The unrivalled love of the Father (Developing your Christian Walk Book 2)

Carpools and car crashes, job switches and joint custody, moves and motionlessness. Is there a cohesive storyline to the chaos, confusion, and clutter of your daily life? According to well-loved author Max Lucado, the answer is a resounding yes! So what is the text of your life? With his unequaled warmth and honesty, Lucado plumbs the depths of your storyline and comes up smiling.

The beginning of the narrative is legendary, the middle unfolds with surprises still in store, and the ending of your final earthly chapter ushers in a reunion that almost defies description. Read more Read less. Customers who bought this item also bought. Page 1 of 1 Start over Page 1 of 1. The Power of a Simple Prayer. Trade Your Cares for Calm. More to Your Story: Discover Your Place in God's Plan. Customers who viewed this item also viewed. God's Story, Your Story: Finding Calm in a Chaotic World.

You'll Get Through This: Hope and Help for Your Turbulent Times.

Follow his website at MaxLucado. Zondervan; Unabridged edition September 26, Language: Start reading God's Story, Your Story: Don't have a Kindle? Try the Kindle edition and experience these great reading features: Share your thoughts with other customers. Write a customer review. Read reviews that mention max lucado gods story story your story jesus christ easy to read lucado books recommend this book thought provoking new testament god in his love discussion guide christian walk final chapter read this book story becomes great book enjoyed max great read love max like max. Showing of reviews.

Top Reviews Most recent Top Reviews. There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later. Kindle Edition Verified Purchase. I read this book with admiration and I ca not believe how much I learned from Christ purposes for and the heavenly fathers ideas for me.

I learn about Christ teachings more than in other books. Yes, is true God story is our story and I love my story. The author explains with a sense of humor, different to others writers that made you feel depress and loss. The writer made me feel confident, full of hope, happy and understand better the trials that humanity had had suffered is part of God plans to help us to improve our life and understand God purpose for mankind.

by C. S. Lewis

From now on I will buy Mr. I recommend this book to everyone who seeks answers to their tribulations and you will surprise how the write explained so simple and in contemporary words with good humor explains how God story is your story. Lucado explains your own story. Do yourself a favor and read this book.

I tried for a while to think of a word to describe how it made me feel and triumphant is one word that comes to mind.

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The thing itself cannot be pictured, it can only be expressed mathematically. We are in the same boat here. We believe that the death of Christ is just that point in history at which something absolutely unimaginable from outside shows through into our own world. And if we cannot picture even the atoms of which our own world is built, of course we are not going to be able to picture this.

Indeed, if we found that we could fully understand it, that very fact would show it was not what it professes to be-the inconceivable, the uncreated, the thing from beyond nature, striking down into nature like lightning. You may ask what good will it be to us if we do not understand it. But that is easily answered. A man can eat his dinner without understanding exactly how food nourishes him. A man can accept what Christ has done without knowing how it works: We are told that Christ was killed for us, that His death has washed out our sins, and that by dying He disabled death itself.

That is the formula. That is what has to be believed. Any theories we build up as to how Christ's death did all this are, in my view, quite secondary: All the same, some of these theories are worth looking at. The one most people have heard is the one I mentioned before -the one about our being let off because Christ had volunteered to bear a punishment instead of us.

Now on the face of it that is a very silly theory. If God was prepared to let us off, why on earth did He not do so? And what possible point could there be in punishing an innocent person instead? None at all that I can see, if you are thinking of punishment in the police-court sense.

On the other hand, if you think of a debt, there is plenty of point in a person who has some assets paying it on behalf of someone who has not. Or if you take "paying the penalty," not in the sense of being punished, but in the more general sense of "standing the racket" or "footing the bill," then, of course, it is a matter of common experience that, when one person has got himself into a hole, the trouble of getting him out usually falls on a kind friend. Now what was the sort of "hole" man had got himself into? He had tried to set up on his own, to behave as if he belonged to himself.

