Read & stay blessed my people.
*Text: Jos. 24:15*
“But if you refuse to serve the Lord, then choose today whom you will serve. Would you prefer the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates? Or will it be the gods of the Amorites in whose land you now live? But as for me and my family, we will serve the Lord.””
Someone was quoted to have said, “Whatever else may be said about the home, it is the bottom line of life, the anvil upon which attitudes and convictions are hammered out. It is the place where life’s bills come due, the single most influential force in our earthly existence.”
We live in a world that downplays the value of the home. We don’t realize the kind of world our children face each day, and how things have changed. Children see more, they know more, they experience more, and they grow up so much faster. Sex talk is nothing to them because they hear it every day
Joshua certainly understood the power of parents. As he came to the end of his life, he called the leaders of Israel together for one final message. Knowing he is only one step from death, he sounds a call to renewal that begins with a recital of God’s blessings in the past (Joshua 24:1-13). Then he challenges the people to be faithful to God (Joshua 24:14-27). In the middle of his message we find those stirring words that have been quoted and memorized for over 3000 years, “But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” (v. 15). In those words, and in the verses leading up to them, I find five decisions we must make if we want our families to serve the Lord with us.
The number one decision I see here is that we must make a decision to build a grace based family. As Joshua recounts the story of the conquest of the Promised Land, he reminds them of what the Lord had done for them (Jos. 24: 11-13). We ought to do with our families what Joshua does with the people of Israel. It’s a good thing to review past blessings and to make a written record of God’s faithfulness. We need to say to our children, “Do you remember when you were so sick, we prayed to God, and you got better?” “Do you remember when Dad lost his job and we were afraid, so we prayed, and God gave him a new job?” “Do you remember when we prayed for your brothers to be saved, and six months later they accepted Christ?” A good memory of God’s blessings is a bulwark against backsliding. Has God blessed you? Write it down. Think often about it. Tell it to your children, your family, and your friends. Pass it along so that succeeding generations can tell the story after you are gone to heaven.
Decision No 2 is that we need to make the decision to teach our family to worship God. ‘‘Now fear the Lord” (Joshua 24:14a). When we think about the fear of the Lord, many people get the idea of cringing in terror. The biblical concept is much broader than that. Fearing the Lord means having such a deep respect for God that we want to please him in all we do. One writer says it refers to the “inner devotion” that causes us to honor God. How do we share this “inner devotion” with our families? It’s more an atmosphere than a program. When parents truly fear God, their children will learn to fear him too. When they love the Lord, it will be natural for the children to love him too. When they sing hymns, their children will learn the words. When they pray, their children will quietly pray with them.
Men bear a heavy responsibility in this area. When I say men I am speaking to fathers, husbands, grandfathers, great-grandfathers, and uncles. Men for too many years have delegated spiritual leadership to the women while they went out into the world to make a living. They have laid a burden on the women God never intended them to bear all alone. God’s intention is that spiritual leadership in the home should be a shared burden, but the men must take the initiative if we truly want God’s blessing.
In our world today, the battle against the home has been intensified, the evidence is clear – divorce is increasing at an alarming rate, number of delinquent children all around the world is increasing, and godly family is reducing to the point of extinction. As we move closer and closer to the end of this age, we do not have any assurance that things will get better, actually the bible says that it will get worse.
With this understanding therefore, children of God all over should get off the fence and join in the battle to rescue homes and families from this wicked agenda of the devil to steal, to kill and to destroy. You will not lose your home to the devil in Jesus name. Shalom
Prayer Point
1. Father, thank you for my home and for everyone that makes up my home. Thank you for your peace and joy that reigns in my home
2. Father, thank you for past blessings and your acts of faithfulness over my home
3. Father please grant me and every member of my house the grace to have such deep respect for you that I want to please you in all I do
4. Father as a husband and father, please help me to take full responsibility for my home in providing the right spiritual leadership in Jesus name
5. Father, please grant me grace to take all necessary steps to rescue my home from every wicked agenda of the devil in Jesus name.
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