Category Archives: Family

Children, Drunkenness

The Wedding At Cana

The documented story of the wedding in Cana is very interesting to me. There are at least two elements which stand out… excluding the miracle itself which also demonstrates the power of Yeshua directly.

First, Yeshua had not planned to get involved in this matter. However, when Mary, His mother, petitioned Him to get involved, He did so. It seems that He gave consideration and respect to His mother even though her request was different than His plan.

Second, Yeshua confirms in this scripture that drinking alcohol is acceptable, even though drunkenness is sin. Clearly if drinking wine was sinful, then Yeshua would not make wine. I have actually heard someone argue that the wine may not have been fermented, but this is absurd. The wine steward basically states that he is surprised because it is typical to serve the good wine first… because after people have had some alcohol to drink, they can’t tell as much if the wine brought out later is poorer in quality.

For the record, I say this from the perspective of someone who does not drink alcohol, so I am not simply rationalizing my own preference. Note that drunkenness is not good, as stated elsewhere in the scriptures such as proverbs amongst other places. If you struggle with drinking too much, consider just stopping all together. There is no requirement to drink alcohol.

John 2:1-12

Miracle at Cana

      1On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there; 2and both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding. 3When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to Him, “They have no wine.” 4And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does that have to do with us? My hour has not yet come.” 5His mother said to the servants, “Whatever He says to you, do it.” 6Now there were six stone waterpots set there for the Jewish custom of purification, containing twenty or thirty gallons each. 7Jesus said to them, “Fill the waterpots with water.” So they filled them up to the brim. 8And He said to them, “Draw some out now and take it to the headwaiter.” So they took it to him. 9When the headwaiter tasted the water which had become wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the headwaiter called the bridegroom, 10and said to him, “Every man serves the good wine first, and when the people have drunk freely, then he serves the poorer wine; but you have kept the good wine until now.” 11This beginning of His signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory, and His disciples believed in Him.

      12After this He went down to Capernaum, He and His mother and His brothers and His disciples; and they stayed there a few days.

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Do you know for sure if you will go to heaven or hell when you die? Are you experiencing in your life the peace and joy of a personal relationship with our Creator and Father? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

Divorce, Guide, Hebrew Roots / Commands / Law, Loving / Kind, Marriage

What God Has Joined, Let No Man Separate

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YHWH does not want divorce. Further, when divorce happens, He does not want divorce to be frivolous. He put forth laws to protect people for when the sinful practice of divorce takes place because of the hardness of the people’s hearts. But he also sets up guidance to protect people and to help marriage be successful.

Matthew 19:3-9

  3Some Pharisees came to Jesus, testing Him and asking, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason at all?” 4And He answered and said, “Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning MADE THEM MALE AND FEMALE, 5and said, ‘FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER AND BE JOINED TO HIS WIFE, AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH’? 6“So they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.” 7They said to Him, “Why then did Moses command to GIVE HER A CERTIFICATE OF DIVORCE AND SEND her AWAY?” 8He said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart Moses permitted you to divorce your wives; but from the beginning it has not been this way. 9“And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.”

It is interesting that Yeshua calls out “except for immorality”. That should tell us something about how He feels about immorality, which is referring to sexual relations with other than spouse in this case.

YHWH set forth laws to help guide people to right behavior. Marriage should only be entered into with great seriousness and prayer. The law at first is often misunderstood as a means for a man to divorce his wife. This is not the case. Rather the opposite, this is to protect the women. The law requires that there is cause, not just “I don’t like her”. It calls for identifying “indecency” in her. It requires a formal process with witnesses and documentation through a certificate of divorce so it can not be done verbally in haste or anger. There are permanent consequences. You can not remarry once you cast her off once.  Overall, by allowing divorce, it also allows a way out for the woman who may otherwise be trapped under the potential oppression of a man who may be hard on her because he does not love her.

