The Spiritual Growth of Children

PARENT’S GUIDE TO THE SPIRITUAL GROWTH OF CHILDREN

Helping your child develop a personal Faith

Gary Smalley (Author, speaker and founder of Smalley Relationship Center) says, “This book gives parents easy-to-use plans and ideas to help them pass on their Faith; this couldn’t come at a better time for our children and culture.”

Put together by Dr. John Trent, Rick Osborne and Kurt Bruner, this best-selling Guide from Focus On The Family is packed with information that will help you navigate your children spiritually from preplanning for parenthood right through to the early teens.

Faithful Grennies- Christian Work Form Home Moms highly recommended for parents who like to understand the process and develop an individual step-by-step plan that will work best for their family. See More

The Stained Glass Window

This poem is dedicated to Becky and the memory of her dear friend.

The Stained Glass Window

There's a huge hole in my chest and I can't breathe;
I've known for three days now and still can't believe.
Each time I try to swallow this lump in my throat,
It seems to get bigger and I think I will choke.

How many diamond shapes are in the stained glass window?
How many colors are there? I really need to know.
I've counted all the pews and the hymnals at their backs.
Their gold embossing's faded and the bindings are cracked.

Breathe in slowly while counting to ten.
Breathe out slowly while counting again.
Concentrate on the window while breathing in and out.
I still can't believe what this is all about.

What is he saying? I can't make out the words.
There are wails and sobs inside me, waiting to be heard.
Beneath the stained glass window is the casket of my friend.
We're burying her today, but is this really the end?

The Lord has promised a mansion to every one of us.
I know that He will keep His word for He is fair and just.
My best friend is in Heaven now; she had to go too soon.

But Jesus has given her free reign to decorate my room.
She knows my likes and dislikes; we have the same tastes.
We'll be together again in Heaven one day Thanks to Jesus' precious grace.

Terri Wright Copyright 1999

Morning Devtional

C.H. Spurgeon's Morning Devotional
Tuesday July 14, 2009

"If thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it."-Exodus 20:25

God's altar was to be built of unhewn stones, that no trace of human skill or labour might be seen upon it. Human wisdom delights to trim and arrange the doctrines of the cross into a system more artificial and more congenial with the depraved tastes of fallen nature; instead, however, of improving the gospel carnal wisdom pollutes it, until it becomes another gospel, and not the truth of God at all. All alterations and amendments of the Lord's own Word are defilements and pollutions. The proud heart of man is very anxious to have a hand in the justification of the soul before God; preparations for Christ are dreamed of, humblings and repentings are trusted in, good works are cried up, natural ability is much vaunted, and by all means the attempt is made to lift up human tools upon the divine altar. It were well if sinners would remember that so far from perfecting the Saviour's work, their carnal confidences only pollute and dishonour it. The Lord alone must be exalted in the work of atonement, and not a single mark of man's chisel or hammer will be endured. There is an inherent blasphemy in seeking to add to what Christ Jesus in His dying moments declared to be finished, or to improve that in which the Lord Jehovah finds perfect satisfaction. Trembling sinner, away with thy tools, and fall upon thy knees in humble supplication; and accept the Lord Jesus to be the altar of thine atonement, and rest in Him alone.

Many professors may take warning from this morning's text as to the doctrines which they believe. There is among Christians far too much inclination to square and reconcile the truths of revelation; this is a form of irreverence and unbelief, let us strive against it, and receive truth as we find it; rejoicing that the doctrines of the Word are unhewn stones, and so are all the more fit to build an altar for the Lord.

Belive In Yourself,

When you stop believing in yourself, so does everyone else.

The concept of self-empowerment is so self-elusive. Often times the individual loses their direction and focus in everyday life when so many outside dynamics and pressures displace themselves from who they are, placing upon them the emphasis of who they think they should be to meet those outside expectations.

You would not have the thought or the instinct if it were not natural to you. The doubt comes in when you second guess yourself and override your own inclinations. Self-believers are those who set the trend, those who have what you would call the entrepreneurial instinct. Responding to criticism stems from or began earlier on in your development, when you reached out for something to have a 'condition' placed upon what you were trying to obtain. It is your knowing, your dream and your ambition. It is also the 'inner you' that is trying to reach out for expression, the necessary expression for your spiritual survival and sense of security. Being accepted for who you are and how you are, and how you wish to dream and express is vital to your security and self-esteem.

The individual tries to manifest its divine or cosmic nature through objective, conscious decisions. This divine or cosmic nature is that which radiates from God, your sense of origin which is pervasive in all space and all things, having power, vitality, brilliance, truth and constructiveness. The objective perception is that based on externality and imposed consciousness of the physical world and other's expectations and personalized perceptions. As the individual becomes aware of his true inner essence and needs, the soul or inner-self conforms to that standard the individual has brought about through conscious decisions.

If one is not totally aware they then become the product of what they have chosen through objective manifestation. When the individual listens to their true self, their inner self and their inner needs which are derived of spirit, then they are on their rightful path. This is why listening to other's subjective reason and expectations will pull you away from yourself and enter yourself into conflict.

As the individual elevates his objective consciousness and becomes more 'in-tuned and sensitive' to their subjective needs, their conduct aligns with and begins to correspond to their natural needs and truer spirit-self. When the individual listens to the objective needs of others and their self, they become involved with the transient and mortal side of mankind. The basic essence of the individual is based in spirit and is not separable from its Creator. Learning to listen to that inner self and accept that true creational aspect of subjective self will bind them with the perfect that they are already naturally aligned with. This will lead them toward more fruitful and successful endeavors, bringing them enlightenment and happiness as they embrace their individuality.

This soul-self, the spirit-self is the perfect nature of each man. Therefore, the individual is designed to evolve more and more toward his real self, his spirit or cosmic self. This evolutionary process consists of the processes of seeking and learning to adapt the objective expectations of others to the subjective-spirit needs of the self. Self-belief is the process of learning to embrace your true inner expression of spirit-self. The inner you that you hear which speaks ever so silently to you each day.


By: David Reid Lowell

How to Keep Going when the Going Gets Tough

Spiritual Motivation: How to Keep Going when the Going Gets Tough
by Carisa Silvesan
Hebrew Chapter twelve, verse one through three says, "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on
Spiritual Motivation: How to Keep Going when the Going Gets Tough Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart."

The title in the NIV is "God Disciplines His Sons." Some might find the title alone a little frightening; thinking about the sandwich boards that read "sinners are going to hell" and the such. But, this discipline is not meant to punish us, but to mature us in everyway. It is done out of love to help us learn and grow in Christ.

We need to remember that there is a great witness around us. What is a witness? Someone who attests to something happening. But, when it comes to God there are more than just people who can witness to His existence. The wind, trees and life in general on this planet and in the universe attest to God in all His glory. It is helpful to take some time everyday and just look outside to admire all He has made and done.

Being surrounded by all this God has made, we should be willing to "throw off everything that hinders" us. What can hinder us? Well the obvious answer here is sin. Sin envelopes so many different things that it can easily become a hindrance to us and sometimes very quickly. Taking time to ask Christ to show us what we need to change and fix is key here.

We need forgiveness and help in changing and who better than our Maker. It is not only sin that can hinder us, but people too. Does this mean we should kick everyone out of our lives? Of course not, but if there is a particular person in your life that is hindering you from doing what God wants you to do, perhaps its time to re-evaluate your relationship with that person. Sit down and talk with them about how you feel. Let them understand that for you, a Christian, God comes first above all things.