Momma Says
As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; 1 Peter 1:14-15 NASB
Obedient children – So when do you and I grow up? When do we stop being children? Apparently it has very little to do with age and a lot to do with behavior.
The Greek expression is tekna hupakoes. Tekna (children) is a special word in the New Testament. It has a wider definition than simply genetically produced children. It can mean descendent, disciple, pupil or spiritual child. When this word designates children of God, it carries the further meaning of followers, subjects and worshippers. John uses it as a tender address (“my little children”).
Here Peter tells us that we are a certain kind of children–children of obedience. The word for “obedience” is hupakoes, a compound word that literally means “through hearing.” Obedience is a response to spoken or written instruction. This phrase, children of obedience, is a Hebrew idiom. It does not mean children of God who are obedient. It means children whose mother is obedience. This emphasizes the continual and habitual behavior of their lives.
Mothers have an incredibly special role in our lives. Not only are they the ones who bring us into the world, they are usually the ones from whom we learn obedience. This instruction is crucial to our existence. When we do not learn obedience from our mother’s lap, we will discover that life is a very lonesome and difficult place. In this verse we learn that God takes over the role of our spiritual mother. We are born by the Spirit. That same birth-Spirit is the Mother who teaches us obedience. There is an incredibly intimate connection between our second birth and our willingness to obey. Disobedience is far more than deciding to go our own way. It is an action that severs connection with the one who birthed us.
We live in a deformed world that offers past family dysfunctionality as an excuse for disobedient behavior. “I couldn’t help it. My parents were so terrible. They made me what I am today.” You know something? God doesn’t care about that excuse. You see, no matter what your genetic family might have been, your new birth came from the purest most holy Mother in the Universe. Become a child of Her obedience and life will be as new as the day you arrived here. Sit on Her lap and learn to obey. There really is no other way.
Who is your mother today?
Topical Index: 1 Peter 1:14, tekna, children, hupakoes, obedient, mother
TRAVEL NOTE: Rosanne and I will board the Azamara Quest in Rome today. I will be lecturing on board until we reach Istanbul on the 20th. If you think about it, say a prayer for all those who will hear these lectures for the first time. I will update you as I am able. Internet will be infrequent on this trip. Mark is watching over things while I work on the water.
The King’s Kids
~ And He said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of Heaven ~ (Matthew 18.3)
These are the words of our Savior, our Teacher, our Master, to His disciples, His talmudim, His students, His followers. But do these words, – His words – speak to the followers of Christ today?
Are these words – His words- the words of the (now resurrected and reigning) Messiah- God incarnate- centuries and even millennia later, still, true? – What must we (I) do?
~ Truly, I tell you (Carl, Joe, Sally) unless you (Carl, Joe, Sally) change, – unless you (Carl) “turn and become” > ean mē straphēte kaigenēsthe < (the tone of the Teacher is markedly severe! – this is a MUST!) We MUST change and we MUST become “as little children!”
To humble oneself is "the most difficult thing in the world for saint as for sinner."
But “humility” is NOT optional! We “MUST!”
~ Beloved, NOW we are God's children. What we will be isn't completely clear yet. We do know that when Christ appears we will be like Him because we will see Him as He is, – and everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.. ~
~ Listen, my child, to your father's instruction and do not forsake your mother's teaching ~
~ And He said unto them, (and to us also!) when you pray, say, “Our Father..” ~
Bon voyage!!! Italy, my favorite place to be! Must return.
Have a wonderful time, Skip. Absolutely, I’ll be praying for the hearers of the Word as well as the messenger! I’m so happy that your wife is with you on this trip! I’ll be praying for a special strengthening in your marriage.
AMEN to this TW. I am living proof that this is exactly who God is: our Mother, our Father, our Nurturer, our Teacher, our Protector and so much more that parents should be. My God plucked me from our family’s dysfunctional “burning” when I was about 5 or 6 and hiding in a linen closet! I’ve always been the “black sheep.” I was orphaned as a teenager and the last of my youth was spent with siblings very resistant to the job. To this day, my siblings (and any blood relatives that I know of), none who have any use for the one true God, YHVH nor His followers, have a disdain for me at best, an apathy at worst.
