Take inventory

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Fathers, do not provoke your children, lest they become discouraged.  --Colossians 3:21 When it comes to disciplining your children, do you ever find yourself majoring in minors? Parents have to be very careful not to break a child’s spirit by constantly finding fault, nagging, and criticizing. In discipline, you and I are to be reasonable, right, respectful, and real. Now I’m not saying that you should be lacking in discipline. Yes, you should establish firm, age-appropriate guidelines for your children. And sometimes correction and consequences are a part of parenting. But, many kids are hassled and provoked because parents worry about things that don’t mean anything. Some parents are more interested in pushing their kids to the top of the success ladder at school or in athletics than seeing them succeed spiritually. Are you guilty? According to our verse today, we are not to “provoke” our children. Don’t worry so much about the things that have little impact on eternity, on their moral character, or on their spiritual strength. We shouldn’t push our children to succeed because of our own failures. Nor should we use our children to compete against others. Today I want to ask you to take inventory. When it comes to parenting, are you majoring on the minors… or majoring on what’s most important?   Take inventory of the priorities you have for your children. is their spiritual character on the list?

The Center of Our Lives

by Dr. Paul Chappell

“Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory? And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.”
Luke 24:25–27

On the Mount of Transfiguration, for a brief moment the true glory of Jesus Christ was revealed to Peter, James and John. They were startled to see Moses and Elijah talking to the Lord, and Peter in his typical impetuous fashion suggested building houses and staying there on the mountain. But the point of that revelation was not for them to remain and be impressed by meeting two of the most famous figures of the Old Testament. The point was to show a glimpse of the reality of Jesus’ glory, and in the end, that is what the three disciples were left with from their experience. “And suddenly, when they had looked round about, they saw no man any more, save Jesus only with themselves” (Mark 9:8).
Jesus is meant to be and must be the center of our lives, our thoughts and our love. He is the central theme of the Bible. Dr. John Rice said, “Every prophet in the Bible has one great theme: Jesus and salvation. You will find that in Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. You will find that in all the types, in all the sacrifices and priesthood and tabernacle offerings. You find it prophesied by every prophet in the Old Testament and the New. There is one great theme of the Bible and that is Jesus Christ.” We cannot possibly love Jesus as much as we should or as much as He deserves, but we can do everything possible to keep Him as the main focus and love of our lives.
 

Today’s Growth Principle: 

When you make Jesus the center of your life, the circumference will take care of itself.