Therefore, Choose Life!
For this commandment that I command you today is not too hard for you, neither is it far off. It is not in heaven, that you should say, ‘Who will ascend to heaven for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ Neither is it beyond the sea, that you should say, ‘Who will go over the sea for us and bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ But the word is very near you. It is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can do it.
See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil. If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God that I command you today, by loving the Lord your God, by walking in his ways, and by keeping his commandments and his statutes and his rules, then you shall live and multiply, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to take possession of it.
But if your heart turns away, and you will not hear, but are drawn away to worship other gods and serve them, I declare to you today, that you shall surely perish. You shall not live long in the land that you are going over the Jordan to enter and possess.
I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live, loving the Lord your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him, for he is your life and length of days, that you may dwell in the land that the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give them.” (Deuteronomy 30:11-20 ESV)
God Loves Us and Wants Our Love
This commandment is not too hard for you.
God is Creator. He is, therefore, Sovereign. He gets to call the shots. In the obscurity of eternity past, He conceived of a mortal companion that would be capable of love. Almighty God already had companionship and love in the Trinity. He had all that there was to be had. He was a companionable, loving Trinity of three Persons in One Almighty God. And yet He wanted something other that was not God to Love God.
Why, is a mystery. He had all the love. He had all the fellowship in and of Himself. He did not need anything more. He was, is and always will be complete in Himself and in Himself. Nevertheless, He desired to have another who could love Him.
He could have created another spirit. Perhaps the Cherubim, Seraphim, Archangels and angels were His first Creation. They loved the Almighty, but they had one limitation. They were Created to love and obey. They were not volitional.
Someday I will have to do the research necessary to discover how Lucifer had the volition to not only covet God’s throne, but also to corrupt a vast number of angels to join in Lucifer’s rebellion.
We Are Created to Love God
Still the Almighty wanted some “other” to love Him. He determined it would have to be material. That in turn required God to Create laws for the material to hold together. Electrons swirling around in the infinitude of space needed cohesion to form substantial things. God Created Gravity, Laws of Motion, Magnetic Attraction, Light, Energy (and therefrom Heat). All this was “without form and void”. God moved and created light, and brought the formless to coalesce into liquid and solid. He exploded the light and heat into an extremely vast number of flaming stars as centerpieces of solar systems. And then, God expanded the solid exponentially. He coalesced the solid into a great number of earths to orbit around the stars. All perfectly following God’s “thermal-kinetic” laws
Still all this was insensible. That “other” needed being and sentience. It needed electrons to coalesce into a shape. It needed a place to inhabit. The habitation was delineated by the earths available. These formed the first layer of foundation for the other that God desired. He focused in on a mediocre star; and then on the third planet from that sun. There the Almighty chose to plant a garden of multiform plants – trees, bushes, flowers, lichens and molds. They formed the second layer of foundation. On that basis, the Almighty brought forth sentient creatures – insects, fish, reptiles, birds, and mammals. They formed the tertiary layer of foundation upon which the Almighty could create that other.
God Creates Humans to Love
To this moment in eternity all God’s Creation had been impersonal. He had conceived and he had spoken it all into existence. But with the “other”, the Almighty got His hands dirty. He selected some of the basic elements and based on the excellent design of the mammals, He personally formed a human being. Animals he had spoken into being and into life. Humans, He said not a word, but personally formed the first; and then the Supreme being the Trinity, the Almighty God, in a kiss of love, breathed into man the Spirit of Life.
Man opened his eyes and beheld the most magnificent, infinitely loving Maker and Master. The Almighty filled all of this other’s first living sight.
Man’s heart was stirred and he knew, as the absolute first knowing, that he loved his Creator. God introduced him to the earth, the garden the animals. As man began his work, he felt joy in his obedience to the Almighty’s instructions. This was the second knowing – joy of obedience.
