God blessed his children and punished Pharaoh and his army.
God by grace and the work of Jesus blesses all of his children.
Friday, November 30, 2018
Thursday, November 29, 2018
God is Between You and Your Problems
God was a pillar of fire and cloud between his children and evil Pharaoh and his army. They could see it and still struggled with fear.
We cannot normally see God protecting us but because of Jesus and because of his promises we know he is there.
We need to help our children know God is there with them at all times.
Wednesday, November 28, 2018
Be Still
As God's children saw Pharaoh coming toward them with his army, they were afraid and sarcastic. God promised to deliver them and told them to be still and let him handle it.
We and our children are easily fearful when we see real danger coming at us. We need to look to God and be still to have courage to thrive in this life.
Tuesday, November 27, 2018
Evil is Relentless
Ever think you cannot get a break? Evil pursues us as shown by how Pharaoh pursued God's children. But God will pursue us longer and harder and will pursue our children longer and harder.
Monday, November 26, 2018
The Stupidity of Sinful Habits
Proverbs 26:11
As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his folly.
This bit of wisdom really paints a picture, doesn't it?
Every time you return to your addictive, sinful habit, you are the dog.
Have you ever seen a dog puke a pile, and then come back a few minutes later and lick it up? This is what you and I look like to God every time we return to pornography, or cigarettes, or cocaine, or gambling, or shopping, or junk food, or...you name it. You know what yours is.
I will share one of mine with you. Pornography. Pornography is a temptation I have to battle almost every day. The challenges with pornography are that it's so easy to access in our internet age and also that it is so prevalent in our culture today. "Sex sells". Maybe it is so prevalent because it is so easy to get.
For me, the challenge is very difficult because of how young I was when I was first exposed to pornography. I was somewhere between 10 and 12 years old. There is never a good time for someone to be exposed to the depravity of pornography, but 12 years old is way too young. I was way too immature, spiritually and emotionally. One exposure was all it took for me. It grabbed ahold of me and dominated my life for the next 20 years! Being so immature, I didn't even begin to battle it until I was introduced to Leadership Development at age 32. Before then I lived my life entirely for myself. The entire decade of my twenties was marred by sex addiction. It was the primary motivator for most of my daily choices. I would go almost anywhere, anytime to indulge.
The problem with any addiction or compulsive behavior is the damage it leaves in its wake. I hurt a lot of people in those 20 years, caring about nobody but myself. The number of damaged and destroyed relationships from that time is almost uncountable; none of us can ever really know the exponential damage of the ripple effect. I do know that I hurt my family daily in those years. The shame and guilt of my "secret sin" robbed me of my self-confidence and self-esteem. I hated myself, and everybody around me paid the price. I was argumentative. I swore constantly. I would say mean and hurtful words to anybody at anytime.
Like I said before, at age 32 God threw me a lifeline. He brought Leadership Development into my life. That turned out to be the tool He used to bring me out of all of that. Today, 10 years after starting my Leadership journey, I am married; I have an incredible son; and all of my relationships are better and stronger than at any time in my life.
In my teens and twenties God let me go my own way- daily returning to my folly.
In my thirties and forties He has brought me back to the path that I was supposed to be the whole time. My life has literally been that of "The Lost Son" (Luke 15:11-31).
The Takeaways
The first takeaway from my story is: God is Faithful. He was always with me, always watching over me. It is only by His grace that I am not demon-possessed or suffering eternal judgment in hell. It is only by His grace that I was able to leave behind that life of selfishness and depravity.
Secondly, persistent sin destroys. Because of my willful, sinful, selfish lifestyle I faced several years of demonic attack. Also, I think I have made it clear that I hurt countless people and destroyed relationships. The same is true for you. Your "secret sin" that you think that no one knows about is ravaging the people who love you most. Whether either of you realizes it or not, it is. By you daily returning to your folly you are playing with fire. The people who will be burned the worst are the people you claim to love the most.
Finally, you can put your folly behind you. God loves all of His children, including you. In fact, He loves you so much that He sent His son, Jesus, to pay the price for ALL of your sins. He is powerful enough to pull you out of the pit you have fallen into. He wants to help you, stop resisting Him! You will never be totally free of the temptations, Satan knows our weaknesses; but God is powerful enough to help us resist Satan's lies and temptations.
I still battle temptations to look at pornography, almost everyday, but now, I battle them instead of indulging in them. God is powerful and God is love and can help you leave your folly behind. Through the power of the Holy Spirit you can finally stop being the dog.
