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Don’t you see that children are God’s best gift? the fruit of the womb his generous legacy?
Psalms 127:3 The Message
One day children were brought to Jesus in the hope that he would lay hands on them and pray over them. The disciples shooed them off.
But Jesus intervened: “Let the children alone, don’t prevent them from coming to me. God’s kingdom is made up of people like these.”
Matthew 19:13-14 The Message
In my other writings last week, I wrote about the unrighteous attack on our children.
To clarify, unrighteous means anything that opposes the word of God.
School boards—public and private—think it is okay to lie to parents regarding their children.
Teachers see nothing wrong with exposing young children to sexually explicit material.
District school leaders instruct teachers to hide the curriculum from parents.
School board meetings band or remove parents from their meetings because of opposing viewpoints.
Politicians believe the schools must teach children without parental interference.
Why is this happening—and more importantly—what can be done about it?
The “why” is simple: we have an adversary on the offensive and are willing to do anything to attack the Godhead.
So rejoice, O Heavens, and all who live there, but doom to earth and sea, For the Devil’s come down on you with both feet; he’s had a great fall; He’s wild and raging with anger; he hasn’t much time, and he knows it.
Revelation 12:12 The Message
Don’t be naive. There are difficult times ahead.
As the end approaches, people are going to be self-absorbed, money-hungry, self-promoting, stuck-up, profane, contemptuous of parents, crude, coarse, dog-eat-dog, unbending, slanderers, impulsively wild, savage, cynical,
treacherous, ruthless, bloated windbags, addicted to lust, and allergic to God.
II Timothy 3:1-4 The Message
The adversary (the devil) is subtle. Rarely does he attack you in a manner you can recognize as the enemy.
He uses subtly, like the people mentioned in II Timothy chapter three.
This is why a close personal relationship with the Godhead is vital. It enables you to see past the outward and recognize the true intent—an attack from the devil.
In a post-modern world, such barbaric talk about an adversary and the devil is met with skepticism, but the truth is the truth, and a close personal relationship with God helps you see it.
Families are under attack.
This includes men, women, and children.
What can be done about it?
The first thing is to develop a close personal relationship with the Godhead: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
This is not a religious exercise with a “to-do” list to check off.
It is a lifetime commitment to:
- Learn about God,
- how to get close to God
- to recognize God’s voice
- to follow God’s instructions
Without such a relationship:
- How will you know when you, your family, and your children are being attacked?
- How will you know how to respond to the attack?
- How will you know what scriptures to use against the attack?
The next thing you need to do is pray.
Pray
Until
Something
Happens
Make this your common practice: Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you can live together whole and healed. The prayer of a person living right with God is something powerful to be reckoned with.
Elijah, for instance, human just like us, prayed hard that it wouldn’t rain, and it didn’t – not a drop for three and a half years.
Then he prayed that it would rain, and it did. The showers came and everything started growing again.
James 5:16-18 The Message
Elijah did not “try” to pray. He did not make an “attempt” to pray.
Elijah PUSHed=prayed until something happened.
The prayers of a righteous person are powerful.
The third thing to be done is to instruct your children.
Point your kids in the right direction – when they’re old they won’t be lost.
Proverbs 22:6 The Message
Several translations say to “train” your child.
One translation says to “direct” your child.
Another translation says to start your child in the way they should go.
You may entrust your child’s education to a school system, but it is up to you to provide them with a spiritual foundation.
You can only provide them with such a foundation if you have one (a spiritual foundation), which cycles back to the first thing you must do.
A close personal relationship with the Godhead is needed now more than ever.
A close personal relationship with the Godhead is a journey. I invite you to follow along. I will pass it along as I learn so you, too, can learn. I hope that as you learn, you can pass it along so that I (and others) might learn.
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