Another great article by JulieBeth Lamb! I love the way she personalizes each verse.Therefore do not worry, saying what shall we eat, or what shall we drink,
or what shall we wear? (or what shall we teach? or how can we afford it?) for after all these things the gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things, but seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, (and point your children there continually) and all these things (the education and materials your children need) shall be added unto you (and them) Matthew 6:31-33.
And you, fathers (and mothers), do not provoke your children to wrath (by
teaching them secular views that are contrary to God’s Word and take them out
from under His protection), but bring them up in the training and admonition of
the Lord (all day, not just when the government’s hours of training are over)
and having good will doing service (learning the important lessons of serving
family and community), as to the Lord (through whom all things are possible) and
not to men (from whom we should be set apart) Ephesians 6:4,7.
God will feed (and provide everything needed) His flock like a shepherd, He
will gather the lambs with His arm, and carry them in His bosom (and make sure
they are prepared for His good plan, with His work and through His people, not
with government curriculum) and gently lead those who are with young (in the
right way to educate their children for Him) Isaiah 40:11.
For I know the plans that I have for you, says the Lord (plans from His
word for your protection and guidance, your obedience and preparation for His
use) plans of peace and not of evil (so you don’t have to be afraid to just
trust and follow His ways and not man’s ways)to give you a future and a hope
(our hope lies in loving and fearing God) then you will call upon Me and find Me
and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you (and your schooling concerns)
and you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart
(God will be found in prayer, His Word and Godly curriculum, He will not be
found in government school curriculum and ideas) Jeremiah29:11-13.
Train up a child in the way he should go (discipling him in God’s ways, by
His instruction) and when he is old he will not depart from it (he will love God
and obedience to Him and will have been walking with Him through the school
years) Proverbs 22:6.
Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one! You shall love the Lord
your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might (and
with your school time) And these words which I command you today shall be in
your heart, you shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of
them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down,
and when you rise up (all the time! everywhere! that includes school, especially
school since it’s their training, the path you are preparing for their future)
You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates (God’s
word should always be before our eyes, including in our school books and our
“classroom”) Deuteronomy 6:4-9.
And whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble,
it would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were
thrown into the sea (as parents we have a great privilege and responsibility to
protect and train these little ones as God intends, never putting them into a
situation or training them with curriculum that could cause them to stumble) Mark 9:42.
I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present
your bodies (and every moment of our lives) a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable
to God, which is your reasonable service (not defiled by ungodly training). And
do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your
mind (by a constant focus on God and His Word), that you may prove what is that
good and acceptable and perfect will of God (we must be set apart from the
traditions of the world and pressures from others who say that it would be too
hard or costly to follow God rather than the world’s way. We must trust God that
if we allow Him to guide our children’s steps, through a Godly school life as
well as a Godly home life He will conform them to His righteousness and prepare
them for His usefulness) Romans 12:2.
May the God of Grace show you His way to educate the children He has
entrusted to you.
JulieBeth Lamb thanks God for allowing these words to flow through her and prays they are a blessing to others as God has allowed them to bless her. She and her husband Rex are the leaders of a homeschool group in Oakdale, California. They have been homeschooling their five children since 1993 and have three still to graduate. Contact her at Cowgirl4Ever@clearwire.net or 209-838-6062