Deuteronomy 24:1-5

Law of Divorce

    1“When a man takes a wife and marries her, and it happens that she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some indecency in her, and he writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out from his house, 2and she leaves his house and goes and becomes another man’s wife, 3and if the latter husband turns against her and writes her a certificate of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out of his house, or if the latter husband dies who took her to be his wife, 4then her former husband who sent her away is not allowed to take her again to be his wife, since she has been defiled; for that is an abomination before the LORD, and you shall not bring sin on the land which the LORD your God gives you as an inheritance.

      5“When a man takes a new wife, he shall not go out with the army nor be charged with any duty; he shall be free at home one year and shall give happiness to his wife whom he has taken.

I really appreciate verse 5, which we should be careful not to overlook. It really is simple and wise guidance. Often today, many put themselves in a position to disregard this by their own choosing. YHWH knows that newlyweds need time to bond and grow together in their relationship. They should take care not to put themselves in positions where they are separated for long periods of time early in their marriage in particular.  Some do this for military, some for other jobs, some for schooling… but it is not a good idea. Others may not separate by distance, but they separate by busyness. They each get so busy in their own lives, each working different jobs perhaps, that they don’ t invest time together to build their relationship. It is very important to establish a good foundation in marriage and then continue investing in it over time.

Let us enter into marriage with great thought and prayer. For those of us who follow Yeshua, let us remember His instruction… divorce was never intended in God’s plan, but rather was allowed due to the hardness of our own hearts. It is better to not divorce in almost all circumstances.

Matthew 19:4-6

4And He answered and said, “Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning MADE THEM MALE AND FEMALE, 5and said, ‘FOR THIS REASON A MAN SHALL LEAVE HIS FATHER AND MOTHER AND BE JOINED TO HIS WIFE, AND THE TWO SHALL BECOME ONE FLESH’? 6“So they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.”

For more perspective on marriage and some resources to help you invest in your marriage, even if it is going well right now, check out our page on Building Your Marriage.

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Do you know for sure if you will go to heaven or hell when you die? Are you experiencing in your life the peace and joy of a personal relationship with our Creator and Father? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

Children, Father / Yahweh, Fear / Reverence for God, Loving / Kind, Parenting, Worthy of Fear / Reverence

YHWH Is A Loving Father

My loving wife gave me a card this morning. I opened it just after praying for my wife and children and for our nation and Christian brothers and sisters around the world. There were two scriptures, one from Psalms and one from Proverbs that really struck me as if from the Holy Spirit Himself. They were in part a direct confirmation of some of the things I pray for daily. Guidance and obedience for me in leading my family under God’s authority and for my children that they would know the Lord and know Him joyfully.

Proverbs 14:26

    26In the fear of the LORD there is strong confidence,
And his children will have refuge.

All of us who are parents and love the Lord want our children to have refuge in Him, to have relationship with Him. Our first step in this direction is to fear the Lord ourselves. This does not mean to fear Him as a scary and mean person, but rather as one might fear a father whom we know will discipline those He loves when they do wrong. Yet at the same time, He will give us and our family refuge.

Psalm 37:23-24

      23The steps of a man are established by the LORD,
And He delights in his way.

      24When he falls, he will not be hurled headlong,
Because the LORD is the One who holds his hand.

No matter how much we may think we are in control of our own steps, for those of us who submit to YHWH, our loving Father, He establishes our steps and delights in us. When we make mistakes, we have a loving Father holding our hand so we do not fall headlong but rather He helps us recover from our stumble.

What a beautiful picture of our loving Father and example of the type of Father He wants us to be to our children.

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Do you know for sure if you will go to heaven or hell when you die? Are you experiencing in your life the peace and joy of a personal relationship with our Creator and Father? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

Children, Guide, Marriage, Parenting

God’s Instruction On Family Relations Is Actually Clear

Our culture is so far off from YHWH’s design that even people who claim to follow Christ, often want to pick and choose which scripture “they agree with” and which they don’t. This is not the way. Seeking to understand scripture through study and prayer when it may not make sense to us…that is good. Recognize, though, that in these circumstances it may be you and I that need to change and not the instruction of YHWH.