In other words, fallen man is not simply an imperfect creature who needs improvement: Laying down your arms, surrendering, saying you are sorry, realising that you have been on the wrong track and getting ready to start life over again from the ground floor-that is the only way out of a "hole. Now repentance is no fun at all. It is something much harder than merely eating humble pie. It means unlearning all the self-conceit and self-will that we have been training ourselves into for thousands of years.

It means killing part of yourself, undergoing a kind of death. In fact, it needs a good man to repent. And here comes the catch. Only a bad person needs to repent: The worse you are the more you need it and the less you can do it. The only person who could do it perfectly would be a perfect person-and he would not need it. Remember, this repentance, this willing submission to humiliation and a kind of death, is not something God demands of you before He will take you back and which He could let you off if He chose: If you ask God to take you back without it, you are really asking Him to let you go back without going back.

It cannot hap pen. Very well, then, we must go through with it. But the same badness which makes us need it, makes us unable to do it. Can we do it if God helps us? Yes, but what do we mean when we talk of God helping us? We mean God putting into us a bit of Himself, so to speak. He lends us a little of His reasoning powers and that is how we think: He puts a little of His love into us and that is how we love one another. When you teach a child writing, you hold its hand while it forms the letters: We love and reason because God loves and reasons and holds our hand while we do it.

Now if we had not fallen, that would be all plain sailing. But unfortunately we now need God's help in order to do something which God, in His own nature, never does at all-to surrender, to suffer, to submit, to die. Nothing in God's nature corresponds to this process at all. So that the one road for which we now need God's leadership most of all is a road God, in His own nature, has never walked.

God can share only what He has: But supposing God became a man-suppose our human nature which can suffer and die was amalgamated with God's nature in one person-then that person could help us. He could surrender His will, and suffer and die, because He was man; and He could do it perfectly because He was God.

You and I can go through this process only if God does it in us; but God can do it only if He becomes man. Our attempts at this dying will succeed only if we men share in God's dying, just as our thinking can succeed only because it is a drop out of the ocean of His intelligence: That is the sense in which He pays our debt, and suffers for us what He Himself need not suffer at all.

I have heard some people complain that if Jesus was God as well as man, then His sufferings and death lose all value in their eyes, "because it must have been so easy for him. In one sense, of course, those who make it are right. They have even understated their own case. The perfect submission, the perfect suffering, the perfect death were not only easier to Jesus because He was God, but were possible only because He was God. But surely that is a very odd reason for not accepting them? The teacher is able to form the letters for the child because the teacher is grown-up and knows how to write.

That, of course, makes it easier for the teacher, and only because it is easier for him can he help the child. If it rejected him because "it's easy for grown-ups" and waited to learn writing from another child who could not write itself and so had no "unfair" advantage , it would not get on very quickly. If I am drowning in a rapid river, a man who still has one foot on the bank may give me a hand which saves my life. Ought I to shout back between my gasps "No, it's not fair! You have an advantage! You're keeping one foot on the bank"?

That advantage-call it "unfair" if you like-is the only reason why he can be of any use to me. To what will you look for help if you will not look to that which is stronger than yourself? Such is my own way of looking at what Christians call the Atonement. But remember this is only one more picture.

Do not mistake it for the thing itself: The perfect surrender and humiliation were undergone by Christ: Now the Christian belief is that if we somehow share the humility and suffering of Christ we shall also share in His conquest for death and find a new life after we have died and in it become perfect, and perfectly happy, creatures. This means something much more than our trying to follow His teaching. People often ask when the next step in evolution-the step to something beyond man-will happen.

But on the Christian view, it has happened already. In Christ a new kind of man appeared: How is this to be done? Now, please remember how we acquired the old, ordinary kind of life. We derived it from others, from our father and mother and all our ancestors, without our consent-and by a very curious process, involving pleasure, pain, and danger. A process you would never have guessed.

Most of us spend a good many years in childhood trying to guess it: Now the God who arranged that process is the same God who arranges how the new kind of life-the Christ life-is to be spread. We must be prepared for it being odd too. He did not consult us when He invented sex: He has not consulted us either when He invented this. There are three things that spread the Christ life to us: At least, those are the three ordinary methods. I am not saying there may not be special cases where it is spread without one or more of these.

