Raising Godly Children

For many parents, little thought is placed into raising godly children. Most thinking child training is providing for their needs such as food, clothing, shelter and education. These things are necessary, but they will not raise godly, faithful children.

There are three basic needs in raising godly children and if parents will apply them, it will lead a child in the right way:

(1) Instill within your children the fear of the Lord. When I speak of fear of the Lord, I am speaking of awe and reverence for His greatness and holiness. If parents have little respect and reverence for the holiness of God, the child will pick up on that quickly. For instance, the nursery can become a place of visiting and gossip for many. While worship is going on, one by one you can see mothers/fathers take their child to the nursery. Children are trained that you act up, you get to go play. Mothers/fathers seem quit content to use this time as catching up on the lastest rather than use it to train in reverence for the Lord. At one congregation, older kids were in the nursery rather than trained to be still and quiet because of the Lord. The fear of the Lord is a heart response and it seems missing today. "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction." (Prov. 1:7)

(2) Provide your children with genuine godly love. True godly love is not an emotional love. We have natural emotional love for our children. What happens is that emotional love seems to what lead us rather than godly love. Godly love is a sacrificing love, a love given for the betterment of another. It does not run with emotions, but what is needed at the moment. Read I Cor. 13:4-7 and look at this love at work. Godly love means parents are going to have to walk in the ways of the Lord to know this love. For instance, a child can have a horrible teacher at school. That child may not like the teacher and want to rebel by not doing their work. Emotional love would go and 'stand up' against this teacher. Godly love would train the child to take a right attitude, do the work expected despite how they feel because that is the right response. Doing right in difficulties is what love would do. Our children need to go through these things because it teaches them to have the right attitude when there is no reason to follow through.

(3) Provide a peaceful family life. Many a troubled child comes from a home where godliness and peace are lacking. "Better is a dry morsel and quietness with it than a house full of feasting and strife." (Prov. 17:1) God is a God of peace, not turmoil. Peacemakers are sons of God (Matt. 5:9). "He who troubles his own house will inherit the wind." (Prov. 11:29) Children that find the home in constant upheaval, parents arguing, fighting or going their own ways, will have great difficulty coping with things in their own lives as they grow up. They will never know how to deal rightly in situations (which takes us back to points # 1&2). Where the Lord lives, calmness and peace exist. When husbands/wives live in harmony with the Lord by following His will (I Pet. 3:1-7), that harmony will teach and instruct children how to live. When there are disagreements between husbands/wives, disagreements that are solved God's way end up in peace (Heb. 12:14).

Children with godly fathers/mothers are extremely blessed. Children that have fathers/mothers that pursue the world and the worlds ways to solve problems will suffer great spiritual damage. The church will suffer in the future. People are always seeking answers to raising godly children. How about we use the word of God rightly for a start? The rest will take care of itself.

Red Like Crimson

Have you ever attempted to take a piece of crimson or scarlet colored material and try to dye it white? It is impossible! You can never get out all that dark red color. It is a permanent stain. We sing a song: "Jesus Paid It All". The words of the chorus say this: "Sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow." Isaiah spoke the words, "'Come now, and let us reason together,' says the Lord, 'Though your sins are scarlet, they will be white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they will be like wool."' (Isa. 1:18)

When we we sing such songs or read such Scriptures, it should remind us that we cannot get rid of the stain of sin on our own efforts. Not matter how good one tries to be, how many 'good deeds' you try to do in the name of the Lord, you cannot remove the crimson stain of our ungodliness! People believe if they follow correct rituals in worship, live good lives for the Lord and just be a good person, they will be right with God! That is a self-deceived person.

Only in Christ Jesus can ones sinful stains be washed white as snow! It takes the blood, the blood of Jesus to make us completely clean and white in His sight. The blood of Jesus can take a scarlet stain, sin filled person that is defiled and make the white and pure in the presence of a pure and holy God. In Christ Jesus, the horrible, worst kind of filth we can think of is cleansed. The defiling stain is removed.

