Starts with Value of Life

[S] Matthew 14:8 --
8 Having been prompted by her mother, she *said, "Give me here on a platter the head of John the Baptist."

[O] This is the daughter of Herodias who by the wish of her mother requested another man's head (life) without a blink of an eye.  What a scary scene this is, and displays the picture of how critical the environment where a child grow up in.  There can be many factors but that child will either grow up valuing the life God gave starting with his/her own, or will not put any value on the life God provided.  This scene more and more depicts the situation of our world today where we are so far removed from the value of understanding the life God gave in all of us because we're so distracted by all the busy-nesses of this world.

[A] Keep teaching to my children the importance of God's life in all of us as well as in others.  And this is why we must "go" and teach as many people about the value of His life given through Jesus Christ out of His abundant love for us.

[P] Dear Father, please continue to ingrain the value of life in my children as that's where everything begins.  Without that starting point, everything we build is meaningless and in fact can be very dangerous.  Please purify my family members' hearts at all times.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.

Cling Not to the Surrounding Nations

 [S] Joshua 23:12-13 --
12  "For if you ever go back and cling to the rest of these nations, these which remain among you, and intermarry with them, so that you associate with them and they with you, 13  know with certainty that the Lord your God will not continue to drive these nations out from before you; but they will be a snare and a trap to you, and a whip on your sides and thorns in your eyes, until you perish from off this good land which the Lord your God has given you.

[O] This message seems to fit many nations in today's world including the one I'm living in now.  How blessed to know how this nation was founded on the principles of God which was led by those who trusted in God and yet over the years, the people's hearts were led away from backbone of the founding fathers' spirit but clung to the values of our own systems.  As how we know the types of a fruit tree by its fruits, the fruits of this nation tells us that we had veered away from God as outlined in verse 13 -- other nations will be a snare and trap to us, and a whip on our sides and thors in our eyes until we perish from off this good land.  This is scary thought but a reality in God's promises.

[A] Even though trying to change a whole nation is not a simple matter that I can take on, I believe I can tackle on how to let my family stick to God's values because I especially desire my children to be ruling lives which are filled with God Stories of how he fought for them and how great "nations" surrounding them will not be bothering them at all.

[P] Dear Father, please allow time in my mind and schedule to remind and discipline my children to put You very first in their lives no matter what they do.  This is where You will guide and guard their lives for them despite their lack of efforts.  Please consider my prayer for our family as I pray in Jesus' name.  Amen.