As an example, many women really struggle at the concept of “wives be subject to your husbands” and want to find a way around submitting to the leadership of their husband, but then want the husband to “love your wife” and children to “be obedient to your parents”. Perhaps some men want to have wives submit, but not really love their wives the way YHWH calls them to.

Colossians 3:18-25

Family Relations

       18Wives, be subject to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. 19Husbands, love your wives and do not be embittered against them. 20Children, be obedient to your parents in all things, for this is well-pleasing to the Lord. 21Fathers, do not exasperate your children, so that they will not lose heart.

      22Slaves, in all things obey those who are your masters on earth, not with external service, as those who merely please men, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. 23Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men, 24knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve. 25For he who does wrong will receive the consequences of the wrong which he has done, and that without partiality.

The point is simply that we should accept all of scripture. YHWH’s design for family is wonderful. Keep in mind that the framework around this family model includes the beginning of chapter 3 as well, in which we are to each become new in Christ. This foundational to making the family model work as YHWH intends. We become more like Him and less selfish.

Do not seek to redefine YHWH’s word by trying to find “loopholes” for how we are to behave. Instead seek to transform yourself in Christ and study the word to understand it more clearly. Submit to Christ and obey His instruction, even if you don’t agree. Pray and seek discernment to increase in understanding of the scriptures.

The path to change your life to be more like YHWH desires is not always easy, but obedience is good and a primary way we truly show love for Him. (There are many scriptures where YHWH equates loving Him to obeying His commands. You can search for them if you like with a search engine.)

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Do you know for sure if you will go to heaven or hell when you die? Are you experiencing in your life the peace and joy of a personal relationship with our Creator and Father? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

Father / Yahweh, Guide, Hearing from God, Hebrew Roots / Commands / Law, His Ways Are Not Our Ways, Holy, Holy / Set Apart, Idols / False Gods, Marriage, Obeying God, Protector / Deliverer, Righteous, Through Prophets, Worldliness

Tolerance of Sin Is Not A Virtue

YHWH does not consider tolerance of worship of false gods to be a virtue. This may come as quite a hard message for many who are desensitized by worldly influences which constantly preach tolerance of all types of sin as if it is a virtue.

Deuteronomy 7:1-6

     1“When the LORD your God brings you into the land where you are entering to possess it, and clears away many nations before you, the Hittites and the Girgashites and the Amorites and the Canaanites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and stronger than you, 2and when the LORD your God delivers them before you and you defeat them, then you shall utterly destroy them. You shall make no covenant with them and show no favor to them. 3“Furthermore, you shall not intermarry with them; you shall not give your daughters to their sons, nor shall you take their daughters for your sons. 4“For they will turn your sons away from following Me to serve other gods; then the anger of the LORD will be kindled against you and He will quickly destroy you. 5“But thus you shall do to them: you shall tear down their altars, and smash their sacred pillars, and hew down their Asherim, and burn their graven images with fire. 6“For you are a holy people to the LORD your God; the LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for His own possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.

YHWH inherently recognizes and warns His people not to intermarry and not to accept their false gods and worship practices. He instructs His people to tear down even their altars and pillars and idols.

Why?

Because these things are dedicated to sinful worship of false gods. Their continued existence, certainly with intermarriage, will draw some of YHWH’s people away from Him into false worship of worthless things. It separates YHWH from His people.

The same is still true today. Tolerating sin generally, and tolerating the worship of false religions or gods specifically, is not a virtue, but rather a trap. It separates YHWH from His people and leads to destruction for those individuals. We do not help them by tolerating and accepting their false beliefs and idols. We certainly don’t help those that are to come later by leaving all the pagan temples and idols around for them to consider in the future.

YHWH instructed His people rather directly and boldly to be set apart from these things and maintain a very important separation from those things which would in turn separate YHWH from His people. He did so for their benefit, not His. We should apply this principle still today with vigilance.

