One of the greatest joys of my life is having been a mother. I know I didn’t do everything right, but I also know I tried my best at all times. I just loved (and still do) being with my children and watching them grow. It was so exciting to watch their personalities develop and help them become who God wanted them to be. It wasn’t an easy task as any mother will tell you, but it was rewarding. There were sorrows and there were joys but, in the end, it is worth every minute spent working with your children. It’s worth being diligent with discipline and constant with rules and behavior, even when you think you cannot discipline them one more time!

The job of raising children normally falls to the mother and I believe God has equipped her for it. Women tend to be more nurturing than men and more relational. I believe that when God took Eve out of Adam these personality traits were given to her. Remember that Adam was made in God’s image and was complete, like God, before Eve was taken from him. (Gen. 5:1-2) It falls to the father to be the main provider for the family and the head of the family in making final decisions, after listening to input from his helpmate. I think we have all seen what can happen when roles get reversed for any reason—it makes it hard on the whole family.

A family without a mother is a poor reflection of what God intended. Children grow and develop best when in a nurturing, supportive atmosphere. In many ways a mother sets the tone for family life which is why it is so important for her to have a spiritual life with God along with her daily responsibilities. How many of us have had a mother who prayed for us daily and we lived better lives for it? A mother needs to know what God’s plan for her family is and the way He wants to bring it about. God’s plans are always the best and bring the best results so being aware of them is vital.

A mother’s words will be remembered for a lifetime—for good and for evil. To speak encouraging, faith-filled words over our children is so important, even when we may not be seeing the result of those words as yet. That’s what faith is all about. When we speak words that pull down and tear apart, we are imparting a force into our children’s lives that will do just that—pull them down and tear them apart. If we tell a child they are stupid or slow, they grow up with that belief and some never overcome those words—even if it is not true. How much better it is for them to hear that they have the mind of Christ. They believe what they hear and so become what they believe. What would you have your children believe about themselves?

Words spoken in the morning will be with you all day long. What is the last thing you say to your children as they leave the house? I tried never to let my children go from the house with strife sown in them for the day through my words. I also made a point to try and be there when they came home to sit and talk with them about their day. It builds for a close relationship where they are free to express their feelings and needs openly. I believe that a son treated in this manner will have a better chance at expressing himself later on in marriage. This is a complaint of so many women where their husbands are concerned—they don’t and can’t communicate. Well the answer starts long before they are ever old enough to get married—it begins with being drawn into conversations as children by their mothers who encourage them to communicate. The importance of words cannot be underestimated! Proverbs 25:11 says, “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver”. What a beautiful, poetic way to express the need to watch our words.

We give our children a picture of God by who we are and how we act. They will grow up and be like their parents. What an awesome responsibility! How hard it can be to look at your children and see your own shortcomings. Better to work at being who you need to be so they can become who they should be. I used to fall back on the scripture that says “With God all things are possible”. That gave me peace of mind! There were times when I felt it would have to be all God if they were to turn out right, but He always came through.

The greatest compliment a mother can have, I believe, is when as in Proverbs 31:28, “Her children rise up and call her blessed”. It’s wonderful to see the end result of your years of hard work as your children become parents themselves and endeavor to put into their children what was put into them. It truly is a blessing and one to work towards diligently when you feel you cannot do one more chore at the end of the day or speak one more word of encouragement because you really don’t feel like it! Children are truly a blessing from the Lord, but more than that they are a sacred trust given to a mother from the Lord. He gives them to us to mold and to build into a great woman or man of God. That is the greatest compliment of all—that our Heavenly Father trusts us to do the job! Happy Mother’s Day to all our moms!

It’s time for New Year’s resolutions to be touted on the talk shows and in the media. I don’t know about you but they don’t do much for me. Not that we shouldn’t look over the old year and see where we might do better this year. It’s just that most of the resolutions that you hear about are all worldly and that’s not where it’s at for me. I’ve found over the years that if I keep my spiritual life in order the rest will follow. So at this time of the year I stop and sit with the Lord to find out what needs to be done in the New Year. You notice I didn’t say where I failed in the past year, but instead where I need to stretch and go further this year. The Lord doesn’t spend a lot of time on telling you where you failed. Instead He tells you what will help you in the future. Everyone needs to continue growing spiritually all the time.

I can give you some concrete examples from years past. When I knew I needed to lose weight, I went to the Lord and He told me to spend more time with Him. When I went to Him about walking in love, He told me to spend more time with Him. When I went to Him about ministry needs, He told me to spend more time with Him. When I went to Him about health issues, He told me to spend more time with Him. Are you seeing a pattern developing or is it just me? I finally got the point that no matter what the need may be, (family issues, marriage issues, anger issues, oppression issues, financial issues, etc.) the answer will always be the same: spend more time with Him.

Now that seems to be too easy! Especially when you know how you’ve struggled in the past with these issues. I can remember when I was trying to lose that weight that just kind of crept up on me. I thought, how is spending time with the Lord going to help me say no to that candy or those chips? Yet that is exactly what the enemy would have you think so you’ll pass it off as nonsense. How many times have we heard from the Lord and said, because of our own reasoning, that can’t be God? Yet what I found was the only way I could withstand those temptations was by being stronger in the spirit! God knows what’s best for us. During that time He took me to scriptures that I still remember. Here are two. Proverbs 23:2, “And put a knife to your throat if you are a man given to appetite.” Proverbs 23:21, “For the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty, and drowsiness will clothe a man with rags.” Spend some time meditating on those two scriptures and see what happens!

In II Peter 1:3 the scripture says, “As His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue.” Now I believe that all things that pertain to life and godliness pretty much covers it all! However, if you were to stop right there and not finish the verse you could stand on this part of the verse all day for many years and not obtain all things that pertain to life and godliness. The “all things” are obtained only one way—through the knowledge of Jesus. And the knowledge of Jesus only comes one way. That is by spending time with Him. That is the only way you get to know Him.

Now we get to the only way to success for a Christian which we hear about all the time. We need to spend time in the Word and in prayer, or as it says in Psalm 46:10, “Be still and know that I am God, I will be exalted among the nations. I will be exalted in the earth!” When you get your answers by being still before the Lord and you walk them out with success, then God is exalted among the nations and in the earth! And this strategy works! I have found it works better than the ways of the world or than me doing things in my own strength—which never works.

How come more Christians don’t have success in this area? Mainly because the enemy will use everything in his bag of tricks to stop you from spending time with the Lord and he’s usually successful to one degree or another. He is a liar and a deceiver and he will try to convince you through your reasoning that this is just too easy and therefore could not possibly work. However those who have success in their walk with the Lord know that it really is just that simple if you will buckle down and do it.

In 2010 let’s determine in our heart to do only one thing but do it well. Spend time in the presence of the Lord through prayer, praise, the Word and just being still. I believe it will bring more blessings to our lives then anything we could think up on our own. Be blessed in 2010!