In This Quiet Moment: Teach Me

 

The earth is filled with your love, O Lord; teach me your decrees.

—Psalm 119:64

Imagine that you are all alone and that you are standing on a hillside looking out over a magnificent valley. For just a moment, close your eyes and think about what you might hear and feel. The breeze whispers against your skin. You can hear the rustling of the grass. Perhaps you can hear a bird chirping in the trees. The brook is a ways away, but if you concentrate you can just barely hear the water flowing over the rocks.

Even more than what you hear and feel is what you don’t hear or feel. You do not hear any voices, any vehicles, or any human-made noise. You can’t smell the exhaust fumes of cars and trucks. No one is bumping into you. You don’t have to worry about stepping on some trash on a sidewalk. In place of the rauccousness of life in a city, you only sense an overwhelming sense of peace.

Do you realize that what you feel in this moment is the love of God? That’s right. In such a peaceful setting, you can feel the love of God. Why? Because God’s love inhabits the earth. When we can put aside all of the distractions of life, we can palpably feel the love of God. And, it is in just such a setting that we can ask God to teach us His decrees. We can ask Him to tell us what He wants us to do.

Larry Mayfield has written a song ¹ that captures the essence of the Scripture verse at the beginning of this blog post. Here are the words:

In this quiet moment,
Jesus speak to me
Fill my heart with thy love divine,
Your power let me see.

Max Mace and “The Heritage Singers” have recorded a lovely arrangement of this song. I invite you to watch and to enjoy this video:

 

 

As we begin this new day, let’s determine to allow God to teach us the way He wants us to go. By spending time reading and meditating on His written Word, the Bible, let’s open up our minds and hearts to His instruction for this day.

 

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1 Mayfield, Larry. “In This Quiet Moment.” Nashville, TN: Word Music Publishers, 1971. Please note that, in each case, whenever a citation of any Copyrighted material is made within a post on this blog, such a citation is made strictly for Educational Fair Use illustration purposes only. All Rights Reserved by the original Copyright Holder.

_{Copyright © 2026 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

Train Up a Child

 

Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.

—Proverbs 22:6

Child Psychologists agree that parents must set aside moments out of their busy lives to spend time teaching their children about the most important things in life. By doing so, the investment of the parents will reap untold benefits throughout a child’s life.

This statement remains all the more true when we consider the Christian spiritual formation of our children. Parents play a key role in training up, or teaching, children about God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—and about the principles of the Christian faith. Today, there is no excuse for parents not doing everything in their power to teach their children the way of the Christian faith.

This training begins with the parents living out the life of a follower of Jesus right in front of their children. The way they talk, the way they handle problems, the way they act towards each other, the way they relate to other people. In every situation that they encounter in life, the parents have an opportunity to teach their children how to live as followers of Jesus.

Does this training require parents to daily examine their own lives, so they might rid themselves of besetting sins? Of course it does. For every aspect of a parent’s life affects the learning experience of his or her children. It represents an enormous responsibility. But, it is also a great joy.

And, other believing members of a family are not immune from these responsibilities. In many cases, grandparents also play a key role in the spiritual development and Christian spiritual formation of their grandchildren. Grandma and Grandpa also live their lives as an open example of how a follower of Jesus chooses to live.

The very fact that the way one follows Jesus is a conscious choice becomes so very important. Children must learn that their lives will become marked by the choices they make. They must understand that in every situation, they will need to choose whether they will follow the way of Jesus, or deny Him by the choice that they make.

The blessing of pouring one’s life into raising children to love God and to love their neighbor is immeasureable. Praise God that He has raised up Christian parents who take up this challenge and give themselves to the task of raising their children in the way that they should go.

 

_{Copyright © 2026 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}