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Do you know for sure if you will go to heaven or hell when you die? Are you experiencing in your life the peace and joy of a personal relationship with our Creator and Father? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.
Adultery / Sex Outside Marriage, Children, Envy / Jealousy / Coveting, Family, Forgive Others / Seek Forgiveness, Grace / Forgiveness, Love, Lying / Deceiving, Marriage, Murder, Obeying God, Parenting, Repenting from Sin, Righteousness / Serving God, Sin, Stealing / Theft

You Shall Love Your Neighbor As Yourself

For those of you who read our article yesterday, the introduction to this companion article will be redundant, but we pivot to focus on the last 6 commandments in this article where we focused on the first 4 yesterday. (You Shall Love The Lord Your God With All Your Heart)

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The ten commandments do not represent the sum total of God’s law or instruction for His people. However. He saw fit to focus on these 10 as He addressed the people. Much more detail was shared with the people through Moses and is available for us to study and learn in scripture. The point is, that learning and obeying these 10 commandments is not sufficient but it is a good place to start.

Some immediately want to say that this is out of date, “Didn’t Jesus say to love God and love others was all we need to do?”

Matthew 22:34-40

     34But when the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered themselves together. 35One of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, 36“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37And He said to him, “ ‘YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.’ 38“This is the great and foremost commandment. 39“The second is like it, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’ 40“On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”

Context is important. This is not a new commandment replacing the others. Jesus lived obeying the law of Moses and quoting from it in His teaching. He explicitly said He did not come to change the law.

Matthew 5:17-19

      17“Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. 18“For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished. 19“Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

What Jesus is essentially saying is that He can summarize God’s instruction down to loving God and loving one another. However, we don’t get to define what that means on our terms. All too often people today define that as accepting sin and encouraging people that they do not have to repent of sin to be in right relationship with God. God already defined what it means to love God and love one another. As a starting point, we can use the 10 commandments. The first four are about our relationship with God and the next 6 are about our relationship with each other. This is not an all inclusive list, but it is a good place to start and to a health check on our relationship with God and others. We focus today on our relationship with others.

Deuteronomy 5:16-21 (the last six commandments)

    16‘Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD your God has commanded you, that your days may be prolonged and that it may go well with you on the land which the LORD your God gives you.

      17‘You shall not murder.

      18‘You shall not commit adultery.

      19‘You shall not steal.

      20‘You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

      21‘You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, and you shall not desire your neighbor’s house, his field or his male servant or his female servant, his ox or his donkey or anything that belongs to your neighbor.’

Let us first observe that loving God comes first, before loving others. This is true in the order in which the commandments were given by God and also the order in which Jesus spoke about them… love God and love one another… the order is important.

Honor your father and your mother. God has commanded us to honor our parents. In particular this is important for children when they are in the care of their parents before they grow in wisdom and relationship with the Lord. Their parents are there to protect and provide for and guide them. Even as adults we should honor father and mother. Children do not need to agree with parents in order to honor them.

You shall not murder. Too often this is mistranslated as “do not kill”. There is a difference between killing (e.g. in self defense) and murder. God’s people were often called to defend their nation in battle or to take the promised land at God’s command. God Himself provided a legal system in which some offenses are punishable by death. These are not the same as murder even though people die. On the other hand, abortion is the taking of an innocent life… it is murder. This will be tough for many to accept and internalize. However, keep in mind that Christ has died for our sins and so we can be forgiven.

You shall not commit adultery. Sadly, this should be obvious to anyone who loves their spouse, but our culture seems to be less and less concerned with calling out this sin. It is almost accepted as not ideal or flattering, but commonplace. It really should be considered a terrible offense and not lessened in significance just because so many fail in this area. It rips apart marriage, which is intended as a very close, personal bond between a man and a woman for life. It rips apart and damages families and children. It is very destructive on our society and culture.

You shall not steal. We do not love others by taking what is theirs. That is extremely selfish and hurtful.

Thou shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. Do not lie to get someone else in trouble. Speak the truth and treat people honestly and with integrity.

You shall not covet. Coveting is an everyday part of our lives. For America, and much of the world, it is the new favorite national pastime. Marketing constantly tries to make us covet what others have so we go buy it. People go deep into debt buying things they don’t need and can’t afford (e.g. houses, cars, clothes, phones, anything and everything) because they covet. People hate others and resent others because they covet. Do not let this sin sneak into your life because it is so accepted in our culture. Look for it and ask for God’s help for you to be content rather than coveting.

