Acquiring this book is a clear signal that you have a strong desire to shepherd the hearts of your children. From the beginning it was God’s intention that parents be the primary communicators of truth to their offspring. “And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up” (Deut. 6:6, 7). This responsibility and privilege of instructing children is as valid today as it was when these words were penned in Deuteronomy.The practice of family devotions is rare among church-going people today. The main thing missing today in parenting is the parent. The main thing missing in child-training is the trainer. Sunday School, youth pastors, and targeted youth ministries are all relatively new in the spiritual economy. It is to be feared that what was initially designed to be supplemental in child-training has become central. The people and programs which were intended to “assist” parents have by-and-large replaced the parents.
The time has come for parents to take back the ownership, responsibility, and control of their homes. The place to start is a daily time of family devotions. All families must establish priorities, and worship in the home is essential.
My Family Time with God is a tool designed to assist you in this sacred duty of shepherding your household. It offers a concise, practical teaching for every day of the year. Any head of household can use this volume as a devotional and teaching aid to instruct his or her family in the things of God.
Bible reading and teaching, praying, and singing should be the norm in our Christian homes. I trust that My Family Time with God will be a tremendous asset to you as you lead your family.
Your Servant for Revival,
Harold Vaughan
Acknowledgments & Authors
This project would not have been possible apart from the participation of many friends. I want to thank the following for partnering with us by contributing to this book:
Alton Beal
Alton Beal is an evangelist and the president of Ambassador Baptist College in Lattimore, N.C. He came to Christ at age seventeen. Alton and his wife Michelle have three children.
Jim Binney
Jim Binney is a fantastic preacher, author, and counselor. He has counseled ministry couples in crisis situations for decades.
Aaron Coffey
Aaron Coffey has been traveling in itinerant ministry since 2002, working in local churches and preaching the good news of Jesus Christ. His ministry focuses on helping churches be healthy, both in living out the truths of the Gospel and in sharing the Gospel within the context of their communities.
Sammy Frye
Sammy is an energetic speaker with a heart for God and a love for people. He is a gifted communicator of God’s Word. He serves as a youth pastor in Whispering Pines, N.C.
Jim Van Gelderen
Jim Van Gelderen was raised in a pastor’s home and attributes much of his spiritual training to his parents and grandmother, whose walks with the Lord were genuine and impacting. He surrendered to the call to preach in his teen years and soon after began to be burdened for young people. Thirty years later this burden is manifested in his traveling ministry to teenagers (Minutemen Ministries) and serving as Vice President of Baptist College of Ministry in Menomonee Falls, Wis.
Joe Henson
Joe and his wife, Garthea, are associates at Harvest Baptist in Guam. Joe has served the Lord as missionary and church planter. He is now involved in training men to serve God throughout the Pacific Islands.
Billy and Christy Ingram
The Ingrams travel in an evangelistic and revival ministry. They emphasize the victorious, Spirit-filled life.
Rick Johnson
Since 1986 Rick Johnson has served as pastor of Friendship Baptist Church in Huntsville, Ala. He and his wife, Paula, were married in 1979. God has blessed them with seven children.
Wayne King
Wayne King left a successful business to serve as a missionary pastor in Lander, Wyo. He and his wife Dawn have four children.
Stanley Long
Stanley Long serves as Director for Camp Eagle Ministries near Fincastle, Va. God has blessed him and his wife, Kelle, with nine children, and grandchildren.
Paul and Abigail Miller
Paul Miller was saved in 1986 at the age of 19. He, his wife Abigail, and their nine children travel America and Canada in full-time evangelism and music ministry. Abigail is a homeschool mother and is also an accomplished singer and songwriter.
Tom Palmer
In 1989, Tom Palmer founded Palmer Revival Ministries. Married since 1983, he and his wife, Patty, have three children. Through their revival ministry, they minister full-time in churches, Christian schools, and Christian camps.
