Are you ready? Today we start our child-training “boot camp”! We’re going straight to God’s Word, because that is where we’re going to find the real answers to the challenges we face as we seek to raise children who love and obey God.
I still remember the season when our first three children (all boys) were little and stretching my patience and “wisdom” (ha!) to their limits. God drove me into His Word and helped me see that the answers were all there. He hadn’t left us to wallow through parenting on our own. In His great love and grace, He was ready and willing to hold my hand and guide me through the great and often-scary-and-overwhelming adventure of motherhood.
My prayer is that you will experience that same delight and peace that God granted me, as we study together. I never “recovered” from those days of excitement! That’s when God finally got it through my head that His Word is a gift, and that it applies to my everyday life with all it ups and downs.
Today we’re going start our study by laying a bit of groundwork. What does God tell us to do for our children?
We’re going to dive right into using one of my favorite online Bible study sites, BlueLetterBible. You will need your computer, tablet, or smartphone to access the web. I will be giving instructions based on using BlueLetterBible’s website on my computer, with additional app instructions in parentheses.
So let’s get started!
Assignment: Pray for God’s blessing as you start your study time today, and pray for all the other ladies who are studying along with you. The only way we will learn anything from the Bible is with the Holy Spirit’s guiding help.
- Then go to www.blueletterbible.org. (or install and open the Blue Letter Bible app.)
Do you see the words “Search the Bible” in the white section on the top, right-hand part of the page? (App users, this is a little trickier. Look in the blue lower menu bar, for the magnifying glass icon with “BLB” inside it, and click on it.)
Type the words your children in the search box. (App users, type “your children.” Be sure to include the quotation marks.)
- Then click the green button with the white magnifying glass in it. (App users, click “Go” to the right of the search box.) What you should see now is a list of every verse in the King James Bible that includes the words your children.
- Skim those verses. Don’t feel like you need to spend a lot of time on each verse. Look specifically for ones that give instructions to parents about their responsibilities. What are we told to do with or for our children? Note the reference of each relevant verse and summarize it in your notebook.
- You will need to read the context of some of these verses that are listed to get their full meaning. Reading the verses that come before and after a particular verse helps us understand it better and also helps us not misinterpret its meaning.
To see the entire chapter that the verse is in, simply click on the verse’s reference. (App users, click the verse, then select “Read ___ in Quick view.) Then read enough of the surrounding verses to gain a better understanding of the passage.
- After you have read the verse in context, click your browser’s back arrow. (App users, click “Close” above the text.) This will take you back to the original list of verses that contain the words your children.
- Continue skimming verses and taking notes on the verses that instruct parents. Stop when you reach the blue bar labeled “Here are the remaining matches”. (App users, you don’t need to worry about this.) If you can’t finish reading all the verses today, you can finish up tomorrow. We will look more closely at the verses you have recorded then.
- For today, look back over your notes. Take a yellow colored pencil or highlighter and mark in your notes every instruction that was given to parents in these verses.
What does God want to teach you through these verses? Note any ways the Holy Spirit is convicting you to change your thinking and actions.
For your children:
Several verses you read in your lesson today speak of the Israelites erecting memorials or observing specials feasts and ceremonies that commemorated God’s deliverance of His people.
Memorials help us teach our children about God’s faithfulness, and they build our faith as we recall what He has done, knowing that He will continue to do what is good for His children.
- Choose one of those accounts, click on the verse reference to bring up the entire chapter, and read it aloud with your children. If they are old enough, take turns reading verses.
- Discuss how God delivered the Israelites.
- Then think together about ways that God has delivered your family or members of your family from danger, illness, financial need, etc.
- Thank Him for His mercy and protection and discuss ways you could memorialize one of those events.
Would an annual family party or feast help you remember and give thanks to God for His deliverance?
Could you associate a particular song with His deliverance, and make a point of remembering and thanking God every time you hear that song?
Could you draw a picture or post a photograph that would help everyone remember and give thanks for His deliverance or provision?
Here’s a little picture I ran into the other day while cleaning out some old school notebooks. This used to have a picture of a van on the top of the mountain. God answered our prayers and provided the van that we prayed for. This week I put a little “Sold” sign on the top of the mountain, as we pray for God to send just the right people along to need and love and buy our house. As we remember how faithful God was to supply the van that our family needed, we know that He will be just as faithful in providing a buyer for our house. (See my Instagram post at “doorpostslady” for an update!)
Could you begin a scrapbook or journal full of accounts of God’s deliverance, adding to it as you witness God’s protection and deliverance?
- Think of a way to memorialize at least one time God has delivered a member of your family or provided for you in some special way and work on your memorial together as a family.
NOTE: The rest of this study is available at MamasRefill.com, our new and improved Bible study community!
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