August 27

Good morning!

What a beautiful day the Lord has made! As I read the daily reading today in Job & 2 Corinthians, Psalms & Proverbs, of course my attention was drawn to the last verse of the day Proverbs 22:6. As a mom and children's minister, training children is my passion. Proverbs 22:6 - train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.

Train in the dictionary says to direct the growth of (a plant) usually by bending, pruning, & tying. I thought it was interesting that the webster's dictionary applied the word to a plant in this case. I started to disregard that definition or at least the word plant when I realized something. Our kids are like tender plants, and it's our job as Moms and Dads and Teachers to train them to become mighty trees for His Kingdom so to speak.

The Amphlified said to train up a child in keeping w/his natural bent. Our children DO have a natural bent which could be anything from a weak state where a child easily does whatever anyone and everyone instructs him or the exact opposite a strong willful child who refuses to do what anyone says. Our children have a natural bent. We have to know what that is. But we don't just say that's the way he/she is and go with it. Training a plant to bend in the "right" direction means pruning and tying...both uncomfortable things for the plant and for the pruner. It's our job to rebend and prune our children in God's direction. My oldest has her Mommy's strong will. As a Mom, I'm not supposed to just understand that she has a strong will and let her continue on in her rebelliousness. My instruction here as her parent is to train her, prune her, take her strong bending and point her to obedience in Christ. She will always be strong, but I can
teach her and train her to be obedient to her authorities and obedient to Christ.

And honestly, after 12 long years of parenting her, it's still a day by day process of training and pruning and bending. God's Word is faithful, and He will watch over it to accomplish that which He set out to do. Take heart as you train your children today to be the mighty children of God, the mighty oaks, for His Kingdom! And if you are done raising your children rest in God's Word and stand on it that those seeds of faith and godliness that you planted in your children will reap a mighty harvest one day.

Have a wonderful weekend! See you tomorrow.

Blessings,
Rolanda

August 20

Good Saturday!

1 Corinthians 13:13 ~ And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

Faith, trusting and believing that God and His Word are infinitely true is good. Hope, longing for something with anticipation is good. But love, the unselfish loyal & benevolent concern for the good of another, is great.

Driving in the cramped car to yet another destination one hot day, one of my daughters elbowed my son who cried out. They had already been arguing back and forth for a while. Just one more incident like so many others. I told my daughter to stop acting so unloving towards her brother. I then asked God like so many other times for peace in my family, peace in my car, peace between my children. Why? Because maybe I was looking for some peace and quiet right then at that moment.

Then, suddenly I realized something. Peace wasn't what we were needing more of. My daughter's action towards her brother was an unloving act. Love. Of course families love each other, right? Of course. And if something terrible had happened to my son at that moment, I have no doubt my daughter would have totally acted in love instead of the opposite that she displayed in my car that day. What God revealed to me that day was that my children and I needed more of the love of the Father in our hearts. It wasn't peace we needed; it was love.

God tells us to love Him with all of our heart, all of our mind, all of our soul, all of our strength. He tells us to love others as we love ourselves. Whew. That's a tall order. The good news is that we love because our Heavenly Father FIRST loved us! He lovingly created and fashioned us. He lovingly breathed His breath into us, giving us life. He lovingly shed His blood for our multitude of sins. He lovingly made us His children. He loves us incredibly. The Word also says that He sheds His love abroad in the hearts of man. He not only lavishes His love on us, but He makes us capable of loving Him and others.

So today as your feet hit the ground running, remember to stop and spend some time with the Father. Soak in His love. Let it penetrate your heart and soul. Pray and ask Him to fill you with more of His love. Read His Word and take in His love. Just as food fills your belly, God's Word fills your spiritual belly. God loves you, and so do we at Hillcrest Church!

Have a blessed weekend!
Rolanda Green
Hillcrest Children's Minister

August 6

Good morning.

My daughter's Bible says in Proverbs 20:24, "The Lord is the One who directs a person's steps. How then can anyone understand his own way?" Being directed by someone means to be subjected to his supervision or regulations. How amazing is it that it's the Lord God Himself that subjects us to His supervision? He sees all. He hears all. He knows all. He loves you deeper than you can ever imagine and has distinct plans for you. Anytime life gets hard or confusing or I have decisions to make, I take great comfort in the fact that God is in control in my life...especially during those really difficult times that don't make sense. You see, the Word also tells us that His hand guides us and His right hand holds onto us. And furthermore, His Spirit rests upon us. God is with us as He actively guides us. We don't always know or understand what's going on nor do we always sense He is with us or feel His presence, but we can relax in the safety of His loving arms and supervision. So rest in Him today and enjoy getting to know the One who directs your steps and cares for you.

Blessings,
Rolanda Green
Hillcrest Children's Minister

Lifestyle of Repentance

In 2 Chronicles 30, king Hezekiah realizes that Israel has been unfaithful to the Lord and has not kept His commands. One of the commands that God gave the Israelites was that they keep the Passover every 14^th day of the first month of the Hebrew year. They had not celebrated it in a long time—and that was symptomatic of the spiritual state of Israel. It was not only that they had forgotten the feast, but they had forgotten the Lord.

That is the tendency of our fleshly humanity. We don’t mean to forget the Lord, but life gets busy. We get bogged down with the worries and cares of this life and all of the sudden, our daily time with the Lord is out the window. We mean well and we feel bad when we remember how often we forget the Lord, but it is hard to “get back in the routine.” I have found that when I “forget” the Lord, things very quickly get misaligned in my life. I start sinning much easier. I am tempted more frequently. The fruit of the Spirit begins to look more fleshly than spiritual. Has this ever happened to you?

Hezekiah then sent out a letter to all of Israel to invite them to the Passover feast at Jerusalem so that they would return to the Lord. This was a gutsy thing to do. Remember that in the time of Hezekiah, Israel was divided into two kingdoms: the Northern tribes and the Southern tribes of Judah and Benjamin. Hezekiah, the king of the south, went out of realm of authority to call ALL of God people back to serve the Lord! He wrote a letter that went to the entire land of Israel. In that letter he said, “Do not be like your fathers and brothers, who were unfaithful to the Lord…for the Lord you God is gracious and compassionate. He will not turn His face from you if you return to Him,” (2 Chron. 30:7,9). This was not only a call to a feast, it was a call to repentance.

Repentance is the heart of the Gospel message. Repentance is necessary for our salvation. We need faith in Christ Jesus, repentance from our sins, and payment for our sins. Jesus provided the payment, but we must come in faith and willingness to turn from our sins. God will not despise or reject those who will turn from their sins. We as believers in Jesus Christ, must live a lifestyle of repentance in the fear of the Lord. “Forgetting” Him is not an option. We must continually test ourselves to make sure we are in the faith, as 2 Corinthians 13:5-6 says, and are not living in willful and unrepentant sin. There is not place in our lives where we can forget the Lord and allow sins like jealousy, envy, anger, unforgiveness, selfishness, pride, sexual impurity, slander, gossip, deceit, or disorder (see 2 Cor. 12:20-21). Far too often, we justify gossip, selfishness, or pride and continually live in those things--as if they weren't as bad as the other sins. I invite you to examine your own heart today and let the Holy Spirit convict you of sin and persuade you of His righteousness (see John 16:8-11). Repentance is a lifestyle, not a one time event. God will not despise those who come to Him willing to turn from sin!

Blessings!

Pastor Kyle Bauer