Growing Children in the LORD

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1 Samuel 3:19
“And Samuel grew, and the LORD was with him, and did let none of his words fall to the ground.”

Throughout the Scriptures you will find that God began to work in the heart of His chosen when they were children. You must never underestimate God working in a child’s heart. Samuel was a child when God first spake to him, and from the first time to the end of his life he grew in the LORD.

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I Will Follow If…

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Luke 9:57
“And it came to pass, that, as they went in the way, a certain man said unto him, Lord, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest.”

The man in the verse above had great intentions, but when it came down to following up with his decision he failed. Jesus talked about three different people who said, “I will follow thee…” What these men were truly saying was, “I will follow if…” They had conditions to following Jesus. They would follow Jesus if all the right conditions were met.

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Dealing with Sorrow

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Mark 14:34
“And saith unto them, My soul is exceeding sorrowful unto death: tarry ye here, and watch.”

One of the great things about Jesus’ life on Earth is that He gave us an example of how to deal with every emotion. That is why Hebrews 4:15 says, “For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.” He completely understands everything you face because He was touched by every emotion that you will ever experience.

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Dealing With an Adversary​

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1 Samuel 1:6
“And her adversary also provoked her sore, for to make her fret, because the LORD had shut up her womb.”

Hannah nearly allowed her adversary to destroy her. You see some tragic steps she took that very nearly caused her to become a bitter woman in the end, but through the guiding hand of God she took some good steps that allowed her to come through her time of opposition with the blessings of God.

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The Fingerprint of Faith​

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Hebrews 11:1
“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

A fingerprint means that someone has been there. Whenever you see a fingerprint on a window, it reveals someone has been there. Hebrews 11 is the fingerprint of faith. Throughout this chapter, you can see when faith has left its fingerprint on someone’s life. Of course, you could study this fingerprint and come up with several results of the fingerprint of faith on someone’s life, but there are four glaring results that faith’s fingerprint leaves on one’s life.

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The Importance of My Work​

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Judges 9:9
“But the olive tree said unto them, Should I leave my fatness, wherewith by me they honour God and man, and go to be promoted over the trees?”

Israel was at an unstable time in their history. Abimelech violently took the throne of Israel by killing all of his brethren but one. The one brother, Jotham, after hearing of his brethren who were slain, went to the top of a hill and in an allegorical speech show Israel their foolishness in following Abimelech. Inside of this allegory is a hidden truth that can be applied to many areas of your life.

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Remembering Prayers​

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​​​​2 Timothy 1:3
“I thank God, whom I serve from my forefathers with pure conscience, that without ceasing I have remembrance of thee in my prayers night and day;”

Paul makes a bold statement about his prayer life when he says, “…without ceasing I have remembrance of thee in my prayers night and day;” Paul wanted to be an encouragement to Timothy, and he chose to be an encouragement to him by reminding him that he was remembered in his prayers. I’m sure this was a great encouragement for Timothy because Paul was his mentor in the ministry.

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Desiring a Good Thing​

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​​​​1 Timothy 3:1
“This is a true saying, If a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work.”

There used to be a day when homes and churches made an emphasis for young men to grow up and desire serving the LORD in the ministry. The programs of youth departments were geared towards sending young people off to become full-time servants of the LORD. Parents would often make it clear to their children that they wanted them to become full-time servants. Pastors would make calls for full-time service in their services. The result was that many young people surrendered to serve the LORD full-time, went off to get training and eventually became full-time servants of God.

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Family Declaration​

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​​​​Joshua 24:15
“And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”

The best family is the family that serves the LORD together. The strongest family is the family the serves the LORD. The closest family is the family that serves the LORD. The common denominator for an enjoyable and close family life is making the LORD the centerpiece of all that you do.

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Building Lifelong Relationships​

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​​​​Colossians 3:13
“Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye.”

You will sometimes hear people say, “Life would be good if it were not for people.” This may be true, but the problem is that interacting with people is part of our daily routine. These people make up all types of personalities and lifestyles, and some of those personalities and lifestyles will seem to clash with yours. If you are going to enjoy life, then you are going to have to learn to get along with others who don't do things like you, or with others with whom it is hard to get along.

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