How Can They Ever Obey God?

AsI come closer to the day they we will adopt a child, God has given me more andmore revelation of his intent. Just the other day the spirt of God spoke to meand said. "If your children can not obey you howwill they ever obey God?"


Iwondered was God giving me a word for someone else? or for myself. I thoughtI no longer have any children what can this mean. and then I realized that Iwould soon have little feet running through my home, and God has not given forme to be a foolsih steward of His children. So even before they came he wasinstructiing me on how to raise them.

ButI fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, soyour minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. 2 Corinthians 11:3

But by the subtilties of this world we have lost God requirementfor raising our children. The world teaches that we should let tem be their ownpersons, that we should let them make decision on issues that we find much tooimportant for children to decide. Give them freedom means teach them to hateGod's word.

This is what the world has for our children, But God's plan forour children which is written in scripture is very clear. This posting isactually and old posting with a few changes as God has led me to post it. Ipray that it will be as enlightening to you as it was for me. Please leave acomment as the spirit unction you.

Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old,he will not depart from it.Proverbs 22:6

In aworld where our children are being killed, at an enormous rate, the possibilityof reaching adulthood for urban children (especially African American boys)becomes more and more difficult each day. Children are disrespecting theirparents, joining gang, doing drugs, experimenting with homosexualrelationships, and ever kind of perversion you can imagine. Grandparents are the parents of the 2K era, not only raising their children, but now raisingtheir children’s children. God has been taken out of the schools, and out of thecourts, and for many Americans; God has been taken out of the living rooms anddinner tables as well. Is there any wonder that our children have been given upto a reprobate society.

But noloving parent wants to see his or her child die, and nothing is more tragicthan to have a parent bury his own child. Nothing except when a parent has tobury his own child and know within his/her heart that his child has not beensaved. Nothing is more tragic than when a parent realizes that his child willburn eternally in hell, because he/she has never taught them about Jesus. Thebible is very clear about this even a good person (by society’s standard) will go to hell if they have not put theirfaith in Jesus.

Forthis reason it is of the utmost importance that we teach our children aboutChrist, and help them to develop a relationship with Him so that in time oftrouble they will be properly equipped with the spiritual things needed tobattle this corrupt world

The bible teaches that we should “Trainup a child in the way he should go and when he gets old he will not depart fromit” (Proverbs 22:6)yet, this world has taught us that we should let our children make their owndecisions about their faith. Are we truly followers of Christ, or followers ofthis world? Will we conform to the ways of this world, and let out childrenmake this exceedingly crucial and consequential decision of their faith? Orwill we be transformed by the word of God and Train up or children in the waythey should go? The Apostle Paul teaches us “For we must allappear before the judgment seat of Christ;[even our children] thatevery one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hathdone, whether it be good or bad. Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, wepersuade men; [work urgently with everyone, toconvince them of the need for Jesus Christ and ready them to face God.]^[1][1](2Corinthainas 5:10-11)
Who wants to have to deal with the guilt of saying “IfI had only taught my son /daughter about Jesus”? Or even worse, “I thought I hadenough time to teach them about Jesus.”

Theonly question that remains is how do I train up a child? Should we read childrearing books by Dr Spock, or some other deep thinker? Or should we take theadvice from our friends whom had all their children go to college? Maybe weshould just medicate our children to the point that they walk in a state ofsemiconscious stupor, that’ll teach them to act right! Let’s see what the biblesays about this subject.

Deuteronomy 6:1-7 Now these are thecommandments, the statutes, and the judgments, which the LORD your Godcommanded to teach you, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go topossess it: That thou mightest fear the LORD thy God, to keep all his statutesand his commandments, which I command thee, thou, and thy son, and thy son'sson, all the days of thy life; and that thy days may be prolonged. Heartherefore, O Israel, and observe to do it; that it may be well with thee, andthat ye may increase mightily, as the LORD God of thy fathers hath promisedthee, in the land that floweth with milk and honey. Hear, O Israel: The LORDour God is one LORD: And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart,and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I commandthee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligentlyunto thy children, and shalt talk of them [ourchildren] when thou sittest in thine house, [while sitting around the house] and when thou walkest by the way, [and when you go for walks with your children] and when thou liest down,[andbefore bed] and when thou risest up.[and first thing when you rise in the morning]

 Inshort it says to teach your children the law of God, not that we are justifiedby the law but that by the law (Ten Commandments) we show our children insimple terms what sin is.[2][2]Now pay attention to God’s promise when you teach the law toyour children verse 2 says “that their days may beprolonged!” This is the simplicity that isin God’s Word. How many children do we know or have heard of that have died soyoung not knowing God? Good children some who have simply been in the wrongplace at the right time to die?

