HUMAN CLAY: Parental Power

Read 1 Kings 22:51-53.

1 Kings ends with several verses that summarize the course of the kingdom of Israel. Did you realize that from its inception when the northern kingdom split from the southern kingdom of Judah, that spiritual decline was the constant course until its demise? The reign of each king was an unbroken chain of wickedness, until God judged them.  The southern kingdom of Judah was much the same, except that occasionally a king would break the pattern and a spiritual awakening would return the people briefly back to God.  Yet, final decline would follow and Judah would fall as well.

It is an illustration of parental power. Can you imagine having the notorious Ahab and Jezebel as your father and mother?  That was the home prince Ahaziah was raised in. No wonder he became a wicked king after Ahab and Jezebel’s deaths. “He did evil in the sight of the LORD, and walked in the way of his father and in the way of his mother and in the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who had made Israel sin; for he served Baal and worshiped him, and provoked the LORD God of Israel to anger, according to all that his father had done.” (v.52-53‬).

The reality is that each of those wicked kings had occasion to repent.  They chose to rebel against God. Parental power is not a guarantor the children will become as their parents, yet it is such a strong influence. Physically, you can often see someone who walks like their dad—and I have observed this spiritually, as well. We dare not minimize the impact of what parents say to their children in their messages. Yet, we must maximize the influence from what parents show to their children in their model. They will often become what we are more than what we say.

We will not be perfect parents. Only God the Father is. Yet, His grace is available to empower us. His Word is accessible to equip us. Pray and seek to practice what you preach—including repentance when you fail. Our walk with God is the most important thing about our life this side of eternity, and it will be the greatest influence on our children and generations to come.

HUMAN CLAY: Shaping Children

Read Numbers 14:18.

When I studied art, I was given a lump of clay. It was placed on the potter’s wheel, water was used to moisten it, and then the proper pressure from my hands molded it, as the wheel turned. The beauty and usefulness of the vessel depended on my shaping of it.

In a sense, our children are human clay. Parents have a tremendous power to shape young lives while they are still pliable. Wait too long and the clay hardens and is resistant. Of course, the analogy breaks down, if pressed too far. Unlike a lump of clay on the wheel, our children have a mind of their own, and the sin within them can make them resist our influence. Still, that doesn’t alter that adults have great power in shaping young lives.

In the text, we see this declared. On the one hand, here are those generations that find forgiveness and God’s blessing which in large measure is because parents, grandparents, and other mature Christians have influenced them through their example and teaching to seek after God. On the other hand, there is the dire warning of one generation after another experiencing the judgment of God because they are rebels against His principles. If we fail in molding the next generation for good, then the cycle of failure is passed on.

It is a sobering responsibility. We need to fall on our faces before God, and ask Him for mercy and forgiveness for our own failings and plead for grace to enable us to shape the next generation for Christ.

FIGHTING FAMILIES: The Company We Keep

Read Proverbs 13:20. 

“A man is known by the company he keeps,” is the old saying. Another form of that is, “Birds of a feather flock together.”  The fact is that our close companions are so influential—and that is true to Scripture. 

Sadly, Solomon did not practice what he preached.  He told his son to surround himself with the wise and shun association with the foolish, but instead brought many heathen women into his home that turned his heart from God. His son, Rehoboam, therefore, did not heed this warning. When wise counselors sought to guide him, he chose to listen to his friends in their folly. The results were not only personal failure, but destructive to the nation he ruled. 

We are influenced by our environment for good or bad. While only heaven will bring absolute freedom from evil, we still need to minimize those influences which lead to wickedness and maximize the ones that lead to holiness. As parents, we need to model this and instruct our children accordingly.

What children take into their hearts and minds will make a big difference. Music, movies, media, books, magazines, websites, and their relationships with friends and those they date will be uplifting or destructive. Their “companions” need to be  godly influences.

These are discussions we must have. We cannot be with our children at all times, so we must guide them into discernment—helping them to identify and choose that which edifies rather than harms. Eventually, they will have more and more freedom, and young people must be taught who they should spend time with and those they must avoid. Giving them too much liberty, too soon, without direction is deadly. Sheltering them too long, and suddenly sending them into a hostile world without gradual freedom to choose can be harmful, as well.

As parents, grandparents, teachers, and other adults, left us recognize this powerful principle, making sure we choose proper influences and then help children and teens choose likewise. God, give us wisdom and perseverance in this evil age!

