Tayo Olumakin

The Wise and Godly Mother

theadmin — Tue, 03 May 2016 20:23:54 +0000

A mother is not necessarily a woman who gives birth to a child/ren, a mother is someone who brings up a child or children with care and affection.
God expects mothers to be Godly, wise, kind and uphold biblical expectations. Mothers have a unique and crucial role in the lives of their children. Mothers are reminded to love their children (Titus 2:4)—to feel affection for them, to approve of, like, and to have a kind attitude towards them. At the same time, a mother is to train her children to live godly lives and guide and lead them to Jesus – Luke 18:15a “One day some parents brought their little children to Jesus so he could touch and bless them”
According to Proverbs 22:6, as mothers you should start children off on the way they should go and even when they are old they will not turn from it.
Here are some qualities that a wise mother should possess:
– A wise mother is gentle with her children.
1 Thessalonians 2:7 “As apostles of Christ we certainly had a right to make some demands of you, but instead we were like children among you. Or we were like a mother feeding and caring for her own children” NLT
– A wise mother exercises great faith for her children.
Hebrews 11:23 “It was by faith that Moses’ parents hid him for three months when he was born. They saw that God had given them an unusual child, and they were not afraid to disobey the king’s command”
– A wise mother builds her family up rather than tearing them down with hurtful words.
Proverbs 14:1 “A wise woman builds her home, but a foolish woman tears it down with her own hands”
– A wise mother disciplines her children with the same loving hand the Lord shows to her
Deuteronomy 8:5 “Think about it: Just as a parent disciplines a child, the Lord your God disciplines you for your own good”
– A wise mother teaches her children God’s ways
Proverbs 1:8 “My child, listen when your father corrects you. Don’t neglect your mother’s instruction”
– A wise mother comforts her children
Isaiah 66:12-13 “12 This is what the Lord says: “I will give Jerusalem a river of peace and prosperity. The wealth of the nations will flow to her. Her children will be nursed at her breasts, carried in her arms, and held on her lap. 13 I will comfort you there in Jerusalem as a mother comforts her child.”
– A wise mother raises her children to become mature and independent
– A wise possesses a keen sense of discernment.
“The discerning heart seeks knowledge” (Proverbs 15:14)
It is important to stay intimately connected with God and keep a discerning heart. A wise mother should be willing to grow in knowledge through the reading of God’s word. God grants her discernment in the lives of her children.
– A wise and Godly mother puts her trust in God
“Those who know your name trust in you, for you, Lord, have never forsaken those who seek you” (Psalm 9:10).
Her trust is in God despite any sort of challenge that she faces and she remains steadfast in God’s ability to take care of her and her family needs.

Let God Take Over

theadmin — Tue, 03 May 2016 20:23:47 +0000

Coming to the end of yourself and all self-effort seems to be the very point that God steps in and shows Himself to be more than enough. When you come to the end of yourself, God’s grace is all that sustains you and it is enough. When you have come to the end of yourself, God is just getting started.
The bible says in 2 Corinthians 3:5 NLT “It is not that we think we are qualified to do anything on our own. Our qualification comes from God.” The Grace of God is what qualifies us as believers. You need to learn to depend totally on God and not on yourself.

In this world, broken things are despised and thrown out. Anything we no longer need, we throw away. Damaged goods are rejected, and that includes people. In marriage, when relationships break down, the tendency is to walk away and find someone new rather than work at reconciliation. The world is full of people with broken hearts, broken spirits and broken relationships. “The Lord is close to the broken-hearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit” (Psalm 34:18). There is something about reaching a breaking point that causes us to seek the Lord more sincerely. King David was once a broken man, and he prayed, “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me”

Breaking point is when you find yourself saying or thinking—”I cannot take this anymore, they are times when you come up empty ; no further resources, no fresh ideas, no better options, and you are left with nothing in reserve, financially, mentally, emotionally, or physically. At the end of yourself, you will meet God there. You are not alone. The prophet Elijah was at a breaking point; in fear for his life, fleeing from an angry monarch, drained physically, feeling lonely and abandoned, and wishing to die. Read 1 Kings 19:1-20 NIV. Elijah was empty and exhausted; disappointed with people, discouraged by threats to his safety, and depressed about the future. That’s what a breaking point looks like; until you meet God there.

Only when you surrender to Christ can you be restored and transformed. Such surrender requires a brokenness
Surrendering to God is not passive resignation or an excuse for laziness. Surrendering is not putting your brain in neutral and giving up rational thinking. God would not waste the mind he gave you. God does not want robots to serve him. Surrendering is not repressing your personality. God wants to use your unique personality. Rather than being diminished, surrendering enhances your uniqueness.

Surrender is a battle term. It implies giving up all rights to the conqueror. When an opposing army surrenders, they lay down their arms, and the winners take control from then on. Surrendering to God works the same way. God has a plan for our lives, and surrendering to Him means we set aside our own plans and eagerly seek His. The good news is that God’s plan for us is always in our best interest (Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future”), unlike our own plans that often lead to destruction (Proverbs 14:12 “There is a way that appears to be right but in the end it leads to death”). Our God is Victorious.

I want to encourage you to never lose faith when you get to the end of your ability for it is at that point that you discover the all-encompassing power of God.

Maternal Instinct

theadmin — Tue, 03 May 2016 20:23:47 +0000

Maternal instinct is something that mothers naturally listen to. That voice inside a mother that warns her when something is wrong despite when others tell her otherwise, the gut feeling she needs to protect; this is God’s gift to mothers. It is something that is so profound and amazing and should never, ever be ignored.

God does care for His children and does not just fathers us but also mothers us. One of the common images of God is Him as a mother bird sheltering her children under her wings. The bible says in Ruth 2:12 “May you be richly rewarded by the LORD, the God of Israel, under whose wings you have come to take refuge.” In the book of Psalms 17:8, the bible says…“Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings.” Also Psalms 57:1 says “I will take refuge in the shadow of your wings until the disaster has passed.” And Psalms 91:4 says “He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge”. Mothers are designed by God to keep their children safe, nurture and care for them within their human power and to be spiritually alert concerning their children. As a mother (both Biological and spiritual), God has given you the grace to nurture and care for your children, you need to tap into that grace.

As mothers, God expect us to teach our children, God does not expect us to be selfish; thinking of ourselves alone, we have responsibility and we are engraced to carry out this assignment. In Hosea 11:3-4, we see an example of God as a mother, “Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk, I who took them up in my arms; but they did not know that I healed them. I led them with cords of human kindness, with bands of love. I was to them like those who lift infants to their cheeks. I bent down to them and fed them.”

Once mothers bring children into the world, they work to preserve and save their children from harm and death. Israel’s cry to God, possibly recorded while in its Babylonian exile, offers imagery of how God as a mother preserves God’s child, Israel. In Isaiah 49:13-15, God responds to the people’s cry by reassuring them with the question, “Can a woman forget her nursing child, or show no compassion for the child of her womb?”

Mothers have a unique and crucial role in the lives of their children, Motherhood is not chore or unpleasant task. Mothers play an ongoing role in the lives of their children, whether they are adolescents, teenagers, young adults or adults with children of their own. While the role of motherhood must change and develop, the love, nurture, care and encouragement a mother gives should never cease.

If you are a mother and you are struggling on how to mother your children, I want to encourage you to change your focus to God, tap into the grace that He has given unto you as a mother and He will surely help you.

This is a call to mothers to awake and let’s use our maternal instinct and the grace that God has given to us as mothers, let’s raise a greater generation of children who will stand for God.