 Nowverse 3 says “observe the law and do it” (here is the promise again) “andall will be with well with you, and you will prosper in the land of milk andhoney as God has promised”. What isimportant to understand is that of all the promises made to Israel, it is theobserving of the law which initiates these promises in their life. Likewise ofall the inherited promises to the Christian nothing is it true if we don’tfollow the law of God. I know we are taught we as Christian are not under thelaw and this is true, but if a Christian breaks the law he does so as a sinnerand the law was made for the sinner. Can a Christian be a sinner also? Is not asinner one who sins? Don’t even Christians occasionally fall into sin? But itis the law which convicts the non-repentant sinner and faith in Christ Jesus,which acquits us of our sin. In this knowledge we see the real need of JesusChrist as our savior.

So GodCommands Israel that they teach the law to their children because it is inhaving a knowledge of the moral law of God (summed up in the 10 Commandments)that gives not just our children but even adults a foundation of what sin is,and the realization that without Christ we will never have salvation.

Therefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us untoChrist, that we might be justified by faith. Galatians 3:24

 It isin teaching the moral law that we show our children what sin 1John 3:4 tell us “sin is transgression of thelaw”,and Paul teaches in Romans 7:7 “Iwould not have known sin, if not by the law” So we have established that what we train our children is in the knowledge of sinthrough the law. let go back to Deuteronomy 6 to see how we train up ourchildren.

And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and theyshall be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon theposts of thy house, and on thy gates. Deuteronomy 6:8-9

That isthat you should forever have the commandment in front of your children, notjust that you read them occasionally but that they become a tool to teach themall they need to know in life. This is of utmost importance, also that you notjust force them on them but your children express to you their understanding ofthem in daily life.

When achild lies ask questions of him like “Youknow its wrong to lie don’t you?” (Wait for their answer) “now tell me why you should not lie.”Their answer should not be founded in you but in God. by this I mean if theiranswer is because you will spank me, it may be true but that’s not enough,guide them with patience to see that what they did is a transgression of Godlaw not just mommy and daddy’s rules

Readhere how the message bible explains the next two verses of Deuteronomy 6

Write these commandments that I've given youtoday on your hearts. Get them inside of you and then get them inside yourchildren. Talk about them wherever you are, sitting at home or walking in thestreet; talk about them from the time you get up in the morning to when youfall into bed at night. Tie them on your hands and foreheads as a reminder; inscribethem on the doorposts of your homes and on your city gates. Deuteronomy6:8-9 (The Message)

So we teach our children to learn obedience toward God. which has its root in obedience to each of us. And we do this by constantly teaching and speaking on the things of God. I hope this helps, I knowit may seem too easy, as if I had circumscribed the complicated task of rearinga child to a few lines in the bible, but the bible says we should not throughthe hidden things of this world even as Eve was by the serpent, belead astray from the simplicity that is in Christ Jesus (2 Cor 11:3)

Your brother in Christ

T.Charves FireSpeaks

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[1][1] That which is in “[ ]” is added by author.

[2][2] Romans 3:20 (Amplified Bible) for no person will be justified(made righteous, acquitted, and judged acceptable) in His (God’s) sight by observing the worksprescribed by the Law. For [the real function of] the Law is to make menrecognize and be conscious of sin [^]notmere perception, but an acquaintance with sin which works toward repentance,faith, and holy character]

Unwilling Living Sacrifice

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. Romans 12:1

In just about every Pentecostal or Charismatic church I’ve ever been to, there is an evil  Monster of Praise  that alienates the church members even before the pastor of the church ever brings in the word. While in the mist of Praise and worship he snatches the praise of those that need it and perverts his own praise in the wrath of his holy indignation. Like a praise police he thinks he is tasked with the godly responsibility of determining the fervency of the churches praise.

Sometimes the  Monster of Praise  is seen as a member of the Praise and Worship Group or as a leader within your local congregation, someone of authority. But when that person becomes so moved by the worship or praise and presence of Holy Spirit, then looks around the church and sees someone standing arms folded almost completely oblivious to the presence of Holy Spirit that is so filing everyone else then he thinks to himself “What is wrong with that person?”

