Dangerous children

As I was praying for my children today, I was reminded of why we are doing this parenting thing.  Why did God want us to have six children?  What purpose other than to do our part in fulfilling the mandate to be fruitful and multiply does God have in mind for our children?  I want more for them than to just land a decent job, have a nice family, afford a house and car, be good citizens, have enough money, be tithers, go to church(tongue in cheek), and be hard workers.  Although some of those can be good things, I want them to be a Godly seed who seek first the Kingdom of God.

Several things came to my mind that I really desire for my children from a Kingdom perspective.  I know these are also the things their heavenly Father desires for them.

1. Be passionate for God, radical lovers of Jesus, worshiping him in Spirit and truth.
2. Be more than once-a-week Christians, I want them to love and worship God with their entire lives.
3. Discover and walk in their God-given purpose, talents, abilities, and spiritual gifts.
4. Be full of the Holy Spirit and power.
5. Not just know by faith that God is present, but also regularly sense God's inner presence and peace in their spirits.
6. Know and experience the immeasurable love the Father has towards them.  I want them to know his smile and sense his blessing upon their lives.
7. Know that their Heavenly Father is not distant, but he is close to them and cares about them deeply.
8. By God's Grace, be wholeheartedly committed to remaining morally pure until they get married to the spouse God has in mind for them (if he wants them to get married)
9. Listen to the voice of God and be led by the Holy Spirit, even in the details of life.
10. Regularly experience the joy and freedom that comes from the Holy Spirit.
11. Commune with God in prayer on a regular basis, not out of discipline or habit, but because they love to spend time with the Father.
12. Give of their time, talents, gifts, and finances for the building of God's kingdom, not to build an earthly kingdom and build up earthly riches.
13. Love their own children and all people with God's love.
14. Deal ruthlessly with any sin issues or idolatry in their life so they remain pure and unstained, maintaining a clean conscience.
15. Live a life of non-compromise with the World, or the world's way of doing things(Church, money, entertainment, appearance, music), but not in a legalistic sense.  I desire them to do what is right and holy with a heart of love for God and others.
16. Rather than living in fear of the enemy and his lies, I want them to strike fear in the heart of the enemy.  I want them to be courageous and bold, not backing down in the face of opposition.
17. I want them to be free to confront the status quo and speak their minds in freedom and truth.
18. I desire them to be truthful, honest, and humble.  Able to be real in their relationships with others and with God.

As you can see, the accomplishment of these things is impossible without God. In fact, I am continually growing in many of these things myself.  However, if we don't raise the target high, they won't have anything worth shooting at.

Overcomer or Overcome?

 A couple weeks ago, I was pondering the significance of being an overcomer in the Bible.  I was amazed to see how many times the phrase "to he who overcomes" and the word "overcome" are used. I realized that being an overcomer is not so much something we do, but it is who we are.  As Christians, it is our true spiritual identity.  The only way to truly overcome is to live out of that identity.  We are overcomers by faith, it is our inheritance as children of God.
1 John 4:4 teaches that every believer is an overcomer. This victory is something that every child of God partakes in. It is not based upon what the believer has earned or achieved, but it is based on WHO indwells the believer!
1 John 4:4
You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.
1 John 5:4
For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.

The issue of our identity:
Genesis 32:28
Then the man said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome.”

Interesting that Jacob was given a new name because he had overcome.  Receiving a new name is a symbolic and prophetic way of communicating our true spiritual identity as a child of God.  There is great power in learning who we really are, what our true names are.

Revelation 3:12
He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more. I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God. And I will write on him My new name.

We need to see ourselves as overcomers, not as those who are overcome.
2 Peter 2:20
For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning.

We have the spiritual DNA of Jesus Christ, THE overcomer.  Since he has overcome the world, so have we.
John 16:33
These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”

Why is it significant for Jesus to say that we can have peace and be of good cheer because he has overcome the world?  Because it was his plan that we would live "in him", "abiding in him".  As long as we abide in THE overcomer, Jesus Christ, we are also overcomers by default.