Think you are scoring well? Let’s take a look at how Jesus told us to judge against these commandments.

Matthew 5:21-22, 27-28

      21“You have heard that the ancients were told, ‘YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT MURDER’ and ‘Whoever commits murder shall be liable to the court.’ 22“But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, ‘You good-for-nothing,’ shall be guilty before the supreme court; and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell.

      27“You have heard that it was said, ‘YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY’; 28but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

Jesus shows us how high God’s standards are. We don’t get to redefine them so they are easy just because we fail. They are the righteous standard and good reference point to measure our progress in becoming more like Christ and less like the world. It should be clear by now that we all truly need the grace of Christ’s offer of forgiveness through grace by faith based on His death on the cross for us. None of us can meet God’s holy standard.

Consider this a health check on your relationship with God and others. Do you love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength? Do you love others as yourself? Most of us would admit we have further to go to live up to this standard… and we need God’s help to get there. Ask for Him to help you love Him more. Then look to understand more about how to demonstrate love for God through your decisions and attitudes of submission and obedience to Him.

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Do you know for sure if you will go to heaven or hell when you die? Are you experiencing in your life the peace and joy of a personal relationship with our Creator and Father? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

Children, Compassionate, Faith / Trusting God, His Ways Are Not Our Ways, Loving / Kind, Parenting

Let The Children Come

It is too easy for us to get busy and focus on our activities and needs… our task list. We are busy. We have lots to do. Yeshua certainly did as well, and His mission was limited to nominally 3 years and was much more important than ours. He still made time for children to come to Him. He loves children. In fact, He even takes the opportunity to make a teachable moment of it.

Luke 18:16

  15And they were bringing even their babies to Him so that He would touch them, but when the disciples saw it, they began rebuking them. 16But Jesus called for them, saying, “Permit the children to come to Me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. 17“Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all.”

Not only does Yeshua receive the children, He makes a lesson out of it. Children accept and trust more easily than most adults. When we teach them about YHWH, they accept much more readily than adults who have become cynical because of the ways of men or have been taught to find their own way. We must all become more simple and trusting in our relationship with YHWH if we are to receive the kingdom of God.

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Do you know for sure if you will go to heaven or hell when you die? Are you experiencing in your life the peace and joy of a personal relationship with our Creator and Father? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

Disobeying, Rebelling Against, Ignoring God, Hebrew Roots / Commands / Law, Obeying God, Parenting, Traditions / Holidays

Will You Follow The Traditions of Man? or God?

It is important to remember what Jehovah has done for us. He is our Creator and Lord. He is all powerful, all knowing, and present at all times in all places. Still He takes time to know each one of us and He loves each one of us as a father. Sometimes He dwells on a certain instruction to emphasize it so that we pay attention and do not miss it. Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread is one of those.  As we read through Exodus 12, we experience God’s instruction about celebrating these as remembrance of God setting His people free from bondage in Egypt.

Given how much the Christian church today distances itself from these God-commanded celebrations, we may be tempted to think… “Ok, glad I am done with Exodus 12 and can get on with the story.” God however, is not done commanding and emphasizing to us that we should celebrate Passover and Feast of Unleavened bread in remembrance of His actions on behalf of His people. He comes back to it in Exodus 13.

Exodus 13:1-16

Consecration of the Firstborn

      1Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 2“Sanctify to Me every firstborn, the first offspring of every womb among the sons of Israel, both of man and beast; it belongs to Me.”