That leads me to one question: Do you ever wonder why some can never forgive another? Why do people carry disdain for others who have hurt or offended them? Because they think they believe they are justified and pure in their own eyes and look at the defilement and filth in the life of the one they hold contempt for. In other words, they do not see the cross, the death of Jesus on their behalf, they only see the stain of the other while ignoring their own sinful, unforgiving attitude. What is worse, the one refusing to forgive is stained!

It was so fitting that Jesus had a scarlet robe placed on Him during His sufferings (Matt. 27:28). "Jesus paid it all, all to Him I owe. Sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow."

Keep on going...

I am in Greenwood, Ark. for a meeting. The church here is very kind and desiring of God's word. Over the last few years, they have undergone a tremendous struggle, leading to a large number of people leaving. For those who have remained, about 100, they continue their faith and love in the Lord. They have a preacher who loves the Lord and has a great trait of humility, something I see missing so much.

What have I learned? First, keep preaching the word. So many have already spoken that the word of the Lord is a breath of fresh air. Secondly, I need to warn others that the church is a strong, powerful body but at the same time, it is extremely fragile. It doesn't take much evil to affect many (I Cor. 5:6-9). We need to keep evil out of the church and when members are acting corruptly, it needs to be dealt with to try to save their soul and keep other souls from stumbling. That's the hard part. Sometimes the very ones we are closest to can be the ones involved in sin and we hesitate to say anything about their sin. That's when the real question arises, do you really care about their soul? The church is not about friendship but 'soulship'! It is about making it to heaven, not making friends on earth. That takes a real, genuine love for the brethren to do that. I know at times I have had to put my head on the chopping block, taking blame and ridicule for the ungodly actions of others, being made out to be the bad guy, when in reality, I was loving the people by trying to correct their ungodliness. They were so steeped in sin they could not see see. Sin blinds people. Sin is darkness and darkness blinds so people cannot see where they are going. Many times, I have had to stand alone as far as people are concerned, but I am never alone standing with my Lord. It's tough dealing with brethren sometimes and I must say, there have been times in the recent past, I have contemplated that I might not want to preach anymore. But then the Lord wakes me up and let's me realize that's not the correct move. My wife does too! I still have the struggle trying to help those, who should know the Lord, attack you and make all sorts of accusations. In all, I never try to defend myself. I just let it go and I am sure to those that attack, they see me as accepting blame. The Lord knows better and so do I.

Well, there you have, the struggles of preaching sometime. As the song I sometime sing, "I know the Lord wll find a way for me." May God grant you all wisdom and strength in your walk and may your heart be humble before the mighty hand of God.

Preparing To Leave...

Today I am preparing to leave for a meeting in Greenwood, Arkansas. It has been 5 years since going to Greenwood. Resa never likes meeting/lectureship times for me when I travel about because she is not comfortable to be home alone. But our children really take care of their mom while I am away. As I have been preparing lessons and getting things in order, it reminded me how much effort and time we put into preparing things in our lives. We face deadlines, hurry to get this done and that done. It made me think of our souls. Familes become so covered up with bus...i....ness, running to this with children or running to that event. We find ourselves pulled in so many directions and it seems the Lord gets our leftovers. Then we wonder, why are we not growing like we should? That is something to think about....God bless!

What Is Fleshly and Spiritual? (part 3)

Jesus defeated sin and the power of sin on our behalf. If we have been united with Him in baptism and raised with Him, we possess His power to overcome. What that means is we no longer have to live and follow our fleshly desires! In fact, one can't walk and live in their flesh and end up saved in the end (Rom. 8:13)! We need a new mind set and we determine if we will walk in the new mind set (Rom. 12:1-2). Jesus became our sacrifice and provided for us complete 100% forgiveness while giving us a new power to rise above the very thing sin used to take us down, our flesh. The question left is: Will we go after this new power?

