May God Help Us Not To Fail The Rising Generation.

Matthew 18:1-14
From Jesus’ reply to the question: ‘Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?’(1), we learn much about the valued place children are to have among us. Our attitude to children is to be marked by humility, respect, responsibility and - above all - love. (a) humility: We teach the children. We can learn from them (2-4). (b) respect:Physically, we may look down on them. Spiritually, we must ‘not look down’ on them (10). They are to be highly valued. (c) responsibility: What kind of influence do we have on the children? - This is a question of the greatest importance (6). (d) love: Our ‘Father in heaven’ loves the children (14). The kind of welcome we give to children shows the kind of welcome we give to ‘Jesus’ who ‘loves the little children’(5). May God help us not to fail the rising generation.
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Blessings in Christ
Christ in all the Scriptures
http://christinallthescriptures.blogspot.com

Let Us Find Our Joy And Our Strength In The Lord.

1 Samuel 1:1-28
Hannah ‘wept’. Hannah ‘was no longer sad’(7,18). What made the difference? No child had been born. She had not even conceived. These things did not happen until later (21). Why was there such a change in Hannah? She believed. God’s Word had been spoken (17). Hannah believed His Word. She rejoiced in Him. Jesus emphasized the importance of praying with faith (Mark 11:24). We are to ‘ask in faith’, to pray ‘the prayer of faith’(James 1:6; 5:15). We are also to pray ‘according to His will’(1 John 5:14-15). God’s ways are higher than our ways (Isaiah 55:8-9). God does not always answer our prayers in the way that we want. Sometimes, rather than changing our circumstances, He simply speaks His Word to us: ‘My grace is sufficient for you’(2 Corinthians 12:7-9). Always, He ‘gives grace to the humble’(James 4:6; 1 Peter 5:5).

1 Samuel 2:1-36
What a contrast between the son of Hannah and the sons of Eli - ‘the boy Samuel grew in the presence of the Lord... in the favour of the Lord’, ‘the sons of Eli were worthless men; they had no regard for the Lord (21,26,12). This is the difference between ‘the children of God’ and ‘the children of the devil’(1 John 3:10). God’s Word speaks to us with a promise and a warning: ‘those who honour Me I will honour and those who despise Me shall be lightly esteemed’(30). Let your attitude to the Lord be summed up in the words of Hannah: ‘There is none holy like the Lord, there is none like Thee; there is no rock like our God’(2). Let us find our joy and our strength in the Lord: ‘My heart exults in the Lord; my strength is exalted in the Lord’(1). May the Lord help us to be ‘His faithful ones’ who walk with Him (9).

1 Samuel 3:1-4:22
The call of Samuel is a vivid example of what God can do in the lives of children. Samuel’s early response to God set in motion a whole process of events leading Samuel to become ‘a prophet of the Lord’ through whom ‘the Word of the Lord... came to all Israel’(3:10,19-4:1). Let us ground our children in Christ, encouraging them to have great expectations of what God can do in and with their lives as they grow up, loving Him. The people of Israel were ‘defeated’ by the Philistines. The greatest tragedy of this defeat was the ‘capture’ of ‘the ark of God’: ‘The glory has departed from Israel, for the ark of God has been captured’(4:10-11,22). We may lose ‘goods, honour, children, wife’(Church Hymnary, 406). The glory of God among His people - We must not lose this!
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Blessings in Christ
Christ in all the Scriptures
http://christinallthescriptures.blogspot.com