I have not time to go into special cases, and I do not know enough. If you are trying in a few minutes to tell a man how to get to Edinburgh you will tell him the trains: And I am not saying anything about which of these three things is the most essential. My Methodist friend would like me to say more about belief and less in proportion about the other two. But I am not going into that. Anyone who professes to teach you Christian doctrine will, in fact, tell you to use all three, and that is enough for our present purpose.

I cannot myself see why these things should be the conductors of the new kind of life. But then, if one did not happen to know, I should never have seen any connection between a particular physical pleasure and the appearance of a new human being in the world. We have to take reality as it comes to us: But though I cannot see why it should be so, I can tell you why I believe it is so.

I have explained why I have to believe that Jesus was and is God. And it seems plain as a matter of history that He taught His followers that the new life was communicated in this way. In other words, I believe it on His authority. Do not be scared by the word authority. Believing things on authority only means believing them because you have been told them by someone you think trustworthy.

Ninety-nine per cent of the things you believe are believed on authority. I believe there is such a place as New York. I have not seen it myself. I could not prove by abstract reasoning that there must be such a place. I believe it because reliable people have told me so. The ordinary man believes in the Solar System, atoms, evolution, and the circulation of the blood on authority-because the scientists say so. Every historical statement in the world is believed on authority.

None of us has seen the Norman Conquest or the defeat of the Armada. None of us could prove them by pure logic as you prove a thing in mathematics. We believe them simply because people who did see them have left writings that tell us about them: A man who jibbed at authority in other things as some people do in religion would have to be content to know nothing all his life. Do not think I am setting up baptism and belief and the Holy Communion as things that will do instead of your own attempts to copy Christ.

Your natural life is derived from your parents; that does not mean it will stay there if you do nothing about it. You can lose it by neglect, or you can drive it away by committing suicide. You have to feed it and look after it: In the same way a Christian can lose the Christ-life which has been put into him, and he has to make efforts to keep it. But even the best Christian that ever lived is not acting on his own steam-he is only nourishing or protecting a life he could never have acquired by his own efforts. And that has practical consequences. As long as the natural life is in your body, it will do a lot towards repairing that body.

Cut it, and up to a point it will heal, as a dead body would not. A live body is not one that never gets hurt, but one that can to some extent repair itself. In the same way a Christian is not a man who never goes wrong, but a man who is enabled to repent and pick himself up and begin over again after each stumble-because the Christ-life is inside him, repairing him all the time, enabling him to repeat in some degree the kind of voluntary death which Christ Himself carried out.

That is why the Christian is in a different position from other people who are trying to be good. They hope, by being good, to please God if there is one; or-if they think there is not-at least they hope to deserve approval from good men. But the Christian thinks any good he does comes from the Christ-life inside him. He does not think God will love us because we are good, but that God will make us good because He loves us; just as the roof of a greenhouse does not attract the sun because it is bright, but becomes bright because the sun shines on it.

And let me make it quite clear that when Christians say the Christ-life is in them, they do not mean simply something mental or moral. When they speak of being "in Christ" or of Christ being "in them," this is not simply a way of saying that they are thinking about Christ or copying Him.

They mean that Christ is actually operating through them; that the whole mass of Christians are the physical organism through which Christ acts—that we are His fingers and muscles, the cells of His body. And perhaps that explains one or two things. It explains why this new life is spread not only by purely mental acts like belief, but by bodily acts like baptism and Holy Communion. It is not merely the spreading of an idea; it is more like evolution-a biological or super-biological fact. There is no good trying to be more spiritual than God. God never meant man to be a purely spiritual creature.

That is why He uses material things like bread and wine to put the new life into us. We may think this rather crude and unspiritual. Here is another thing that used to puzzle me. Is it not frightfully unfair that this new life should be confined to people who have heard of Christ and been able to believe in Him? But the truth is God has not told us what His arrangements about the other people are.

We do know that no man can be saved except through Christ; we do not know that only those who know Him can be saved through Him, But in the meantime, if you are worried about the people outside, the most unreasonable thing you can do is to remain outside yourself. Christians are Christ's body, the organism through which He works.