Still as he claimed mastery over all the animals in the naming of them, he saw them in pairs, each kind having a mate. But he had none. God was wonderful, a magnificent companion who loved him completely and who man loved completely. Nevertheless, God was not a mate.
God Creates Woman
The Almighty was not surprised by that lack. For His reasons He created Mankind male only, at first. As the man’s sense of lack of a mate grew, the Almighty anesthetized him. God, the Divine Surgeon, opened Man’s chest cavity and removed a bit of bone and flesh. Again personally, hands-on, created a mate to complement and fulfill man; therefore, she was called Woman. Adam opened his eyes and there stood Eve and God, the two beings he loved in all the world.
Adam and Eve shared the tending of the garden. After a day of labor, they relaxed setting aside the work until the next day. They were never rushed. There were no schedules. The work was satisfying in itself. The rest at the end of each day was just as satisfying. They would first bathe in the River Gihon. Then the Almighty joined them and the three strolled through the evening in loving companionship. Adam and Eve pointed with innocent pride at all they had accomplished. God was pleased with their obedience and industriousness. Life was such a joy – filled with love, accomplishment, peace and God’s Presence.
Adam and Eve Sin
I have set before you today life and good, death and evil. (Deuteronomy 30:15)
There were two trees in the Garden of special note. The Holy Spirit has not given us any indication that Adam and Eve sampled the delights of the Tree of Life. The thrust of the information was The Fall. Eve and then Adam both disobeyed Almighty God, their loving Father. They chose to sample the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.
How could they be that stupid? Well, they weren’t really stupid. They were innocent, naive, inexperienced. They knew nothing of deception, having lived only in the Truth of God. Nevertheless, just as soon as they actuated their disobedience, their righteousness was stripped away along with their innocence. The close, loving fellowship with their gracious Father was severed. They knew the burden of guilt. They sought to hide their sin deceiving God, hiding from Him.
Satan said, “Ye shall not surely die.” It was a half-truth. They would not immediately die physically. But they immediately died spiritually and physical death was immediately in the future; whereas before sinning, death had not even been known. Satan gave them a half-truth that was a whole lie.
After being exiled from the Tree of Life, Adam and Eve drop out of the story, except the Holy Spirit makes record of some of their, likely, many children. The sins most other children committed were not recorded.
The Sons of Adam and Eve
Their second son, Able, gives us an indication of his parents’ righteous teaching. He was the “good” son. In obedience to Almighty God, he offered a lamb as a righteous sacrifice, i.e. life for life. It was a lamb of sacrifice to cleanse Abel of sin.
The elder son, was of a different character. He apparently was not listening to Adam’s or God’s instructions. He thought the offering to God was a ceremony. He brought the best he had. But it was not an atonement for his sin. What Cain needed to do was obtain a lamb from Abel.
Abel’s name means “something transitory”. Cain’s name comes from a root meaning “provoke to jealousy”
Cain thought his offering was good enough, so when God honored his baby brother, instead of Cain, he took offense.
Despite their loss of righteousness, God was intimately involved with the humans He Created. Knowing that murderous sin was in Cain’s heart, the Almighty God took a personal interest and spoke directly to him, “If you obey me in the manner of sacrifice, your offering will be accepted. If you persist in disobedience you are open to greater sin. Satan is waiting at your door, but you have the ability to triumph over him.”
Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? 7 If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.” (Genesis 4:6-7)
But, tragically, Cain liked the feeling of jealousy and resentment. It gave him a sense of power, so he chose to embrace that, The enemy of our souls lied to Cain and he, like Eve, believed Satan, rather than God. Satan said, “You know, if Abel were dead. You would be the only one, so God would have to approve your offering.” The logic was there, except for one slight detail. God doesn’t have to do anything by man’s logic.
Cain chose to eliminate Abel. He hid the body and covered Abel’s blood with dirt – the “Perfect Crime”, no evidence, no body.
God has a way of asking questions He already knows the answers to, “Cain, where is Abel? I miss him.”
