Joshua’s House

The house all vacuumed – check.

Everything picked up and put away – check.

The food out and ready to go – check.

All of the chores complete – check.

The hustle and bustle had finally settled and now it was time to just wait.  I plopped down on our yellow coach, eagerly looking out our big living room windows to the driveway.  I was waiting for the car – that one special vehicle that brought our visitors. They would be here in 10 minutes.

I heard a car coming down the street.  The closer it got, the more excited I became until finally it passed our house.  No, that wasn’t the right car.  I was sure the next one would be it.  After a while, my sister and I started guessing how many cars would go by before we finally saw THE car we were waiting for.

It was 1:05. They were five minutes late.  I didn’t know if I could wait any longer, but I knew if I just watched for a few more minutes, they would show up. The time ticked by so slowly.  Every minute seemed more like an hour until finally, it happened. I saw the familiar car my grandparents drove each time they came for a visit.  I jumped up and rushed out the door to greet them.  I was so happy they were finally here!

I vividly remember all the rush and excitement that accompanied an expected visitor to our house when I was growing up.  We made sure the house was clean and in tip top shape. If we were having a party or a meal, all the food and necessities were just right and in place.  Then came the hard part . . . the waiting.  Even today I’m not very good at waiting, yet I am waiting for one of the best things ever.  I’m waiting for Jesus to come get me and take me home. But somehow the waiting is different.

When there was a visitor coming to our house it seems like I couldn’t think of anything else, but when it comes to the return of Jesus, I often forget He’s coming back until I slow my harried pace and am subtly reminded through God’s Word.  But there is so much to look forward to!  I can’t wait to run up and give Jesus a big hug!  I am eager to go to His house, to be surrounded by the wonderful things of heaven and to walk in the presence of the Lord!

Then, I’m struck with the reality that heaven is not a reward that I deserve, but it’s something that God gives me with such joy. It’s time for me to get ready.  I’m going to get ready and then I’m going to look up, through the big window in the sky, and watch for His cloud to come by and take me away to heaven.  I can’t wait!

Application

• Read Matthew 25:1-13.  Whenever a special guest comes over, it’s always important to get ready.  How can you get ready for Jesus’ return?
• Read Revelation 21-22.  When you read this passage, what excites you the most?
• How does knowing that Jesus is coming back again change your life?
• Pray – Thank Jesus for making it possible for you to go to Heaven with Him one day.  Ask the Holy Spirit to be with you and to help you to be ready for His soon return every day.

Wow!  It sure has been a long time since I’ve posted - nearly three months!  That’s pretty awful!  Well, guess what.  I’m back.  Over the past few months I have been adjusting to some pretty big changes.  Now that things have settled down a bit, I’m back and ready to move forward with Joshua’s House.  To be honest, I’m still praying about and trying to figure out what my next immediate steps will be, but I know God will guide and direct me.  In the meantime,  I thought I might give you guys a peak into what I’ve been up to lately.  Take a listen to this sermon I recently preached on Families and Children.

It’s good to be back!

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9

The Bible speaks frequently about repentance.  I was thinking about this the other day and I couldn’t help but ask the question, “What is repentance really?” According to Merriam-Webster, repentance has to do with turning from sin with a desire to change and to feel regret.  Then I thought a little bit more.  How often in my own life do I even take a moment to recognize my sin, let alone admit it with a desire to change?  As I took time to pray about this some more, God brought a few more things to my mind.

Because I have so many children come through my doors, all from various backgrounds, who are here for various amounts of time, I have found time-out to be the most effective form of discipline.  Each child remains in the time out chair (or time out room if necessary) one minute for every year she is old.  When the time is up, I return to the child, asking her if she knows why she was placed and time-out and asking for an apology - this helps the child to recognize that she did, in fact, do something wrong.  Typically at this point I would smile brightly to the child and let her return to her play.  Yet, God has been teaching me that something vital was missing.

Have any of these children recognized that they not only need to tell me they are sorry, but that they need to ask forgiveness from God as well?  How will they learn to repent if we never show them that everything they do - good or bad - is seen by their Father above and their actions either bring glory to His name, or cause separation between Him and us?

