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Angela May 7, 2013

Prodigal Sons, Prideful Hearts and Hollow Trees

Last week some high winds raced through my backyard and in their gushing and twisting and turning…..a large tree limb broke off and fell to the ground.

It’s amazing what’s discovered when storms race through our backyards and sometimes even our lives.

On the outside, the tree looked beautiful, strong and solid.

Yet through the pressure of the winds pushing the tree limb in one direction and then another…..it finally was too much. After years of “holding it all together”….the limb broke off and crashed to the ground.

I heard the noise from my kitchen as I was cleaning up from dinner. I rushed to the window to see what could cause such a disturbance. The sound was so loud I thought it was a car crash of some kind. To my surprise, I saw the large tree limb lying on the ground in my backyard.

Upon investigation of the limb, my husband and I noticed the inside of the tree branch was hollow. A disease had been eating away on the inside of this tree for years, unnoticed by those of us on the outside.

Today we had men come and cut the rest of our large, old, beautiful tree down. After having it evaluated by a tree specialist, it was recommended to have the tree removed for fear of further damage it could cause when another storm hits…..because there is always another storm coming.

As I thought about this tree, how beautiful it looked on the outside, yet on the inside was wasting away, my thoughts turned to the Pharisees we’ve been reading about in Luke these last few weeks. On the outside they looked perfect. They obeyed all the rules. Dotted every “I” and crossed every “T”……yet through their actions what was going on in the inside of their hearts was revealed. Their pride, self-righteousness and own sins were eating away at their hearts…..making them hollow.

In the next few days we will be reading one of my favorite parables…..The Prodigal Son. Normally I always focus my attention on the main characters of the story…..that of the father and his wayward younger son. Yet this time, I want to challenge you to focus your attention on the oldest son and his response to his father.

The oldest son in this parable is very much like the Pharisees we’ve been reading about. He was the “good” one. He stayed home. He worked the fields. He obeyed. Yet we see at the end of the story……..his motives weren’t pure. He did all these “good works” not because of his love for his father, but rather because of what he could get from his father. In many ways, this older brother was very much like his younger brother. He too wanted the father’s “things” rather than the father.

My sweet friends, as we live and lead like Jesus……let’s make sure we obey his commands out of our love for our Lord, rather than out of what we can get from him by “being good.”

False motives will in time be made visible, like hollow limbs falling from a tree.

Let’s push back against the pride and self-righteousness that can poison our hearts and make them hollow.

Our Lord is a loving father to both prodigal sons and prideful sons. He desires a relationship with both…..so much so he was willing to eat with them and die for them. He was willing to give his life to save them…to save us…to save me.

Love God Greatly!

Look at what else we found inside the tree…:)

PS: Don’t forget about our upcoming summer Bible study starting June 3rd! Click here to find out more details! Invite some friends and join us!

Tricia Goyer May 6, 2013

Do You Pray Your Child Will Someday Turn To God?

I can clearly remember the day my 14-year-old daughter can home from youth camp. She’d gone as a junior counselor, but she came home a changed girl. Leslie grew up in church, she loved God, and she tried to be obedient to her father and me, but at that camp she repented of her sin and accepted Christ for herself. When she returned home, she was hungry to know God more and to read His Word. She asked her dad and me hard questions about the Bible (we had great conversations!) . . . and she shared God’s truth with her friends.

Luke 15:8-10 talks about the woman who lost one of her silver coins and then rejoiced when it was found. I love verse 10. “In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”

You can bet there was much rejoicing with my husband John and me to see the transformation in our daughter! And the truth is, although God used the camp as the moment of my daughter’s repentance and salvation, that moment came after years of John and me modeling a relationship with Christ to her. It came after years of teaching her the Bible and explaining God’s plan for His people. It came after prayers for my daughter—too many to count—that started from the day I found out I was pregnant with her.

Do you pray that your child will someday turn to God?

Yes, we can hope and pray our children will have their own relationship with Christ, but we also must strive to be intentional about sharing our faith and about modeling abiding in Him in our daily lives. My co-authors and I talk about this in our book, Lead Your Family Like Jesus:

Time to Follow the Leader
Jesus was a model for “being in the moment.” I don’t think training His disciples was a hit-and-miss thing. Since Jesus was intentional about all He did on earth, the leading of the men closest to Him was no doubt done with thoughtfulness and an understanding that can only come from a heaven-sent vision. As He walked together with His disciples on the journey of life, Jesus observed them in the moment, listened to them, and answered their questions.

