"...And he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared."
[Luke 1:17 (ESV)]
I love that phrase and passage. It comes from an Old Testament passage from Malachi. It is describing the coming of John (The Baptizer) and his job description. Isn't it interesting that a father's heart aimed at his children is a major indicator that a man is living like He's ready for the coming of Jesus?
Here's a simple litmus test for us dads who want to live like we're living for Jesus:
"How much focused time & energy do I spend towards my kids in comparison to my other desires?"
It's not about bible studies, breakfasts, sermons, events, church volunteer work, sports, TV, Facebook, phonecalls, coaching, working, schooling, hobbies, etc. Grow up and realize that THAT STUFF SHOULD COME AFTER THE FAMILY!
"What am I leading better than my kid's?"
Love & lead your kids like nothing else because this will leave the greatest, longest, and largest impact and my guess is that it will bring the most rewarding life too. Trust God's Word enough to live it out.
Being The Man of The House (Competing Desires)
Good Morning Class, Time For A Pop Quiz
If the aforementioned title scares you, continue reading for some help:
"22 I did this to test Israel—to see whether or not they would follow the ways of the Lord as their ancestors did."23 That is why the Lord left those nations in place. He did not quickly drive them out or allow Joshua to conquer them all...4 These people were left to test the Israelites—to see whether they would obey the commands the Lord had given to their ancestors through Moses." [Judges 2:22-23, 3:4 (NLT)]
I was reminded (again) of the importance of the little pop quizzes (aka. pivotal moments) that God allows/orchestrates in our lives. He's been doing it since the beginning, you know! The whole run-in with the fruit and Adam & Eve wasn't some sort of accident it was their pop-quiz; a pivotal moment that could only end in 1 of 2 ways: pass or fail. They obviously failed. (And the funny thing is that it wasn't one of those "trick" quizzes that aren't even on the material covered in class, it was right out of the Teacher's mouth.) And, as I'm reading the book of Judges
The only people who don't like these "pop quizzes" are the people that don't understand that a pop quiz is the best way to see if we've got this whole free-will-love-and-trust-in-God-thing down. There is always a purpose behind it; if God has everything in control, then he is orchestrating the pivotal moment(s) that faces you right now.
It's time for a pop-quiz. Are you going to pass or fail?
Put Your iTunes Library Online
Thanks to Lala.com now you can put your entire music library online. You can also download your Lala library to your iTunes library. Now your music libraries will be sync'd...for FREE!
check out Lala for the details.
IMPORTANT UPDATE: it's not a true backup, so don't get rid of your regular backups.