It is with this understanding that I was faced with a need to discipline.  I had several children over at my house and I was helping them with their homework.  One of the girls - I’ll call her Amelia - was particularly struggling with her math.  I helped her with one page and she excitedly jumped up and said “all done, can I go play now?”

“Hold on a second,” I said. “There are three more pages here that your teacher has circled.  Aren’t you supposed to finish all of them?”

“Oh, no.” Amelia assured me.   “He told me I didn’t have to finish those today.  If I had my planner here, I would show you what I wrote in it, but I left it at school.”

Still a bit unsure I probed further.  I wanted to trust what Amelia was saying, but something about the situation just didn’t seem right.

“Well, before you go play, I want you to finish all of the circled pages in your book.  Even if you aren’t supposed to do them today, you will get ahead and have more time to play tomorrow.”

Amelia unhappily plopped down in her chair with a rather telling expression.

“Amelia?” I asked with a calm voice that let her know I meant business, “Did you know the whole time that you were supposed to finish these math pages from your homework?”

There was a pause and a quite, “yes,” that followed.

“Why did you lie to me?” I asked.  Amelia shrugged her shoulders. After explaining the severeness of lying and, in this case the ineffectiveness of it - she would still have to complete the work and forgo playing at some point. I told her she would have to spend seven minutes in time out.  I set the timer and led her over to the chair.

When the timer buzzed, I went over and knelt by Amelia. We talked about why she was in time-out and I asked her for an apology, which she gave.  At that point I would usually say “okay, now you can go play,” but not this time.

“There is one more thing,” I said.  “There is someone else who needs an apology.  Every time we lie or do anything wrong it hurts Jesus.  It is for these things that He went to the cross to die for us.  He took our punishment because He longs to be with us.  Each time you sin, it hurts Him too.  We should take some time to talk to Jesus now too.”  At that point we had a prayer together, apologizing to Jesus for hurting Him and asking for forgiveness.  We also thanked Him for loving us so much that He would come and die for us so that we could be forgiven.

After that, Amelia went back to work and we had fun finishing her math homework together.

I learned a lesson through all of this.  While discipline is important to teach children right behavior, it’s more important as a way to teach children how much their savior truly loves them.

Application

• Read 1 John 1:5-10.
• How often do you ask God to forgive you or even recognize that you have sinned?
• How can you show your children a picture of a loving God even through discipline?
• Pray - Ask God to show you the sin in your own life and to give you a repentant heart. Ask Him to show you how you can teach your children to live with a repentant spirit.  Thank Him for His amazing sacrifice that has made forgiveness and transforming power available to all.

If you’re in the Chattanooga area, come out the Family Fair and Expo at the LCA school gym and ball feild.  Joshua’s House will be there with give aways and free tickets for some of the booths.  This is a fantastic family event with activities that include facepainting, inflatables, a dunking booth, hayrides, science demonstrations, food and more.

The event is on Sunday, November 9 from 2-5p.m.

It’s amazing to me how someone like Horatio Spafford can go through all that he did and come out praising and trusting in God.

As I was reading in 1 Samuel 1-3, I found a character in the Bible who had a similar attitude despite what was going on around him. In chapter 3 of 1 Samuel, God calls Samuel and tells him several things that are about to happen. One of the things God reveals is that He is going to destroy Eli’s wicked sons. Samuel doesn’t like this news and he certainly doesn’t want to be the one to tell Eli. But Eli, understandably, is curious about what the Lord had to say; and Samuel, being the good kid he is, tells Eli.

Now, here’s the part that really caught my attention. Eli’s response to the news of his sons’ pending death was one of total faith and trust. All he said was “It is the Lord; let him do what seems good to Him” (1 Samuel 3:18).

I pray that God will continue to work in me so that no matter what happens I will be able to say “It is well with my soul.”

Application

• Read Isaiah 43:1-2.
• Do you find that it’s easier to trust God and depend on Him when everything seems to be going pretty well?
• Has there ever been a rough time in your life when you wondered if God was really there?
• Pray – Thank God for being with you even as you “pass through the waters.” Ask Him to strengthen your faith so that even during the tough times you can have peace as you trust in Him.