      3Moses said to the people, “Remember this day in which you went out from Egypt, from the house of slavery; for by a powerful hand the LORD brought you out from this place. And nothing leavened shall be eaten. 4“On this day in the month of Abib, you are about to go forth. 5“It shall be when the LORD brings you to the land of the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Amorite, the Hivite and the Jebusite, which He swore to your fathers to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey, that you shall observe this rite in this month. 6“For seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, and on the seventh day there shall be a feast to the LORD. 7“Unleavened bread shall be eaten throughout the seven days; and nothing leavened shall be seen among you, nor shall any leaven be seen among you in all your borders. 8“You shall tell your son on that day, saying, ‘It is because of what the LORD did for me when I came out of Egypt.’ 9“And it shall serve as a sign to you on your hand, and as a reminder on your forehead, that the law of the LORD may be in your mouth; for with a powerful hand the LORD brought you out of Egypt. 10“Therefore, you shall keep this ordinance at its appointed time from year to year.

      11“Now when the LORD brings you to the land of the Canaanite, as He swore to you and to your fathers, and gives it to you, 12you shall devote to the LORD the first offspring of every womb, and the first offspring of every beast that you own; the males belong to the LORD. 13“But every first offspring of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb, but if you do not redeem it, then you shall break its neck; and every firstborn of man among your sons you shall redeem. 14“And it shall be when your son asks you in time to come, saying, ‘What is this?’ then you shall say to him, ‘With a powerful hand the LORD brought us out of Egypt, from the house of slavery. 15‘It came about, when Pharaoh was stubborn about letting us go, that the LORD killed every firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man and the firstborn of beast. Therefore, I sacrifice to the LORD the males, the first offspring of every womb, but every firstborn of my sons I redeem.’ 16“So it shall serve as a sign on your hand and as phylacteries on your forehead, for with a powerful hand the LORD brought us out of Egypt.”

You may find yourself asking, “Why is this so important to God? The church has not taught me to celebrate it.” God tells us why it is important to Him… the church is wrong not to teach Jesus’ followers to honor Passover and Feast of Unleavened Bread.

 8“You shall tell your son on that day, saying, ‘It is because of what the LORD did for me when I came out of Egypt.’ 9“And it shall serve as a sign to you on your hand, and as a reminder on your forehead, that the law of the LORD may be in your mouth; for with a powerful hand the LORD brought you out of Egypt. 10“Therefore, you shall keep this ordinance at its appointed time from year to year.

and again…

 14“And it shall be when your son asks you in time to come, saying, ‘What is this?’ then you shall say to him, ‘With a powerful hand the LORD brought us out of Egypt, from the house of slavery. 15‘It came about, when Pharaoh was stubborn about letting us go, that the LORD killed every firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man and the firstborn of beast. Therefore, I sacrifice to the LORD the males, the first offspring of every womb, but every firstborn of my sons I redeem.’ 16“So it shall serve as a sign on your hand and as phylacteries on your forehead, for with a powerful hand the LORD brought us out of Egypt.”

Our heavenly Father wants us to remember His love and power in setting His people free from bondage in Egypt. Although we could have a longer discussion on how to celebrate today, it really should be a short discussion regarding whether or not we should celebrate today… God said we should. Once we make the decision to do it, then we take the next step and begin to study how… that is the journey my family and I are on today. We find great joy in obeying God’s instruction more completely and as we do it also becomes more evident the power of God’s plan even to teach our children about His power and love for us.

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Have you submitted your life to Jesus Christ? Are you living today filled with the peace and joy of truly knowing and following Jesus Christ? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.

Consequences of Sin, Family, Father / Yahweh, Loving / Kind

The Father Loves Us and Guides Us

Numbers 26 records results of a census indicating the number of the Israelites by family. At first glance it may seem unimportant or lacking in significance to any application in our lives today. I have learned to try to resist this type of thinking and seek to find the relevance within.

Several things come to mind…

God values the family structure. It is foundational to His people. Our culture today tries to pull down the family structure. The role of father and mother are blended or downplayed. Children are expected to be just placed in public schools or daycare to be raised instead of being raised by their mother and father or extended family. We often are encouraged to focus on “making our own way” rather than caring for and listening to our elders in the family. Our allegiance should always be to Christ over family and to help our brothers and sisters in Christ as our family, but we should take care to respect and not neglect our biological family relationships.