Cain compounded the felony with a lie and an accusation against God. “I don’t know! And besides he’s a grown man, I don’t have to keep track of him.” The implication is that God was exceeding His authority expecting Cain to keep track of his brother.
Cain chose a series of evils, when the good was so easy. By setting aside his pride, Cain could have gone to Abel and asked for, or even purchased a lamb for offering. It would take humility and acknowledging that Cain had to learn from Abel. Instead he preserved his pride at the price of Abel’s life and Cain’s banishment from God’s Presence – and loss of his pride anyway.
Obey by Loving the Lord your God
Now let’s leapfrog over several millennia to the time of King David and after. David loved Almighty God! He had grown to be intimate with the Almighty as David, in solitude, tended Jesse’s flocks. He chose to obey and follow the Almighty exclusively with all his heart. In battle, David followed the Lord God, and God gave him victories against superior forces time and again, over Goliath, over Saul (David refused to slay Saul despite two separate opportunities), over the Philistines, and all the rest. By example He led the People of God to worship YHWH exclusively. During David’s and Solomon’s reigns Israel honored YHWH, exclusively, so they had peace and prospered.
However, beginning in the reign of Rehoboam, Solomon’s son, idolatry cropped up and began to flourish. The people chose to worship nothingnesses, building places of worship on “every high hill”! From the division of the nation into Israel and Judah, Israel completely rejected Almighty God and worshipped nothingnesses, particularly Baal and Ashtoreth.
Judah had a checkered history. Under the evil kings they abandoned God Almighty, but under the righteous kings, Asa, Jehoshaphat, Joash, Uzzah, Jotham, Hezekiah, and Josiah (even though several of these “good” kings committed grievous sins) they reformed the nation and eliminated idolatrous worship. Under those latter kings Judah was spared defeat by the bully nations.
Israel and then Judah were clear object lessons for us today. When a person or a nation commits his, her or their hearts to the loving Almighty God, he, she, or they are protected and prospered by the Almighty.
If Your Heart Turns Away
When individuals or nations turn their back on Jeshua, He as the righteous Savior, gives them up to their desires. Paul instructs us in Ch. 1
Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. Therefore, God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. (Romans 1:22-25)
In our nation, today we have chosen to feed on the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. We are living by human logic and understanding.
There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death. (Proverbs 14:12)
We have begun to bow down at the altar of science. We have worshipped screen stars and rock stars and sport stars, as if they had wisdom, when all they have is fickle human emotion. They declare the latest politically correct craze, regardless of the truth that God reveals, and theydecry the “deniers” as pariahs.
We are sacrificing our pre-born babies on the altar of Moloch, which we have re-branded as “convenience” and “birth control”.
We are being told that we must embrace the abomination of homosexuality and all its spawnings. The laws of the state are enforcing our compliance with fines and suits that bankrupt believers who adhere to their faith in Jeshua.
We are indoctrinating our children in public schools and colleges to turn them into idolaters and away from Jeshua.
We have ignored past history. Very few are even cognizant of Biblical history. Even the history of our nation is unknown. America prospered and was victorious as long as we looked to Jeshua as the Lord of our nation. In the middle of the last century faith in Jeshua began to be eroded and now three generations later believers are just a faithful remnant.
You May Dwell in the Land
America is not ours. All the world, all the cosmos belongs to our Creator God. He gave this land to the faithful Pilgrims and their successors the Founders of this nation. America was founded by men and women who believed in Jeshua as their Lord and Savior. They knew that as long as the People adhered to faith in the Lordship of Jeshua our nation would prosper. As long as we were submissive to the will of God Almighty, we could keep this land, living in peace and prosperity.
We introduced the scourge of slavery to pollute the nation and we reaped the whirlwind of God’s judgment. A war to free the slaves cost America the blood and lives of 623,026 of our youth. BUT GOD! … accepted that sacrifice and allowed us to keep this nation.