YOU CAN'T RUN AWAY FROM GOD

But Jonah arose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the LORD.  (Jonah 1:3a)

The great boxer, Joe Louis, was once told how his opponent, Billy Conn, intended to beat him with quickness, to which the Brown Bomber replied, “He can run, but he can’t hide.”  Louis knocked him out.  In a much greater way, Jonah found out that you can’t run away from God.  That is the lesson in the first chapter of Jonah.

He tried (v.1-3). The Lord commanded his prophet to go preach a message of repentance to the citizens of the Assyrian capital of Nineveh, and he boarded a boat to go the opposite direction.  Before we shake our heads and judge Jonah’s folly, let us take personal inventory.  Some who read this are out of fellowship with God—fleeing from His will in some way or another.

Jonah acted on reason rather than revelation; by fear and not faith.  His intended audience was a cruel and evil people.  Jonah knew the danger of his assignment.  As much as he feared that, an even greater fear was that perhaps his mission would be successful!  He wanted the Assyrians to be judged—after all their brutality he thought they deserved it—the filthy pagans!  Have we not too often—like Jonah—leaned on our own logic, rather than trust in God’s way?  Nineveh needed to be confronted—and so does our culture today.

The disobedient prophet found out that God disciplines His defiant child (v.4).  The seeming fair weather circumstances Jonah enjoyed were suddenly interrupted by a storm that God sent to arrest him.  The storm was bad, but the sin was worse.  Whatever it takes, if you continue to run from God, He will hunt you down—for your own good and His glorious purpose.

If we are in a storm in our life today, we should pause and seek the reason.  Sometimes trials come out of the blue sky like a summer thundershower.  They may be inexplicable.  Faithfulness to God is no assurance of immunity from trouble.  Facing such is part of living in a world under the curse.  There are other instances where we are reaping what we have sown.  Another prophet, Hosea, wrote, “They sow the wind, and reap the whirlwind” (8:7a).  

Not only did the sin of Jonah affect him—bad as that was—but it threatened to sink the sailors on board with him (v.5-17).  We may decide that our disobedience is our business—that it is between us and God alone.  As dangerous an attitude as that is—it is also wrong.  We do not know how far-reaching the results of our sin may be—the lives we will bring down with us.  

Jonah is unconcerned.  He is asleep!  Sin has that kind of deadening effect.  The pagan mariners meanwhile are desperately trying to save themselves.  There was a man who knew the problem and the solution, but had not told them.  This is a picture of the grim reality in our world today.  Our world seeks a solution to the problems faced—and it is futility—while the church sleeps on in sinful disobedience to the Great Commission mandate to share the Gospel!  Jonah is cast out—which is what Jesus said would happen when the salt of the earth lost it seasoning potency.  It is branded, “good for nothing but to be thrown out,” (Matt.5:13b).

God was not through with Jonah.  He persistently pursues His erring child.  What will it take to bring us into surrender to God’s will?

THE POWER OF INFLUENCE

Brethren, join in following my example, and note those who so walk, as you have us for a pattern.  (Philippians 3:17)

We are influenced by our peers.  I am a Bible preacher.  I love to take a text, expound it—often preaching through books of the Bible.  That is what my mentors did.  It was how I was taught.  Sometimes we refer to peer pressure in a negative way because the influences are not good role models.  We have seen many a young life go off the rails from imitating those given to iniquity.  Paul is talking about the power of influence in Philippians 3:17-21.

There are those—Paul and others—who have established a pattern for us to follow (v.17).  They are pioneers of the faith who have blazed the trail for us through the wilderness of this world.  We need heroes—I mean real heroes—not like most of what we see today.  The world’s heroes are often promiscuous and profane.  Role models exert a strong pressure that helps shape our thinking and lifestyle.  If Hollywood stars and not holy saints have a greater influence, then we will not resist the cultural current of our day, but go with the flow.  The Apostle Paul, however, now there’s a hero!  Other than Jesus whom I worship—and is far more than any man—this is the greatest man to have ever set foot on this planet.  Others have done similarly.  We are told to “note” them—to study and scrutinize their lives.  How? Through Bible study, reading Christian biography, and being in fellowship with mature Christians in the church.

Having an eye on eternity is the driving force behind those who set an example for us and how we can become that kind of model for others (v.20-21).  We are to behave as those under the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ, who are citizens of the kingdom of heaven, living according to its laws.  The Philippians would have grasped this for their city was a Roman colony which meant that they were governed by Roman law although living in Greece.  They were to extend Roman influence through those about them.  We make a difference by being different.  As you walk in this sinful world are you behaving as a citizen of the heavenly realm?

