Heavenly Mothers are Armed and Dangerous-Day 29

"And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:" Ephesians 6:17

The sword of the spirit. It sounds like a powerful weapon, and it is. Although, it is the Holy Spirit who give us the grace to obey the Word of God and to understand it, it is hard to understand or obey something that you haven't even read.

I am one of the worst offenders in this area. My bible is not well marked because I would often rather read a book about the Bible or the Christian life than to actually open the source myself and soak it in. 

I try to quote verses when counseling with people, and way too often, end up with some off-the-wall paraphrase. I know what I meant, but do the people I am talking to get it?

The word of God is powerful though, and we need to know it to be able to partake of its power. Knowing God's word helps us to stay encouraged when times are tough, it helps us to believe the best about our children when they disappoint us, and it helps us to agape love our husbands when we would rather leave.

Some of the ways that we do put a priority on the Word of God in our home is by assigning monthly chapters to read as a family, memorizing key verses, and reading the Bible aloud as part of our schooling. We also assign Bible copy work with the children, I just need to get more consistent than my kids in this area!

It is a blessing to feel close to God, to go to a church service and be moved by His presence. What, though will keep us faithful during the dry times of our Christian walk? What will keep us pressing in to the pleasure of God that we have experienced in the past? When our feelings fail us, we can stand on the truth of God's word, and use the truth as a powerful weapon against unbelief and discouragement.

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Heavenly Homes Are Led By The Spirit

                         

"But if ye be led of the spirit, ye are not under the law." Galatians 5:18

For most of my early years as a mother I did not really understand the gospel. I did not understand that when I receive Christ as my Savior, I put on his righteousness. In theory, I knew that it is through grace we are saved, but in practice I still thought that I needed to do everything right to show that I was a Christian. My verse for our homeschool was, "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father which is in heaven." Matthew 5:16. I did not realize that the light I was supposed to shine, was the light of the Holy Spirit living inside of me.

Although my motives were good, this pressure to perform was felt by my children. My mistaken view of the gospel also distorted my view about my own behavior. When I did well, I was proud and looked down on others who weren't performing up to par, and when I failed I was overcome with despair.

When I finally realized that my life was hid in Christ, and that my old man was crucified with Him, I had a radical shift in my thinking. Suddenly, the pressure to perform was lifted,  and I am now free to love God and others. No person can judge me because Jesus was judged in my place, and since I was given the perfection of Christ, despite my unworthiness, I am free to offer mercy to others, including my children, because God has shown me mercy.

Does this mean that I start living like a pagan? "God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?" (Romans 6:2) When we realize all that God has done for us, our response is love and when we are in love, we want to please our lover. It isn't that we live in fear, but we live in love, and our love dictates our behavior.

How has this changed my parenting? Now, instead of living by a set of rules, many of them extra biblical, we seek to be led by the Holy Spirit. This isn't some mystical waiting for guidance, but rather, the more we spend time worshipping God and loving Him, the more our thoughts and desires align with His. God might lead me to do something that looks strange (imagine what people thought of John the baptist) or he might lead me to do something that is very normal (think Jesus, hanging out with the tax collectors). His direction will never contradict His written word, and those who are led by Him have access to all the joy and peace we need to parent the children that He gives us.

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