“The Western world
stands at a great crossroads in its history. It is my opinion that our very
survival as a people will depend upon the presence or absence of masculine
leadership in millions of homes. I believe, with everything within me, that
husbands hold the keys to the preservation of
the family.” – James Dobson, way back in 1980. How accurate and prophetic!
“His children shall
be mighty in the land.” Ps 112:2
What a promise!
Think about it!
The Lord offers this
promise to every father among us: “His descendants will be mighty on earth; the
generation of the upright will be blessed” (Ps 112:2). More than ever our world
needs – our homes need – the church needs! – real men, strong men, solid men.
These God can use to develop mighty children, an upright generation, that
receives His blessing.
------------
These
are lesson notes, not written in a polished or finished manuscript
form. To see the video of this and other sermons:
To see
thumbnails of all posts on this blog:
To
receive email notifications of future posts, enter your email address at the
lower left corner of the page where it says, “FOLLOW BY EMAIL.” You'll get an
email from FeedBurner. Just click the link inside it to confirm that you want
to subscribe.
For the
other lessons in this series, click on the "Winning the War Within"
link.
------------
Reading: Ps 112
His Children Shall
Be MIGHTY!
Pr 20:7 A righteous man who
walks in his integrity — How blessed are his sons after him!
Ps 37:18 The LORD knows the
days of the blameless, and their heritage will remain forever.
Ps 37:26 All day long [the
righteous man] is gracious and lends, and his descendants are a blessing.
Fathers of MIGHTY
Children
Begin with
themselves.
(Read and underline
each trait of a righteous man noted in these passages.)
Ps 112:1-10
Psalms 111 and 112
are alike in that 1) they both begin with, “Praise the Lord!” (as does Ps 113),
and 2) they both are acrostics with 22 lines corresponding to the 22 letters of
the Heb. alphabet. Psalm 111 exalts the works of God, while Ps 112 extols the
man who fears God.
Ps 112:1 Praise the Lord!
Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who greatly delights in his
commandments! 2 His offspring will be mighty in the land; the generation
of the upright will be blessed. 3 Wealth and riches are in his house,
and his righteousness endures forever. 4 Light dawns in the darkness for
the upright; he is gracious, merciful, and righteous. 5 It is well with
the man who deals generously and lends; who conducts his affairs with justice. 6
For the righteous will never be moved; he will be remembered forever. 7
He is not afraid of bad news; his heart is firm, trusting in the Lord. 8
His heart is steady; he will not be afraid, until he looks in triumph on his
adversaries. 9 He has distributed freely; he has given to the poor; his
righteousness endures forever; his horn is exalted in honor. 10 The
wicked man sees it and is angry; he gnashes his teeth and melts away; the
desire of the wicked will perish!
Ps 15:1-5
Ps 15:1 O Lord, who shall
sojourn in your tent? Who shall dwell on your holy hill? 2 He who walks
blamelessly and does what is right and speaks truth in his heart; 3 who
does not slander with his tongue and does no evil to his neighbor, nor takes up
a reproach against his friend; 4 in whose eyes a vile person is
despised, but who honors those who fear the Lord; who swears to his own hurt
and does not change; 5 who does not put out his money at interest and
does not take a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things shall
never be moved.
Ps 24:1-6
Ps 24:1 The earth is the
Lord’s and the fullness thereof, the world and those who dwell therein, 2
for he has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the rivers. 3
Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? And who shall stand in his holy place? 4
He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what
is false and does not swear deceitfully. 5 He will receive blessing from
the Lord and righteousness from the God of his salvation. 6 Such is the
generation of those who seek him, who seek the face of the God of Jacob. Selah
Isa 33:13-16
Context: When the
LORD disciplines Assyria, it will be so severe that many even of the Jews in
Zion will be alarmed because they are not right with God. Who will be able to
stand the fire of His judgment?