I’d like to think that the time Jesus spent walking to and from work alongside his earthly father, Joseph, resting in the midday for a meal with him, and asking him questions helped to prepare Jesus to offer the same kind of relaxed fellowship to His disciples. Like father, like son—in more ways than one.

That doesn’t just apply then, but also now. Remember what Jesus said:

For where two or three come together in my name, there I am with them. (Matthew 18:20)

The grace of Jesus’ presence can be with us today. Two thousand years after He walked on earth, His beckoning voice still calls, saying, “Come to Me,” and “Abide in Me.”

Young children live fully in the moment. They aren’t thinking of the past or looking toward the future. Crying, skipping, or jumping up and down, they live in a real-time world and hunger for you to be there with them.

One of my favorite images of a parent in the moment with a child is my sister-in-law, Susanne, talking with her children when they were young. Because of a hearing loss, it’s a challenge for her to understand what people are saying unless they’re faced directly toward her.
So whenever her little ones wanted to speak with her, Suzanne would kneel down, lovingly hold their face with both hands, and listen with her eyes and ears to what they had to say. It’s a beautiful picture of listening that we can incorporate into our parenting.

I also like to think of Jesus doing the same thing as we turn to Him for help. Can you picture the tenderness in His eyes? Can you imagine His desire to lead you with tender care?

Sometimes as moms we may feel weak when we have to turn to God over and over and over again, but He wants to be there for us. He wants us to come to Him for help. We only do our role as leaders well, as parents well, when we are following Jesus. It’s then we walk in a way that is worthy of our children following.

Hoping that our children will turn to God is not enough, we must put feet to our prayers. We must live in the moment with our children and turn to God in the moment to gain the help He is more than willing to give.

More about Lead Your Family Like Jesus
Does your family need a five-star general at the helm? A psychologist? A referee? Ken Blanchard, best-selling co-author of The One Minute Manager and Lead Like Jesus, points to a better role model: the Son of God. Joined by veteran parents and authors Phil Hodges and Tricia Goyer, renowned business mentor Blanchard shows how every family member benefits when parents take the reins as servant-leaders. Moms and dads will see themselves in a whole new light—as life-changers who get their example, strength, and joy from following Jesus at home. This user-friendly book’s practical principles and personal stories mark the path to a truly Christ-centered family, where integrity, love, grace, self-sacrifice, and forgiveness make all the difference.

Order your copy here, and for more from Tricia, visit her website.

Filed Under: Living & Leading Like Jesus: Luke 9-16 Tagged With: Good Morning Girls, Leading Like Jesus, Tricia Goyer 6 Comments

Courtney April 28, 2013

Luke 14 – A Call To Humility

luke 14 week 6
Last weekend I flew to Denver, CO to attend my Aunt Lori’s Memorial Service. She had passed away at the age of 54 after a 5 year battle with cancer –and our hearts were broken. When we arrived, we went to dinner with my grieving family and there were tears and there were heartfelt hugs –the perfect balm for our souls. We needed to just be together — with warm memories and surrounded by love.

guest book

My Uncle asked my sisters and I to stand at the guest book…and a little tear snuck out as I remembered when I was 11 years old and my Aunt and Uncle married…I was the “guest book girl”. Never did I dream that 25 years later, I’d be standing as the “guest book girl” for my sweet Aunt’s memorial service. She was gone too soon

Life is but a vapor. (James 4:14)

As the family lined up to walk into the worship center, my father explained that we were to follow them up to the front row to take our seat. Front row…did I hear him right? Wow – what an honor. And so with heavy hearts and heavy feet we took our seats in the front row.

And as I read the passage this week in Luke 14, where Jesus tells a parable in verses 7-14 — I see Jesus saying that we are not to look for seats of honor. But rather we are to take a humble seat. Jesus gives the Pharisees a lesson in humility…and here’s what I’m learning from these verses (which you will cover in Tuesday’s reading) –>>

(if you cannot see this video - click here)
We live in a culture that tells us to aim for the top and accept nothing but the best. But not in Jesus’ economy. He says:

“For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” Luke 14:11

So that brings us to this week’s challenge…

Week 6 Challenge: Look at the people God has placed in your life and consider – who can you honor this week? Who has served you or blessed you through their humility and thoughtfulness? Take the time to write them a thank you card or email.