From the 1850’s to the 1930’s, America has sent hundreds of missionaries to the far corners of the globe to evangelize the not yet reached with the Gospel.
In 1917, we sent our men to rescue Europe from stalemate and likely defeat during WW I
In 1941-45, We fought again, sending our men to Europe to save the nations from the Nazi scourge and at the same time sent our men into the Pacific to destroy the Japanese attempt to take over those nations.
After we had brought our victorious men home, leaving thousands in graves all over the world, we spent Billions of dollars rebuilding the war-torn nations of our enemies and our friends.
But since those godly sacrifices, America has turned away from God. We have been increasingly excluding Jeshua from sector after sector of our society.
Jeshua, the One who will judge nations and peoples with righteousness has, in his mercy, withheld His just condemnation, giving America the space to repent and return to surrender to the Lordship of the Mashiach. If we do not, He will cast down our nation and allow another to have a go at living under His rule.
He gave the Jews a millennium and a half to see if they could live under God’s Law that He gave to Moses. They could not. God sent His Son, Jeshua to give them one last chance. They rejected Almighty God’s only Begotten Son: therefore, Jeshua sent His Disciples to the Gentiles throughout the world. Christianity has spread across the globe by faithful missionaries. Many, if not most, were sent and financed by America.
He has given America 400 years. We began strong, and yet, in the last century we have drawn away from Jeshua.
Living in His Blessings
Therefore, choose life, that you and your offspring may live, loving the Lord your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him, for he is your life and length of days, (Deuteronomy 30:20)
What must we do? We must take Jeshua seriously. He said,
Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. (Mark 16:15)
You are charged with an evangelical mission.
Jeshua said,
I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. (John 17:20-21)
It is your word of testimony that will:
- Lead others to Jeshua
- Give them the foundation to believe in Jeshua
- Bring them into the family of Almighty God and make us all one in God and one with one another
- Make the conditions right for the Holy Spirit to send belief in Jeshua to every corner of this globe
We cannot bring in the Kingdom of God by our efforts, but we can proclaim salvation to all who will hear that wonderful news, that Jeshua is the King of kings and Lord of lords. It is to Him we must all surrender and be saved, clothed in righteousness and be given a place for eternity in the Presence of Love inestimable, joy unspeakable and peace unceasing.
Go in the power of the Holy Spirit to change your friends and neighbors, to change our nation and to change the world!
Prayer for Grace and Service
Lord God Almighty, You sent Your Son to transform our lives and to give us Your message to the world
You sent the Holy Spirit to empower and embolden us to seize that message of salvation through Jeshua ha Meshach, and proclaim it from the housetops.
You have adopted us as Your beloved children. You are asking us to follow Your Son and the Holy Spirit into a hostile world and give them your love.
We choose to obey. We choose to comply. We choose to be Your hands of mercy, Your feet to serve and Your mouths to proclaim the love of God for all people.
Amen
Benediction for Choosing God
“Now to him that is of power to establish you according to my gospel, and in the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery, which was kept secret since the world began, But now is made manifest, and by the scriptures of the prophets, according to the commandment of the everlasting God, made known to all nations for the obedience of faith: To God only wise, be glory through Jesus Christ forever. Amen. (Romans 16:25-27)
Indoctrination Education
GT—Volume 17 Issue 8
Indoctrination Education
“William Temple characterized this as a ‘cut flower civilization.’ It appears beautiful, but is cut off from its roots, the value system that nourished it. Signs of withering may be detected in increased criminality, salaciousness, profanity, vulgarity, and uncontrollable drug culture. Instead of emphasizing values proven by years of societal experience, liberal education has frequently capitulated to the demands of pressure groups that have never been exposed to, or have never gained an appreciation of, these values. Legitimate criticism has asserted that often in the past morality has been taught but not practiced. But it is infinitely more difficult to practice if it is not taught. Freedom of inquiry need not be accompanied by freedom from morality.” (W. Ivan Hoy, “Education and Morality” Baker’s Dictionary of Christian Ethics, Carl F.H. Henry, Ed. Baker Book House Company, 1973, Pg.200)
You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. (Deuteronomy 6:7)
Our public educational system has been overcome by educators who either do not know or do not care what children need to know to live effectively in the world. They have promulgated a curriculum that omits the basic responsibilities of schools and teaches curricula that usurp the responsibility of parents.
