Night Light for Couples - Divorce and Kids

“And a husband must not divorce his wife.” 1 Corinthians 7:11 

The daughter in Sunday’s the “Dear Daddy” story described the trauma of her father’s deserting their family as like being in a car wreck. That is the impact divorce typically has on children. It is devastating! For more than twenty‐five years, California psychologist Judith Wallerstein has tracked hundreds of children of divorce from childhood to adulthood. She’s found that the distress young children experience after a divorce remains with them throughout their lives, making it more difficult for them to cope with challenges. “Unlike the adult experience,” Wallerstein says, “the child’s suffering does not reach its peak at the breakup and then level off. The effect of the parents’ divorce is played and replayed throughout the first three decades of the children’s lives.” Harvard University psychiatrist Armand Nicholi says that the pain of divorce is worse for children five years later than at the time the family disintegrates. He also links interruption of parent‐child relationships with an escalation in psychiatric problems for children.

The next time the idea of divorce enters your thoughts, consider the consequences of such an act on the most vulnerable members of your family. Research shows that time doesn’t heal those wounds.

Just between us…

• Do you agree with the statements of these mental health professionals?
• If your parents divorced, what was your experience during and after the breakup?
• What would happen to our kids (or future children) if we divorced? 

Father, we thank You for the tender lives You’ve placed in our care. We resolve never to harm them through the violence of divorce. Strengthen and bless this commitment in our thoughts and actions each day. Amen. 

From Night Light For Couples, by Dr. James & Shirley Dobson
Copyright © 2000 by James Dobson, Inc. All rights reserved.
Material on divorce from “Children of Divorce Heal Slowly, Study Finds; Scholar’s Latest Evidence in Influential Series” by Barbara Vobejda (Washington Post, 3 June 1997), and presentation given by Dr. Armand Nicholi at the White House Conference on the State of the American Family, 3 May 1983. Available in the Congressional Record, Extension of Remarks, 3 May 1983.

The Daily Readings for May 29, 2016 - Second Sunday of Pentecost

1 Kings 8:22-23, 8:41-43
Then Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in the presence of all the assembly of Israel, and spread out his hands to heaven. He said, "O LORD, God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven above or on earth beneath, keeping covenant and steadfast love for your servants who walk before you with all their heart, "Likewise when a foreigner, who is not of your people Israel, comes from a distant land because of your name -- for they shall hear of your great name, your mighty hand, and your outstretched arm-- when a foreigner comes and prays toward this house, then hear in heaven your dwelling place, and do according to all that the foreigner calls to you, so that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your people Israel, and so that they may know that your name has been invoked on this house that I have built.

Psalm 96:1-9
1   Sing to the LORD a new song; sing to the LORD, all the whole earth.
2   Sing to the LORD and bless his Name; proclaim the good news of his salvation from day to day.
3   Declare his glory among the nations and his wonders among all peoples.
4   For great is the LORD and greatly to be praised; he is more to be feared than all gods.
5   As for all the gods of the nations, they are but idols; but it is the LORD who made the heavens.
6   Oh, the majesty and magnificence of his presence! Oh, the power and the splendor of his sanctuary!
7   Ascribe to the LORD, you families of the peoples; ascribe to the LORD honor and power.
8   Ascribe to the LORD the honor due his Name; bring offerings and come into his courts.
9   Worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness; let the whole earth tremble before him.

Galatians 1:1-12
Paul an apostle-- sent neither by human commission nor from human authorities, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead-- and all the members of God's family who are with me, To the churches of Galatia: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to set us free from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen. I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel-- not that there is another gospel, but there are some who are confusing you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should proclaim to you a gospel contrary to what we proclaimed to you, let that one be accursed! As we have said before, so now I repeat, if anyone proclaims to you a gospel contrary to what you received, let that one be accursed! Am I now seeking human approval, or God's approval? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still pleasing people, I would not be a servant of Christ. For I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that the gospel that was proclaimed by me is not of human origin; for I did not receive it from a human source, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.