Every addition to that body enables Him to do more. If you want to help those outside you must add your own little cell to the body of Christ who alone can help them. Cutting off a man's fingers would be an odd way of getting him to do more work. Another possible objection is this. Why is God landing in this enemy-occupied world in disguise and starting a sort of secret society to undermine the devil? Why is He not landing in force, invading it? Is it dial He is not strong enough? Well, Christians think He is going to land in force; we do not know when.

But we can guess why He is delaying.

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He wants to give us the chance of joining His side freely. I do not suppose you and I would have thought much of a Frenchman who waited till the Allies were marching into Germany and then announced he was on our side. But I wonder whether people who ask God to interfere openly and directly in our world quite realise what it will be like when He does. When that happens, it is the end of the world. When the author walks on to the stage the play is over. God is going to invade, all right: For this time it will be God without disguise; something so overwhelming that it will strike either irresistible love or irresistible horror into every creature.

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It will be too late then to choose your side. There is no use saying you choose to lie down when it has become impossible to stand up. That will not be the time for choosing: Now, today, this moment, is our chance to choose the right side. God is holding back to give us that chance.

It will not last for ever. We must take it or leave it. Over 75 Free Online Bible Commentaries. Are you sure you want to report it? And finally, and not least of all, there are the home-schoolers. They have the challenges of time, space, finances, criticism and misunderstanding as well as legal threats from an often hostile government. Their pressures are no more nor less, They face dangers equally as deadly as the other groups.

Have you thought of these? Without a doubt, the biblical context of education was the home. The portrait in Deuteronomy was a teaching home. The setting of the wisdom literature and especially Proverbs is a father and mother educating their children. Historically the OT synagogue and NT church only supplemented what was already learned at home. However, if because of the collapse of the family, the economic conditions of today, and the outside demands on our families, what must parents be sure their children know, however they are taught reading, writing and arithmetic?

The elements they learned should be the mandate for us. They were ready for the world and survived it. Not just to have the finest young saints at home but wherever they go? This is just plain old transparency that is so hard for us men. One author[13] on the family has noted that in the average home surveyed, there are ten negative words for every positive word spoken. What kind of words are we using dads? Are they healthy and wholesome to build up our children?

Do our words strengthen, encourage and heal? Or are they destroying your child from the inside out?

Unrivaled (Beautiful Idols, #1) by Alyson Noel

It got me thinking about the things fathers used to say. They usually carried a different tone. What follow are a few Dadisms:. One of the questions I often ask men who have raise children is, "Would you do it any differently? Do you know what? The changes they often share are so easy to implement even today. No matter where you are in the parenting process.

One father summed[1] it up this way. But, if I had to do it all over again, this is what I'd do: I hope that I will be able to make knowing God natural to you. In fact, I think this relationship with God is the only thing that is one hundred percent natural. We will pray together until it is easy for you to put your arms on the windowsill of heaven and look into the face of God.

We had been out in the country for a ride. It was evening and we ran out of gas. We were walking along after we had been to the farmhouse, and I was carrying a can of gas. Philip was only four. He was playing along, throwing rocks at the telephone poles, picking flowers, and then, all of a sudden it got dark. Sometimes night comes all at once in the country. Philip came over, put his little hand in mine and said, "Take my hand, Daddy. I might get lost. Peter, there is a hand reaching to you from the heart of the universe. If you will lay your hand in the hand of God and walk with Him, you will never ever get lost.

In a study conducted several years ago, sociologists Sheldon and Eleanor Glueck, of Harvard University, identified several crucial factors in the development of juvenile delinquents. They created a test that can, with about 90 percent accuracy, predict future delinquency of children years old. They listed four necessary factors in preventing juvenile delinquency. In a similar report, but from a Christian perspective, Dr.

Meier, a Christian psychiatrist, wrote that the key to right parent-child relationships could be summed up in five things:. The perfect Father would be the one who knows everything about you and still loves you; who is always on your side; who is big enough for anything; and who never lets you down. We all have met Him. Jesus introduced us to God as Our perfect Father:.