Steve Rebert
Pastor Steve Rebert was saved in March of 1978. Upon his graduation from Bible college, the Lord opened the door to pastor Emmanuel Baptist Church in Winchester, Va. He has faithfully pastored Emmanuel for 27 years.
Jimmy Stallard
Jimmy Stallard is the Director of Treasures of Truth Ministries based in Atlanta, Ga. He has authored 15 books. His ministry focuses on revival and evangelism. He has been married to his wife, Eileen, for 37 years and has two grown children.
Rich Tozour
Rich Tozour has traveled in full-time evangelistic ministry. He is a powerful preacher and family man. He and his wife, Angela, have three daughters. They have traveled in evangelism for 20 years.
January 1
Family Worship Starts Today!
Scripture Reading—Gen. 18:17–19
And the LORD said, . . . Seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, . . . For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judgment.
God had a very high estimate of Abraham. He confidently asserted that he, Abraham, would direct his family in the way of the LORD. Not only would Abraham pray with his family, he would also teach his family. But not only teach and pray—he would also use his authority to command those within his house. Abraham prayed, taught, and shepherded his children. All of this for the purpose that his family might live godly lives.
Fathers, as head of the home, you have a sacred privilege and responsibility to oversee those within your care. Remember, you are not raising children, but soon-to-be adults. During these formative years you have countless opportunities to influence your offspring in developing godly character.
My Family Time with God is a tool that will assist you in this blessed task and benefit your entire home. Every day is a new day with brand new prospects to instruct, inspire, and ignite a passion for our great God!
Children, you are very fortunate to have parents who love and care for you. They want to assist you in fulfilling God’s plan for your life. You have a great advantage to have parents who will teach you about God and His ways. Every day when you sit down for family devotions, give your father and mother your full attention. Approach this time with eagerness and an open heart to learn something new.
Give your parents respect because God promises long and successful lives to children who honor their parents. If you sing songs, sing with all your heart. If you are praying, pray with all your heart. If you are listening, listen with all your heart. Every day you will draw closer to the Lord and one another.
Action point: This is the first day of a brand new year. Pause and thank the Lord for the chance to have family worship. Ask Him to direct your times together. Request His guiding presence each and every day in the coming year.
—Harold Vaughan
January 2
This is the Way
Scripture Reading—Isa. 30:21
“This is the way, walk ye in it.”
The Christian life can often be filled with the unknown. Sometimes we don’t easily discern the presence of God, and it is during these times that God may be testing our faith and teaching us to trust him. I think of Job’s exclamation when he was seeking God for an understanding of why he had seen his life crash down around him. Job 23:3 says, “Oh that I knew where I might find him!” It wasn’t that God had left or forsaken Job, but sometimes it can seem to us like Heaven is silent to the cries of the heart. It is at those times God wants us to rest in him. The old hymn, The Solid Rock, says it well: “When darkness veils His lovely face, I rest on His unchanging grace.”
There are other times when God’s presence is real and his guiding hand is clearly evident. A person who has been a Christian any length of time can testify to this truth, and such divine guidance strengthens faith and brings encouragement. When the wise men traveled from the east to Jerusalem to worship the Christ Child, they were summoned before King Herod to detail the purpose of their visit. When they left that meeting they certainly were at a loss as to which direction to go next. It was nighttime, and they were in a strange city. Then they saw it! The star that they had followed to Jerusalem was once again directing them to their destination. Matthew 2:10 says, “When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.” Why? Because the presence of the star was proof to them that they were being guided by a Source outside of themselves, and that Source was God Almighty! Such a reality brought them “exceeding great joy.”
Discuss: Discuss as a family the times that you sensed God was clearly leading and guiding you. Ask each family member to tell how God led them specifically. Such remembrances will strengthen faith and bring joy to the heart.
—Paul Miller
January 3
Refusing to Confess
Scripture Reading—Pro. 18:12
“Before honour is humility.”
