
I can't believe we are closing on our new house in less than a week! The day is coming quickly. We sign the papers on the ninth and our move is scheduled for April 14th. We'll probably take a few things over in our van as we can, such as clothing, the plants, and a few very fragile items. It's nice to be able to do that. I'm feeling a little bit behind since being sick, but I know it will all get done. I'm feeling better today and I think maybe on the mend. PK is still quite congested and coughing a lot. He might have to call and get a decongestant. We would appreciate your continued prayers. Thank you!
How are all of you doing? Maybe you'd like to share about your Easter with the rest of us. I'd love to hear about it!
Devotion
It seems like the world around us is getting further and further from God. In fact, as the devotion tells us, it goes against the "norm" to follow God and His Truth. We who know the Truth are responsible to teach it to the younger generation so that it continues. Have a Terrific Tuesday ladies! Think Spring!!
“It’s Time to Rise”
“After that whole generation had been gathered to their ancestors, another generation grew up who knew neither the LORD nor what he had done for Israel.”
Judges 2:10 (NIV)
I watched the news report in amazement. A little girl ran into the ocean for a swim while on vacation with her family. Her mother spotted a shark’s fin in the distance and instantly ran to her daughter, screaming for her to swim back to shore. Just as the mom reached her girl, the shark attacked, grabbing the girl’s legs. The mom would not let go. A nearby fisherman came to the rescue and freed the girl. The little girl survived in large part because her mom refused to let go.
I’m thankful I’ve never experienced anything like that, but it’s certainly a vivid picture of the battle we face against Satan for the lives of our children.
Whether you’re a parent, aunt, teacher or friend, you have an influential role to play in the faith of a child. Children need spiritual truth, especially in this screen-driven, morally corrupt world. How can we successfully pass our faith in Christ to the next generation?
We can look to Joshua in the Old Testament for help.
As long as he was alive, the people of Israel followed Joshua’s strong example. He proclaimed in Joshua 24:15b, “Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD” (NKJV).
Unfortunately, when Joshua and his peers died, our key verse says, “After that whole generation had been gathered to their ancestors, another generation grew up who knew neither the LORD nor what he had done for Israel” (Judges 2:10). While Joshua was all about how “we will serve the Lord,” the book of Judges was all about how “all the people did whatever seemed right in their own eyes” (Judges 17:6b; 21:25b, NLT).
It makes me wonder, What happened to cause such a radical change between the book of Joshua and the very next book, Judges?
Parents stopped teaching their children what God had done for them. The people didn’t obey the repeated command to drive out all the Canaanites from the Promised Land. There was no God-fearing leadership to restrain sin and without that, “Then the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and served the Baals; and they forsook the LORD God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt” (Judges 2:11-12a, NKJV).
The bridge of faith was broken.
Perhaps it started with a touch of apathy, rationalizations and a few choice excuses. The Israelites should have fought for their lives, but they decided it would be easier to have pagan neighbors. They tolerated evil and eventually accepted it as normal. Then they went a step further. They imitated their idolatrous neighbors by serving the false god Baal, too. They wanted to fit in.
Like the children of Israel, we live in an ungodly, pagan culture. Walking with Christ means going against the flow, against the world’s system. Maybe it means not allowing certain movies in your home or prohibiting violent and obscene video games.
It means when a figurative shark comes for the soul of a child, you don’t just sit on the beach and lament. You fight with everything in you. It’s time for a generation of parents and concerned adults to rise in vigilance, stand against evil and share our stories of hope and redemption.
The next generation must know God’s goodness and mercy. This is not a time for passivity and just going with the flow. It’s time to proclaim once again with Joshua, “As for me and my household, we will serve the LORD” (Joshua 24:15b).
Dear Lord Jesus, we live in evil days, but Your Word is unchanging. Help me share Your love with those around me, so the next generation will know the God of Israel. Forgive me for imitating the world’s system instead of following Your commandments. I dedicate my home for Your glory. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Proverbs 31 Ministries
Arlene Pellicane
TRUTH FOR TODAY:
Deuteronomy 6:1-2, “These are the commands, decrees and laws the LORD your God directed me to teach you to observe in the land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess, so that you, your children and their children after them may fear the LORD your God as long as you live by keeping all his decrees and commands that I give you, and so that you may enjoy long life.” (NIV)