First Jesus says we need to notice our seeing father. Jesus calls Him Our Father who sees all of our secrets. What a comfort to have God as our Perfect Father. He is on your side. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. Secondly, our Perfect Father is our constant resource. We are to draw upon your supplying father.

Have you met and entered into communion with our Father of mercy. Thirdly, this Perfect Father Jesus introduced us to is powerful. He is saying trust in your strong father. The Name of the Lord as Father of spirits means He is strong. How much more should we submit to the Father of our spirits and live!

Finally Jesus has introduced us to our Perfect Father who won't ever let us down, leave us or change into something less than perfection. We are to constantly go back and rest on Him. The name of the Lord as our Father of lights communicates the incredible truth that God is changeless.

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Our Lord is unfailing. So how do we who re so imperfect perform one of the most difficult tasks in life? God is the model. God alone is Perfect. We are imperfect and sometimes failing students of the Perfect Father. But even if we fail at times, we can always point our families to their Perfect Father, right? So what should we look for? Good habits that show up in the great dads of God's Word! The first great dad we will see is Job. From his life we need to grab and copy his habit of prayer. And by the power of God's Spirit start making it characteristic of your life!

The Book of Job is perhaps the oldest book in the world. It is also perhaps the clearest view into the spirit world, the spiritual side of parenting and the cosmic proportion of conflicts we face as we parent and lead as dads. For Job said, "It may be that my sons have sinned and cursed God in their hearts. Can we learn something about how to parent our families from Job's like? Yes, some powerful habits he had. There are five distinct elements of Job's parenting habits.

You may want to even note these in your Bibles. First, Job prayerfully followed the life of his children. Note the words, "when the days of feasting". He knew what was going on in his children's lives. He knew their cycle of house visits, parties, get-togethers and so on. He was in touch on a daily basis with where they were and where they were headed. He followed his children around in his heart because he had a godly concern and love for them. You and I will never pray effectively for those who are not regularly on our hearts. Note the words, "Job would send and sanctify them". This speaks of his high priestly role at the head of his family.

He went to God seeking their purity before the Lord. In a practical way dads, it is you that needs to know your boys and girls and seek their sanctification. It is you that needs to tell them when they are out of line, immodest, heading toward sin and so on! And as dads we are also husbands.

We are as Paul said in Ephesians 5, to seek our wife's sanctification through God's Word! A godly dad will know his children and wife's spiritual status and be prayerfully caring about their growth toward Christ-likeness. In the middle of v. Job prayerfully offered himself to God as an intercessor for his family.

Prayer is much like holding something for someone you love. You just make sure that you guard it. He was so vitally concerned about their inner spiritual life that he cried out to God for them. Job was so aware of the constant pressure of the world, the flesh and the devil. He wanted pure children, holy families and strong worshipers of God Almighty. So he was looking over the lives of his family members trying to see them from the inside out.

What a challenge, what an opportunity, what an encouragement this can be dads. Sometimes we just need to look at them, as they will be instead of only as they are. Remember God says we are seated with Christ. That is our future glorified condition. And He relates to us on that basis. Never overlooking sin, but always seeing us, as we shall be by His grace. Finally, Job prayerfully persisted.

He was a great dad because he kept on. It wasn't just when they were little. He prayed through their growing years and never stopped. You know the key to success in any endeavor is to get started and not quit. He started to offer prayers for his family as their intercessor. He was ready for the unexpected death of his children. He prepared them for it every day!

Fathers of the Word will be like Job who interceded prayerfully for His family. Do you see how serious this dad was? Job had five objectives:. Personally stood as priest of his family offering atoning sacrifices for sin in general. He was not only concerned about externals, he was vitally concerned about the heart! A Godly father in tune with the Scriptures will: Next we need to look at one element of another great dad's life. The dad was Noah, the element is the one word that sums up his life.

Fathers of the Word will be like Noah who warned his family. There are several ways Noah expressed this godly attitude of obedience. Join me in v. This means he was in spiritual contact with God through God's Word and prayer as he listened to God. All this led to spiritual perception of God's will for Noah's family. I hope everyone of you hearing my voice will want to know for certainty God's will for your family so that you can obey it!

