How To Protect Your Children

How To Protect Your Children

As parents, it is in our instinct to protect our children. While we protect them from harm, we must not dis-empower them from growing to overcome evil.

Love that dis-empowers is not love. It's co-dependency and it's unhealthy. True love learns to release one into maturity.

Our boy is growing unto a teenager. It's going so fast that we truly miss the little cutie pie. It's a phase in life where every parent has to go through, especially so when we home-school our child.

Nonetheless, we know that we cannot hold onto him like before. Because Love has to empower. It has to release one into maturity.

However, while the kind of parental protection towards a child has to emerge as he grows, there is one that is unchanging ----- and that is Psalm 91. Since God has no grandchildren, Psalm 91 applies to all our children.

Verse 1-2 begin with, "He who dwells in the shelter of the most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the Lord, "My refuge and my fortress, My God, in whom I trust."

For Psalm 91 to apply to our child, it takes Proverbs 14:26.

In the fear of the Lord one has strong confidence, and 𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚 𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐮𝐠𝐞. - Prov 14:26 ESV

Confidence and strength flood the hearts of the lovers of God who live in awe of Him, and 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐝𝐞𝐯𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲. - Prov 14:26 TPT

1 John 4:18 says that there is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. The fear of the Lord is to live in awe of Him. When we live in awe of Him, there remains no more fear of men or anything else. This drives out all fears, so that we have strong confidence.

When our children see "My God, in whom I trust" through us, they are provided with Psalm 91, where God's protection is imparted to them as they recognise Him as the place of shelter and security.

To protect our child when he/she is young, you may use your physical ability.

To protect our child when he/she has grown older, you live in awe of God.

Abiding in His Love

Abiding in His Love

By using substitution in the passage, we can discover an interesting truth about abiding in His Love.

Abide in Me, and I in you. - Jn 15:4

Whoever abides in Me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit. - Jn 15:5

If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you... - Jn 15:7

First substitution, I = My words.

Abiding in His Words is the same as abiding in Him. And He abiding in us is the same as His Words abiding in us.

As the Father has loved Me, so have I loved you. Abide in My love. - Jn 15:9

Second substitution, Me = My love.

Abiding in His love is the same as abiding in Him.

If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love. - Jn 15:10

Third substitution, My commandments (My Words) = My love

Abiding in His Words is the same as abiding in His Love.

Conclusion:

If we want to abide (stay, remain, continue, dwell) in His Love, we must abide in His Words.

When we do the Word of Christ, the Love of God is made manifest and remains in us. Because when we become the Word made flesh, we become the prototype of Christ who is Love.

P.S: Why do some serve in so many church ministries, but they experience burn-out and do not experience the love of God? Because they are DOING ministries instead of DOING the Word of Christ. It's that simple and we don't need to complicate the matters.

Each time when I do the Word of Christ, I get refreshed and re-charged physically. You don't get tired doing His Word. You get renewed doing His Word. This proves that John 4:34 is true ----- "My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me."

So if you feel tired serving church ministries, to the point of feeling burn-out, you will need to re-evaluate if you are really serving God or serving men.