Luke 7:1-10
After Jesus had finished all his sayings in the hearing of the people, he entered Capernaum. A centurion there had a slave whom he valued highly, and who was ill and close to death. When he heard about Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders to him, asking him to come and heal his slave. When they came to Jesus, they appealed to him earnestly, saying, "He is worthy of having you do this for him, for he loves our people, and it is he who built our synagogue for us." And Jesus went with them, but when he was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to say to him, "Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; therefore I did not presume to come to you. But only speak the word, and let my servant be healed. For I also am a man set under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to one, 'Go,' and he goes, and to another, 'Come,' and he comes, and to my slave, 'Do this,' and the slave does it." When Jesus heard this he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd that followed him, he said, "I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith." When those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the slave in good health.

Continuous Reading Track

1 Kings 18:20-39
So Ahab sent to all the Israelites, and assembled the prophets at Mount Carmel. Elijah then came near to all the people, and said, "How long will you go limping with two different opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him." The people did not answer him a word. Then Elijah said to the people, "I, even I only, am left a prophet of the LORD; but Baal's prophets number four hundred fifty. Let two bulls be given to us; let them choose one bull for themselves, cut it in pieces, and lay it on the wood, but put no fire to it; I will prepare the other bull and lay it on the wood, but put no fire to it. Then you call on the name of your god and I will call on the name of the LORD; the god who answers by fire is indeed God." All the people answered, "Well spoken!" Then Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, "Choose for yourselves one bull and prepare it first, for you are many; then call on the name of your god, but put no fire to it." So they took the bull that was given them, prepared it, and called on the name of Baal from morning until noon, crying, "O Baal, answer us!" But there was no voice, and no answer. They limped about the altar that they had made. At noon Elijah mocked them, saying, "Cry aloud! Surely he is a god; either he is meditating, or he has wandered away, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is asleep and must be awakened." Then they cried aloud and, as was their custom, they cut themselves with swords and lances until the blood gushed out over them. As midday passed, they raved on until the time of the offering of the oblation, but there was no voice, no answer, and no response. Then Elijah said to all the people, "Come closer to me" and all the people came closer to him. First he repaired the altar of the LORD that had been thrown down; Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the LORD came, saying, "Israel shall be your name" with the stones he built an altar in the name of the LORD. Then he made a trench around the altar, large enough to contain two measures of seed. Next he put the wood in order, cut the bull in pieces, and laid it on the wood. He said, "Fill four jars with water and pour it on the burnt offering and on the wood." Then he said, "Do it a second time" and they did it a second time. Again he said, "Do it a third time" and they did it a third time, so that the water ran all around the altar, and filled the trench also with water. At the time of the offering of the oblation, the prophet Elijah came near and said, "O LORD, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel, that I am your servant, and that I have done all these things at your bidding. Answer me, O LORD, answer me, so that this people may know that you, O LORD, are God, and that you have turned their hearts back." Then the fire of the LORD fell and consumed the burnt offering, the wood, the stones, and the dust, and even licked up the water that was in the trench. When all the people saw it, they fell on their faces and said, "The LORD indeed is God; the LORD indeed is God."

Psalm 96 Cantate Domino
1   Sing to the LORD a new song; sing to the LORD, all the whole earth.
2   Sing to the LORD and bless his Name; proclaim the good news of his salvation from day to day.
3   Declare his glory among the nations and his wonders among all peoples.
4   For great is the LORD and greatly to be praised; he is more to be feared than all gods.
5   As for all the gods of the nations, they are but idols; but it is the LORD who made the heavens.
6   Oh, the majesty and magnificence of his presence! Oh, the power and the splendor of his sanctuary!
7   Ascribe to the LORD, you families of the peoples; ascribe to the LORD honor and power.
8   Ascribe to the LORD the honor due his Name; bring offerings and come into his courts.
9   Worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness; let the whole earth tremble before him.
10   Tell it out among the nations: "The LORD is King! he has made the world so firm that it cannot be moved; he will judge the peoples with equity."
11   Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad; let the sea thunder and all that is in it; let the field be joyful and all that is therein.
12   Then shall all the trees of the wood shout for joy before the LORD when he comes, when he comes to judge the earth.
13   He will judge the world with righteousness and the peoples with his truth.

