A Life Pleasing To God

Delivered on May 8, 2016 - Mother's Day

Psalms 25:8-9
8 Good and upright is the Lord; Therefore He teaches sinners in the way.
9 The humble He guides in justice, And the humble He teaches His way.

Most products, and technological or not, try to be “user friendly”. Companies know that most people don’t want to wade through the pages of directions or dozens of “how to”, instructions. We want to jump in and “intuitively”, know how to use the latest version, app, equipment, or maybe a kitchen appliance.

However, its not always that easy, sometimes we’re forced to slow down, and read the owners manual, and progress through the various steps according to the manufacturers guidelines. Once we do it, it’s a relief to understand what we need to do in order to enjoy our new purchase or gift.

Living by faith is the same way. We sometimes want to do things our own way without studying the word of God, and obeying His instructions for what’s truly in our best interest. But relying on what feels good to us rather than what God says is right doesn’t work. We always have to follow His instructions, His commands. 
              Short devotional from...Aaron Tabor.

Which by the way, fits perfectly in the message for today. How far have we gone since the time that we were called, up to where we are now, without the guidance of Gods word? The things that we know now, and the lessons that we are still learning through the revelations of the Holy Spirit. Our lives, the very reason for our calling relies on the very Words of our Savior. From the time that we were born, up until the time we reach maturity in our Lord Jesus.

We will start by looking at one of the Ten Commandments:

Exodus 20:12
12 “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you.


With every commandment comes not merely a curse for disobedience, but a blessing for being obedient. Disrespect towards parents is a serious matter, for it also dishonors our Lord. Here is one verse i am pretty sure i have broken many times growing up. And yet through all of that, not once did i feel that they loved me any less. Disappointed yes!!! Why? Because i broke my parents commands, discipline came right after! Ouch!!!

I never realized how much of a serious offense this is to our God. Keep in mind Jesus said...”if you love me you will obey my commands”(John 14:15)
For the longest time i thought, that i was only breaking my parents commands? Without realizing the bigger picture, that i have disobeyed my Gods commands! It is not just a serious offense to parents, but also a very serious offense to our God! 

James 2:10
10 For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point, he is guilty of all.

What James is trying to say here is that, all sin is a violation to God, and His Holy character, and therefore you oppose not only His commandments, but Him as well! Why? Because the Law is the very essence of Gods character. So yeah...it is a very serious offense! Let us go back to our previous verse...Exodus 20:12

“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the LORD your God is giving you”.

Moses received this commandment from God. What does it mean to honor your father and mother? In the original language the word “honor” literally means “to make heavy.” In other words, we are not to take our parents lightly. God calls us to actively give them respect and reverence. This commandment is tough to obey because we live in an age of disrespect. Youth is glorified and old age is seen as something to avoid at all costs. On TV and in the movies kids are most often portrayed as the witty heroes. Parents tend to be the pathetic, overbearing,and over protective.Especially the dads. Anybody remember Al Bundy or Homer Simpson? The elderly are most often viewed as senile and to be avoided if you want to have a good time. In this case it seems that the media is reflecting the attitude of the culture, disrespect of parents and grandparents. Just as with all of God’s commandments, this one has terrible consequences for our nations and individuals if it’s not noticed and obeyed.This is now normal in our culture. Wouldn’t you agree? I am not saying all children are disobedient, but there are some, and its a little scary when you actually see it happening. What do you do, what instructions did i miss on how to raise my kids, what part of the Bible is that? Its not like building an entertainment system, where you just look at the picture, and hope it will look the same when we’re done! Everything in a christian life comes with instructions, our manual is the Bible. A christian cannot live without it! He or She would still be lost!!!

Of course, Moms and Dads have a very big role to play when it comes to raising their children. Parents also needs to set an example of how much they love and obey Our God. As our children get older, being raised in a Christian house, they will eventually see, how much we obey our God. A little compromise here, a little there, and soon enough our kids will do the same. Keep in mind, our kids are not strangers to scriptures. Eventually they too will see which ones we break .You can tell a lot about the parents by watching their kids. This maybe is a little hard to take, you can tell me, hey...I’m disciplining my kids, well you should be, cause that is your job!
It’s a command to parents, yes...its in the Bible.

