Scripture for the Day

Psalm 43:5

Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.

Paul Washer - Revival

Praying Can be Dangerous

My son Zachary is 21 months old and anyone who knows him will tell you, that he is all boy. My wife and I have been teaching him to pray since he has been able to sit up right at the dinner table. He has started saying right before eating, “Pray-Pray”, but still has not learned to actually pray. He usually just watch’s us and mumbles as we pray. We try and keep the prayer’s short and sweet – something similar to this:

Lord thank you for loving us and thank you for this food. In Jesus name – Amen.

We have also started praying with him before bed time. Before we put him in bed he will say, “Pray – Pray” and we will normally say a short prayer similar to what’s above. Sometimes just Tina pray’s with him and sometimes just me, but we like to pray all together if possible.

Last night we all where standing there at Zachary’s crib and Tina started praying. Now try and get this picture in you mind, Tina is holding Zachary and I’m standing very close to them both, within inches. After about 20 seconds into the prayer my son…….

Punched me in the noise and then started giggling!

I did not get onto him because I believe he is still too young to really understand that prayer time is not wrestle time.

So the moral of the story is, when praying with a toddler make sure to either keep one eye open or stand outside of swinging distance. Getting clocked in the nose is not fun!

My son will learn this verse and know it by memory:

Proverbs 1:8

My son, hear the instruction of your father, And do not forsake the law of your mother.

Scripture for the Day

Proverbs 11:30

The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, And he who wins souls is wise.

The Fathers Bargain

I have no real understanding or knowledge of what Christ really gave up to save me. Lord forgive me for taking so lightly your sacrifice and holding myself higher than You by consistently being self centered and prideful. Teach me Lord how to truly die to myself and live for you daily. Without your help Father, I will never see clearly how to serve You.

This is an excerpt from the sermon "The Covenant of Redemption between the Father and the Redeemer" by John Flavel, 1671.

“How reasonable it is that believers should embrace the hardest terms of obedience unto Christ, who complied with such hard terms for their salvation: they were hard and difficult terms indeed, on which Christ received you from the Father’s hand: it was, as you have heard, to pour out his soul unto death, or not to enjoy a soul of you. Here you may suppose the Father to say, when driving his bargain with Christ for you:

Father: My son, here is a company of poor miserable souls, that have utterly undone themselves, and now lie open to my justice! Justice demands satisfaction for them, or will satisfy itself in the eternal ruin of them: What shall be done for these souls And thus Christ returns.

Son: O my Father, such is my love to, and pity for them, that rather than they shall perish eternally, I will be responsible for them as their Surety; bring in all your bills, that I may see what they owe you; Lord, bring them all in, that there may be no after-reckonings with them; at my hand shall you require it. I will rather choose to suffer your wrath than they should suffer it: upon me, my Father, upon me be all their debt.

Father: But, my Son, if you undertake for them, you must reckon to pay the last mite, expect no abatements; if I spare them, I will not spare you.

Son: Content, Father, let it be so; charge it all upon me, I am able to discharge it: and though it prove a kind of undoing to me, though it impoverish all my riches, empty all my treasures, (for so indeed it did, 2 Cor. 8:9. “Though he was rich, yet for our sakes he became poor”) yet I am content to undertake it.

Blush, ungrateful believers, O let shame cover your faces; judge in yourselves now, has Christ deserved that you should stand with him for trifles, that you should shrink at a few petty difficulties, and complain, this is hard, and that is harsh? O if you knew the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ in this his wonderful condescension for you, you could not do it.”

Shorter Clip of Paul Washer at Deeper 2008

I recommend watching the longer clip below, but if you only have a few minutes this clip will give you a glimpse into the Deeper Conference.

Paul Washer at Deeper Conference 2008

This clip is from the Deeper Conference Tina and I attended last weekend at First Baptist Woodstock hosted by the Living Waters Ministies. This clip is of Paul Washer's breakout session. If you want to grow in your understanding about yourself, God and the modern church, then this is a must watch.