A person that cannot laugh at himself has a problem with pride. I agree with John Maxwell, who said, “We take ourselves too seriously and don’t take God serious enough.” Charles Swindoll tells a humorous story about how silly we are when we refuse to admit when we are wrong. Here’s the story:
A guy named Zeke Pike who lived in Muleshoe, Texas would not admit when he was wrong, no matter what. One day Zeke happened to shuffle into the blacksmith shop, sawdust all over the floor. What he didn’t know was that just before he got there the blacksmith had been working with an uncooperative horseshoe and beat on it till it was black. It was still hot but wouldn’t bend, so he tossed it into the sawdust.
Unaware of it, Zeke walked in and saw that black horseshoe. He picked it up and naturally he dropped it very fast. The old blacksmith looked over his glasses and said, “Kinda hot, ain’t it Zeke?” “Nope, just doesn’t take me long to look at a horseshoe,” Zeke replied.
The Bible tells us to acknowledge our sin (Ps. 32:5) and to confess our faults to one another (James 5:16). A Pharisee refuses to do either, but compares himself favorably to other people (Luke 18:11). Like Zeke, when we refuse to acknowledge our faults, we are far away from God.
A man who greatly influenced me through his books had a moral failure in his life. For several years he disappeared. He wrote no books but worked on his inner life and marriage. Years later he wrote a book on dealing with personal brokenness and failure. He stated that one of the keys to his being able to restore his heart to God was that he would never defend his sin.
Pride causes us to refuse to confess or admit what we have done. We are afraid we will lose face and others will pull away from us. The irony is that we deeply respect the person that is honest about his failures and sins.
Memorize: Proverbs 18:12.
—Rick Johnson
January 4
Are You Thankful?
Scripture Reading—1 Thess. 5:18
“In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.”
Lima beans. Rainy days. A hard test that you forgot to study for. Moving away. Little brothers and sisters. Not getting your way. There is always something for us to complain about. It could be something really big or really small. When we look around us and see things that we don’t like or feel like things aren’t going right, we are tempted to murmur and complain. Sometimes we don’t think that God is doing what is best for our lives. Sometimes we think that we know what is best, so we complain when God doesn’t do what we want.
1 Thessalonians 5:18 says, “In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” God commands us to be thankful in EVERYTHING. There’s always something to be thankful for. Our family has started trying to think of things that we are thankful for before we go to bed at night. It helps us to see God’s blessings in our lives. Sometimes when hard things happen to us—like our truck breaking down or having to leave a special place—we talk about what we are thankful for instead of finding the reasons to complain.
In that verse, it says that being thankful is “the will of God” for our lives. God wants us to be thankful. The only reason that we can really be thankful in EVERYTHING is because of what Jesus has done for us. I naturally find things that I don’t like. But since Jesus lives in me, I can actually thank God for things that I would tend to complain about. We all deserve God’s wrath because of our sin, so we can ALWAYS find something to be thankful for— like God’s love and mercy! When we are thankful in all things, we start to see God’s kindness to us in the midst of our day. So, what does God want you to be thankful for today?
Action point: Think of two or three things that you tend to complain about. Find some ways that you can be thankful instead of complaining.
—Aaron Coffey
January 5
An Argumentative Spirit
Scripture Reading—Pro. 28:25
“He that is of a proud heart stirreth up strife.”
Pride and division are associated in the Bible (Ps. 31:20; Pro. 28:25; 1 Tim. 6:4). How does pride stir up conflict in our relationships? Through our words, often arguing over silly and unnecessary issues.
Sometimes my wife Paula and I are with a couple that often disagrees over an issue, and the conversation gradually degenerates into an argument. We are always uncomfortable when this happens.
What is it that makes us so desperate to be right, even to the point of engaging in a heated argument? It is pride. When I have a tendency to dispute with others, something is very wrong in my heart.
Arguing only breaks the fellowship between two people. For husbands and wives, it gives our children bad memories of our home and creates insecurity in their hearts. They might wonder about our commitment to one another. Though unsaid, they might wonder if we will divorce one day.
One day I was thinking about how children perceive us as parents and if they ever wondered about the permanency of our marriage. I didn’t want them to have that fear, so when I was alone with each of the kids, I would tell them that Paula and I were never going to leave each other or them.