Now...i will not be bringing out the big guns and start quoting 1 Peter 3.
I think we all know that verse at heart, if your not familiar with that verse, please feel free to look it up.

Not so much has changed, still a good majority of moms are the ones whom the children see and are in contact with the most. Moms are the most hands on sort a say...when it comes to dealing with the children. They are the ones they see the most. Stay home moms, for some. And of course there are times when both parents have to work. That is our world now. There is nothing wrong with that. But still the fact remains, it is still our job, by Gods commands on how to raise our kids...We are celebrating the moms today, so lets look at some moms in the bible. Lets look into the life of Lois, and Eunice. But before we get to that, here’s a short mothers day story...

A four-year-old and a six-year-old presented their Mom with a house plant. They had used their own money and she was thrilled. The older of them said with a sad face, There was a bouquet that we wanted to give you at the flower shop. It was real pretty, but it was too expensive. It had a ribbon on it that said, ’Rest In Peace’, and we thought it would be just perfect since you are always asking for a little peace so that you can rest.

The Bible speaks of how Paul and Barnabas visited Galatia on their first missionary journey. In one of those cities, a city by the name of Lystra, Paul pronounced a crippled man to be healed in the name of Christ, and they nearly made sacrifices to him , Paul, as if he was a god, but then later on they dragged him out and stoned him, leaving him for dead! But God raised him back up and helped him recover. 

Despite all that, Paul left a thriving church in that city, and he made acquaintance with an older woman and her daughter… Lois and Eunice. He was impressed with the profound faith of these two women. In his second journey, Paul and Silas went back through Lystra and collected Eunice’s son Timothy, and Timothy became one of the greatest men of God who ever carried the gospel. Paul claimed that this was possible because of the “unfeigned faith” of Timothy’s mother and grandmother. “Unfeigned” means “genuine” or “sincere”. 

2 Timothy 1:3-5

3 I thank God, whom I serve with a pure conscience, as my forefathers did, as without ceasing I remember you in my prayers night and day, 4 greatly desiring to see you, being mindful of your tears, that I may be filled with joy, 5 when I call to remembrance the genuine faith that is in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am persuaded is in you also. 

These two women are only mentioned here in the NT. They were Jewish, unlike Timothy’s father who is Greek, who apparently did not allow Eunice to have their son circumcised in infancy. You can read more about that on, ( Acts 16:3 ) Nonetheless, Timothy had been taught the sacred Scriptures from childhood, and the seed of Gods words had flourished in Timothy’s heart as Paul had brought the news of Jesus the Messiah to Lystra.

But there is a higher level of faith that we find in this passage.. After a sincere faith, we find a “stable faith” in these two mothers. Notice that even though Lois was a woman of great faith, she was able to pass it to her daughter Eunice. If Lois’s faith had been that of a woman who’s walk with God was compromised, she could never have brought up her daughter in the same faith. But Lois’ faith was stable, and firm, in following Gods commands. Strong and faithful through the years! Long enough to be seen and learned by Timothy.
This is what Timothy witnessed from when he was a child. Grew up seeing his household, an example of how to be obedient to Gods commands. Strong and faithful through the years. And Timothy was the fruit of that faithfulness.
Lets continue with verse 6...

2 Timothy 1:6-7
6 Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. 7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. 

“to stir up the gift of God”. This strong expression suggests that Timothy was being less forceful than he should have been in using the Spiritual gift God has given him. Its was never clear on what that gift was, some say in ministry, and some in evangelism? Paul was basically reminding him of his strong faith, which he received from the Lord, and saw the same faith, in his grandma, and his mother. Lois, and Eunice.

The faith of Lois and Eunice was spawned in young Timothy. Of course not every godly mother’s son becomes a preacher or a missionary. However every godly mother’s son, or daughter will follow the same footstep as they have seen in their mothers. Of course i have used the example of Lois, and Eunice, and the impact they had on Timothy. But let us not forget, fathers also have a big role in what the children will see. 