Unhappily too many parents are complicit. They have abrogated their responsibility to train their children, opting for the schools to be the baby sitters, so both parents can work.
I witnessed the genesis of the parental side of the problem. In the 1960’s, I worked in mortgage living. Our culture expected that the men would work outside the home and the women were mothers, they raised the children. Our lending practices expected a home to be purchased on the basis of the man’s salary. The wages a woman earned were extra. So, lending policies were to assess whether a woman was in the child-bearing ages and whether her job was “professional”. To secure a loan, lenders had to consider that women who were likely to have children were also likely to stop working when children were born. That would necessarily decrease the security of the loan. Women who were professionally employed were less likely to have children interrupt their earning capacity.
Then the Law changed. Lenders were required to assess a woman’s earnings the same as a man’s. Thus, the “extra” when included allowed couples to by a better home or have more money for other things.
I watched the consequent escalation of home prices, so that after five or more years, women were forced to work in order to afford a starter home.
That put strains on young families, causing homes increasingly to be out of reach for young couples. The snowball effect was that children were raised by childcare agencies, because their mothers needed to work to afford a home. That in turn eliminated the home nurture and the loss of family values inculcated in the children from the beginning of life. In addition, young couples were forced into apartment living, instead of a home with a yard. The children in early development had no place to play outside on their own; no opportunity to explore more broadly, no place to make mud pies (don’t discount the value of mud pies). 
Public School Curricula
The Federal, Government acknowledge the problem in our public schools. Our children are getting an inadequate education to compete with children of other nation’s schools. My wife, Ruth, when teaching Middle School, several years ago, pointed out to her class that they were not competing against one another for jobs. When they grew up, they would be competing with people educated in other nation’s schools.
A 2004 report, titled Ready or Not: Creating a High School Diploma That Counts, found that employers and colleges are demanding more of high school graduates than in the past. According to Achieve, Inc., “current high-school exit expectations fall well short of employer and college demands.” The report explained that the major problem currently facing the American school system is that high school graduates were not provided with the skills and knowledge they needed to succeed in college and careers. Furthermore, “While students and their parents may still believe that the diploma reflects adequate preparation for the intellectual demands of adult life, in reality it falls far short of this common-sense goal.” The report also stated that the high school diploma itself lost its value because graduates could not compete successfully beyond high school, and that the solution to this problem is a common set of rigorous standards. (“Ready or Not: Creating a High School Diploma That Counts”. Achieve, Inc. December 10, 2004.)
Over the last 20 years, the Federal Government has passed several laws in an attempt to rectify the failure of the public schools:
- No Child Left Behind in 2001
- Common Core in 2010
- Every Student Succeeds Act in 2015
I have not been able to find any significant improvements in student outcomes.
Another hindrance to student education is the teachers’ union. They refuse to allow financial rewards for excellent teachers. They also protect inadequate teacher from being fired. Thus, the quality of teaching is generally lower that it should and far less than optimal.
A further problem it the hazard that students and teachers experience. Discipline is hamstrung by political correctness. Teachers cannot exercise corporeal punishment, cannot even touch students. If a student chooses to be rowdy and disrupt the class. The teacher has few options. She can send the student to the Principal’s office, if she or he willing go. If they will not, she can call in the Principle, who is also under the same restraints. In the meantime, no education goes on, so all the students lose out.
