Stay encouraged
5 things that Jesus would have prayed about
Jesus, Rudolph, and slip away, and pray, but what would you pray about? If you track with him in the gospels, it is clear that he certainly prayed for the following things, which I urge you to pray as well.
Five things that Jesus would have prayed about
Aligning His will to the Father’s in full submission
Submitting what He would say to the multitudes
Processing how He would invest in the people closest to him
Bracing for how He would answer his enemies
Planning how He would order the timing of his priorities
Scripture for meditation this week
Every week my son and I go back-and-forth with a Scripture that we are meditating on and memorizing together. This week, he chose a verse that I have read many times, but I'm savoring in new and fresh ways:
Psalm 18:2: The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
I knew this day would come
When I was younger, I often wondered if it would be easier when I got older to parents, my kids, because they were hopefully going to be more mature. While I have certainly learned so much about parenting that I didn't know, and God loves to use kids to humble parents, this time we article, talks about ways to encourage your children when they get older, to walk with the Lord and reinforce what you taught them: https://www.challies.com/articles/10-lessons-on-parenting-bigger-kids/
I am going, and I encourage you to stream it
Every year, the Shepherds conference gathers pastors and Christian leaders from all over the world. John, MacArthur, the host, who has been missing from the pulpit for a couple months, is expected to make his return. Given his age and health, it's possible this is his last. I would urge you to catch at least his sessions: https://www.gracechurch.org/
Finding God in the Bible
While it might sound like a no-brainer, so often we can miss what God has said about himself in different portions of the scripture. Here's a challenge for your Bible reading this week: read an entire book this week (like Ephesians), and only highlight statements about the character of God. See how the author focuses your attention on the Lord and how those attributes affect the commands in the text.
Complaining to God
All of us wonder, when we read the Psalms, is it ok to complain to God? The Old Testament Bible writers do it, but is that a description of what happened until they found perspective, or a prescription of what to do when we encounter disappointment in a fallen world? This article offers some insight that might push your thinking closer to a biblical answer: https://women.pcacdm.org/whining-vs-biblical-complaint-in-caregiving/