Remember humility is not about focusing on making yourself humble — but simply not thinking of yourself at all. Serve others this week. Serve your husband and children with joy. Serve your co-workers with joy –they will see Jesus in you!

Walk with the King,
, WomenLivingWell.org

Week 6 Reading Plan:

Week 6 Memory Verse:

Filed Under: Living & Leading Like Jesus: Luke 9-16 Tagged With: Good Morning Girls, Humility 13 Comments

Tricia Goyer April 23, 2013

Are You Bent Under Pain?

Bent under pain? Hunched under shame? Let Jesus lift your head.

Today’s reading takes us to an unnamed woman who is physically bound by a disability that caused her to be hunched over for eighteen years.

Can you picture the woman standing in the temple? Her head is downcast—not by her own choice, but because of a painful disability. She walks with her feet to the ground. She can talk to others, but she cannot look up into their faces. It would be easy for someone like her to retreat and hide away. Being hunched over—bound up—limits so much.

I’ve never had a physical disability like this woman, but I’ve been “bound” just the same. There have been times I’ve had a really hard time forgiving others for hurting me, and I had a really hard time forgiving myself.

There is one example that stands out in my mind, and sometimes it’s hard to share. You see, when I was fifteen years old I found myself pregnant. Scared, confused, ashamed, I chose abortion. I carried the pain of that for ten years. I was disabled in life. Even though I’d dedicated my life to God at age seventeen, I was spiritually hunched over and couldn’t stand up straight for many years. Then Jesus called to me . . . and He brought me to Him.

“He placed his hands on her, and she immediately stood up straight and praised God,” (Luke 13:13 God’s Word)

Jesus placed His hands on me through a Bible Study called Forgiven and Set Free.

Just like the woman in Luke 13:10-17, my head was lifted. Forgiveness helped me to lift by eyes to my Savior and finally get a good look at the world around me.

It took God’s healing power to help me to forgive myself, and to forgive others. It took time to forgive my mom, who drove me to the abortion. (She thought she was helping me.) It took time to forgive my boyfriend who pushed me to abortion. Yet I’ve discovered that when we forgive we’re the ones who find freedom. Ken, Phil, and I talk about this in our book, Lead Your Family Like Jesus. Here is an excerpt from that book:

Many of us don’t understand what forgiveness is all about. It’s not forgetting or dismissing the impact of a wrong. It’s choosing not to let that wrong dominate the future of your life and relationships. Forgiveness is “giving” the infraction to God. It’s as if we’re saying, “Here You go, Father; this is no longer my concern. Please take care of the matter in Your wisdom and according to Your will.”

The price of forgiveness is letting go of the need to receive an apology or repayment for a wrong. If you hold on to either as a precondition of forgiveness, you’ll never have an unhindered heart.

You may understand all this, but inside you still may be fighting it: “I know it’s what I’m supposed to do, but I can’t do it in my own strength.” The good news is God doesn’t ask you to. Instead, He asks that you simply share your desire to forgive, and surrender to Him your unwillingness to forgive.

Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. (Psalm 51:10)

What happens when we ask God to make forgiveness possible in us? The reward is a heart freed of bitterness. There is also the potential of restored relationship and new hope and joy for the future! What could be better than that?

In the encouraging words sent to me recently by a friend, “The one who apologizes first is the bravest. The one who forgives first is the strongest. The one who forgets first is the happiest.”

There is never a good reason to forfeit peace and freedom to an unforgiving heart. Will you turn to God today to help you be a brave, strong, and happy family leader? He wants nothing more than that.

It’s from a place of freedom and truth that we lead our children best. If you need help, you know the One to speak to. He’s just a prayer away.

Friend, do you feel hunched over? Turn to Jesus. Ask Him to lift your head.

You can find out more information about Lead Your Family Like Jesus at www.LeadYourFamilyBook.com and I would love to connect with you at Facebook!

Filed Under: Living & Leading Like Jesus: Luke 9-16, Uncategorized Tagged With: Good Morning Girls 4 Comments

Angela April 17, 2013

SUPER Sale on The Dig Vol 2! Today ONLY! {Plus a GIVEAWAY}

Today ONLY, The Dig Vol 2 is on SALE!!! Just in time for Monday when we begin using it with our kids! Woohoo! Can’t wait! I have been LOVING doing this study with my girls in the mornings during breakfast!

Special price good through Thursday April 18, 2013 at midnight!! The Dig: Luke Volume 2
The Dig for Kids Bible Study: Luke Vol. 2 ~www.thedigforkids.com