Feb

9

Should We Tell Them?

By Julie B Cosgrove | 1 Comment


We will not hide them from their children, but tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might,and the wonders that he has done.  .   .  so that they should set their hope in God and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments .     Psalm 78:4, 7

Kids have selective deafness. They can ignore the loud voice telling them to go clean their room yet quite easily concentrate on the whisper of a friend. In a way, I guess we all do. We filter out what we do not want to hear. At times, we even filter out God.

I used to think I had to come across as the perfect Christian in order to convince my son that Jesus was Lord. If I appeared to have it all together and quote memorized Scripture for every circumstance, I’d be doing what David says we should do in this Psalm. I’d be fulfilling my motherly duty to pass the Word onto the next generation.  It didn’t work. Instead, my son withdrew from “organized religion” because he thought it was false and two-faced. 

Then, I began to tell him instead what God was doing in my life, what trials and doubts I had and how He came through for me. Maybe now my grown son sees a more realistic view of my walk with Christ by my side and the Holy Spirit in me – flawed,  sometimes stumbling, but always determined to move on and confident that He will help me back on my feet. My son also knows I pray for him and has told me he has felt those prayers. Perhaps, one day, he will let God help him back on his feet, but more importantly, back into the depth of his heart. That is between him and God. My job is to keep on walking with my Lord as long as I am on this planet, and be a realistic witness to the fact that human life is better with Jesus in it, no matter what happens along the way.

Show, then tell the next generation. Teach them Scripture, yes, but show them how it applies to your life.  Share your realness and let them watch His glorious deeds in action  working out through you, struggle after struggle and joy after joy. Then, perhaps, they will see they can let God into their not so perfect lives to do the same – and set their hopes on God.

Feb

3

Take My Son

By Julie B Cosgrove | Comments Off


After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here am I.”  He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.”   Genesis 22:1-2

A familiar story in the Bible. Abraham was willing to offer up his only son to God, even after God had promised Abraham he would be the father of  nations. No wonder thousands of years later, Paul, in his letter to the Hebrews, described Abraham as a man of faith.  But this story has special meaning to me because I, too, have one son, the only child I could bear.  When he had gone off to college ten hours away, a wise lady in my church pulled me aside. Seeing the grief of separation in my heart, she told me that God  knew what it is like to “give up a son”.  That day, this passage in Genesis was one of the Bible readings in church. Don’t you love it when that happens?   How often His revelations come that way – through Scripture and through the words of a godly friend. I realized (again) two things that day, through God’s grace.

The first is that God knows above all else what it is to love an only child.  He gave up His only Son in sacrifice for me, because He loves me that much as well.  The second is that God called me to offer up my only son in response. In other words, to put him in God’s hands. Like Abraham, I raised my son in the faith.  I got him up and dressed and to church. We read Bible stories. I taught him how to pray. I tried to show him through my life what it is to have faith in God in all things, and when I failed, I hope I reflected God’s mercy. But there comes a time when we have to give our kids to God. In my son’s baptism, I watched that happen, yet a part of me still clung on – as it does in any mother – until he was grown and off on his own. 

Yet even now, years later, I find I still have to offer him up to God in my heart. When he is facing a tough time so far away, or calls me that he has a bad cold and what should he take, or when he doesn’t call for days on end, I have to take all the worry that builds up in my heart and once again place it on the altar.  I once asked my mom when she was in her early eighties, “When do you stop worrying about your kids?” She smiled and said, “I’ll let you know.” Maybe now that she is in Heaven, she has finally stopped. Perhaps, that is when I will as well.

Until then, may I be more like Abraham and give my son, my worries, my joys and my own life up to God knowing He will provide what is best.  When Abraham did, God replied -

“. . . for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.” (vs. 12)

Jan

15

Lend a Hand

By Julie B Cosgrove | Comments Off


Psalm 16:8-9  I have set the Lord always before me; because he is at my right hand, I shall not be shaken.  Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices; my flesh also dwells secure.

