The Joy of the Lord Will be Their Strength

Ne 8:6 And Ezra blessed the LORD, the great God. And all the people answered, Amen, Amen, with lifting up their hands: and they bowed their heads, and worshipped the LORD with their faces to the ground.

Ne 8:10 Then he said unto them, Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared: for this day is holy unto our Lord: neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the LORD is your strength.

Our children can experience the joy of the Lord, if we live this “joy” before them. A good attitude from us about the Word of God encourages a good attitude from them. Will they rebel and maybe turn their backs on God? Yes, they could, but be encouraged and true to yourself, to know that God’s Word will NOT return unto Him void! We may fail them and they may fail us, but HE NEVER fails and neither does His Word! Put that in your pipe and smoke it…….NO! Don’t do that…..a southern saying can get us in trouble!! Grandpa’s pipe was very tempting to this young teen-age girl and I did one time place it in my mouth. Ugh….the taste of it will never leave me. Never smoked it, but I’m sure my tasting of it was seen by my God as sin!

My encouragement to you today is to not give up on yourself or on your family member whether a child or your husband, but to keep on keeping on. Be faithful; talk the scriptures instead of the nonsense of the world. Ask yourself these questions and, just maybe, make a few changes as needed:

1.  Do I provide the setting for my family to have personal devotions or is it too loud because of some electronic device going on 24/7?

2.  Do they witness my own faithfulness or do I skirt around doing what is right?

3.  Are the scriptures talked about, discussed in our home or am I constantly running my mouth about ungodly things that only cause strife or bitterness in my loved ones?

4.  Do we spend too much time at ball practice or other activities which may steal quality time? Am I encouraging too much activity AWAY from my home instead to the IN the home?

5.  Are we faithful to God’s Church and soul winning or do I complain about "one more thing to do at the church?"

6.  Is my child/husband born again or am I too busy to find out?

God loves you! He never gives up on us, does He, and neither should we give up on our precious family! Better find out where they are, SPIRITUALLY!

Until next time, Lord willing.......

Sharon