You have a choice to make, either, walk after your flesh and your desires or walk after the Spirit and His desires. It all depends on your mind set. What is the difference on where you set your mind? The difference between life and death (Rom. 8:6). If our minds run on our personal feelings and how we have been treated or taken advantage of, that's a mind set on the flesh and it brings forth death. (Ever notice how bitterness and resentful attitudes stay with people? That's spiritual death!) If our minds are set on God, reaching to Him and His ways in every aspect, it yields life and peace. How can one be certain where their mind set is? The mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God! (Rom. 8:7) It fights against God and anyone who trys to get them to give up their bad attitudes or do the right thing. For instance, when you are wrong either in attitude or action and someone tries to lead you into the life of God, if you get upset because they are looking out for your best interest, you know your mind set and it's not on God! It is hostile toward God and it might even get to the point where we say, "You can't judge me!" That's a hostile person toward God because they do not want to give up their flesh. The flesh and Spirit are in complete opposition to one another! At that point, there is no life, no peace only death. A person who's mind is set on the flesh refuses to submit and will not yield to the control of God (Rom. 8:7-8). Here is another illustration of the mind set on the flesh: While teaching a class on our attitude toward the governing authorities (Rom. 13), someone challenged that we are not to be in subjection if they are ungodly! I pointed out that Paul is not discussing the godliness/ungodliness of the government but our attitude toward governing authorities. God says they exist because of Him and their authority is from Him. God never approves of rebellion. The individual got angry and lashed out in the class. What does one learn? Their mind set did not bring life and peace but hostility, not willing to accept or sumbit and everyone in the class saw it. By the way, he was the preacher! Even though they are in Christ, they are trapped in the sinfulness of their flesh. Attitudes, behavior and thought processes show one's fleshliness.

When the mind set is on the Spirit and you are in sin or have a wrong attitude, you will humbly let it go and grab hold of God and His desires. Your flesh subsides and will not take you down. You find life and peace. A person in Christ with their mind set on the Spirit will put God's desires and interest ahead of their own. When they encounter someone who has hurt them, they only look for ways to help and not hold grudges or hurts that separate people. They have God's interest first. The first place God will lead you is away from you!!! You get stronger and better at His ways and life and peace become your nature! A mind set on the Spirit will think of ways that glorify God, that will use spiritual ways to promote the things in the church. Not external, feel good or physical attractions to gain people. Spiritual things from God are powerful and invisible! A mind set on the Spirit rises above the normal things that take us down, above the world's way of thinking and approach to human affairs and takes us into the very power of God. I wonder why so many in the church are so weak?

What do you think about? Where does your mind set run from day to day? Do you think about those who have hurt you and how badly someone mistreats you? Do you think about how to take advantage of someone? When you get stirred up, where does your mind go? Do you renew your mind by dwelling on God and His ways? Do you meditate on Scripture? To answer these questions reveals if you are fleshly or spiritual.

What Is Fleshly and Spiritual? (part 2)

Being "fleshly" is so easy because it is natural. God gave us our natural instincts, natural desires, but God never intended those natural tendencies (including our feelings) to rule our lives. Sin takes a persons flesh and uses it for it's evil purposes. God knows that! When one is baptized into Christ, into His death (Rom. 6), a new person emerges, while the old person is buired and done away with (Rom. 6:6-7). God has no need for our old, sinful ways and thinking. There must be a cleansing and new power involved. He provides that newness in and through Jesus Christ. If one being baptized into Christ does not realize what happened, there will be little changes in their lives.

As a result of being raised with Jesus, there was given a new power to work within, called the Spirit of life (Rom. 8:2). The question that remains is this: will we in Christ go with this new power? That depends on where we set our minds. If we set our minds on our flesh, our natural thinking, feelings and reactions that sin used us to operate in, then death will be the result (Rom. 8:5). (Death is a separation from God!) God is not trying to take away our feelings but He does not want our feelings to be the ruling force in our lives. Feelings are fine, unless we use them to lead our lives, which so many do. In dealing with the deeds of the flesh (Gal. 5:19-21), the majority arise out of feelings!