I watched a young mother in our women’s group with her toddler. The child was determined to walk across the meeting hall. Tenacious wobbly steps, with one arm up-reached and fingers flexing, just to make sure Mommy’s hand was there to grab hold, just in case.  The mother intently watched, matching her child’s pace, always within reach to lend a hand.  In another month or so, I can see that mother trying to run to keep up with the giggling toddler as the child grows more confident and sturdy in her strides.  That is only the beginning of all the little letting go episodes to come. Letting go to be what she is created to be, yet always there to lend a hand.  That’s what parenting is all about, isn’t it?

Can’t you see God our Father that way?  He is always beside us, just within reach. As we mature, we may think we do not need Him to help us walk this path. But the wisdom that comes with age is that with each step, we do. Children will try to find independence, and so do we. We struggle to make our own way in the world, only to realize our Father’s way is best. Then, when we do, we tenaciously reach out a wobbly hand, fingers flexed.  What wondrous relief to feel the warm, solid strength grasp our hand and draw us near.

Even if we occasionally fall on our rears, He is there waiting for us to ask for help back up. Ready to lend a hand – the same hand that created the world in which we live, and everything else. The same hand that has nail scars on it and was stretched out on a cross to take on our sins.

Jan

7

Blessed Increase

By Julie B Cosgrove | Comments Off


Psalm 115:14   May the Lord give you increase, you and your children!

What needs to increase for you? Is it financial security? It is faith? Perhaps it is self esteem or confidence. It probably isn’t your hips or waistline.

Whatever we are lacking, whatever we feel less than adequate about, whatever we think we have too little of to make a difference, God can give in abundance.  However, He may not give it to us all at once.  And that is a good thing because we wouldn’t know how to handle such a massive change.  Like a kid who eats his whole birthday cake in one sitting, we’d groan with anguish trying to digest all He plopped down in front of us.   It would not be in our best interest or much of a benefit to us.  Most likely greed and selfishness would prevail, and gluttony.  So, like the wise parent He is, God doles out bits and pieces, allowing us to savor the goodness of His blessings.

What increase do you need?  How grateful are you for what He has already given? His mercies are new every morning. He gave you life today, again.  Teach your children as you teach yourself to have a grateful attitude, to look for the ways God is lavishing His blessings upon you no matter what the circumstances. He so wants to give us increase, but that requires trust on your part, and mine. Trust that He will provide whatever we lack, if we turn to Him and use it for His glory and not our selfish gains.  Maybe that is the first thing we all need from the increase department.

 For forty years He gave a wandering nation food, water, protection and light. He didn’t let their shoes wear out or their clothes become ragged. Will He not do the same for each of us, His children whom He loves so dearly?

Nov

10

Don’t Hide It from your Kids

By Julie B Cosgrove | Comments Off


We will not hide them from their children,
but tell to the coming generation
the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might,
and the wonders that he has done.   Psalm 78:4

When was the last time you witnessed to your child? It doesn’t matter if they are two or forty-two, they still need to hear how wonderful this God you worhisp is; how He sustains you and protects you and blesses your life.   Most of all how He loves you and forgives you.

We can teach our children about God, and sing hymns to them. We can read the Bible and have family prayers.  We can take them to worship, Sunday school,Vacation Bible School and church camp.  We can have Bible sayings on our walls and slip them notes in their backpacks.  We can even pray His word over them, and should. . .daily.

But the greatest gift we can give our kids, no matter what their age, is to keep showing them how Jesus is working in our lives. That means being honest and a bit vulnerable.  It means proving that you, as the parent, doesn’t know it all, but  that God does.  That can be a hard thing to get off the pedestal and put Him there on it instead. But what a  lesson it will be!  Max Lucado said that when we puff ourselves up there is no room for God, but when we empty ourselves, He has a vessel He can work with. 

Teach be example. Empty yourself and let your children watch how God uses you day in and day out. You may not think they are paying attention, but they are. And maybe, just maybe, when they need to call on Jesus, they will say, “You are always there for Mom. She really believes. Help my unbelief and come be Lord of my life, too.”  One more soul won for Christ- and what an important soul.

He established a testimony in Jacob
and appointed a law in Israel,
which he commanded our fathers (and mothers!!!)
to teach to their children,
 that the next generation might know them,
the children yet unborn,
and arise and tell them to their children,
 so that they should set their hope in God
and not forget the works of God,
but keep his commandments   vs 5-7

please visit my website www.juliebcosgrove.com

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