The following is an excerpt from my book titled
"As I was walking God was talking and this is what he said".
This was a single days message and covers a variety of subjects including.....
"As I was walking God was talking and this is what he said".
Fatherhood
Teaching our Children
Motherhood
Absentee Fathers/Godless
Fathers
Being equally yoked in
marriage
The Love of the Lord
Doubt
Our choice of words one
to another
Several years ago I spent
a great deal of time walking and as I walked I carried a notebook and a pen. I
received what I know to be Devine inspiration from God. What you are about to
read is what God would like us all to hear. I believe God gave me these words
to write down so that I might share them with the world. God our Father in
Heaven wants us all to know he Loves us and he also wants us all to know that
Love is much more than never having to say you are sorry.
Please take time to
reflect on the words given to me by God our Father in Heaven. God has
instructed me to tell you that he would like to ask each of you to take the time
to read these multiple times until they really soak into your conscience. He knows
that by doing this, you will change your life forever. You will also change the
lives of everyone around you.
Enjoy what God our Father
in Heaven has provided me as a gift to you and to all those you know.
God Bless one and all.
Daddy
I Love You
Why are fathers
so important?
If they are out
of sight they are out of mind!
What
is faith?
Faith is being
sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. Hebrews 11:1
Fathers
on earth are required to provide the role model our children need in order to
be able to help our children identify with our Father in Heaven. We cannot see
our Father in Heaven, however we can have faith and believe he exists, that he
did create the world, that we are made in his likeness, that we did send his Son
to be crucified on the cross and that if we accept Jesus as our savior, obey
the word of God, we will live eternally in his presence and the presence of his
son Jesus Christ.
Wouldn’t
it be nice to see God in the flesh, have him talk with us, guide us, counsel
us, hold us, love us, direct us, take care of our needs, comfort us when we are
sick or in pain, feed, clothe and provide us drink. Wouldn’t that be nice if
the good Lord could come down to earth and be our Dad? Well he is on earth and
he dwells in our earthly Fathers.
The
Fifth Commandment Exodus 20:10 –
reads Honor your father and your mother,
so that you may live in the land the Lord your God is giving you.
Honor – esteem
respect. Recognition or distinction. A person of superior status.
Esteem – to regard
with respect, prize. High regard.
Respect – to feel or
show deferential regard for, esteem. To avoid violation or interference. To
relate to, concern. Deferential regard, esteem. Willingness to show
consideration or appreciation.
Consideration – a careful
deliberation. Something to be considered in making a decision or judgment.
Mutual regard for others.
Appreciation – to recognize
the value or quality of, to value highly, to be aware of, realize. To feel
gratitude for, to increase in value or price.
Regard – to look at
closely, watch. To look upon, consider. Look, gaze. Careful attention, heed.
Respect, affection or esteem.
Why
should we show honor to our parents on earth? If we cannot, are not willing to,
ignore, tune out or don’t listen to, neglect, if we lack respect, esteem,
regard, appreciation for our earthly parents that we see with our eyes and hear
with our ears, and in who we depend on to care for us especially when we are
little. If we don’t honor our earthly parents, we most certainly will not honor
our heavenly parent.
Hebrews 13:17 – Obey your leaders and submit to authority.
Ephesians 6:1-3 – Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for
this is right. Honor your father and mother which is the first commandment with
a promise, that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on
earth.
Children
must be willing to submit to authority.
Submit – to surrender
to the authority, discretion or will of another. To commit to the decision,
consideration, or judgment of another. To offer as a suggestion or opinion. To
acquiesce.
Whenever
children lack respect, honor, esteem, appreciation, love for their earthly
parents, they will most assuredly lack these same qualities for their Heavenly
Father. Children mirror their relationship with their Heavenly Father through
their actions with those in authority over them such as their earthly Father or
teachers. If they are not willing to submit themselves to their earthly Fathers;
listen, obey and honor them, how are they going to learn to submit themselves
to their Heavenly Father?
Fathers
teach your children well
Teach
them to love and serve the Lord and to respect, honor, revere our Lord in
heaven. If you desire your children to have respect and honor for you, teach
them first to show respect and honor for the Lord. Ephesians 6:4 – Fathers do not exasperate your children,
instead bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.
Exasperate – to make angry
or frustrated, irritated.
When
children lack respect or honor or esteem it is a reflection of the lack of
teaching these traits to the children by the father. When children reach the
age of 8 and are baptized and receive the gift if the Holy Spirit they are then
held accountable for their sins. If they sin and continue to sin, their eyes
and ears will be closed to the voice of the Lord, they will not be able to hear
the counsel of the Holy Spirit and they will begin and remain in darkness, all
alone, cut off from the love of the Lord. They are then left to their own
decision making capability which leads to pain, misery and suffering.
Is
that what you want for your offspring?
A
life filled with pain, misery and suffering, confusion, isolation, abandonment.
Do you want for them to live on the Island of Isolation, separated from God,
Jesus and the Holy Spirit? Do you want them to be led by the evil influences of
the world and Satan? Do you wish upon them to live a life filled with fear,
uncertainty and doubt being tossed to and fro by the lies of men? Do you wish
upon them to never feel worthy of love, respect, honor or appreciation? Do you
want them to feel a low self-esteem, appreciation and worth? If you do keep on
ignoring your responsibility and the Lords command to teach and instruct your
children about the Word of God.
Fathers,
it all starts and ends with you!
Not
your wife, not the church, not their soccer coach or any other sports coach. No
the responsibility for teaching and instructing your children rests squarely on
your shoulders.
Colossians 3:21 – Fathers do not embitter your children or they will become
discouraged.
Embitter – to make
bitter, to arouse bitter feelings.
Bitter – causing or
manifesting sharp physical or mental pain, or discomfort, harsh. Caused by or
exhibiting strong animosity. Marked by rancor or disappointment.
What is the
second greatest commandment given to us by Jesus?
Matthew 22:39 – Love your neighbor as yourself. Are our children our neighbor?
Neighbor – one who lives
near or adjacent to another, a fellow human being. To live or be located close
by.
Fellow – an equal or
peer. Our children are not only our children and the Lord has asked us to love
them as we love our self.
In
Ephesians 6:4 – we see that we are to train and instruct about the Lord.
Train – an orderly
series of related thoughts or events, sequence. To instruct or condition to
some manner of behavior or performance. To make proficient through special
instruction and drill. To cause to grow in or take on a desired shape or
source. To direct, aim.
Instruct – to impart
knowledge or skill, teach. To direct, order.
Teach – to
communicate knowledge or skill. To provide instruction in. To give insight by
example or experience.
Fathers
our role is laid out before us. In order for us to train, instruct and teach
our children we must first have knowledge, understanding and wisdom and that
comes from loving and serving the Lord, obeying his commands and living a life
of obedience to the word of the Lord.
Hebrews 8:10, 11 – explains what
the Lord is willing to do. This is the
new covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time declares the
Lord, I will put my laws in their minds, and write them in their hearts. I will
be their God and they will be my people. No longer will a man teach his
neighbor, or a man his brother, say “Know the Lord,” because they will know me
from the least of them to the greatest.
Our
children know the Lord, we need to train and instruct them to walk in obedience
to the Lord. Since we are responsible for them from birth it is our duty to
help them see and hear clearly the voice of the Lord. It is our job to set the
example, to be the role model, to pattern our own life in obedience so that our
children will follow.
Check back tomorrow for part 2 in this 6 post series, What do we teach our children.