Forward Day by Day Meditation for Sunday, May 29, 2016 - Second Sunday of Pentecost

Galatians 1:10 Am I now seeking human approval, or God’s approval? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still pleasing people, I would not be a servant of Christ.

As a Lent Madness Celebrity Blogger, I have had the opportunity to read and intimately know the lives of many saints. Last year, I ushered Saint Francis through this annual Lenten ministry sponsored by Forward Movement. Many of us are familiar with Francis and his love of creation. I was surprised, however, at how Francis has been edited from a man who challenged those in positions of power, called out church leaders for their complicity in not loving as God has commanded, and generally upset the proverbial apple cart of the neat and tidy lives of those of his day to someone who just loves animals.

The Francis of popular culture pleases people because he doesn’t challenge us. The real Francis does quite the opposite. He challenges us to seek first the kingdom of God, even at great personal sacrifice.

How do we edit our actions (and the lives of our saints) to please people rather than being a servant of Christ’s love?

 

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COMPROMISED BY DECEIT

…but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death. James 1:14-15 

One of the touristic highlights of visiting China is to walk on the Great Wall. Six thousand kilometers of wall with ten thousand strategically placed towers stretch across the north of China, reportedly the only man-made object observable from space. Construction of various sections began back in 770 B.C. when rival feudal kingdoms built walls around their territories to keep out invading nomadic tribes from the north. These were eventually joined into one wall. The wall averages eight to ten meters in height and five meters wide.

When you walk on the wall, two history lessons make the visit somewhat somber. First, the wall was built at great cost. Prisoners of war, convicts, soldiers, civilians and farmers provided the labor. Some estimates say “millions died for this cause”. Their bodies were buried in the very foundations of the wall or used to make up its thickness. You walk on top of a cemetery.

The second lesson is that the wall was reportedly breached by Mongol soldiers disguised as peasants pretending to be gathering firewood and leaving behind pieces of fruit when they left the area. The guards decided to go out and retrieve the tempting fruit. This was repeated over time. Eventually the guards were compromised and overpowered and the Mongol army streamed through that tower thereby breaching the Great Wall. So after all the effort to build such an amazing structure for protection, it was rendered useless through simple deceit.

One of Satan’s favorite tactics against believers is deceit. Here’s an example from China. Brother Chen arrived one spring day in 1996 at a small rural Chinese house church group. Some said he was “sent straight from God.” He said so too. He said he had known Wang Ming Dao and he spoke with a loud booming voice. His large eyes held their attention closely, and his whole body shook with vigor at the points he was making. The believers were just so impressed with the way he talked. He quoted lots of Scripture and wove it into a thrilling story.

After a few months, he began to talk about heaven being a city of gold, and that to enter that city they would have to demonstrate that they had given Jesus their gold in their lifetime. Brother Chen said, “Jesus needs your gold to build your mansion in heaven and the more gold you give him now, the bigger your mansion will be.”

Because they were poor, the idea of having a golden mansion in the afterlife was very tempting. They handed over all they owned: family heirlooms, money, some expensive textiles from a distant ancestor. One in the group even gave his motorcycle.

After all the “gold” had been collected, Brother Chen said he had to go and “open the gate of Heaven for them.” He left, on the donated motorcycle. He took most of their savings and he hasn’t been back. 

RESPONSE: Be aware today of Satan’s subtle tactics of deceit and intimidation.

PRAYER: Pray for new house church believers in China who are easily deceived by false prophets.

Verse of the Day - May 29, 2016

Psalm 103:17-18 (NIV) But from everlasting to everlasting the Lord’s love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children’s children— with those who keep his covenant and remember to obey his precepts.

Read all of Psalm 103