God bless
Jason Fredrick
God Turns Us Back
As God delivered his people in Exodus 14, he turned them back at first -- a bad looking move strategically. But God knew what he was doing and would use this "bad" move for the good of his people. Today, we assure our children that God knows what he is doing and if it appears we are regressing and God is turning us back, we can trust God to turn it for his glory and our good.
Friday, November 23, 2018
Thankful for Ministry to Children
Discipling Children for Jesus is serious business. God threatens those who get in the way of his relationship with children and blesses that that bring them to him.
If you get to disciple children, give thanks to God for this trust and blessing.
Thursday, November 22, 2018
Thankful for Children Blessing Parents
God loves it when the hearts of parents are turned to their children. When hearts are turned that direction they are ready for Jesus.
Parents and teachers are blessed to have children to focus on and are blessed by being placed in that relationship. Give thanks for that!
Wednesday, November 21, 2018
Thankful for the Presence of Children
We are thankful that children exist. Having them be about 20% of the population keeps us focused on serving others. Imagine a world with only 1% of the population being children or a world with no children. Thank God he knows we need them.
Tuesday, November 20, 2018
Thankful for the Faith of Children
We thank God for the faith of children -- that they have it and that we get to see it and are built up by it.
Monday, November 19, 2018
Thankful for the Play of Children
This week we give thanks for children. This episode thanks God for the play of children.
Friday, November 16, 2018
Dealing With Death
God brought justice to the Egyptians with the Plague of the Firstborn. That reality of death showed the Israelites how blessed they were by grace.
We today need to let our children know about and deal with death so they can appreciate the life they have in Jesus.
Thursday, November 15, 2018
Search For Sin
God had his people remove yeast that symbolized sin from their house to get ready for the passover.
Today the disciples we train need to be trained to look for sin and work to get rid of it.
Wednesday, November 14, 2018
Protect Your Household
When God came to bring death on Egypt, the blood of the lamb that the adults put on the door frame had God pass over their house. Today adults are still the ones to lead in making sure the blood of the Lamb, Jesus is between their children and death.
Tuesday, November 13, 2018
Have Annual Traditions
God set up the annual tradition of the Passover meal, so he people would remember how God saw the blood of the lamb and spared them from death. Jesus set up the Last Supper from the Passover so his people would look back and see how his blood (as the Lamb of God) saves them from death.
We need to train the next generation to understand that picture.
Monday, November 12, 2018
Your Children Have a Distinction
God called his children special. He made a distinction between them and the Egyptians as he called them out of that country and slavery. We need to teach our children they are special because God has called them that by the life and death and resurrection of Jesus.
Friday, November 9, 2018
Finallly Let Them Have Their Way
After patient efforts, God finally plagued the Egyptians with darkness. He would eventually let Pharaoh and his people have it their way.
As parents and teachers we are patient with children but finally we have to let them have it their way -- hoping they will return to us and God some day.
Thursday, November 8, 2018
God Wants Your Attention
God sent 10 plagues to try and get Pharaoh's attention so he would repent and save his people -- but Pharaoh stayed stubborn.
We normally pray for God to make our life easy but if God knows we or our children are straying we want him to do whatever it takes to get us back with him.
Wednesday, November 7, 2018
Group Consequences are Never Good?
The Israelites suffered with the Egyptians for the first plagues. God chose that to be a blessing for them all. How does that guide us when it comes to group consequences for our kids or scholars? When do we let the "innocent" suffer as part of the group?
Tuesday, November 6, 2018
It is the Same
The magicians in Egypt tried to counterfeit God's signs but fell short. Our kids can easily mistake the glory and happiness of this world for what God really wants them to have. Our task is to help them see the difference.
Monday, November 5, 2018
Outward Failure
God's plan for Moses and Aaron is that they would fail at first. But through the plagues God would grant success.
When we help our children envision the future, we help them plan for God and trust him but be ready for short term failure -- like Moses and Jesus experienced. God's success will come in the end!
Friday, November 2, 2018
But My Kids Don't Listen To Me!
God told Moses to speak to Pharaoh even though Pharaoh did not want to and would not listen.
God tells all parents and teachers to keep sharing His message not matter how stubborn the audience is. He calls us to be more stubborn than they are.
Thursday, November 1, 2018
Ask the Lord, "Why" and What Will His Answer Be?
Moses questioned why he and others were struggling and the Lord did not appear to be keeping his promise. God did not explain but simply shared his love and plan.
We may question why God allows different struggles and sufferings as we follow him. God likely will not explain but supply his gospel message again and again.
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