We now have a choice to make: we can sow to our flesh or sow to the Spirit of life (Gal. 6:7-8). Which ever side we sow to, that will be what emerges in our lives. If we allow our flesh to dominate us, our thinking, our feelings and actions, we will become corrupted and the cleansing power of Jesus will be null and void. The word "corrupted" literally means "to break into pieces". In other words, little by little we are being broken down, piece by piece taken back into sin. It happens a little here and a little there. Let me use one example by using outbursts of anger (a deed of the flesh Gal. 5:20). When your anger gets stirred, you have a choice to make: (1) You can either give in and allow that anger to lead you into outlandish behavior, while sin uses your mouth and actions for it's purpose (that is what is meant by sowing) or (2) You can yield to God, not acting on that anger and allow His power to lead you into His life to do the right and proper thing. One will make you stronger, the other will corrupt you, leading you into death. It all depends on your mind set. One is a fleshly reaction while the other is a spiritual reaction. Does that mean you won't feel the anger? Sure you will! God does not take away our feelings. We need to know what to do with them so because of God and yielding to Him, you will not let that anger be your guide, determining your actions! The more one can yield to God, submitting themselves under His guidance when things are tough, the easier it becomes to overcome in each case. You begin growing more into the likeness of Christ. That's spiritual growth. The fruit of yielding is love, joy, peace and the likeness (Gal. 5:22-23) because you allow your mind and life to be led another direction. You now are reaping the fruit of the Spirit. Your life will begin to settle down and see things more clearly. No games or worldly ways to overcome our anger. No counting to ten, no poping a rubber band on your wrist or going out and kicking a can (or any other object) to get it out of your system to feel better. No attending an anger management class. A simple submitting and giving yourself over to God when you are stirred toward the flesh allowing His power, His life to have a say so. What this means is we have the power available to overcome. God knows we need it and He provides all the necessary help. If the strength and power of God makes no more difference than what we can do ourselves, then why do we need Him? More tomorrow!

What Is Fleshly and Spiritual? (part 1)

The thoughts some left on fleshly and spiritual were good. It shows that we are learning to see the difference.

Let's begin by defining what we mean by "fleshly". Fleshliness is nothing more than following your natural nature and instincts to determine things. When one sows to their flesh (Gal. 6:7-8), they allow their own feelings or natural thought processes to determine what they do. Fleshliness and spiritual are often contrasted together to help us get a better hold on what it means. In I Cor. 3:1-4, this contrast is great. Paul shows the Corinthian brethren as "still fleshly." They had not moved into being spiritual. What was the telling sign? They were practicing jealousy and strife! Those are two signs of fleshliness. When one is jealous, that is coming from the flesh. When there is strife, fightings and quarrels, that is coming from the flesh. (See Gal. 5:19-21) What is meant by "spiritual"? First, when you look up the word spiritual, there are two thoughts conveyed: (1) It is invisible and (2) It is powerful! God is spirit (John 4:24). He is invisible and powerful. His ways are not natural. A spiritual mind set is a mind set on the things that are invisible from God (that's why it is by faith) and they are powerful from God. A fleshly mind set is a mind set on your feelings, your senses, the visible and they are weak and enslaving.

Here is a good illustration of fleshliness in the church. I was holding a meeting and there was a deacon in the church that approached me. He began taking me from classroom to classroom, showing me the new paint they had applied to the interior of the building in preparing for the meeting. As he walked me through their building, he began sharing with me how important color schemes were to the development and teaching of people and certain colors had a calming effect. That is a mind set on the flesh! He learned it from the world. What about God and His ability and power? The instruction of the Lord is not about "color schemes". We are taking in too much information to guide our lives from a lost, separated world that has no idea of the power of God. We listen to too many that do not have the Spirit of God, excluded from the life of God and they stir our hearts and minds. If you are in Christ, you have the life of God within. The only question is, will you set your mind of the things of God and allow Him to teach and instruct your life? The flesh is external but the spiritual is invisible and powerful things from God and they cannot be mixed! That's why so many fail. Just give it some thought and if you would like to add something or disagree, I am willing to listen. I'll continue tomorrow.