Day 1 we looked at God’s plan for your family.
Day 2 we looked at His plan for fathers’ and mothers’ roles with their children.
Day 3 we looked at what the biggest detriment to that plan is.
Today we will see: How to Break Free from the Enemy’s Grip to Get back to God’s Plan for our Homes and Families
Take the time to read through the BOLD OUTLINE and WORDS at least so you know what is destroying our families from the inside out. This is a culmination of a 10+ year Bible study on this and I know you will love it!
Part 4 – How to Break Free from the Enemy’s Grip
to Get back to God’s Plan for our Homes and Families
I. Know what you are up against: many times your children are under the influence of other people most of the day…
Our families, our little families, are right at the heart of God’s plan for the whole universe. A Christian leader (J. Gresham Machen in Christianity and Liberalism, p. 154) wrote these words in 1927 (!),
The most important social institution according to Christian teaching is the family. [There are other social institutions; there is the church, the school, the government, and so on, but the most important is the family.] And that institution is being pushed more and more into the background. It is being pushed into the background by undue encroachments of the community and of the state. Modern life is tending more and more toward the contraction of the sphere of parental control and parental influence. The choice of schools is being placed under the power of the state. The community is seizing hold of recreation and of social activities. [This was in 1927. What is it today?!] It may be a question how far these community activities are responsible for the modern breakdown in the home.Very possibly they are only trying to fill a void which even apart from them had already appeared. But the result at any rate is plain. The lives of children are no longer surrounded by the loving atmosphere of the Christian home but by the utilitarianism of the state.
Stop and think. How many hours a day do you have your children in your home where you are having an influence on them? Very few, if it is like most homes. They are under the influence of other people most of the day…
II. Since it is so limited, use your time and what you teach wisely!
A. Talk of the Word and make sure that by words and actions you demonstrate to your children from birth on that the Lord is present and comes first in all you do
[And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. 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. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates. (Deut 6)
[For I have known (chosen, acknowledged) him [as My own], so that he may teach andcommand his children and the sons of his house after him to keep the way of the Lord and to do what is just and righteous, so that the Lord may bring Abraham what He has promised him. (Genesis 18:19 AMP)]
By telling the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord and His might and the works He performed, SO THAT the generation to come might know them, that the children still to be born might arise and recount them to their children, That they might set their hope in God and not forget the works of God, but might keep His commandments. And might not be as their fathers—a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation that set not their hearts aright nor prepared their hearts to know God, and whose spirits were not steadfast and faithful to God.
“Make sure you tell your children, and your children tell their children, And their children their children. Don’t let this message die out.” (Joel 1:3 MESSAGE)
Is. 38:19 The living, the living—they shall thank and praise You, as I do this day; the father shall make known to the children Your faithfulness and Your truth.
“And what large and important nation has statutes and ordinances so upright andjust as all this law which I set before you today? Only take heed, and guard your life diligently, lest you forget the things which your eyes have seen and lest they depart from your [mind and] heart all the days of your life. Teach them to your children and your children’s children—”
(Deuteronomy 4:8–9 AMP)
III. Always take spiritual issues very seriously in your home
Don’t undermine heaven, hell, and make light of anything that could be eternal issues.
IV. Hide God’s Word in your children’s heart from an early age.
Children have great capacity for learning. Be sure you are teaching them the precepts, statutes, ordinances and judgments of Scripture. Be sure you are training them in the love of God. They can memorize Scripture and sing songs of God’s love rather than singing songs that are worldly and their focus, even if neither good nor bad, is distracting them for learning more important things during their formative years.
V. Tell them the whys of God and not just the ways.
Give them examples tailored to their ages, for example: See that lady wants to go in front of me with her car? I don’t want to let her in but Jesus said to prefer one another and let someone in so I am going to do it! Aren’t we so happy we let her in?
“I don’t really want to share my ice cream, but Jesus said to share and I will have JOY so here you go! – Now I am happy AND you are happy – TWO people are happy instead of ONE – Jesus has good ideas!”
Things like that are learning experiences that should be repeated constantly to offset the values and influences of worldly thinking as often as possible.
VI. Line up life situations in light of God’s Word and Ways
When things happen in our lives and the lives of our children, train them to look at the spiritual part of life.
V. Train them to hear from the Lord
From birth, let them hear/see you reading your Bible, praying and applying Biblical principles. Start them with a dedicated Bible study time as soon as they can toddle around and listen to stories. Begin and end their days in fellowship with the Lord.
Train your children’s consciences and then when you pray, train them to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit speaking to their trained consciences. Reach their hearts in correction (we are going to have a seminar on that and the materials from National Center for Biblical Parentingare all about that. https://karenbudzinski.com/schedule/cooperation-consequences-keeping-your-sanity/)
VI. Build the spiritual side of their lives to rule over the flesh…
Remember, what you feed grow; what you starve dies…
The problem with having most time devoted to fleshly pursuits results in:
The way the world wants to squeeze us into living:
Fleshly worldly nature fed the most… is the directing force of life.
Soulish nature (mind – what we THINK; will – what we DECIDE; and emotions – what we FEEL) comes under directives of fleshly worldly nature.
Spiritual life starved; has little control over personality.
The way the Lord wants us to live:
Spiritual life fed the most; is the directing force of life; controls personality.
Soulish nature (mind – what we THINK; will – what we DECIDE; and emotions – what we FEEL) comes under directives of the spiritual nature.
Fleshly worldly nature starved… has little control over personality.