Every generation and every culture has it's issues and struggles to overcome.  In the seven churches of Revelation, Jesus points out issues he sees with each church, but then he concludes with a promise to those who overcome.

1. Revelation 2:7
   “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.”’
2. Revelation 2:11
   “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death.”’
3. Revelation 2:17
   “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give some of the hidden manna to eat. And I will give him a white stone, and on the stone a new name written which no one knows except him who receives it.”’
4. Revelation 2:26
   And he who overcomes, and keeps My works until the end, to him I will give power over the nations—
5. Revelation 3:5
   He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.
6. Revelation 3:12
   He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more. I will write on him the name of My God and the name of the city of My God, the New Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God. And I will write on him My new name.
7. Revelation 3:21
   To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.

If you are a true Christian, you are an overcomer!  You are more than a conqueror!  You CAN do all things through Christ, who strengthens you!  You HAVE overcome the world! You have overcome Satan!  You are seated(past tense) at the right hand of the Father because you are IN Christ, THE OVERCOMER! 
Ephesians 2:6
and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus

You are not defeated! You are victorious, triumphant!
2 Corinthians 2:14
Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place.

I like the way Ed Tandy Mcglasson says it in "The Difference a Father makes".
Ed Tandy McGlasson Ministries
He says you are either a "Survivor" or a "Thriver".  A survivor does his best to just get through the day, but a Thriver is one who squeezes everything possible out of Life, making the most of every opportunity.  That is how Jesus lived, and that is how he desires each of us to live.
 
Jesus lived under the smile, blessing, and approval of his Father, he was not living out of a desire to gain his Father's approval or the approval of others.  If we can also live out of this kind of identity as ones who are beloved by the Father, we will also understand our identity as an overcomer, a "Thriver".

However, the enemy has labeled many of us and imparted to us  a false identity.  Many of us were cursed by parents who didn't know their identity either, survivors.  When we really understand who God has created us to be, receive the Father's blessing and purpose into our lives, we will not want to settle for just surviving any more.  We will begin to live as Paul described in Philippians 3:12-14.
¹² Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. ¹³ Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, ¹⁴ I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

When we communicate with our children, it doesn't do a whole lot of good to berate them and beat them up for their failures and mistakes. But it does a tremendous amount of good to remind them of their true identity.  When they are complaining, remind them of the fact that they are overcomers.  When they make a mistake, we can say something like, "That's OK, you'll get it next time - because you are an overcomer, you are a Champion, you can do all things through Christ, you have what it takes to succeed!"  If we keep speaking like this in faith to ourselves, and to our children, we will eventually get it.  Something will change deep inside of who we are, and we will truly see as God sees. Instead of seeing ourselves and others as failures or survivors, we will see overcomers, champions, thrivers, victorious, able to do all things.  We will see ourselves and others through the eyes of Faith, we were born to overcome!

Image from http://www.living-water-productions.com/

Disclaimer: I haven't read anything off the web-site, I just searched for and liked this painting.

Are we raising Disciples or Pharisees?

The question that has been going through our minds lately is:  Are we raising Disciples or Pharisees?  First, we parents need to get rid of any Pharisaical leaven in our own lives before we can train up true Disciples.