Paul told Timothy that he was sure that Timothy’s inherited faith would allow him to “to stir up” the gift God had given him. That to “stir up”is predicated by the stirring faith of which Timothy witnessed in his faithful mothers! ( Lois And Eunice ) If the head of the household is seen faithful, meaning the parents, what life would the children follow, would you expect any less in the child? If being faithful to God is the very essence in the household, the child will follow the same pattern. Wouldn’t you think?

Each one of us needs to be mentored. We need to be taught how to live our lives that will be pleasing to our God.We need to be taught about what is really important. Someone has said, “Mothers write on the hearts of their children what the rough hands of the world cannot erase.” I think that quote says it well that Mothers are disciple-makers as well. Regardless of the world influence, Gods words will still prevail. Parents have the opportunity to hand down their faith, lessons they have learned about God. They have the unique ability to demonstrate God’s love and grace.  
Of course no one is born a christian, the christian doesn’t even know about that until he or she gets drawn to the Son! But if both parents are christian, what type of seed will you be planting in your child? 

Here’s an illustration:

A teacher gave her class of second graders a lesson on the Magnet and what it does. The next day in a written test, she included this question: My full name has six letters. The first one is M. I pick up things. What am I? When the test papers were turned in, the teacher was astonished to find that almost 50 percent of the students answered the question with the word Mother.

Many years ago around the 1800’s, moms were called “homemakers”, they ran and managed the household. Educating the children, preparing them for the future. As the years went by, the world had its ways, the homemakers, became, just a “stay home mom”. Let the schools prepare their future. No more guidance from the parents.

When we were young... young as a child, or a child in the faith, we need an example of sincere faith. Too often I have heard parents say that they wanted their children to make up their own minds about what they should believe. Learn as you go...sort a say. They usually say that because they have not made up their own minds whether to be obedient or not. A little bending here, a little there. Its Sunday I’m a Christian, but, come Monday, I’m of the world. So, in essence, they are making disciples of their own belief system. Their children are going to believe like them unless somewhere along the line there is an intervention. Jesus needs to be center of everything we teach our children. In action and speech. Even us adults need these reminders. We are to set the example!

Proverbs 31:26-30
26 She opens her mouth with wisdom, And on her tongue is the law of kindness. 27 She watches over the ways of her household, And does not eat the bread of idleness. 28 Her children rise up and call her blessed;
Her husband also, and he praises her: 29 “Many daughters have done well,
But you excel them all.” 30 Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing,
But a woman who fears the Lord, she shall be praised.



Thomas Edison once said..

“I did not have my mother long, but she cast over me an influence which has lasted all my life. The good effects of her early training I can never lose. If it had not been for her appreciation and her faith in me at a critical time in my experience, I should never likely have become an inventor.

For the mom’s here tonight, scripture praises you for your wisdom, kindness, caring, and labor. A mothers firmness, her sweetness, her goodness, her potent powers to keep her children in the right path. Moms, are a child’s biggest fans. Moms have a way of making us believe that anything is possible. They cheer and applaud, even when we know we haven’t necessarily given our best. 

“28 Her children rise up and call her blessed;Her husband also, and he praises her”. A godly mom, is one who lays hold of the wisdom received from God, is called blessed. The basis of this true wisdom, from the book of Proverbs, ends where it begins. Having the fear of the Lord. From the first chapter to the end. God, our Creator enables us to know and appreciate, the God centered meaning of the reality, that true wisdom is seen as the life lived in wholehearted obedience to our God. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. How would we know that if we don’t read our life manual. Without it, how can we live our lives, “A life pleasing to God”.

All of us play a part in the life of someone else. As mothers, you have a unique opportunity within your relationship to touch lives and change the world around you. Moms are built differently from dads. That is just how our God made it to be. God said... “it is not good for man to be alone, i will make for him a helper”. Ladies, you are a gift from God, without you being “as one flesh”,would be taken out of the Bible, but God put it there for His purpose. 

              Lastly, i will end this message with a quote from...

To be a mother is by no means second class. Men may have the authority in the home, but the women have the influence. The mother, more than the father, is the one who molds and shapes those little lives from day one. 
                                               John MacArthur.