An Above Rubies reader wrote and asked me, "Have you ever had difficulty
sitting in church with many little ones? I wonder if it is just our season
to stay home and not even bother attending church since we are so busy
handling the little ones. Were you ever in this season in your life?"

I know how you feel. Many times when my children were little, I wondered
whether it was worth going to church too. However, I realized that church
was more than sitting in a building listening to the pastor. Church is not a
building; it is the people. Therefore, when you go to church, dear mother,
even if you spend your whole time in the nursery, or much of your time
training your children to sit in church, it is still worth it.

You are doing three things. Firstly, you have the opportunity to fellowship
with others. Fellowship with other mothers in the nursery, if you end up
there, can be very precious. It is as important as listening to a message.
You can also share with others and pass on a blessing or a little
encouragement to another mother. Remember, you don't go to church to get,
but to give-and preeminently to give a blessing.

By the way, you'll be seeking to train your little ones to sit in church,
but if you need to go to the nursery, stay with your children. Many toddlers
are very unhappy in the nursery because they miss their mothers.

Secondly, you are training your children to sit in church. This is your aim.
It sure takes a lot of training, but if you stay home, your children will
learn that you do NOT have a commitment to church. If you go, even if it
isn't all perfect, and you don't even get to hear the preacher, you are
accomplishing something. You are showing by your actions to your children
that you put God first in your lives and that it is important to fellowship
with the saints. You show that God is a priority in your lives. You show to
your children your commitment to God and to His people.

You take seriously the admonition in Hebrews 10:25, "Not forsaking the
assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is: but exhorting
one another: and so much the more as ye see the day approaching." My husband
said to me recently, "Many people want the church to be there for them but
they are not there for the church!"

Thirdly, you are following the example of Jesus whose habit was to go to the
house of God. We need to keep to this habit in our own lives and to
establish this habit in the lives of our children. If our children see that
we decide to stay home from church for whatever reason, when they are older,
they will stay home for even less reasons.

We have never missed going to church as a family-rain, hail or snow! And
even when we were sick. It's the best place to get healed!

Luke 4:16 says: "And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and,
as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood
up for to read."

Keep plodding on. It's not always easy, but you are doing the right thing.
Never stay away from church just because the children aren't perfect. That
is a defeatist attitude. And it won't always be like that. Your children
grow up.

We expected our children to be in church every Sunday morning and Sunday
evening. We lived in New Zealand when the children were young, and they
slept on sheep skins (which are so healthy). I would bring their sheep skins
with me to the evening service and lay them on the floor and they would
sleep on them as they got tired.  

Psalm 26:8: "LORD, I have loved the habitation of thy house and the place
where thine honor dwelleth."

Psalm 27:4: "One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after;
that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold
the beauty of the LORD, and to inquire in his temple."

Psalm 50:5: "Gather my saints together unto me; those that have made a
covenant with me by sacrifice."

PRAYER:
"Thank you, Father, that You delight to gather Your people together to
worship You. Help me to always be faithful to the gathering together of the
saints. Help me to be an example to our children that You are the most
important in our lives and that we always put Your first, no matter what the
situation. Amen."

AFFIRMATION:
I will always give my children a love for the house of God.

The above Scripture is an amazing description of the bride of Christ although it’s not the picture we would equate with a bride, is it? But this is how God sees His church, the bride of Christ. And also the wife of a husband in the home for the Song of Songs can also be a picture of the marriage relationship.

This is a picture of an army marching to battle with their banners lifted high. They are not retreating. They are on the attack. They are a scary sight as they push back the enemy. Let’s look at some other translations:

HCSB: “awe-inspiring as an army with banners.”

CJB: “formidable as an army marching under banners.”

ESV: “awesome as an army with banners.”

Banners are a sign of victory. They reveal what we believe and what we stand for. God is a banner holder. One of His salvation names is “Jehovah-Nissi, The Lord is my banner” (Exodus 17:15).

He wants us to hold up our banners too. As wives and mothers in our homes must be banner holders. We hold up the banner of God’s truth in our homes. Holding it high. Never letting our banners fall to the ground. We are the transmitters of God’s truth to our children and future generations.

One of my favorite Scriptures is Psalm 60:4: “Thou hast given a banner to them that fear thee, that it may be DISPLAYED because of the truth.”

Are you holding the banner of truth high? This takes purpose, tenacity, and strength. Never let the enemy grab your banner, dragging it off and laughing in your face. Keep standing strong in this evil day and “having done all, stand” with your banner lifted high.

