Post Mother's Day

I spent a few moments this week remembering mothers of the Bible.  Take a journey of warning or encouragement with me.

Sarah secured Abraham’s favor for Isaac over Ishmael as the son of promise.

Hagar prayed to God to remember her son Ishmael while perishing in the desert.

Rebekah favored her younger son Jacob over Esau.

Rachel was the first on record to lose her life in giving birth to Benjamin.

Jochebed knew Moses was special and hid him in a wicker basket on the Nile to save his life from the Pharaoh’s scheme to kill the Hebrew sons.

Bathsheba intervened to ensure Solomon succeeded David as king.

Hannah cried out to God persistently in her barrenness promising to give her boy in service if He would answer and so she did with Samuel.

Eunice and Lois were the godly mother and grandmother respectively whose sincere faith and wise instruction of Timothy resulted in the young man joining Paul and Silas to preach the gospel at ~15.

Salome was the mother of James, the early Jerusalem church leader, and John the disciple who Jesus loved and put in charge of His mother’s care.  We will hear today more about her bold prayer for her sons’ favor in the kingdom.

Elizabeth in her old age was blessed to train and raise the herald of the Christ, John the Baptizer.

And Mary, the revered mother of Jesus, we are assured loved, taught, nurtured the Son of Man all the way to His rightful place in God’s plan of man’s redemption.

Coach/PJ

Give Me A Break!

We often are prone to think we deserve a break.  We take work breaks, snack breaks, and look forward to spring and fall break and our favorite summer break (especially teachers and students).  In the area of our spiritual lives, I want to encourage you to guard against desiring a break in the following areas because that desire is not from any other than our enemy.
We should avoid:
1. Time away from God’s Word—that is like skipping meals during the day
2. Prayer breaks—that would be like not speaking to a family member or to your parents
3. Time away from church—which could be comparable to leaving for the summer and not see-ing your family
4. Taking a break in giving—which is literally robbing God (Malachi 3:8)
5. Not sharing our faith—comparable to allowing dozens per day just to walk into eternity with-out Christ because we are afraid, lazy or unconcerned.
6. Skipping opportunities to serve another—might be comparable to a soldier going AWOL
Have a great summer!  Invest any free time to strengthen your daily walk with the Lord!  You will experience noticeable dividends!
Coach/PJ