This equals R. Stock cars, of which could hold the 21, land animals of the 1,, total species. The average land animal is the size of a sheep. Noah was a just man, perfect in his generations. Noah walked with God. NKJV they went along with his project alone in the whole world! Because he was living a life of integrity in world and at home. Finally, NOAH was unafraid to point out sin! He was confronting the whole world of sin and standing against it, longest sermon years.

So, 2, Fathers of the Word will be like Noah who saved his family by warning with word and example! So what was it God admired about this man of faith? Abraham commanded his family to look beyond the passing fancies of this world system, beyond the materialism of the day in Ur of the Chaldees. That meant for him to forsake gods of this world; system: And it meant to obey the true and living and only God!! There is still a world system to renounce dads. Are you doing so? But there is still not only a world and its system to renounce, but a kingdom to seek!

Dad, do live for things eternal:. Remember there are still many gods to give up. Many of Satan's ways permeate this world. Just a few are:. Finally there is a final portrait of a bad dad. His habits led to God's curse upon his family. Why do you honor your sons more than me by fattening yourselves on the choice parts of every offering made by my people Israel? Discretion is vital to God.

Mere Christianity

It appears Eli had a lack of discretion staring at woman. Discernment is vital to God. It appears Eli had a lack of spiritual discernment thought woman praying was drunk. Get rid of your wine. Disciplining our children is vital to God. Confronting sin in our home is vital to God. God rebukes Eli because he continued to resist confronting sin in home. His neck was broken and he died, for he was an old man and heavy. He had led Israel forty years. Here in the U. So this morning we join our nation as together we honor our mothers.

Each of us owes our very existence to our Mom! And in the flurry of phone calls, cards, dinners, flowers, and gifts we express our love. Because it is Biblical. The Bible says that one who lives a life for God lives on far beyond their earthly days because their life keeps testifying about God's grace. Today before you get to the car if your mom is with you, think of a way she has touched your life. Surely this is only the start. Not just today should you call and tell her, do it all throughout the year. Rise up and call her blessed! There are so many ways we could honor our mothers, perhaps just remembering of how vital her role is to each of us.

Here is the way some have expressed all our sentiments:. She has six pairs of hands and eyes in the back of her head. Others envision the Erma Bombeck model, who drives a wood-paneled station wagon and whose hobby is dusting. Whatever the type, no one has more influence than a mother. For better or worse, she will forever impact the life of her child. Tough and tender, wise and warm, a mother must be all things to all her family So one facet of today is expressing what we know is true, how precious our moms are to each of us.

Jimmy Dean[2], county and western singer of some renown, released an album back when I was in college in the late seventies. Stay at it, dear lady. Never doubt the value of your calling. Without your positive supportive partnership, the family simply could not survive. But beyond all that, what is the spiritual side to this day? Does God's Word speak to the role of motherhood?

But what was the Scripture we just read? The 31st chapter of Proverbs is probably the best known and loved portion of God's Word about a godly woman, mother, and wife. Please stand with me as I read Proverbs Spiritual and practical wisdom plus moral virtues mark the character of this woman in contrast to the immoral women of v. While the scene here is of a wealthy home and the customs of the ancient Near East, the principles apply to every family.

The ancient Jewish rabbis taught that this chapter probably written by Solomon as a reflection upon his great-great grandmother Ruth. Remember Ruth from that 8th Book of God's Word? Her distant forefather in Genesis 19 by the name of Lot had sired her race in the midst of a drunken orgy with his own daughters. So, Ruth according to God's Word was despised though personally having done nothing to deserve it! And, after a short, sad marriage with her husband dead and famine about her God writes one of the sweetest Old Testament stories of grace.