Guess what. BLOOD DON’T MEAN A THING!!! It’s you, YHVH’s children, those who know Him and fear Him and grow straight and strong in His gracious, merciful presence in their lives who are my siblings.
I love you. I love my family.
Daria, your picture does not look like a “Black Sheep”, a great smile, and your writings show a heart of kindness, Please do not refer to yourself as that any more! That is not how the Lord sees you either, “Now that you have dealt with your past, present past, refer only to that and state in the PAST it was this or that way. Read Philippians 3: 12,13 & 14 in every version of the Word you have. Write them down, keep the paper where you see it often: I am going to use the Amplified Bible-Expanded Version. ACTUALLY THE ENTIRE CHAPTER 3 IS MARVELOUS TO ENCOURAGE AND MOVE US ON. SO I WILL NOT COPY IT, BUT PLEASE READ AND WRITE YOUR FAVORITE PARTS ON VISIBLE PAPER TO CARRY WHERE YOU CAN SEE IT OFTEN!
“CONTINUE ON WITH THE LORD FORGETTING THOSE THINGS OF THE PAST—” AND RECALL that you will be greatly blessed abundantly more than you think or even imagine!
If possible in due season, look for an Autobiography, MADAME GUYON, She lived from 1648-1717, it was written as punishment for “loving God”, while she was imprisoned with trumped up charges by the Catholic Church, in order to be rid of her. Her trials from a small child where her parents had put her in a Nunnery to be taken care of and instructed, were deplorable! She came from a wealthy French family, and they married her at age 15 to a MUCH older man, and went to live in his mother’s home, where the mother-in-law detested her, and her husband travels a lot, and it goes on and on! But oh her heart is turned to God, and worship, and doing what His work seems to be in that Century. Her book crosses denominational barriers through the centuries and even now! it is not easy to read, as she is writing in prison, with poor health, lighting, provisions, and is often reflecting back over her life without notes, computers etc.! But it is such a blessing to see God so often pour out His love for her. The loss of children, husband, wealth, country.
“This intimate, personal portrait of a woman true to Christ in a confused and sinful world will convict and inspire any sensitive Christian who reads it win an open heart.”
Great thoughts. I know this is a lesson that I have to learn. Part of me is still convinced that I only work hard so I can earn “undisciplined time”.
Skip, Roseanne, I have been praying for a lifetime of explosion of joy for all you come in contact with, and also those who hear the Word of the Lord, from Skip. With our world as it is now, people seem very eager to hear it, hopefully prayerfully it will fall on soil that is good and ready to germinate the seed.
My Husband and I loved Rome with our two older children; we stayed in a huge three story old Roman Mansion, first level was for families with children, or single women. With the upper floor for the nuns, and the ground level was for Orphans, often mixed American military blood, they were beautiful children. Two children were being prepared to fly to the U.S. without accompanying people, the adopted father was to fly across U.S. to meet them, the Nuns were so concerned as the children did not speak English, and they had almost no contact with men! AND THE POPE AT THAT TIME, JOHN PAUL, DIED DURING THAT VISIT FOR US, WE HAD TO CHANGE OUR PLANS AND LEAVE EARLY OR BE DETAINED A WEEK, AS FLIGHTS FROM AROUND THE WORLD WOULD BE IN AND OUT! ALSO THE BELLS TOLLED ALL NIGHT LONG UNTIL AFTER HIS BURIAL. HIS PICTURE WAS ABOVE OUR BED. I MIGHT ADD IT WAS VERY DISCONCERTING FOR BAPTIST PEOPLE WHO KNEW NOTHING AT THAT TIME ABOUT CATHOLICS! SINCE THEN WE HAVE HAD TWO GRANDSONS BE IN BELARIMINE PREP H.S. IN LOS GATOS, CA. AND THE OLDER ONE NOW IN LOYOLYA U IN CHICAGO. WE HAVE LEARNED MORE.
AND what a City to visit, one city with many past names: first one I learned in H.S. ( remember that I am 81 years old) was Byzantium, think that is the ancient name, then Constantinople, now Istanbul. I will pray that it will be one of your greatest trips with Roseanne beside you!
Sincerely, LaVaye Billings