Is 33:13 Hear, you who are
far off, what I have done; and you who are near, acknowledge my might. 14
The sinners in Zion are afraid; trembling has seized the godless: “Who among us
can dwell with the consuming fire? Who among us can dwell with everlasting
burnings?” 15 He who walks righteously and speaks uprightly, who
despises the gain of oppressions, who shakes his hands, lest they hold a bribe,
who stops his ears from hearing of bloodshed and shuts his eyes from looking on
evil, 16 he will dwell on the heights; his place of defense will be the
fortresses of rocks; his bread will be given him; his water will be sure.
Fathers of MIGHTY
Children
Step up and become
strong in Him.
Ex 3:10-4:17 – Moses
Judg 6:11-16 –
Gideon
Jdg 6:11 Now the angel of
the Lord came and sat under the terebinth at Ophrah, which belonged to Joash
the Abiezrite, while his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the winepress to
hide it from the Midianites. 12 And the angel of the Lord appeared to
him and said to him, “The Lord is with you, O mighty man of valor.” 13
And Gideon said to him, “Please, my lord, if the Lord is with us, why then has
all this happened to us? And where are all his wonderful deeds that our fathers
recounted to us, saying, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the
Lord has forsaken us and given us into the hand of Midian.” 14 And the
Lord turned to him and said, “Go in this might of yours and save Israel from
the hand of Midian; do not I send you?” 15 And he said to him, “Please,
Lord, how can I save Israel? Behold, my clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I
am the least in my father’s house.” 16 And the Lord said to him, “But I
will be with you, and you shall strike the Midianites as one man.”
Jer 4:1-10 –
Jeremiah
Eph 6:10-20
Acts 20:32
Fathers of MIGHTY
Children
Engage them
mentally, emotionally, physically, spiritually, and socially.
Luke 2:52
Deut 6:4-9
Deut 6:20-25
Dt 6:4 “Hear, O Israel:
The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 5 You shall love the Lord your God
with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 6
And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. 7 You
shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit
in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when
you rise. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall
be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the
doorposts of your house and on your gates.
Dt 6:20 “When your son asks
you in time to come, ‘What is the meaning of the testimonies and the statutes
and the rules that the Lord our God has commanded you?’ 21 then you
shall say to your son, ‘We were Pharaoh’s slaves in Egypt. And the Lord brought
us out of Egypt with a mighty hand. 22 And the Lord showed signs and
wonders, great and grievous, against Egypt and against Pharaoh and all his
household, before our eyes. 23 And he brought us out from there, that he
might bring us in and give us the land that he swore to give to our fathers. 24
And the Lord commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the Lord our God,
for our good always, that he might preserve us alive, as we are this day. 25
And it will be righteousness for us, if we are careful to do all this
commandment before the Lord our God, as he has commanded us.’
Fathers of MIGHTY
Children
Train them in truth
and practice.
Eph 6:4
Proverbs
Fathers of MIGHTY
Children
Leave an indelible
impression.
Prov 4:3-9
Fathers of MIGHTY
Children
Seize God’s promise
today.
Some will say, “But
my children are grown! I failed to be the father of mighty children when they
were young! It’s too late for me!”
It’s not necessarily
too late.
Though I do not
recommend everything in the movie, “I Can Only Imagine,” let me tell you about
the reconciliation that takes place between the dying father and the son he had
terribly abused in years past.
Growing up in
Greenville, Texas, Bart Millard suffers physical and emotional abuse at the
hands of his father, Arthur. When Arthur becomes terminally ill, he finds
redemption by embracing his faith and rediscovering his love for his son. Years
later, Bart's troubled childhood and mended relationship with his dad
inspires him to write the hit song "I Can Only Imagine."
Fathers of MIGHTY
Children
Impact those who
lack such fathers.
1 Tim – all
2 Tim – all
1 Tim 5
1 Cor 4:14-17
Many of our sisters
in Christ are trying to raise mighty children without a faithful, involved, husband
as the male spiritual leader in their home. What Paul did for Timothy and for
the church in Corinth, strong men among us must do to help mentor, teach, and
train these children.
The God of heaven is
the ultimate
Father of MIGHTY
Children.
Are you one of them?
Possible hymns:
Rise Up O Men of God
Faith of Our Fathers
None of Self, and
All of Thee
Seek Ye First
Stand Up, Stand Up
for Jesus
No comments:
Post a Comment