School of Temptation

Do you ever wonder why temptation doesn't just flee? Why do we have to continually choose to stand against it?

Judges 3:1&2 tells us "These are the nations (temptations) that the Lord left in the land to test those Israelites who had not experienced the wars of Canaan.  He did this to teach warfare to generations of Israelites who had no experience in battle."

As a mom, I pray all the time that my children (spouse and self too) would be "easily entreated."  You see, I don't like trials and I don't want to go through them.  I just want to hear the Lord's voice and stay on His best path for my life to bring fruit to His kingdom.

The Israelites had a pattern, called the "sin cycle" that went something like this:

1.  The generation that saw His rescuing hand worshipped Him and kept His commands.
2.  The next generation, who didn't have that first hand knowledge, started to compromise.
3.  They started intermingling and worshipping other gods.
4.  God sent His punishment, usually in the form of an oppressor, to subdue them.
5.  They cried out to the real God for help and God sent them a rescuer.
6.  That generation followed Him.  Repeat cycle.

God, in His wisdom knows our human nature.  If our lives were easy, battle free, we too would grow complacent in our determination to set ourselves apart for Him.  Likewise, when we go through trials, our children see first hand how we handle it.  They see us on our knees and in the Word. They see us seeking His face.  Then they see His deliverance! Our children are learning the art of warfare, which they will pass on to their children, and so on.

God's plan is for us to be sharp, persistent and victorious. The trials will continue in the life, until we enter in to His final rest for us, but they are purposeful and He promises (1 Cor 10:13) He will not give us more than we can handle.

In a School Zone? – PRAY

"Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another; not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer; distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality." Romans 12:10-13 (NKJV)

There are two school zones in my neighborhood and soon to be a fire station too.   When I read Romans 12:10 I thought about what a special speaker at our church exhorted us to do concerning school zones.  He encouraged us to pray as we go through them.  Look at it as a blessing of time God has ordained for you to talk to Him!  Pray that the influence of Christ would be evident in the school and the kids who are followers of Christ would have boldness to share their faith.  Whether we bring our kids to school at Public, Private, Charter… or Homeschool we all have a wonderful commission or obligation to pray and be effective for the generations around us!

Turn that school-zone into a Prayer-zone!  YEAH!!!

Eager to get there

Last Monday Matthew started his first day of VPK (Voluntary Pre-Kindergarten).  I was unsure about how Matthew really felt about going to school but in an instant all of my insecurities vanished and turned to confidence when I heard Matthew’s eagerness to get to his school.  

They sought God eagerly, and he was found by them. So the LORD gave them rest on every side. 2 Chronicles 15:15

Even though we live about seven minutes away from his school, I didn’t take into account the well-planned-out times of school zoning around here.  Since we were super early I stopped into a shopping center to “waste” a couple of minutes.  I got out my Bible and read the kids a verse or two then from the backseat I heard, “Mommy, can we go to my school now?”  My nerves were put at ease, my prayer answered and our journey to the school resumed.  

And he said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.  Luke 22:15

Are we eager to get there?  I mean to heaven.  Heaven is a real place and it’s SO AWESOME!  I’ve been reading a book* lately on the subject of heaven and it has really opened my eyes to how much Scripture tells us about our eternal home.  Am I eager to share what I’ve learned with others?  Are you?  Just like the well-planned-out school zoning times, God has perfectly planned out the time when we will “enter in” and enjoy eternity.  

For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed.  Romans 8:19

Another quick note:  Each day when I pick up Matthew from school I ask him what he learned (he is only there three hours.) A few times he says he didn’t remember what he learned or what they did!  WHAT!? Can’t remember?  Then it hit me, wow, how many times do we go to church and then almost immediately forget what we just learned?  

Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.  Acts 17:11

*Book: Heaven by Randy Alcorn

Education at its Best

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline. Proverbs 1:7

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. Proverbs 9:10

I do not want to be a fool! I don’t want to do foolish things, and I don’t want to my kids to act like fools! I want wisdom, I crave understanding, and I desire to do what is right and best for me and my family. Many of you may know that I am in the process of homeschooling my four year old. Being that this is his preschool year, I am doing a hodge-podge of various curriculums to make sure that this year is fun and challenging for him. There are so many curriculums to choose from, and while I experience great freedom in selecting one that suits him best, I want to be careful to put Christ at the center of his education.

One curriculum that I really like for building a Biblical foundation for learning is My Father’s World. I by no means want to seem like I am advertising for them. There are pros and cons to this curriculum, and I often find that I have to supplement it with other things like math, phonics, etc. However, one thing the preschool and kindergarten curriculum really emphasizes is building a firm foundation in God’s word as well as exploring God’s wonderful creation. For example, one lesson is about leaves—there are science projects, art projects, songs, and letter recognition activities that center around leaves. BUT the one thing that stood out to me was this activity.

The gist of the activity is as follows: Go outside and collect a branch with multiple leaves on it. Bring it inside and talk about how the leaves are nourished by the nutrients in the branch. Then, we are supposed to talk about how the branch in our lives is God and his word, the Bible. We are supposed to remain connected to him so we can grow. The next part of the “experiment” gets really good. Next, we are supposed to ask our kids what they think will happen if the leaf decides it want to do its own thing and leave the branch. What if the leaf doesn’t want to be obedient anymore? What if the leaf thinks it can do better on its own…without anyone telling it what to do?

Notice here, we are just supposed to ask and not supply the answer. After they supply their own answers we pull a leaf off and observe. At first it looks just like the other leaves—healthy. As the week goes on, we observe the leaves on the branch versus the leaf by itself. Naturally, the lone leaf starts to shrivel and dry out. The other leaves that are connected to the branch still look pretty healthy. Then we discuss how when we decide that we know better than God, or we want to be God, or we don’t want to listen to God and the parents he gave us (i.e. we want to do our own thing) we suffer natural consequences for our rebellion. So while we are learning about leaves, enjoying God’s beautiful creation, and creating leaf collages, and making textured leaf paintings and drawings, and learning about the letter “L’, we are also learning how God holds everything together and that we should stay connected to Him.

I just want to encourage you to reflect on what the Bible tells us: No education is complete without knowledge of the Holy One. Our children’s every day education needs to point them to the awesomeness of an all-powerful Creator—thus giving meaning and relevance (i.e. what does this have to do with me?) to their education.
My agenda in homeschooling is to bring up kids with strong character, strong family support and relationships, and a love for learning. This is the route of schooling that God has placed on my heart. Your path may be a bit different, and that is OK. God may have directed you in a direction that looks far different from mine. I love that our walk with the Lord is so personal. So that being said, your kids may be in a public school, a charter school, a magnet school, a Montessori school, a secular private school, or a Christian private school. Whatever schooling route the Lord has placed upon your heart, I would encourage you to put Christ at the center of your child’s education—regardless of whether or not their school does so. This may require a lot of extra work on your end, but I guarantee you that you will reap the benefits of this and they will too.

Some Biblical Principles to consider:
Math—God is constant. Just as 1 +1 is always 2, God is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
Science—True science points to a highly intelligent, omniscient Creator.
Literature—God uses stories to teach us his truths
Grammar—God’s word is perfect. Clear language helps us better express His truths.
Social Studies—History tells us His story. When we veer from God’s plan, big messes happen (which we should not repeat). When we stay close to Him, beautiful milestones are left behind for others to follow.

These are just a few ideas. I encourage you to add to these and put them into practice.

Prayer:
Dear Father,
Thank you for the knowledge of you, the Holy One. May we seek your face in all things and put you at the center of our children’s’ education. Please guide us in the path of truth, and draw us closer to your heart. Change the way we think so that our thoughts please you. Help us make disciples of the next generation. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.