear Father, please continue to teach me how to follow Your footsteps of being a father.  How it is all about surrendering my rights for the sake of teaching the true love to my children.  Please grant me wisdom so I do not hinder that with all sorts of details.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Faith-to-Faith Resuscitation

[S] Romans 1:17 --
 ¹⁷For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, "BUT THE RIGHTEOUS man SHALL LIVE BY FAITH."

[O] Just like how mouth-to-mouth resuscitation is an integral routine for CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) to revive a failed heart, faith-to-faith resuscitation seems to be a key factor in passing on the righteous lifestyle in God to subsequent generations.  It is not concept-to-faith, rhetoric-to-faith, or dream-to-faith.  It must be a genuine faith in action passing on from one generation to the next which also is actively living out such a lifestyle.  Such a lifestyle cannot be passed on just by heritage, or by writing a wonderful manual (we already have "the" manual called the Bible).  You never see a mouth-to-mouth done with a straw or a hose -- it's done through one mouth pressing against the other to breath in the air minimizing any loss of air.  Likewise, faith-to-faith must be done from one faith to the next tightly pressing against each other to minimize any loss of faith.

[A] Such a timely message for me because we're currently going through some issues to deal with at home with our children and I am realizing how critical it will be for me not to lose focus of passing on the righteous lifestyle by pressing my own faith hard against theirs to pass on this message of attaining the righteousness of God through their faithful living.

[P] Dear Father, grant our family to live by faith alone, to please You and to live out a life that will be passing on such a faith from generations onward.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

A Parenting Model to Follow

[S] Esther 2:7,20 --
 ⁷He was bringing up Hadassah, that is Esther, his uncle's daughter, for she had no father or mother. Now the young lady was beautiful of form and face, and when her father and her mother died, Mordecai took her as his own daughter. 
 ²⁰Esther had not yet made known her kindred or her people, even as Mordecai had commanded her; for Esther did what Mordecai told her as she had done when under his care.  

[O] Mordecai was Esther's cousin who had the compassion to take her as his own daughter after her parents passed away.  This is such a beautiful picture of family standing up for each other in unity.  Not only did Mordecai brought up an orphaned cousin but he did it in such a way that created such a strong bond and respect that we can see in verse 20 about how Esther submitted to Mordecai's leadership in her life.  Through such a strong and edifying relationship, God works His amazing miracle of saving His people.

One of the areas my mind is very much focused on these days is about parenting my teenagers about how I can shepherd their hearts in such a way for us to establish a strong bonded and respectful relationship that God will work through.  So this story struck a chord in my heart as I was reading through.

[A] If an older cousin can bring up a younger cousin to fear God and to collaborate in executing God's redemptive plan, then I should have great hope with my own children God has granted in my family to achieve something awesomely wonderful in Him.  It's this waiting on Him with hope in Him that I need to do more than worrying about how to train them or deal with their growing phases.

[P] Father in Heaven, You have uplifted my spirit with this insight of Mordecai and Esther's relationship.  I praise You for boosting my perspective as a father of my children.  I will focus on raising my children by instilling in them the Hope that I find in You.  Thank You and pray in Your name.  Amen.

Old, Dry Bones Is Not The End

[S] Ezekiel 37:11 --
 ¹¹ Then he said to me, “Son of man, these bones represent the people of Israel. They are saying, ‘We have become old, dry bones—all hope is gone. Our nation is finished.

[O] This explanation of the dry bones being put together to an exceedingly great army describes how God desires to be our hope especially when we're up against detrimental situations of shattered dreams.  After the Israelites rebelled far away from God's ways and ended up in the exact condition God warned them -- nation like old, dry bones without any hope -- God still provides hope through Ezekiel about how God wants to put His Spirit and bring life back to His people so that they would declare His as their God.  This well-known "dry bones" passage is nothing other than God's pursuing us to give us the life that we don't deserve in order that His name would be raised up by His people.

[A] My heart is very much humbled before God's unending love to pursue even when I would totally mess up.  This is the type of a God I'm serving.  Whatever I do, especially in the name of doing His ministry, I need to stay totally humble because I don't deserve any of credit (which my heart desires to gain).  Additionally, as a father to my children, I need to learn more about what it means to exercise such an unending love toward them not based on their achievements but so that they would one day truly recognize the love of God that passes to them through me.

[P] Dear God, may I continue focus my eyes on You and especially as a father teach me to shepherd their hearts  patiently waiting for them reach the point of recognizing the amazing love of God reaching to them through their parents regardless of what courses of life they may go through.  In the end may it be You who shine through their lives; and may I be the one who would influence them to reach that place sooner than later.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Entrusting the Future of Our Children

[S] Hosea 9:12 --
    ¹²Though they bring up their children,
         Yet I will bereave them until not a man is left.
         Yes, woe to them indeed when I depart from them!

[O] When God's hand is removed there is nothing I do that will bear fruitfulness.  I can easily dive into the mode of trying to become the best dad for my children because I want them to grow up being the best they can be.  All very good intentions but this verse teaches me that even the "bestest" intentions of raising my children unless God is at the core of their lives (and mine), it will all be in vain.  In fact, they will be "bereaved."  A very scary thought and a good reminder for me to put this at the forefront of my fatherhood -- do not let God's hand be removed from you by seeking Him daily at the feet of Jesus through the Holy Spirit and His Word.

[A] My wife and I had good discussion about the strategy of raising our children especially when they're in their teenage years of going through so much changes and growth in all aspects of their lives; we can all get lost in the mix of it all!  And the devotional reading in last couple of weeks have honed in on this topic so well that we're convicted to let our kids know what the "core" they must hold on to and what are the superfluous surroundings they do not have to cling on to.  This is actually a scary step for us to take because at the center of this means we are entrusting our kids' lives/future into God's hands.

[P] Dear God, please send us Your confirmations of our decision to take this route with our parenthood because it's very difficult to steer down this path as I feel I'm losing control even though in my mind I know You ARE in full control.  We want to entrust our children's future into Your hands.  Please mold them and use them for Your glory.  And continue to encourage us a little here and there because we need it.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Objective Parenting

[S] Ephesians 6:4 -- ⁴Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.

[O] Parenting is a tricky business because while I need to take it personally to raise my children in an upright way, I also need to be not so involved personally.  What I mean by this is that because I have a vested interest in my children's well being, I can get all wrapped up about teaching them some lessons in life.  Especially the in their teenage years I often fool myself to think they're grown ups when they're still just a children (other than physically) and sets a higher expectation on myself and can get pretty hard on them.  Today's passage teaches me such an approach can simply provoke anger in my children leaving them zero learning capacity.  Instead I need to discipline and teach them with instructions from the Lord through His word.

[A]  Even though I may be emotionally all worked up, I must balance that with God's wisdom and instructions such that the plumb line they need to is not my standards but God's own standards.

[P] Dear God, please make me a father who would bring my children up to follow God closely throughout their lives through ups and downs, successes and failures because of my pointing them to Your instructions and disciplines.  May they fear You and align their lives no matter how far they may drift away from You.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.