Provoked by the wrath of his own righteous indignation, and roused by the piety of his own holy anger, he tries to motivate that person into praise by pointing them out to the congregation with statements like; 

"Jesus rose from the grave, and you can't even get out of your chair to praise Him!" or "I can't believe you're not more into it. God is in this place! I can feel it!!”

However if this  Monster of Praise  were truly in the spirit he/she would be able to discern how the blank looks and folded arms are being replaced  with offended spirits and angry grimaces, because of his poor attempt to motivate them to worship. The sad thing is that most of the time this action is accepted by the pastor and so every week the Monster of Praise attacks another member. resulting in either  fake praises by members who don't want to be singled out as unworthy,  or they leave the church altogether because that can not bear the public ridicule by these so called Christians.

Now praising God becomes an epitaph to the bad spirited experiences they had at that church. Thinking he was ushering God into the sanctuary, the  Monster of Praise was in fact causing those that may not know God as well  to become more and more hesitant about the things of God and the Christian life as a whole. 1 Corinthians 8:9 warns that we not become a stumbling block to the weak,  and Romans 14:13-23 demands that we do not cause another to stumble

First thing we should remember is that we don’t set the stage for what is fervent worship to God. So when we began to try to make our fellow believers live by our standard of fervent worship and praise, we are saying to God “Father if Your Word and my praise aren't strong enough to move them into worship, then I will embarrass them into your glory” This is wicked at the most spiritual level

Today there is a sinful acceptance within the church that teaches if we praise harder and give harder and pray harder fast longer we can move God into blessing us more. Acts10:34 tells that God is not a respecter of men. We all know God blesses whom He pleases (Romans 9:10-13), and it rains on both the rich and the poor, yet our action make scripture of no effect.

The origin of our worship cannot be a bargaining chip for the anticipation of future blessing. Because of this wrong view of God, pastors and worship leaders are often caught berating sinners and embarrassing those whom they think are lazy worshipers.

True worship is a response to what Christ has done for us,and we should be in a constant state of gratitude. It should not just be done in the sanctuary or when we sings hymns. True worship is done at the temple, by the priest, and as a sacrifice. In 1 Corinthains 3:16 , Paul calls us God’s Temple; 1 Peter 2:9 and Peter reminds us that we are a Royal Priesthood, and in Romans12:1 Paul instructs us to be Living Sacrifices. Yet without Christ Jesus we are none of these things.Therefore worship is a response to what Christ has done for us, reflective in our praise, from our heart and because of His sacrifice, as an act of our obedience. 

Yet True Worship is So Much More.

Consider that Christ is the sacrifice and the priest, that which was offered as propitiation.  He mediates God to us, but also mediates us to God. This Christ did and suffered out of obedience to the will of God. This was and is still Pure and True Worship. And as it is the goal of every Christian to be more like Christ. we must work to present ourselves a living sacrifice. Yet nothing good of trying to present someone else a living sacrifice 

As the Holy Spirit sanctifies us we become more and more dead to our sin. And a dead sacrifice will remain on the altar until it is devoured by the fire or becomes corrupt and stink. But he who is not  dead to his sin will become a unwilling living sacrifice, and  will surely climb down from the altar, or be pushed off the altar by the piety of others.

How people react to our praise and worship or even the spoken word is not our concern. Anything we do to try to get a response usually ends up leaving people trying to muster up something on their own, ratcheting up emotion, or white knuckling their guilt-driven devotion to God. It won’t usher God into the place it will only push Him out because the sanctuary is full of anger and discuss and rage.This the enemy finds more pleasure in than the father.

So the next time our congregations seems bored and aloof, perhaps instead of embarrassing them into giving their all, forcing them to unwilling climb upon the altar) maybe we can find ways to call their attention to the Living Christ, present in our midst. Maybe we ought to be ready to take our own broken lives and turn them into beautiful offerings, living sacrifices to and loving God. 

So should we stand or should we sit in worship? should we scream at the top of our lungs or meditate quietly in the presence of God? Which is right? I have no idea, but I do know God desire those that would give Him real worship,  and How that looks for you is between you and the Father. this is the freedom that we have in Christ.

Sole Deo Gloria
T.Charves FireSpeaks