God chose to be involved in the distribution of the promised land to the families and individuals. He is not disinterested in financial aspects of our lives nor is He disinterested in the details of our lives. He provides a framework to guide us and continues to remain personally involved… if we seek Him and invite Him in to our lives. He is not  a “far off, way too busy God” who has no time or interest in us.  He is a loving and kind, involved Father.

God holds to His word and there are consequences to us when we disobey. We are reminded toward the end of the chapter about those who refused to obey the Lord. The Lord held them accountable as He said. None of them survived to see the promised land.

Overall this theme reminds me of His role as Father. He provided guidance and leadership. He holds us accountable for rebellion against Him. He is loving and kind and involved in the lives of His children.

Numbers 26

Census of a New Generation

     1Then it came about after the plague, that the LORD spoke to Moses and to Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest, saying, 2“Take a census of all the congregation of the sons of Israel from twenty years old and upward, by their fathers’ households, whoever is able to go out to war in Israel.” 3So Moses and Eleazar the priest spoke with them in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, saying, 4“Take a census of the people from twenty years old and upward, as the LORD has commanded Moses.”
Now the sons of Israel who came out of the land of Egypt were:

      5Reuben, Israel’s firstborn, the sons of Reuben: of Hanoch, the family of the Hanochites; of Pallu, the family of the Palluites; 6of Hezron, the family of the Hezronites; of Carmi, the family of the Carmites. 7These are the families of the Reubenites, and those who were numbered of them were 43,730. 8The son of Pallu: Eliab. 9The sons of Eliab: Nemuel and Dathan and Abiram. These are the Dathan and Abiram who were called by the congregation, who contended against Moses and against Aaron in the company of Korah, when they contended against the LORD, 10and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up along with Korah, when that company died, when the fire devoured 250 men, so that they became a warning. 11The sons of Korah, however, did not die.

      12The sons of Simeon according to their families: of Nemuel, the family of the Nemuelites; of Jamin, the family of the Jaminites; of Jachin, the family of the Jachinites; 13of Zerah, the family of the Zerahites; of Shaul, the family of the Shaulites. 14These are the families of the Simeonites, 22,200.

      15The sons of Gad according to their families: of Zephon, the family of the Zephonites; of Haggi, the family of the Haggites; of Shuni, the family of the Shunites; 16of Ozni, the family of the Oznites; of Eri, the family of the Erites; 17of Arod, the family of the Arodites; of Areli, the family of the Arelites. 18These are the families of the sons of Gad according to those who were numbered of them, 40,500.

      19The sons of Judah were Er and Onan, but Er and Onan died in the land of Canaan. 20The sons of Judah according to their families were: of Shelah, the family of the Shelanites; of Perez, the family of the Perezites; of Zerah, the family of the Zerahites. 21The sons of Perez were: of Hezron, the family of the Hezronites; of Hamul, the family of the Hamulites. 22These are the families of Judah according to those who were numbered of them, 76,500.

      23The sons of Issachar according to their families: of Tola, the family of the Tolaites; of Puvah, the family of the Punites; 24of Jashub, the family of the Jashubites; of Shimron, the family of the Shimronites. 25These are the families of Issachar according to those who were numbered of them, 64,300.

      26The sons of Zebulun according to their families: of Sered, the family of the Seredites; of Elon, the family of the Elonites; of Jahleel, the family of the Jahleelites. 27These are the families of the Zebulunites according to those who were numbered of them, 60,500.

      28The sons of Joseph according to their families: Manasseh and Ephraim. 29The sons of Manasseh: of Machir, the family of the Machirites; and Machir became the father of Gilead: of Gilead, the family of the Gileadites. 30These are the sons of Gilead: of Iezer, the family of the Iezerites; of Helek, the family of the Helekites; 31and of Asriel, the family of the Asrielites; and of Shechem, the family of the Shechemites; 32and of Shemida, the family of the Shemidaites; and of Hepher, the family of the Hepherites. 33Now Zelophehad the son of Hepher had no sons, but only daughters; and the names of the daughters of Zelophehad were Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah and Tirzah. 34These are the families of Manasseh; and those who were numbered of them were 52,700.