Alternative Schools
The three main types of alternative schools are
- Charter Schools
- Private Schools
- Home Schooling
Charter School is “a public school that operates as a school of choice. Charter schools commit to obtaining specific educational objectives in return for a charter to operate a school. Charter schools are exempt from significant state or local regulations related to operation and management but otherwise adhere to regulations of public schools — for example, charter schools cannot charge tuition or be affiliated with a religious institution. (because they are publicly funded)
In other words, charter schools are publicly accountable—they rely on families choosing to enroll their children, and they must have a written performance contract with the authorized public chartering agency. Charter schools are also autonomous—they have more flexibility in the operations and management of the school than traditional public schools.
They are generally more effective in teaching and in producing competent graduating seniors.
A study conducted by the Washington State Charter School Commission showed that on average, median rates of growth were higher at Commission-authorized charter public schools, as compared to the schools that students would have been assigned, based on their home address. (https://wacharters.org/our-why/)
Private Schools are privately funded and have curriculum independent of public schools. They are able to focus on the student’s needs and to guide the students to a better education. Generally smaller, they are able to fewer children in their classes, giving students more personal help. They challenge the students to higher achievement. The do not let slow learners fall behind. Classes are taught by independent teachers that can often write their own curriculum.
We thrive on competition and challenge. We are dynamic, innovative, decision making, action oriented people. We like nothing better than to spot an emerging need of families or society and respond to it quickly with an appropriate program or service.
“We cherish autonomy. We can act, unfettered by Boards or Trustees or elected officials. Of course that does not mean that we have no one to answer to for our actions. Far from it, we are governed by the free market. If we provide the quality of programs and services that families want and need, we attract and retain students: if not, students go elsewhere. We know of no better regulator that that. (National Independent Private Schools Association)
Home Schooling is increasing in popularity.
… parents educate their children at home instead of sending them to a traditional public or private school. Families choose to home school for a variety of reasons, including dissatisfaction with the educational options available, different religious or educational philosophies, and the belief that children are not progressing within the traditional school structure. (What Is Homeschooling? A Guide for Parents and Students)
While the overall school-age population in the United States grew by about 2.0 percent from spring 2012 to spring 2016, data from 16 states from all four major regions of the nation showed that homeschooling grew by an average of about 25 percent in those states. If the data from these states are representative of what happened in the other states during those four years, then homeschooling is continuing to grow in both absolute numbers and as a portion of the overall school-age population. (Homeschooling Growing: Multiple Data Points Show Increase 2012 to 2016 and Later)
In far too many cases, parents do not have a choice. The public school is “free”, but parents still have to buy all school supplies and there are costs for lunch and activities, etc. Most cannot afford private schools. There are far too few publicly supported Charter Schools. Too many parents are engaged with work, so home schooling does not fit their schedules.
Further the teacher’s unions fight hard, spending large amounts of money to advertise and lobby to keep the status quo.
What’s A Parent Gonna Do?
Our culture has changed drastically. When I was growing up, parents were expected to train their children. They instilled in their sons and daughters basic morality. They taught them to be generous to others, to be respectful of elders, to be polite. to not hit, to not lie, etc. They taught by example, by correction (when given something, “Say, ‘Thank you’. “Say, ‘Please’, when asking for something.”) We were also taught by discipline. Spanking was common. The joke was, “The board of correction applied to the seat of the problem.”
We grew up in a polite society and we continued to make it polite. Because of common morality taught, the culture was safe for children. Adults looked after children in the absence of their parents. That was because the social interchange was based of the Judeo-Christian morality, i.e. the Commandments of God.
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and all your mind. And a second is this, you shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Deuteronomy 6:4-7)
This meant we treated (and were trained to believe) everyone was equal.
Parents were the first “school teachers”. In our fragmenting society, parents are losing the responsibility of training their children. In three generations we have gone
- from parents as our first teachers, to All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten, to schools in loco parentis” (instead of parents)
- from supporting parental values to school indoctrinating children in order to wipe out parental mores
Today young Christian parents, believing parents, that is, need to depend greatly upon the Holy Spirit to give them wisdom. He knows the godly way to raise their children. That takes time, repetition, both home education in Christ’s life and teaching, and in addition, a faithful church school to reinforce the parents’ godly instruction.