There are those who would lead us astray (v.18-19).  These have chosen to walk according to the course of this world.  They are not overt in their opposition from outside the church, but those who subvert inside the church.  Old Vance Havner used to say, “The church has never been so threatened by woodpeckers on the outside as termites on the inside.”  These walk into church like saints on Sunday and then walk into the world like Satan on Monday.  They are not enemies of the cross because they contradict the Gospel in doctrine but they compromise the Gospel in deed (v.19).  They worship sensual appetites and serve them.  The way to kill such ungodly passions is to starve them.  We feed them by the movies we watch, the magazines we read, and the music we listen to.  C.S. Lewis, “Aim at heaven and you get earth thrown in; aim at earth and you get neither.”  Such boast of what they should be ashamed of!  They call it liberty but it is licentiousness!  Their creed is tolerance.  They advertise how open-minded they are.  Follow that path and you are on the highway to hell.

What kinds of examples are you following and what kind are you setting?

LIVING LETTERS

And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord.  (Ephesians 6:4)

“Children are the living messages we send to a time we will not see” (John W. Whitehead).  That being true, the question is, “What kind of living letter are you writing?”  Too many dip their parental pen in poison and write a deadly message on their child’s heart.  These children will grow up to be turned loose on society to spread evil like a plague.  Even Christian parents often fail to write the Word of God upon their kids’ hearts.  Yet, we have the potential under God to turn this around and send out living letters of testimony to the grace and power of Christ to future generations.  Paul offers four requirements in Eph.6:1-4 for being effective parents.

There needs to be DEMONSTRATION, “you fathers…” (6:4a).  It is not that mothers do not play a significant role in the spiritual development of their children, for they certainly do.  Still, God has placed men as the leaders of their home.  Our children will not become what we say, but what they see!  They had rather see a sermon than hear one.  What do our children need to see in us?

If you want your children to honor you, then be an honorable parent—not a hypocritical one.  Prov.17:6 says, “Parents are the pride of their children.”  Little eyes are watching our every move.  A person’s image of the Heavenly Father is often patterned after the image they have of their human father.

Proper parenting demands DEVOTION, “bring them up…” (6:4b).  This requires a commitment to them—to making our sons and daughters a priority.  In the Old Testament a father would give a blessing to their kids.  The father would place his hands on them and speak to them words of blessing.  Have you given the blessing?

The blessing was communicated by proper touch.  Kids need our touch.  They need lots of hugs.  They grow up secure when they receive this affection and they know how to express love to others.  A survey of teens from Christian homes found 79% felt unloved!  God forbid!

We also bless with positive talk.  We communicate by the tone of our voice whether our children are special or a nuisance.  Critical, negative parents undermine their child’s potential and raise kids that either become perfectionists pursuing an elusive goal of pleasing their parents or we embitter them and they despair.

Loving parents exercise proper DISCIPLINE, “training…” (6:4b).  We must reward good behavior.  When they get it right we must let them know.  When you are rewarded on your job with a raise or promotion it inspires you to work harder.  That principle is just as valid with our kids.  There will also be correction that should be swift, direct, and proportionate.  Our Father in Heaven disciplines us in love and we are to follow His example.

Good parents give DIRECTION, “admonition…” (6:4b).  The most important thing you can teach them is, “Jesus loves me this I know for the Bible tells me so.”  We don’t want to bring children into the world if we aren’t going to take them to heaven with us.  There is a power in the Word of God to direct them.  Nature abhors a vacuum.  The Word will fill their minds with Divine direction, or the world will with demonic deception.

Let every adult believer call upon God to help us impact this younger generation for Christ!  This is urgent and essential business!

HOW TO EXPERIENCE INTIMACY WITH GOD

LORD, who may abide in Your tabernacle?  Who may dwell in Your holy hill?  (Psalm 15:1)

God designed us with the capacity for intimacy with Him.  We find Adam and Eve walking in the garden with the Creator, but then sin disrupted that fellowship.  It still does.  The good news is that God sought out those first humans and He seeks after us today.  David shows us how to have intimacy with God in Psalm 15.

The question is whether we will respond to this Holy God—will I deal with the sin barriers in my life?  The implication in David’s question (v.1) suggests that we dare not rush rudely into God’s presence, but must pause and approach Him reverently.  Does He love us and desire our company?  Of course!  Yet, He is God so holy—above and beyond us.

Our walk must be upright (v.2a).  We do not slink around as a serpent, but stand upright with a spine stiffened by conviction.  Our feet move in lockstep with God’s commandments.

Our work must be righteous (v.2b).  Our hands are not used to serve ourselves, but to serve God by serving others.  It isn’t just that we refrain from doing the wrong thing, but that we actively pursue doing the right thing.