And, since ancient times, the Jewish sages have attributed this 31st chapter to a portrait of this woman Ruth. This is the value our Lord puts upon: She is Priceless — Rare — a Treasure! In fact, Proverbs As the Lord promises in Genesis, she completes her husband. She has earned the reality Christ spoke of — servant of all is greatest of all. She devotes self to others. Note how differently the Lord Himself describes this priceless woman. There are no descriptions of her hair, skin, weight, clothes, or looks. Rather there is a beautiful description of her: Hands given to serving others v.

God measures her life first and foremost by her ministry to her family, not by her focus upon her self, or her career, or her personal gratification. No the Lord honors her for making her family her priority. Remember the New Testament highlights this perspective of the Lord: Oh to see children as sacred trust. God says the whole world will take note of this woman of inestimable worth. And though I know what stages they will go through, and understand their growing pains, and can answer all their questions about life, and believe myself to be a devoted mother, but have not love, I am nothing.

A loving mother does not push her children into doing things her way. She is not irritable, when the chicken pox have kept her confined with three whining children for two weeks, and does not resent the child who brought the affliction home in the first place. A loving mother is not relieved when her disagreeable child finally disobeys her directly and she can punish him, but rather rejoices with him when he is being more cooperative. A loving mother never really dies. And as for children, well, right now toys, friends, and food are all-important to them. But when they grow up it will have been how their mother loved them that will determine how they love others.

In that way she will live on. So care, training, and a loving mother reside in a home, these three, but the greatest of these is a loving mother. How about it ladies? Therefore Eli thought she was drunk. Mary kept treasuring God's Word Luke 2: A love filled woman, driven by gratitude, smashes a jar containing her life savings and lavishes it upon Jesus. What a moment to see Haven't you wished you might have been there to see, hear, smell and feel such love?

And haven't we all wished we could have done the same? We love Jesus so And to lavish with selfless abandon a priceless treasure would be our desire. Its mine and I'm sure it is yours this morning. The song writer has captured this moment in these words:. Such love constrains me to answer his call follow his leading and give him my all The good news this morning is that we can offer a similar gift to the Lord Jesus Christ today.

In fact Peter tells us that god is face to face now with us and is waiting for it. Now turn with me to 1 Peter 3: What is the context of this gift we can freely give to God? Last time we saw:. Today we continue with our family series and see the pattern for the biblical family: Peter, nearing the end of his ministry writes for God this inspired snapshot of what a gorgeous woman in God's sight looks like.

Its a timeless, never out of style, supra-cultural absolute. This is what a woman of god has always looked like. But watch out it is very different from the woman of the nineties, the woman of vogue, cosmopolitan, Victorian and so on. It cuts against the grain of culture and society. Well, what does god say a woman of godly virtue is to be? He gives a four part look:. Thus, she is submissive. Meyer "the one law is to dress as becomes the station in which he has placed us, and in such a way as not to attract notice to ourselves.

Thus, she is gentle and quiet. The seven characteristics of Titus 2: When your life is done, and you look back those last few weeks or months that you have before cancer, or heart or respiratory problems overtake you — will you regret these days of your marriage and family? Will you be saddened when you remember these days? Will you be saddened when you see what your children are doing?

Or will these have been the greatest years of your life? I think the choice is yours. Where are you headed in your marriage and as a family tonight? You will never get to anywhere you are not headed right now! Look with me at Ps. As we look, ask yourself: Is this what I want? Is this what I have? Is this worth changing areas of my personal life to accommodate God's Word and my response? Unless the Lord builds the house, They labor in vain who build it; Unless the Lord guards the city, The watchman stays awake in vain.

Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord , The fruit of the womb is a reward.



Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them; They shall not be ashamed, But shall speak with their enemies in the gate. Blessed is every one who fears the Lord, Who walks in His ways. When you eat the labor of your hands, You shall be happy, and it shall be well with you.

Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine In the very heart of your house, Your children like olive plants All around your table. Behold, thus shall the man be blessed Who fears the Lord. Peace be upon Israel! And as the Apostle John said at the end of his life in 3 John 4 that the supreme earthly joy we can ever experience is when we see our family following the Lord!