Teens need a strong faith to counter the peer pressure to adopt the immorality rampant in the culture. They need to be able to stand up to the ridicule for keeping pure. They need to have ready answers for the Hope that is within them.
Tragically all believing children need to understand from an early age that most of the authority figures will be teaching them ways of living that are wrong according to their parents and God. Parents must be engaged in the public schools more diligently that in previous generations. They MUST know what the schools are teaching their children. Parents must demand that their sons and daughters be excused form improper and/or sinful instruction.
While we all pay taxes to support public schools, parents must face the financial sacrifice of educating their children in alternative schooling. Charter schools are often a good alternative, but there are so few of them (only 14 in all of Washington State) that there are likely none available. A private Christian school either Protestant of Catholic, is likely an expensive option, but they are worth the sacrifices. I can personally testify to both – sacrifice and worth. Home schooling (with sacrifices) allows the parents to continue their godly influence through High School. It also makes possible family exploratory outings.
God Is Alive And In The Family
Parents are not alone. That is what is so great about Omnipresence. God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit are with each one of us all the time. Believers have merely to turn their attention to Him and they have the resources of the universe at their disposal. Parents have the privilege of additional help, because the Almighty God is keen on educating children in the most holy faith. Our Father wants His wee ones and children and teens to be comfortable in turning to Him often for instruction, for help, for deliverance from threats, and just because they love Him. Jesus has many lessons to teach children of all ages, so He is there with parents giving them what they need. The Holy Spirit of truth, will manifest gifts of wisdom, discernment in parents as they are open to Him. He will teach all about Jesus and help the children remember what they need when they need it.
God has not gone away to tend sheep in other pastures. He is right here now and always, listening to you, regardless of whether you are listening to Him. He is deeply concerned with the correct teaching of children. The Holy Spirit is not a teacher of “Christian things” exclusively. He is co-Creator, along with the Son and the Father, of the universe. He knows math and all the sciences, history, geography, reading and writing, current events. He knows everything that children need to know to function in and alongside this society.
He can and will teach “bad stuff’ to train children what to avoid. It is not enough to train in what is bad, He also trains in what is good to replace the bad.
God loves Children. He loves parents. He loves Believers. Put them all together and you have a winning combination. Parents can be confident that Their Gracious Lord will guide them to the best Schooling for their children. They can trust that Their Savior will lead them through all the sacrifices, struggles, threats and attacks to a successful and well-rounded education for their children. One that will give them a good foundation and get them started on the right path.
There is no power in Hell or on earth that can withstand the family that prays, all well- trained and one in the spirit. Our Farther is glorified in their praise. Jesus is triumphant over the world the flesh and the devil through them. The Holy Spirit will build up the children to be world-beaters as they mature. Which also means they will be world-changers, making this a better place to eagerly await His Coming.
Maranatha! Come Lord Jesus to rebuild the world as it was in the beginning—perfect in glorifying God!
Questions Demanding Answers
This is a recurring feature. I pose a question in one issue. You have the opportunity to send me answers. I publish the best ones in the next issue. Please cite Biblical authority, and keep you answer within 250 words.
QUESTION: Have you been saved by Jesus? Have you been released in the Holy Spirit?
ANSWER: Obviously these are personal questions that only you and Jesus can answer truthfully.
You must face yourself in the mirror each day and in so doing you will know the truth. You are either in bondage to the self and Satan, or you are in bondage to the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul taught,
… and being made free from sin, ye became [bond]servants of righteousness. I speak after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye presented your members as [bond] servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity, even so now present your members as [bond] servants to righteousness unto sanctification. (Romans 5:18-19)
All who are not saved are lost. But what are the lost saved from? There are only two kinds of people in the world, children of God and enemies of God. You know, when you think of it, it does not make good sense to be an enemy of the greatest force in the universe, the one who created you and has your life in His hand.