I wasn’t bashing the parents of their friends or our friends that had gone through a divorce. My heart’s intent was to remove any fear they might have of that ever happening to us. How would they have felt if they heard me say that and later heard Paula and me fighting and arguing? Our example would destroy anything else I had said to the contrary.
Pride makes us defensive, and we argue to prove our point in order to protect our ego. The consequence is that we begin to grow apart from each other in our spirit. Pride will destroy our homes.
Ponder: Have you ever viewed your tendency to argue as a root of pride in your life?
—Rick Johnson
January 6
Bitter or Better
Scripture Reading—Heb. 12:15
“Lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you.”
A family member once asked me this question: “What is the biggest problem you face in your counseling?” After 25 years of ministry to young people, my answer came quickly: bitterness! One definition I read of bitterness is, “a sin in my spirit resulting from a failure to thank God for every person and situation He has brought into my life.” Bitterness can be our response when we want something and don’t get it. It can also occur when something we had was taken away or when we get something we don’t want. These seeds of hurt and disappointment can grow into a “root of bitterness” that will bring great heartache and grief into our lives and the lives of others.
In the third grade I was preparing to paint on one side of an easel while a little girl was painting on the other side of the easel. Suddenly, I was pushed out of the way, and I realized the one doing the pushing was the biggest bully in the class. He was bigger than me! In fact, everyone was bigger than me in the third grade! I was fuming, and in my anger I dipped my brush in my paint can and painted the back of his shirt as fast as I could. Then, I ran! The teacher caught me, and I got a paddling, which I might add, was well deserved. Because something I had was taken away, I made a sinful decision and suffered the consequences for it. As we learned in our Scripture reading, bitterness troubled me and defiled and affected others.
What is the right reaction to the hurt and disappointment we all experience at some point in life? For the Christian, we certainly should be willing to forgive, since we ourselves have been forgiven (Eph. 4:32). Perhaps there is a need to confess our bitterness to the Lord and begin to pray for those who have hurt us. Becoming better, not bitter, will certainly please the Lord— while holding onto bitterness is like taking poison and waiting for the other person to die. Will you be “bitter or better”?
Discuss: Spend some time discussing the response of Jesus Christ to the hurt and suffering He experienced on The Cross.
—Sammy Frye
January 7
Count, Don’t Complain
Scripture Reading—James 1:2
“My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations.”
Are you facing something in your family or personal life that makes no sense? Are you willing to trust God and “count it all joy”? To “count” means to stop and think, and to think rightly. Joy speaks of cheerfulness or gladness. God commands this response to difficulties as a faith response that demonstrates trust in His person, His plan, and His purposes for us.
One Saturday afternoon my grandson and I headed out for some fishing together. Our first cast was a success! As I reached to remove the rebel lure, the fish flopped, and I quickly realized I had a fishhook buried in my thumb. We hurried home and off I headed to the hospital. On the way, I had a good talk with the Lord and then with myself. I determined that I would trust and praise God in this “fishhook trial.” So I began to thank Him and asked in prayer for the grace to please Him and that I would be open to the lessons He wanted to teach me. The emergency room was packed, and it looked as if I was in for a long night. So I decided to praise the Lord for the mission field before me. After passing out all my gospel tracts, talking to a few folks willing to listen, and then more prayer, I decided to call our family doctor. Fortunately, he was in his office doing paperwork and, thankfully, agreed to see me. His office was located a few blocks from the hospital. In a short time I was on my way home with a fishhook-free finger, still praising the Lord, and looking forward to some sweet fellowship with my grandson! There was triumph in the trial simply because by God’s grace I was able to think rightly and count it all joy.
This influenced my attitude and helped me to remember that trials are God’s way of teaching us to trust patiently in Him and in so doing to glorify Him. It is always best to “count, don’t complain” as we trust in the Lord.
Discuss: Talk with family members about the right response to trials and share Scripture that will help us think rightly during difficult times.
—Sammy Frye