I remember when our family was heavily steeped in the following:
1. Our daughters and my wife had to wear skirts (I am all for modesty, just not defining it so strictly)
2. We didn't watch any Television
3. We had to have lots of Children to be of any spiritual worth
4. We felt like we had to have a small farm in order to be highly self-sufficient in case the end of the world occurred or the stock market collapsed. (I am not against being prepared, but in this case I was making decisions out of fear - not faith!)
5. We had to homeschool(By the way, we still homeschool and value it highly)
6. The Man needed to be the Priest of the Home
7. The wife should have no real thoughts of her own, the man chooses the direction and what he says goes!  If the wife disagrees - she must just quietly submit and not say anything - let the man make his mistakes and blunder through life.  Just feed him and do his laundry, but never, ever confront him or question his motives.
8. We had to have Family Worship twice a day and it was my job to theologically instruct my family. (By the way, not against this either, but we also don't have to do it the same way every time - and I don't do it because I feel like I have to)
9. Our Children were expected to outwardly behave a certain way whenever in public or in church.  Any fleshly behavior was frowned on and parents were made to feel bad if any display of flesh occurred.
10. We would never, ever put out kids in a Children's church or nursery.  They might get corrupted by the other children there!  (By the way, we are careful about not letting our kids be around bad influences, but in the past we lived in complete fear - not believing that our kids could possibly act responsibly and influence others in a positive way)
11. My wife was expected to grind her own wheat and bake her own bread.  (She still does this at times, but she doesn't have to in order to feel spiritual)
12. It was important to have our own milk cow and make our own yogurt, cheese, etc.
13. You must give birth to your children at home.  Hospital births and C-sections are frowned on.

I am not against limiting television, having lots of children, dressing modestly, homeschooling, etc.  But you see where we can get off track if we judge others for the standards or convictions the Lord has placed on us personally.
Of course, some of the standards in our list were unspoken and somewhat self-imposed, but you see where I am going?  How many of us have some list in our minds that we judge others by?

We and our children judged other people's spirituality upon whether they were upholding the same external standards.  Do they dress like us, do they have as many children as us, do they homeschool, do they watch TV, etc.  These were the standards we judged others by.  We began to notice that we and our children began to love others less, have less compassion on them, and instead were judging them for the way they looked or whether they measured up to our list.  We measured our success as parents by how well our children performed when around other people.  We measured our success by how well they performed at home too.

Are we raising performance-oriented children who look down on others who aren't performing so well, or are we reaching their hearts?  Do our children have a desire to really please and follow Jesus out of love, or are they just trying to keep all the rules we have set for them.  We will know this if they obey our rules when we aren't looking :)

Are we training our children to value and listen to the leading of the Holy Spirit?  Can they discern the voice of the Shepherd for themselves, or do we have to personally tell them what to do all the time?  Are they taking ownership for their spiritual state - are they willing to repent when they have wronged their brother or sister without being asked?  These are areas our own children are growing in, and are far from perfect - but at some point a couple years ago, we realized we were on the wrong track.  We have switched tracks, and are now beginning to see some fruit - but it is a process.  We are learning to look at our children differently, look at others differently, and look at life differently.  We are learning to look at life and at God from a relational point of view, not a performance-based point of view.

I am reminded of the verse in Luke 6:39-41 - He also told them this parable: “Can the blind lead the blind? Will they not both fall into a pit? The student is not above the teacher, but everyone who is fully trained will be like their teacher."


It is important for us to be teaching our kids to love like Jesus did, and follow him wholeheartedly.  No amount of external standards can produce disciples.  Discipleship starts with the heart, continues in the heart, and ends in the heart.  We need to be modeling a passion for God.  So many times, we substitute passion for God with rules, regulations, and external standards of righteousness.  We need to be very wary of any mindsets that focus on washing the outside of the cup, but ignore the inward decay.  We want everything we do to be based on love.  They will know we are his disciples by our love for one another.  Let's stop hiding behind our outward displays of morality and begin to just love on people right where they're at.  The pharisees saw the lepers and outcasts as untouchable.  Have we in the protection of our churches fallen into the same trap?  Are those we don't agree with untouchable, or can we touch them with compassion and let the love of God flow through us?

Mark 1:41,42
41 And Jesus, moved with compassion, put forth his hand, and touched him, and said to him, I will; be clean. 42 And as soon as he had spoken, immediately the leprosy departed from him, and he was cleansed.