In John’s Gospel he states,
Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him. (John 3:36).
This points out the Jesus, Who is God’s Son is the deciding point. You are either surrendered to Jesus and saved or surrendered to Satan and lost.
John made it more explicit,
He that hath the Son hath the life; he that hath not the Son of God hath not the life. (1 John 5:12).
Therefore, to be saved is to be delivered from God’s wrath and from eternal torment in Hell. It means that you are an adopted Child of God and have an eternal home with God your Father in love, joy and peace–and a lot more!
The second question refers to Jesus emphasis on “Baptism in the Holy Spirit”.
Read Acts 2 for the initial coming of the Holy Spirit. Everyone who is saved has the Holy Spirit living in his or her spirit. The “release of the Holy Spirit” refers to the believer recognizing the Holy Spirit within and then giving the Spirit permission to fill her or him and overflow in the manifestations of the Spirit (1 Corinthians 12:7-11 for one of the lists).
The Holy Spirit is the power of God. When He is released the believer has power to testify to his own salvation, witnessing to unsaved people. The Spirit gives the believer power to withstand attacks, both physical and spiritual. He is a boon companion in joy and in trouble. He comforts, guides, teaches. He is a very powerful friend that is always at hand. Believing in Jesus starts one on the journey to God’s Kingdom. Releasing the Spirit gives you help along the way.
QUESTION: Where is the Prince of Peace when people are rioting and destroying and killing?
The Holy of Holies
Join me in bowing before our God in gratitude that we can speak directly and personally to Him. He is our loving Father, so we can embrace Him boldly, but respectfully.
Jesus, You said, “Let the little children come unto me, and forbid them not.” You said, “If anyone causes one of these little ones to stumble, it would be better to tie a millstone around your neck and be cast into the depth of the sea. You said, “Except you become as a little child you cannot enter the Kingdom of God.”
That tells us that You are deeply concerned with children. They are most vulnerable, because they are innocent. Their innocence endears them to You. That is why You call all of mankind to come to You in the innocence and vulnerability as a child.
Father, You love children so very much, it is a wonder that You put them in our clumsy hands and charge us with the responsibility of being stewards to start them on their lives. You have charged us to nurture and train them to be fit to take on the responsibilities as an adult. You have given us the responsibility to nourish them; to feed them healthy food, to feed their spirit with godly nourishment, and to train their minds to think critically, so as not to fall for deceitful allures that lead to evil thoughts, words and deeds.
We are struggling upstream against the current. The world is so full of evil, with wrong thinking, temptations of the body, the mind, the will and emotions. Strengthen our spirits to stand in the evil day (that is every day in this fallen culture). We would be faithful to You and to be a beacon of truth, righteousness, godly sense and an island of peace in the stormy waters of our society.
We can only do that in Christ. Give us the desire to seek after Jesus to the extent that we with Paul can truly say, “For me to live is Christ!” Only with Your help (or more properly) only in Christ can we stand in the hurricane of immorality, sectarian politics, inter-racial hatred, dishonesty of our leaders. and the pernicious people that assault us each day seeking to delude us offering bogus help.
Jesus, I need You every hour. You are my gracious Savior. In You I need have no fear. Thank You for teaching me that fear is a failure to fully trust my Father, and depression is losing track of Jesus my Savior; further, that worry is another manifestation of failure to trust my Father. My children are raised and thanks to You they love You and serve You. And so, it is with my grandchildren.
My lovely Lord, these blessings are mine because of Your coming into my life. Holy Spirit, Your power and gifts have drawn me into Jesus and out of the world. I am deeply grateful to You as well. Thank You Father. Thank You Jesus, Son of God and Savior. Thank You Holy Spirit my Guide and Counselor.
Hallelujah!! Hallelujah! Amen!
