Needed at Home

O Lord, may your purpose be fulfilled in my life today-to love You completely, to love myself correctly, and to love others compassionately. Amen.More...


I awakened early this morning, about 3:30am, thinking of TJ. I texted him to make sure he was ok. He texted back and said he was fine, just dealing with bad roads and worse drivers. I prayed for God to watch over him. I am still having times of struggling with myself. I know this is to be expected and to try to be patient, I am hard on myself though.

Today's focus is on the family.
"Children, obey your parents in the Lord, because this is right." Ephesians 6:1

The following is taken from The Gift the New Testament For New Believers.
Your family is your proving ground, where early morning moods and unsightly closets leave no place for Christian beliefs to hide behind, no words to sugarcoat the bald-faced lives we lead when the outside world is out of earshot...which can be a little scary.
But your family is also your training ground, where you can share life's most everyday challenges and experiences in the comfort of each other's company, where you can work through your shyness for bringing Sunday morning ideals into daily life by discovering how to pray as a family, how to use the Bible as a measuring stick, how o create a safe place for even the most childlike questions.
When Christ is given permission to make Himself at home at your house, you'll take pains to love your wife or husband more, to be more patient with others' mistakes, to be quicker to admit your own fault and to ask for forgiveness. You'll bite your tongue, you'll work for everyone's good, you'll give when you're tired and cranky. You'll grow. Together.

Ephesians 6:1-4
The process of discipleship can change the way you think, helping you start paying attention to the important things in life--like the most important people in the world, for example--the ones God has placed right in your living room.

Oh, how true this is. I took so much for granted. I lived a lie, I could be patient with most everyone else, but not my own family. I am ashamed to admit this, but it is true. I am beginning to see just how important my family is to me and to be truly thankful for the opportunity to have them in my life. God placed them in my life and I took them for granted. O Heavenly Father, I pray for forgiveness and look forward to the times when I can demonstrate just how important they are to me, for they are gifts from You, O God. Thank you, Lord, for this opportunity to come to understand my shortcomings and for the opportunity for You to change me. Amen.

"Children, obey your parents in the Lord, because this is right. Honor your father and mother--which is the first commandment with a promise--that it may go well with you and that you may have a long life in the land. And fathers, don't stir up anger in your children, but bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord." Ephesians 6:1-4