Quite a promise -- what an opportunity to have such a rare and precious home. And that is exactly what the Lord offers to us this evening. There are few words that can describe the sheer delights of a marriage as God designed it to be. The Lord planned for His people to have marriages described as:. All of us here tonight blessed in our marriages and families can testify what God's Word describes is exactly what we who have followed the Lord have experienced.

Winston Churchill[i][1] once attended a formal banquet in London at which the attending dignitaries were asked the question, "If you could not be who you are, who would you like to be? When it finally came to be Churchill's turn, the old man, who was the dinner's last respondent to the question, rose and gave his answer. But his comments also apply to everyone of us this evening who has a no regret marriage and family. Our marriages, if unattended, begin to slowly decline in closeness, intimacy, fruitfulness, and blessing. To illustrate this several years ago, the Saturday Evening Post published an article entitled: You've got a bad sniffle, and there's no telling about these things with all this strep throat going around.

I'm putting you in the hospital this afternoon for a general checkup and a good rest. I know the food's lousy, but I'll be bringing your meals in from Rossini's. I've already got it all arranged with the floor superintendent. I called Doc Miller and asked him to rush over here. Now you go to bed like a good girl, please? I'll bring you something to eat.

Have you got any canned soup? After you've fed the kids, washed the dishes, and finished the floor, you'd better lie down. Are you trying to give me pneumonia?! A funny look at a not-so-funny reality. Men, as we sit here tonight with our wives and enjoy this meal and the fellowship around the tables, may I challenge you to Finish the Course with joy that God has given you?

A No Regrets Dad and Husband includes his wife in envisioning the future. A No Regrets Dad and Husband seeks the consultation of his wife on all major financial decisions. A No Regrets Dad and Husband prays with his wife on a regular basis. A No Regrets Dad and Husband accepts spiritual responsibility for his family. A No Regrets Dad and Husband discusses household responsibilities with his wife and makes sure these are fairly distributed.

A No Regrets Dad and Husband follows through with commitments he has made to his wife. A No Regrets Dad and Husband anticipates the different states his marriage will pass through. Remember the model of Psalm ? A No Regrets Dad and Husband likewise, starts early training his children in submission, anticipating the stages his children will pass through. A No Regrets Dad and Husband frequently tells his wife what he likes about her. A No Regrets Dad and Husband provides financially for his family's basic living expenses. A No Regrets Dad and Husband deals with distractions so that he can talk with his wife and family.

Song of Solomon 2: A No Regrets Dad and Husband initiates meaningful family traditions. You shall utterly detest it and utterly abhor it, for it is an accursed thing. A No Regrets Dad and Husband initiates fun outings for the family on a monthly basis, or even more often. A No Regrets Dad and Husband takes the time to give his children practical instruction about life, which in turn gives them confidence with their peers.

A No Regrets Dad and Husband goes over the upcoming week with his wife to clarify their schedule and anticipate any pressure points. A No Regrets Dad and Husband keeps the family out of debt. A No Regrets Dad and Husband lets his wife and children into the interior of his life.

The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. A No Regrets Dad and Husband makes sure he and his wife have drawn up a will and arranged a well-conceived plan for their children in case of death. A No Regrets Dad and Husband praises his wife often in public. A No Regrets Dad and Husband explains sex to each child in a way that gives him or her a wholesome perspective.

A No Regrets Dad and Husband takes the lead in establishing with his wife clear and well-reasoned convictions. To him be glory both now and for ever. Because the LORD hath been witness between thee and the wife of thy youth, against whom thou hast dealt treacherously: A No Regrets Dad and Husband watches and learns from godly of men who are dedicated to improving their skills as husbands and fathers.

A No Regrets Dad and Husband provides time and encouragement for his wife to pursue personal interests. So, what are we to do to protect our marriages and families? Avoid at all costs being irresponsible! This husband or wife is nothing but a child in search of a mommy, and he seems to have found one in their marriage. They are thoroughly self-centered, but manages to appear to others as a loving and devoted partner.

This husband or wife is one of the most stable and even-tempered people most people know. They are often asked to serve on the boards of numerous organizations because of their organized mind and methodical way of making decisions. But they are about as detached and emotionally unavailable as a married person can get.