You are the protector of your home front. You are not cowardly hiding from the enemy. You are waving your banners high. You will not allow the enemy to come against your marriage, to woo your children from the truth, or to enter your home. The only way you see the enemy is a foe to be utterly defeated and routed.

Psalm 20:5: “In the name of our God, we will set up our banners.”

Psalm 84:16: “Who will rise up for me against the evildoers? Who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity?”

Let’s be banner waving mothers . . .

Holding up the banner of truth against all deception.

Holding up the banner of love against all bitterness and hate.

Holding up the banner of righteousness against all evil.

Holding up the banner of purity against all immorality and uncleanness.

Holding up the banner of unity against all dissension and strife.

Holding up the banner of contentment against all discontentment.

Holding up the banner of faithfulness against all faithlessness.

Holding up the banner of motherhood against all counterfeits of satan.

Are you flying the banners of the Lord from your home?

PRAYER:

“Dear Father God, I thank You that You have given to me Your banners of truth. Please help me to hold them high in my home and never let them drag in the dust. Please help me to never let go of Your truths and never compromise. Please anoint me by the power of Your Holy Spirit to implant truth into the hearts and mouths of my children and to never weaken the truth as I teach it to them. I ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen.”

AFFIRMATION:

I am a banner waving mother, heralding God’s truth in my home and wherever I go!

In my devotion last week we learned how God loves to bless His people. But His blessing does not stop with us. It continues to our children. But there is a catch. The blessings depend on how we live our lives. Dear mother, we do not live our lives to ourselves. Everything we do, either good or bad, affects our children. If we want our children and future generations to be blessed, we must do the following:

1. LIVE IN GOD’S PRESENCE

God spoke to Abrahm and said unto him: “I am the Almighty God, walk before me, and be thou perfect.” The GW translation says: “Live in my presence.” And then it goes on to give further promises not only to Abram but to his future descendants: “I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I will make nations of thee . . . And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee. And will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land . . . and thy seed after thee in their generations . . . between me and you and thy seed after thee.”

Five times God says the words: “and thy seed after thee.” This is how God sees our parenting. It is not only for today but for future generations.

2. KEEP HIS COMMANDMENTS

Deuteronomy 4:40: “Thou shalt keep therefore his statutes, and his commandments, which I command thee this day, that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee, and that thou mayest prolong thy days upon the earth.”

3. DO THAT WHICH IS GOOD AND RIGHT

Deuteronomy 12:28: “Observe and hear all these words which I command thee, that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee for ever, when thou doest that which is good and right in the sight of the LORD thy God.” Read also Deuteronomy 12:25 and 30:2.

4. FEAR THE LORD

Deuteronomy 5:29: “O that there were such a heart in them, that they would fear me, and keep all my commandments always, that it might be well with them, and with their children forever.”

The words “may go well” is the Hebrew word “yatav” and means “to do good, beautiful, pleasant, lovely, blessed.” We want our children to have a lovely life, don’t we? God promises this to them if we as parents walk in the fear of the Lord and obey His voice.

Psalm 112:1, 2 is a wonderful promise to fathers who fear the Lord: “Blessed is the man that feareth the LORD, that delighteth greatly in his commandments. His seed (his children) shall be mighty on the earth: the generation of the upright shall be blessed.”

Acts 2:39: “For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.”

OUR LIVES IMPACT OUR CHILDREN FOR GOOD OR EVIL

Exodus 20:4, 5 states: “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image . . . Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; And showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.” These words are repeated in the following Scriptures: Exodus 34:6, 7; Numbers 14:18; and Jeremiah 32:17-19.

The above are powerful Scriptures, showing us that the lifestyle we live in our homes will impact our future generations. We don’t live for this day only but our lives will determine the destiny of our descendants! When we harbor sin in our lives and do not walk in the fear of God, if we harbor bitterness, rejection, jealousy, and hate etc. it doesn’t only hurt us, but the destruction continues in the following generations.

Let’s give God the preeminence in our lives, in our marriages, and in our homes that we will bring blessings on our children and children’s children.

Blessings from Nancy Campbell

www.aboverubies.org

PRAYER:

“Dear Father God, I pray that You will help me to continually realize that my life will have impact upon my children and children’s children and future generations. Help me to lay a foundation in my life and in my home that will cause blessings to rain down upon my future descendants. Amen.”

AFFIRMATION:

I am not only mothering for today, but for generations to come.