      35These are the sons of Ephraim according to their families: of Shuthelah, the family of the Shuthelahites; of Becher, the family of the Becherites; of Tahan, the family of the Tahanites. 36These are the sons of Shuthelah: of Eran, the family of the Eranites. 37These are the families of the sons of Ephraim according to those who were numbered of them, 32,500. These are the sons of Joseph according to their families.

      38The sons of Benjamin according to their families: of Bela, the family of the Belaites; of Ashbel, the family of the Ashbelites; of Ahiram, the family of the Ahiramites; 39of Shephupham, the family of the Shuphamites; of Hupham, the family of the Huphamites. 40The sons of Bela were Ard and Naaman: of Ard, the family of the Ardites; of Naaman, the family of the Naamites. 41These are the sons of Benjamin according to their families; and those who were numbered of them were 45,600.

      42These are the sons of Dan according to their families: of Shuham, the family of the Shuhamites. These are the families of Dan according to their families. 43All the families of the Shuhamites, according to those who were numbered of them, were 64,400.

      44The sons of Asher according to their families: of Imnah, the family of the Imnites; of Ishvi, the family of the Ishvites; of Beriah, the family of the Beriites. 45Of the sons of Beriah: of Heber, the family of the Heberites; of Malchiel, the family of the Malchielites. 46The name of the daughter of Asher was Serah. 47These are the families of the sons of Asher according to those who were numbered of them, 53,400.

      48The sons of Naphtali according to their families: of Jahzeel, the family of the Jahzeelites; of Guni, the family of the Gunites; 49of Jezer, the family of the Jezerites; of Shillem, the family of the Shillemites. 50These are the families of Naphtali according to their families; and those who were numbered of them were 45,400.

      51These are those who were numbered of the sons of Israel, 601,730.

      52Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 53“Among these the land shall be divided for an inheritance according to the number of names. 54“To the larger group you shall increase their inheritance, and to the smaller group you shall diminish their inheritance; each shall be given their inheritance according to those who were numbered of them. 55“But the land shall be divided by lot. They shall receive their inheritance according to the names of the tribes of their fathers. 56“According to the selection by lot, their inheritance shall be divided between the larger and the smaller groups.”

      57These are those who were numbered of the Levites according to their families: of Gershon, the family of the Gershonites; of Kohath, the family of the Kohathites; of Merari, the family of the Merarites. 58These are the families of Levi: the family of the Libnites, the family of the Hebronites, the family of the Mahlites, the family of the Mushites, the family of the Korahites. Kohath became the father of Amram. 59The name of Amram’s wife was Jochebed, the daughter of Levi, who was born to Levi in Egypt; and she bore to Amram: Aaron and Moses and their sister Miriam. 60To Aaron were born Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. 61But Nadab and Abihu died when they offered strange fire before the LORD. 62Those who were numbered of them were 23,000, every male from a month old and upward, for they were not numbered among the sons of Israel since no inheritance was given to them among the sons of Israel.

      63These are those who were numbered by Moses and Eleazar the priest, who numbered the sons of Israel in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho. 64But among these there was not a man of those who were numbered by Moses and Aaron the priest, who numbered the sons of Israel in the wilderness of Sinai. 65For the LORD had said of them, “They shall surely die in the wilderness.” And not a man was left of them, except Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun.

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Children, Purposeful / Intentional, Teachable

Train Up A Child In The Way He Should Go

Proverbs 22:6

    6Train up a child in the way he should go,
Even when he is old he will not depart from it.

The world continuously bombards our children with messages that are not consistent with a Christian world view – whether online websites, apps, videos or music. However there are some very creative Christians that have put their talents to work honoring God by creating wonderful material that is consistent with what we hear from Jesus. You and your kids can honor God and have fun doing it!

What your children are exposed to does matter. Don’t settle for programming and entertainment that mocks or ignores our Lord. Instead seek out material which trains up our children in the way they should go. Please take some time to explore the resource links we have included here and share with those you think may benefit from it.

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Have you submitted your life to Jesus Christ? Are you living today filled with the peace and joy of truly knowing and following Jesus Christ? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.