Our words must be sincere (v.2c-3).  Notice that what is on our lips is connected with what is in our heart.  There is to be no hypocrisy or inconsistency between what we think and how we talk.  Integrity demands that we mean what we say and say what we mean.  Our words are spoken to build up not to break down.  Backbiting is banished from our mouth.  Such a person does not take advantage of his neighbor or use his friends.  He or she has the best interest of others at heart.

Our associations must be godly (v.4a).  You cannot run with the wrong crowd and walk with God.  They are going the opposite direction.  We will be influenced by our associations.  If we are enamored with today’s celebrities who have the morals of alley cats then we will find ourselves thinking, talking, and acting like them.  If we honor holy men and women by meditating upon and modeling after them, then their influence will inspire us.  When I study the lives of men and women who were intimate with God, they create a hunger in my heart for the same experience.

Our possessions must not possess us (v.4b-5a).  The person who walks with God is a giver and not a taker because that is the nature of God.  He or she will keep their commitments, no matter what it costs them financially, because they know if they fail to do so it will cost them much more spiritually.  Such a one resists the corrupting influence of the love of money.  Their character is not for sale.

We will not always do everything perfectly, but we can do it better progressively (v.5b).  These traits will be the hallmark of our life.  When people think of us, these characteristics will come to mind.  Best of all, God knows the inclination of our hearts and the God-directed life will bring us into His fellowship.  Our feet will be firmly planted on God’s path, with no backsliding.  We will not find ourselves taking the Devil’s detours.

It is our privilege to have fellowship with God.  Through Christ our salvation makes us righteous before God, and by His Spirit our sanctification enables us to live righteously as we draw near to Him.

THE MAJESTY OF MOTHERHOOD

Charm is deceitful and beauty is passing,

But a woman who fears the LORD, she shall be praised.  (Proverbs 31:30)

I thank the Lord for my godly mother.  History recognizes the contribution mothers make.  Napoleon said, “What France wants is good mothers, and you may be sure then that France will have good sons.”  Teddy Roosevelt declared, “If the mother does not do her duty, there will either be no next generation, or a next generation that is worse than none at all.”  What an awesome responsibility and wonderful opportunity a woman has to impact the world.  What makes for a good mother?   Proverbs 31:10-31 gives us God’s perspective on the matter.

The majesty of a mother is grounded in HER VIRTUE (v.10a).  This is the foundation upon which all other qualities are built.  It is the righteousness that comes through faith in Christ.  None can be virtuous apart from God’s grace in redeeming us from sin and regenerating us to new life.  That virtue worked into us will be worked out of us. 

The majesty of a mother is found in HER VALUE (v.10b-12).  The scarcer something is—the more value it holds.  Godly mothers are a rare jewel.  Earlier in Proverbs, we are told that whoever finds a wife finds a good thing.  She is trustworthy.  Not only does she not do the family harm, she is a positive force for good.

The majesty of a mother is revealed in HER VISION (v.13-16).  A godly mother is always looking out for the welfare of her family.  She is a hard worker, like the woman pictured here.  Her activity is motivated by her love for husband and children.  Such a woman has a sharp eye for the family finances.  She knows a bargain when she sees it!

The majesty of a mother is disclosed in HER VITALITY (v.17).  She has to be strong to bear the burdens she must carry.  Mom is the glue that holds the family together—the refuge whose arms we run to when we fall down.  This power is not from physical stature, but spiritual strength. 

The majesty of a mother is evident in HER VIGILANCE (v.18-21).  When others are slumbering, mothers often have their eyes open to watch out for their family.  Phillips, Craig and Dean have a song, “Mama used to burn the midnight oil down on her knees in prayer.”  I am a recipient of a godly mother’s midnight vigilance.  How many prayers did she invest in you?

The majesty of a mother is noted in HER VIBRANCY (v.22-27).  Godly women dress as becoming holiness—beautifully and modestly—though not extravagantly.  She adorns herself with speech that encourages.  She offers praise for God’s goodness.  Moms are an encyclopedia of wisdom.  Listen attentively and soak it in—you will be the better for it.

The majesty of a mother is consummated in HER VICTORY (v.28-31).  Such a woman deserves our praise!  We celebrate her life.  She understands that time takes its toll on our face and form, but the beauty of holiness endures. She isn’t spending hours looking into a mirror to put on makeup, without investing time before the mirror of God’s Word seeking to look like Christ!  Such a woman has victory in Jesus!  God, give us Christian women like this!